Ellipses are such handy little guys, but sadly very misunderstood. Some common issues I see: Question: What’s the difference between an ellipsis and ellipses?Answer: This is the easy one–ellipses is plural, ellipsis is singular 🙂 Q: How the heck do you make an ellipsis, anyway?A: The correct answer (see below, and it’s important) is that […]
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On Style Guides and Dictionaries
Today’s “Grammar Bite” is going to be more of a meal, so I hope you’ll forgive me, but this topic is pretty important and there’s not a short answer here, so grab a drink and then we’ll dive in. It’s not uncommon for friends who don’t write or edit to ask me how I decide […]
Read More »Passive Voice and the Word Was
I had a friend email me a sample edit today that she’d gotten from another editor. She was a bit confused because the editor had flagged every instance of the word “was” as “passive voice.” I actually run across this from time to time, so I thought I’d post here. If you already know this, […]
Read More »The Ellipsis
Ah, the ellipsis. The ellipsis can be a bit of a pain, but once mastered, it’s a great tool. For the purpose of this post, I’m only talking about using the ellipsis in fiction, not as it is applied to journalism, nonfiction, or academic texts. First, what are ellipses used for? They are used to […]
Read More »Should You Put a Comma after Introductory Words Such As Now, Today, etc.?
It depends! Wait–not what you wanted to hear? Sorry. Okay, let me try to break it down 🙂 If you have an introductory word (or two) that is being used as an adverb (usually answers the question of when, where, why, or to what degree), then no comma. If it’s being used as a conjunction, […]
Read More »Phone Convos
Phone conversations where you show both sides of the conversation are fairly easy—you just handle them like regular dialog for the most part. But what about one-sided convos? A convention I really like is to use an ellipsis to indicate the unheard speaker’s dialog. For example: “Hey, girl! It’s Anne. … Nothing much, what are […]
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