Common Problems (Part 26 of 50)

Write biblical references correctly. At the end of the quotation, insert a parenthesis, the reference, translation, and close the parenthesis. Some publishers put a comma between the reference and the translation.

* "The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing" (Psalm 23:1 CEB). (Lord appears in small caps. You can find the icon on your tool bar under Tools/customize/commands.)

* "When God began to create the heavens and the earth—" (Genesis 1:1 CEB).

Above I wrote biblical without a capital letter. This is also true with godly because they are used as adjectives and not as nouns. 

I write biblical references correctly.

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Common Problems (Part 25 of 50)

Don't be afraid of contractions. Otherwise, the writing sounds stilted. Write the way people talk.

* Could you not have spared me this disgrace?

* He was not surprised. It was not my first arrest.

* The sailors on that ship did not believe in the God of the Jews.

If you're writing an academic paper, don't use contractions. If you write dialog and want to show a formal, stuffy individual, don't use contractions.

We write for the general public 

and we keep our language informal.

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Common Problems (Part 24 of 50)

Use inclusive language. (Man no longer means humanity. Be sensitive to the role of women.) 

* The first generation of man. . .

* Manning [staffing] the helm as we crossed a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. . .

* A family of Orientals [Asians] lives across the street from us.

We no longer use ethnic slurs, so let's be consistent. (We used to write racial slurs.)

Because we are sensitive writers,

we avoid offending individuals.

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Common Problems (Part 23 of 50)

Who speaks is usually less important than what the person says, especially if there are only two people present. 

• Paps began. “At the beginning of time, when the Great One created all that. . ."
• Rose asked, "Why are you here?"

Neither of the above is wrong, but it would be better to place the emphasis on what the speaker says by putting the quote first. We often don't need to designate the speaker each time. Once we know that two people are involved, we could add beats instead of speaker's names. Or, as you see below, we know the identity of the second speaker.

      Suppose Hubert comes to Rose's door.

      "Why are you here?" Rose asked.

      "I've missed you," Hubert said. "Every day."

      "You expect me to believe that?" She started to close the door.

      "Just listen to me. Please."

When I write dialog, I ask myself,

"What is the most important to emphasize?"

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Common Problems (Part 22 of 50)

Watch your use of toward/towards and backward/backwards. With the "s" is British; American is without the "s." 

• She limped towards her bedroom door.
• I remember only one occasion when I showed anger towards a friend.
• Count backwards from ten before you speak.

This isn't what I call a serious error, but it's one of those little things that serious, skilled writers try to avoid.

In the same way is the spelling of words such as gray. The Brits use grey and Americans write gray (unless it's a surname). Except in older poems and hymns, we don't read Saviour, although they still do in the UK.

Even small things are important 

if I want to become an excellent writer.

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Common Problems (Part 21 of 50)

 Identify it in your sentences.  Writers get so caught up in their writing they don't always make it clear to readers.

·         A train whistle blows as it rocks past and I look up. (Grammatically, it is the whistle that rocks.)

·         Good health begins with daily exercise. Watch for the ways it will change you. (What will change you? health or exercise?)

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Common Problems (Part 20 of 50)

 Use italics for the titles of books, movies, TV programs, and magazines.

• "Gone With the Wind" served as the theme for those five weekends.
• In the movie, "The Dark Knight. . ."
• Growing up, my favorite TV series was "Eight Is Enough."

All three are incorrect. It's Gone With the Wind. In pre-computer days, we underlined because typewriters wouldn't make italics. Editors understood the underlinings.

When we refer to chapters, poems, segments of a TV series, we use quotation marks.

My favorite poem is "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe.

            Weekends with Larry aired a piece called, "Five Good Movies to Watch."

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Cec's new book, Unleash the Writer Within, is now available.