Author: emtwytte

November 14, 2017

The English Building Block Most Kids Are Missing

When you’re trying to teach kids higher English skills, it can be really frustrating when they are fundamental skills they simply don’t have. In my experience, the English building block most kids are missing is an understanding of clauses. The Clause: English Building Block & Gamechanger Defining Characteristics of Clauses Since this is a blog for writers, I’m assuming that...

Categories Grammar & Editing Comments: 2

November 9, 2017

How Are Soldiers and Veterans Treated in Your Story?

If your story includes a war or other military conflict, then, there is one question that absolutely needs answered when you worldbuild: how are soldiers and veterans treated in your story? Society’s Attitude Towards Soldiers and Veterans With Veteran’s Day coming up quickly, I’ve found myself thinking about different examples of how soldiers and veterans are treated in books and...

Categories Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0

November 7, 2017

Characteristics of Curse Words

Curse words are useful tools for characterization and worldbuilding. Rather than picking or making up curse words at random, however, I find it useful to consider the characteristics of curse words first. What Curse Words Have in Common There are two basic types of curse words: the funny ones that are more socially acceptable and the ones that are more...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Humor & Wordplay Comments: 0

November 2, 2017

Should I Review Bad Movies or Books?

It’s an honest question: should I review bad movies or books? I don’t have an answer. Really, I have a couple of stumbling blocks related to, but they don’t seem to bother anyone else. So how about I tell you why I hesitate, and you tell me if you think I should or not – fair deal? Why I’m Not...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates Comment: 1

October 31, 2017

Horror or Humor? A Writing Prompt

Tis the season to be scary, so why are so many “horror” movies funny instead? What is the boundary? What makes a story horror or humor? Explore the answer with this hilariously scary writing prompt. Are You Writing Horror or Humor? Interestingly, what determines whether a story is funny or scary is less the topic and more how the topic...

Categories Challenging Exercises/Holiday & Seasonal/Humor & Wordplay/Writing Prompts Comments: 0

October 26, 2017

Up With Which I Will Not Put: Not a Winston Churchill Quote

Nope. “This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put,” is not a Winston Churchill quote according to quote investigator. We have been mislead yet again by the internet (well, it actually started with newspapers and such). On the other hand, it’s an excellent example of why I’m not a big fan of trying to...

Categories Grammar & Editing/Humor & Wordplay/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

October 24, 2017

Learning Direct and Indirect Objects from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If you haven’t read, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I highly recommend it – it’s a great children’s book. It’s also a useful tool to begin learning direct and indirect objects. How to Use Direct Objects and Indirect Objects First, I’d like to break down an action into two parts: cause and effect. The cause would be the...

Categories Grammar & Editing Comments: 0

October 19, 2017

Writing Fall: It’s More Than a Season

When building a world, we need to sprinkle in aspects of our world as well as new creations from reimagining our world. That includes seasons, and since Fall has finally arrived, it’s the perfect time to discuss why writing fall isn’t only leaves and cold breezes – it’s more than a season. Worldbuilding Fall What do I mean by “it’s...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0

October 17, 2017

Quotes about Luck Writers Should Remember

Ideas like “bad luck” and “good luck” are prevalent in every culture. As a writer, you control what type of luck your characters get (Muahahahahaha!), and taking that into account can add realism to your story as well as inspire interesting plot twists. That said, here are 6 quotes about luck writers should remember (or at least try out as...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

October 13, 2017

How to Recognize Logical Fallacies by Type

With all the ridiculous reasoning being thrown around the news, internet, and more, I’m constantly reminded that people don’t recognize logical fallacies. With each reminder, I’d start thinking, maybe, if more people knew how to recognize logical fallacies (& resist), there’d be less bad reasoning in the world. So I thought I’d write an article about a handful of extremely...

Categories Grammar & Editing/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 0