Jade Varden Official Blog

It happens to the best of us, and no matter how we try to avoid them they still have a way of sneaking up on us. They're called homonyms, and they are the scourge of the English language. But if you think you can get through an entire book without getting wrapped up in them, you're wrong. Today, we're going to discuss a dastardly pair that's sure to strike even the most brilliant grammarians: affect and effect. Yes, they are evil. But don't worry; I know how to defeat them. Affect vs. Effect If you use the word effect improperly, it's definitely going to affect your work. To be honest, there are plenty of readers who plain won't notice the difference...but there are those who will. In the interest of perfection (isn't that what we're all chasing?), it's important to know exactly why affect and effect are totally different words, even though only one vowel separates them. I'm willing to come clean: I still have to look up the diff...

There's a word that many writer overuse, and that's that . Every time that they should be using who to describe a human, I find that they're using that instead. Instead of which , we get that -- and that's a real problem that needs fixing. That Which Makes Us Look Bad Make a copy of your book document, and store it in a different file. Now, access the "Find and Replace" function and replace every single occurrence of the word that with * instead. Now, read your book in that new file. If you're like many indie writers, you'll find that most of the times you use the word that , it's totally unnecessary. Not just unnecessary -- it makes your book clunky and in some cases comes across as very poor writing. You'll notice that I've stressed every single occurrence of the word that in this post, and you'll also notice that I've added many unnecessary uses of the word. But I find that I'm full of examples to...

Without quotations, you can't have dialogue. It seems simple enough -- every time a character speaks, just wrap quotation marks around every word they say. But where do the commas go? How should the periods be placed? There's nothing simple about using quotations in a story, because you've always got to add extra punctuation along with them. Are you doing it the right way? The US vs. The UK There are different styles of using quotation marks around the world, and therein lies the confusion. But on either side of the Atlantic, there are specific rules to follow -- and I love having specific rules to follow. Always embrace the rules of writing, because they're your friend.

The publishing industry is a traditional world institution, and it's an open secret that book sellers and literary agents are looking for certain qualities in the authors and books they choose to support. Many writers turn to self-publishing to avoid all those rejection letters and bad feelings, and some indies who have thumbed their noses at the traditional publishers are laughing all the way to the bank. But if you think that self-publishing is going to save you from getting rejected, you're wrong. Rejection Letters As an indie writer who self-publishes, you aren't going to be receiving those rejection letters and emails anymore. However, you're exposing yourself to something that hurts just as much: public reader reviews. If you thought those form letters were bad, you haven't seen anything yet. Reader Reviews Indie writers still get rejected, and frequently, by the general reading public. It takes very little effort to access a link, click a button an...

No, it's not a typo -- parentheses is the plural of parenthesis. The first rule of using them is that there should always, always be two, but thanks to their natural shape it shouldn't be too hard to keep track of that. The rest of the rules of using parentheses may not be so easy to remember.   When Are They Used?   The parenthesis doesn't appear a whole lot in fiction writing, but it can be an effective tool when it's added rarely. In fiction, parentheses most often indicate an aside, or an extra bit of information, that the author is giving to the reader or reminding the reader about. In most all situations, parentheses won't appear inside dialogue. When they do appear in dialogue, parentheses usually denote something that has not been spoken aloud by the speaker; rather, they are used to express the speaker's thoughts or provide some extra information. Using parentheses inside dialogue is very rare, and shouldn't be added just for the heck of...

I do a lot of writing about prose, but many writers who write it have also tried their hand at poetry at some point -- including me. So if you've ever scribbled a sonnet, composed an ode or created a song (or wanted to), this post's for you. Are There Rules in Poetry? Anyone who's ever read Lewis Carroll may think that poetry is a genre that knows no rules, but this isn't actually the case. Depending on the type of poem you're writing, there are specific and distinct rules you're required to follow. For example, a sonnet almost always has 14 lines of text and a very specific rhyming pattern. If you're writing a traditional English sonnet, Shakespearean fashion, it must have 14 lines and it must be written in iambic pentameter. In the iambic pentameter style of poetry, an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable; the pattern is repeated five times. If it sounds complicated, that's because it is. Sonnets are celebrated because they...

 "The plot twists completely caught me off guard...and I LOVED IT!" Read the full review from Erin, Bookluvrs blogger.

Electronic books could become the norm in a few short years. More and more people own ereaders, and the traditional publishing industry is paying serious attention. But the world is full of purists, too, and really nothing can compare to the solid weight of a book in hand and the joy of flipping another page. Cast a wider net, and reach more readers, by putting your book in print. Turning an eBook into a Print Book Even in self-publishing, it's possible to create a print version of your book with a full-color cover, interesting blurb and an actual bar code. The best part: you can do it without spending money.