Media Is or Media Are? Data has been around for a long time. It was taken from Latin, but has been used in the English language for almost 400 years. Since it’s a Latin word, data is the plural, and datum is the singular, and it has been used that way for a long time,…
Idioms and Horse Racing Idiomatic expressions are a part of everyday life. You hear and see them almost everywhere, but how many of them have mysterious origins. Do you know about the idioms and where they come from? How about beat a dead horse or wins by a nose? Quite a few sayings — popular…
If and Whether Should I use if or should I use whether? The question has been pondered by careful writers for years. The traditional advice has always been to use if when you have a conditional sentence and whether when you have two alternatives. There are lots of times when the words are interchangeable though….
When to Use Into or In Using in or into is easy to master. When you use the word in, position is indicated. His pen was in his shirt pocket. Into, however, points to movement—of something or someone. He put the thermos into his briefcase. Here are a few example sentences of when to use…
One of the many questions that pops up in writing groups is which apps are the best for writing. I did a comparison of pure writing apps here, but there is more to writing than just writing. What? What else is there? Plenty Besides writing, there are apps that help you write, apps that help you organize, and apps that help…
Do You Need an Editor? Writing a book is easy. Writing a good book is much more difficult. And no matter how good a story you tell, in order for it to be made into a good book, it needs to be edited, and not self-edited. I have seen a few people who were able…
Dilemma or Catch-22 What is a dilemma? Dilemma is one of the rare words that is so specific that it denotes the precise meaning — at least the original definition does. Let’s take a look. Many of the dictionaries did a good job of defining the true meaning of this, and most without waffling. Vocabulary.com…
Writing Clearly I wrote before about writing plainly or writing clearly, but it was not much more than a brief intro. It’s time we looked a little harder at the issue. Two-dollar words do nothing to clarify communication, but their use is a major factor in muddying the waters (making things less clear). But this…
How to Write Plainly Not too long ago, writing was the primary means of communicating so writing plainly was more than just important, it was imperitave. People sent letters to family, friends, lovers, and others. Writing was also used to conduct business, from initial introductions to finalizing a deal. How to write plainly was taught…
How to Write Good Dialogue All writers know that writing good dialogue is one of the factors to a good book, but how to write good dialogue is interpreted differently by different people. Dialogue is also written differently depending on the writer. Some writers use stilted, formal language, and some use a lot of slang…