Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar

posted in: Writing Craft 3

Prescriptive grammar attempts to define how a language should be used. It’s important and necessary, because it maintains a touchstone that keeps language from diversifying too widely. Without it, eventually we might no longer understand each other’s speech or writing. Schools teach prescriptive grammar, giving us all a common standard of usage. Descriptive grammar reflects how people actually speak and write, in practice. Real people in casual situations say “ain’t” and “gonna,” and put sentences together in a different order … Read More »

New Year Writing Resolutions

The start of a new year often brings with it the desire to improve our lives over the next year. Are there ways we can improve our writing lives? Always! Get Real Although we’re all writers, we are as individual as the quintessential snowflake. It seems obvious, but a glance at any writing forum often reveals writers insisting that “everyone” should read a book a week or commit to 2500 words a day or write every single day without fail … Read More »

“Hard, Sometimes Lonely Work” RPLA Showcase: Anne Hawkinson

While Anne Hawkinson is accustomed to the long hours of writing in solitude, she recently enjoyed a collaboration with another author overseas—the fruits of their labors bringing two, soon three, adventurous novellas into the world. Inspired by her recent partnership, Anne adapted the concepts from the adult novellas to a young child’s perspective. My Faraway Friend won First Place for Unpublished Early Reader at the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Anne discusses the transition from working solo to collaborating and … Read More »

“Writing as a Therapeutic Exercise” RPLA Showcase: Jenny Ferns

Jenny Ferns, a professional psychologist, knows the impact trauma can have on people. She uses this specialized knowledge to build character arcs and show the comprehensive impact on families in her stories. She also discovered through her own experience that writing memoir can be a therapeutic exercise. Using her memories from living in England for over twenty years, she created an authentic voice for her book, Ripple Effect, which won First Place for Unpublished Blended Genre in the 2018 Royal … Read More »

Not Available in Stores

posted in: Writing Life 4

In this season of gift-giving, I look back with a grateful heart and mind at those I received that had a direct influence on my present status as a writer. I had no notion in those early years, but now I see that my family was (perhaps unknowingly) planting the seeds that would lead me to where I am today. I was read to. Often. Bedtime stories were a mainstay in our home—read to my sister and me by my … Read More »

“Shifting Genres Reignited My Passion” RPLA Showcase: Rhett DeVane

Rhett DeVane has had a long, successful writing career including thirteen books and a number of short stories, but she found her passion dwindling after years of writing, wondering if all the time was worth it. Then something new and fun sparked her creative energy, reigniting her love of authorship. That new project encapsulated her years of experience and rejuvenated passion, winning First Place for Unpublished Young Adult or New Adult in the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. In this … Read More »

1 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 101