Author Archives: Annette Rey

What is Punctuation?

A Few Thoughts on a Big Subject

By Annette Rey

Punctuation – what is it? It is the marks on paper or screen that represent what our physical bodies would be doing at the time we would be saying the words verbally. What do I mean by that? Well, for instance, I can write “She sang the song.” Or “She sang the song!” Or “She sang the song.” Or “She sang the song.” Or “She sang the song.” Or “She sang The Song.” Verbally, I would put inflected sounds of my voice on the italicized words. Additionally, I might use hand gestures, grimaces (if the singing was poor), lifted eyebrows, jumping up and down if enthused, and clapping my hands! All of these movements and inflections would punctuate my verbal story to you.

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How to Avoid Embarrassing Errors

All of Us Make Them

By Annette Rey

You hate it when it happens. You pressed send and later find out there are errors in your submission.

How could that happen when you took all the protective steps of proofreading and editing?

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The Search for Words

When You Cannot Remember the Word (Lethologica)

By Annette Rey

When you are writing, it seems inevitable, interruptions occur that waylay your train of thought; the jangling of the telephone, the doorbell rings, a family member talks to you. That’s bad enough.

What about the pauses in your writing when you can’t remember the right word you know should go right in that spot in your sentence? You’re on a roll and your fingers are moving deftly, except for that!

I have two very good tools to help shorten that unwanted pause, and to get your mind back on writing.

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Ten Reasons Why Writers Need The Great Courses on Writing

Include These Lessons in Your Writer’s Library

By Annette Rey

Would you like your writing to flow? If it doesn’t, you could use some help. All of us have developed bad habits over the years where it concerns our writing. Whether you are a new writer or have been at it a long time, you can improve your knowledge of the rules of writing, and how to use the English language.

Take a look with me at what The Great Courses has to offer.

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Wonderful Words – Elegant and Eloquent

Writers Love Words

By Annette Rey

Believe it or not, elegant and eloquent can be incorrectly used. They are similar in sound, each have three syllables, they both start with e and both end in t. I sympathize with people trying to learn English. Though these words have a completely different meaning, to the untrained ear, the delicate nuance between them can be missed. The sad thing I find, some whose primary language is English misuse these words.

Here is a simple reminder.

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A Reference Book Suggestion

A Useful Tool

By Annette Rey

A book I support for writers and for just any person who wants to increase their vocabulary is: The Penquin Rhyming Dictionary. On first glance, a person who is not a poet might think this book has no use for them. But this is a great source for expanding your knowledge of words.

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Helpful Reference Books for Writers

Who’s (oops) Whose Grammar Book Is This Anyway? by C. Edward Good

The Big Ten of Grammar by William B. Bradshaw, PhD

Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White

The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing by Thomas S. Kane

Punctuation, Plain and Simple by Edgar C. Alward and Jean A. Alward

Prentice Hall Reference Guide by Muriel Harris

Getting the Words Right, How to Rewrite, Edit, and Revise by Theodore A. Rees Cheney

 

Writing for Valentines

The Love Month

By Annette Rey

Writers, what’s not to love, right? February 14th – roses, flowers, candlelight, romantic dinners. Or is all of that passé?

Creative brains may find blood among the roses, corpse flowers are the plant of choice, a fire is set in an attempt to conceal a murder, poison is in the soup. Well, maybe. Many crimes are committed for love, from the killer’s point of view.

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Writers, Be Specific in Word Choice

A Short Exercise

By Annette Rey

Make your sentences more interesting by choosing defining words. Detail particular traits. Specificity is better than vagueness.

Compare:

The car careened down the mountain pass.

The battered Volvo careened down the rocky mountain pass.

Compare:

The house was surrounded by woods.

Becky’s cozy, vine-covered cottage, nestled among old-growth firs, welcomed the returning airman.

Compare:

Dogs chased the rabbit to ground.

The cottontail narrowly eluded a pack of howling beagles by dashing into her burrow.

Or:

Three rowdy beagles relentlessly pursued a zig-zagging cottontail and lost her in the thick underbrush.

Replace a general word with an unambiguous one.

Examples:

Generic term                 Explicit replacement

restaurant                     Italian eatery, greasy-spoon diner

dog                                 blue-eyed Malamute, formidable Doberman

building                         glass skyscraper, L-shaped ranch house, Celtic castle

library                          personal leather-bound collection, tattered paperbacks

detective                       veteran sergeant, cynical sleuth

You can see the benefit of replacing bland words with descriptive terms that beef up your sentences and put your readers in the mood you want to immerse them.

Now, you try a few words. Visualize the noun. Make those simple nouns more complex, reflect the characteristics of the item in question.

hairstyle

bedding

river

suit

subdivision

gun

airplane

jewelry box

bouquet

The next time you sit down to write, remind yourself to elaborate on the general words you use in a sentence. Your readers will be more entertained and satisfied with your writing style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Dozen Reasons Why Writers Need to “Carry That Camera!”

The Camera, A Compulsory Tool

By Annette Rey

Do you need to add dimension to your writing? Is your writing lacking color? Do you feel it needs enrichment? Is your brain a little blank when you are searching for the right word to describe something? Do you have copyright fears about using internet pictures?

Can such a simple solution as carrying (and using) a camera really be the answer to resolve some of your concerns? Follow through on the dozen reasons below. You won’t be sorry you did.

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