Sometimes, sentences simply sound better when you use parallelism. Learn what it is and how to use it to make your sentences and paragraphs easier to read. It’s useful, helpful, and can be a lot of fun! Read more ›
13 Ways to Horrify Your Editor This Halloween
If you want to make your editor shudder, try these monstrous tactics.
Photo by george erws (Flickr)
As the days turn darker and October draws to a close, it’s the time of year when many people find themselves in the mood for a scary story. Over my years of editing, I’ve seen quite a few things that made me want to scream, though usually from frustration, not fear. Nonetheless, in honor of this hair-raising holiday, I’ve decided to take a look at ways that writers have made me tremble. If you want to turn your editor from a helpful Dr. Jekyll into a maniacal Mr. Hyde, try these ideas: Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
Now Read This! The Difference Between Headlines and Title Tags
Draw people in to read your piece with an engaging headline.
Photo by Mary Ann Clarke SCott (Flickr)
It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or nonfiction: Coming up with a good title can be the hardest part of any project for some freelance writers. To make matters even more difficult, nowadays, writers can’t simply write a header and walk away — there are many different types of titles that writers have to deal with. When writing for the Web, title tags are the most important, but how do they differ from other titles, headers, and headlines?
The Classic News Headline
News headlines typically come from the tradition of newspapers, whose only requirement was that it summarized the contents of an article and fit within a given amount of space. They should be short and dramatic or interest-grabbing. Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
7 Reasons to Take Part in NaNoWriMo
You might need a lot of coffee to write 50,000 words in one month, but the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel at the end is sure to be worth it.
Photo by qrevolution (Flickr)
It sounds mad: thousands of writers dedicated to the idea of writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and as many veterans of this annual practice are getting their index cards and outlines ready, we at Online Writing Jobs thought we might encourage our awesome writers to take part. According to the official website, “NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.” If you’ve been thinking about writing your novel, here are the top seven reasons why you should join in: Read more ›
Posted in Fun Stuff
Onward(s) and Upward(s): Unnecessary Letters
Keep it ssshort and sssweet: Don’t add an extra S, or any other letter, where it sssshouldn’t be!
Photo by =>Clement<= (Flickr)
Usually, when you’re considering the spelling of a word, there’s a right spelling and a wrong spelling, plain and simple. But sometimes, a word can have more than one spelling that’s technically correct, much like a word can have more than one pronunciation (such as “read,” for example). A secondary spelling of a word isn’t necessarily always wrong: It’s just less right, less common — and therefore less likely to look correct to the reader. Here are a few examples we’ve spotted in freelance writing pieces: Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
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