How to Write Multiple Points of View
When you’re starting a new story, determining POV is a very important choice. Writing from multiple POVs can be frustrating and confusing for readers if it’s not handled well, so you need to have a...
View ArticleThe Geek Writer: Using Technology to Plan Your Novel
If you’re old enough, you remember the days of pen and paper writing, or dragging out the typewriter or word processor to write your novel. Planning your novel typically involved a notebook (or ten) to...
View ArticleWhat are the 25 ProWritingAid Reports?
ProWritingAid analyzes your writing and presents its findings in 25 different reports. Each user will have their own writing strengths and weaknesses and so different reports will appeal to different...
View ArticleWhat is a Subordinate Clause
Firstly, a clause is a group of words that contain both a subject and a verb like: She ran to answer the phone.A subordinate clause depends on a main clause to form a complete sentence or thought like:...
View ArticleHow to Create Striking Similes
Similes can be found in all types of writing, from journalism to fiction to advertising. They’re creative ways to bring more attention and clarity to your meaning than straight narrative.If you want to...
View ArticleGetting Started with ProWritingAid's MS Word Add-in
If you haven’t used a Word add-in before, it’s very simple. You just need to download a small bit of software, which will then be automatically added to your menu in Word. Click here and then click the...
View Article5 Everyday PDF Tips for Writers
Using PDF files can be beneficial in more ways than you can imagine. It’s been more than 20 years since the creation of this file format they’ve always had a special place in the world of writing and...
View ArticleHow to Write Dialogue in a Narrative Paragraph
The Chicago Manual of Style, putting dialogue in the middle of paragraphs depends on the context. As in the above example, if the dialogue is a natural continuation of the sentences that come before,...
View ArticleWhen Do I Need to Hyphenate?
Depending on who you subscribe to, you may hear some very different ideas concerning when and how to hyphenate. We’re here to set the record straight: When in doubt, look it up.Yep. This is the one...
View Article8 Ways to Make Your Story Boring
It’s the fear of every writer: writing a story your reader CAN put down. No writer wants to think their story is boring, but sometimes it is. Fortunately, there are only a few reasons stories are...
View ArticleCreate Compelling & Evocative Scenes
Scenes are the rising and falling action, and the soft moments in between, that move your story forward. They have a couple of basic purposes:They establish time and place. They give the reader a...
View ArticleThe Geek Writer: Using Technology to Self-Publish Your Novel
After a painstaking process of planning, writing, and editing your work, it’s time to consider publishing it. For most writers, this is the most exciting and fear-inspiring task (possibly a greater...
View ArticleWhere We Write … ilys
I’d heard about ilys, this amazing online program that lets you only see one letter at a time of the words you’re typing. You can’t see what you’ve already said, which helps you focus instead on what...
View ArticleInfographic: What are Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms?
Check out this great infographic to understand the difference between a homophone, a homograph and a homonym.
View ArticleAre Your Adjectives Powerful?
An adjective is a word that names an attribute of a noun. Some are strong and paint clear, specific pictures of the thing they are describing. Some are weak and vague and don’t tell us much. Let’s...
View ArticleWhere We Write…The Novel Factory
We continue our Where We Write... series with a look at The Novel Factory, a writing app that will appeal to all the planners out there. The app walks you through 16 highly-detailed steps that...
View ArticleHow to Self-Publish Your Book: Advice from Iain Rob Wright
Did you know that a large portion of ProWritingAid users are professional writers? Some are published authors, some run high-traffic blogs, others run successful content generation companies. We love...
View Article3 Crucial Social Media Tricks Most Writers Ignore
Web-based promotion has become just as important for writers as producing content. You can write the most suspenseful novel, the most scathing political blog, or the most comprehensive report, but...
View ArticleHow Not to Write a Novel
Here at ProWritingAid we spend a lot of time looking at the things you should be doing to get your novel done. But what about the things you SHOULDN'T be doing? In this essential post, Kathy Edens...
View ArticleDELETE ME: What is a Cliché Anyway? And Why Should You Avoid Them?
A cliché is a tired, stale phrase or idiom that, because of overuse, has lost its impact. What was once a fresh way of looking at something has become a weak prop for writing that feels unimaginative...
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