Posts tagged fiction writing
Alliteration - Fun or Sin?
Alliteration - Fun or Sin?

The sin of using ‘alliteration’ came up in conversation recently and afterwards, although I nodded knowingly at the time, I decided to brush up on my understanding of it. I’ve changed my mind since looking into this more - alliteration is not a sin it is fun!

Alliteration is a useful poetic device in which certain letters are repeated at the beginning of words in a sentence or phrase. It may be used to draw attention to certain phrases and can provide rhythm and musicality.

Alliteration can be found in literature and pop culture alike, from famous speeches to cartoon character names (see the link below).

The classic example is of course - ‘she sells seashells by the seashore’ - you will think of many more once you start - all tongue twisters (did you spot that one) are examples of alliteration. There is some mighty fine poetry littered with them to.

Have some fun making up your own. Keep an eye out for them turning up somewhere in my short word stories - wended wickedly into winning tales of wishes well wound.

Writing HintsAnne Bignellfiction writing, writing structureComment
Who or Whom?
Who or Whom?

Some say that ‘whom’ is going out of fashion and that you should not bother about it at all. This sounds too easy don’t you think? So, in the meantime …

If you could replace the word in question with he/she/they/I - it’s who.

If you’d say him/her/them/me - it’s whom.

It seems to be working for me but I’m sure that like all good rules there will be an exception that will cause me grief.

Anne Bignellwriting habit, 10minutenovelists, fiction writing, punctuation, writing, blogs, change habitComment
Doing Dialogue Punctuation
Doing Dialogue Punctuation

Writing dialogue takes practice. Content is one thing, punctuation is another.

A lifetime of formulating reports and briefings did not prepare me for this aspect of fiction writing at all.

We are told that dialogue done well, particularly with the punctuation correct, is seamless and goes unnoticed by the reader. Too true. I do not have any idea how my favourite written dialogue passages are punctuated.

There is plenty of sage advice on how to write good, engaging and compelling dialogue; but it is near to useless if you have not got the punctuation under control!

Anne Bignell10minutenovelists, dialogue, punctuation, writing, fiction writing Comment