Today’s Writing Tip

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Learn to use commas correctly. Comma usage is too complicated to explain here, but be aware that they not only affect readability, but reflect your skill as a writer. Read your work out loud, if necessary, to help you figure out where they’re needed.  Their primary purpose is to separate sentence elements with a slight pause to provide clarity. Hint: You’ll often need one before “but” or “which”. Oxford commas, where you include a comma before the “and” in a series of items, is often used as well. For example, “Her favorite foods included pizza, spaghetti, chocolate, enchiladas, and fajitas.” Without the Oxford comma, “enchiladas and fajitas” could be considered to be a reference to a combination plate as opposed to separate items.

Today’s Writing Tip

Use possessives to avoid prepositional phrases, e.g. notice how I changed the header from “Writing Tip of the Day”. You wouldn’t say “the collar of the dog”, would you? Tighter Writing is Better Writing.  #amwriting #RRBC #amediting

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Writing Tip of the Day

Introduce flashbacks with a past-perfect verb, i.e.: “She’d been charmed from the moment their eyes first met.” Continue with simple past, then close with past-perfect back to the present story action. #amwriting #amediting

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Writing Tip of the Day

Use pronouns and possessive pronouns effectively to avoid redundancy. For example, say “He took her hand in his and kissed it”, not: “He took her hand in his hand and kissed her hand.” Tighter writing is better writing. #amwriting #amediting

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