This is post about something you have probably seen many times in books but don’t know the name of (at least I didn’t know it until recently.) A dinkus is a break in the writing and is usually made with three stars, like this: * * * How to Use a Dinkus A dinkus is…
Category: Writing
Writing Corner: Editing
There is a lot you could say about editing, but I’m not going to try to say it all here. In general, editing is the process of making a piece of writing better. It’s a bit like if you have a rough diamond you just dug out of the ground. If you want to sell…
Writing Corner: Writing Programs
There are many ways to write, including with a pen and paper, or by carving words into a stone wall. However, I’m guessing that when you write, you probably usually use a computer. And on a computer, there is no end to different applications you can use to write. I’m going to look at three…
Writing Corner: The Public Domain
What is the Public Domain? When someone publishes a story, they usually keep the copyright to that story. That means that they are the only one who can sell that story or write other stories with the same characters or setting. For example, as much as you might want to, you cannot publish a story…
Writing Corner: Fantasy Names
Let’s say you are writing a story in a made-up world. The good news is that you can create the world however you’d like. Here is more discussion about that. However, now you have a lot of names to create, both for characters and places. How do you do that? We’re going to look at…
Writing Corner: Quality vs. Quantity
One piece of writing advice you will hear a lot is to write every day. This makes sense since, like any skill, you need to practice to get better. You become a good swimmer by swimming, not by thinking about swimming. However, what should you be writing? Should you write a lot of new stories…
Writing Corner: Ellipses
Ellipses When you see three dots together (like this: …), this is called an ellipsis. Because of English’s entertaining grammar rules, the plural of ellipsis is ellipses (just like other words that come from Greek and end in -is). Whenever you see this, it means that something is missing. You usually see these in non-fiction,…
Writing Corner: Story Series
Story Series There are times when you might write a story and realize that there is no way to contain the whole story in the amount of space you have. In that situation, there are several things you can do: Cut the story down to make it fit. This would mean either taking out some…
Writing Corner: The Magic of Language
The Magic of Language There is a certain kind of magic around language that we don’t realize very often since it is so much a part of our lives. On one hand, language is a way to transmit all the deep things inside of you to other people. There is nothing else that can do…
Writing Corner: Efficient Writing
Efficient Writing One great thing about writing is that it is free. You might need a computer or at least paper and a pen, but after that, you are free to write literally anything you want and as much as you want. However, that is not true if you want people to actually read your…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 