I hate them! I am going through my novel and highlighting all of them. Of course, not all are bad all of the time, but I think they are a good indicator of where a sentence can be improved. Ing, with, still, again, had been, began to, was, etc. Lots of words that can be …
Word Peevs: we all have them!
Often times:  Why don't you just say 'often'? Begs the question: 95% of the time you mean 'raises the question.' Familiar pronounced as Fur-miliar: Unless you are talking about your cat... The problem is, is...: The thing is, is this is really annoying for me. The question is, is this annoying to anyone else? Don't get …
The end of words
What, if anything, would replace the written word? Perhaps telepathy--some form of direct mental communication. Or possibly, in a world where society has collapsed, it would be replaced with nothing. Maybe words will be upgraded to include more information. Maybe words could be invented that described such unique events and feelings that you could put …
To contract or not contract
What makes a writer decide not to use contractions? Especially in a story written in first person, they seem like a natural choice to make it sound more like a person speaking. In Borne, the narrator doesn't contract. Saying 'could not' and 'can not' and 'did not' etc, isn't exactly distracting, but I notice it …
Short sentences
After finishing 'several short sentences about writing' , as I mentioned earlier. I'm still thinking about it, and considering reading it again already. I have a lot to learn about writing. For one, my sentences tend to be too long and meandering. I need to do away with 'with' and 'as' where I can. Be …
Jonas David 