by Cheri Lasota | Jun 2, 2010 | Discussions on the Craft, Grammar Vault |
Many writers, myself included, worry about writing dialogue. Does it flow? Does it sound natural? Is it interesting? I obsess over it in my own writing. If I’m concerned about word count, the first thing I’ll cut is dialogue. It’s easy to write bad dialogue without...
by Cheri Lasota | Mar 9, 2010 | Grammar Vault, Schnauzer Strikes Again!, Writing Life Vault
Hello, Stirling Readers, Today we’re going to talk about creative dialogue between your characters, or, how to avoid the “talking head” syndrome. It’s a common problem, especially for beginning writers, and it’s definitely one of those things a good editor can show...
by Cheri Lasota | Feb 1, 2010 | Discussions on the Craft, Grammar Vault, Schnauzer Strikes Again!
Greetings, Stirling readers! Today’s post will focus on an issue that many writers brush aside as kid stuff: possessives! Possessives are important. Why? Because they determine ownership. There’s much more to it than tacking an apostrophe up there and instantly...
by Cheri Lasota | Sep 11, 2008 | Grammar Vault, Marketing Vault, Writing Life Vault
By Ian VanWyhe First, a little history. After I graduated with a degree in English, I attended the Denver Publishing Institute (DPI), a wonderful month-long seminar that provided an in-depth overview of the publishing industry, with many guest speakers from various...
by Cheri Lasota | Sep 8, 2008 | Grammar Vault
By Bill Moore Writers like to quote the classics and the famous. Often, though, through misinformation or poor research, they end up misquoting—and sometimes misinforming. In some cases, they attribute a statement to someone who never made it. Because they’ve heard...
by Cheri Lasota | Sep 8, 2008 | Grammar Vault |
By Cheri Lasota When I started freelancing as a fiction editor, I searched for a definitive stylebook to help me navigate the often shark-infested waters of fiction. I grew up on AP, generally known as newspaper style. But the AP Stylebook is built for speed and...
