One thing editors frequently get after writers about is the use of active vs. passive voice. Everyone faces this critique at times: “Make this sentence more active, will you? It should be snappier,” or “Passive voice bogs down the narrative.” But what exactly is passive voice, and how should you avoid it? First, let’s clear up a…
Should we consider linguistics and English composition when creating dialogue in fiction? How does syntax function within fiction and set a genre apart? In How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction, Adams and Curzan state that we use “intuition” (169) to decipher the meanings of sentences and determine whether a sentence is structured correctly. For example, two…
Just last night I was sitting on the couch reading through a printed-out manuscript with a mug of tea when my elderly lab hopped onto the couch and laid her head in my lap. I managed to juggle the mug, Kindle, and dog long enough to push her off and settle back against the overstuffed…