grammar Archives - Speakipedia

Speakipedia Podcast #33: Lucille Ossai

juan — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 05:13:11 +0000

Transcript: Dave Bricker (00:02) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories from … More ☛

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Speakipedia Podcast 30: Patricia Fripp

juan — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 16:42:53 +0000

Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛

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The Singular They is Now Officially Correct

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:18 +0000

Find your favorite writer and give them this message: They no longer have to mire their writing down with awkward “his or her” and “he or she” and “he/she” usages. According to The Washington Post, the singular they/them has been … More ☛

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Publishing Advice – Practices & Principles

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:17 +0000

The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it valuable and encouraging, even if it changes your expectations. I’ve written and published 12 books. I’ve guided many remarkable people … More ☛

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Self-Publishing Scams: Keep the “Self” in Self-Publishing

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:13 +0000

Here’s an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of hours working on a book, fail to conduct a few critical hours of research that will save them thousands of … More ☛

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Tabs, Indents, and Margins: How to use the Tab Ruler

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:12 +0000

This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split ruler and tab functions opens up a world of formatting opportunities. Digital typesetting and word processing inherited a number of … More ☛

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English Pet Peeves

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:11 +0000

Discussions of English Language pet peeves provide an entertaining forum for the expression of ire. In fact, if a “pet” is something we cherish, and a “peeve” is something that annoys us, “pet peeves” are what we love to hate. … More ☛

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Commatose: the Oxford Comma, or Serial Comma

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:11 +0000

The Oxford comma, or serial comma is a subject of constant debate among writers. Do we need that comma before the last item on a list? Even without a list, the comma is an important determiner of meaning. Time to … More ☛

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Encouragement for Those On The Path to Better Writing

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:10 +0000

So many writers get discouraged. This stinks. I quit. Others are overconfident. They’ve always had “a gift for words” so they fail to submit their prose to an editor’s scrutiny. I recently shared an email exchange with an editing client … More ☛

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The Grammar of Book Design

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:07 +0000

Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound “right” the same thing that makes an image “pop” or a jazz solo “burn?” The similarities are noteworthy but the differences are important. Just as the best of writers … More ☛

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Writing is Design: Avoid Bland Pronouns and Boring Verbs

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:06 +0000

As a graphic designer, I see numerous parallels between the values that create engaging imagery and the values that create engaging prose. So many designs fail because the designer arranged elements on a page without questioning their purpose, hierarchy, or … More ☛

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Writing is Design: Eliminate THAT Fat From Your Writing

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:06 +0000

The word “that” is often abused. “That” is a perfectly useful pronoun but it’s often the useless fat that slows down an otherwise good sentence. I think that you and I need to talk. I told my readers that I … More ☛

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Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 2

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:05 +0000

Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued “professional” covers taken from Amazon’s Editor’s choice list. Read that article first as it provides background for this one. The article looked at design elements that worked … More ☛

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What’s a Professional Editor Worth?

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:12:03 +0000

What do you think a professional editor’s pay scale should be? Assume that a proofreader would be at the bottom of the scale and a developmental/line editor would be at the top. An examination of the work editors perform sheds … More ☛

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Why You Need a Professional Editor

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:11:59 +0000

After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a professional editor and learned something important about self-publishing. No matter how capable you are as a writer and proofreader, you … More ☛

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Proposed Standards for Book Typography

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:11:59 +0000

The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes, hyphens, initials, etc. Writers who do their own typesetting often produce mediocre results. Likewise, trade publishers sacrifice typographic aesthetics when … More ☛

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Book Design Basics: Small Capitals – Avoiding Capital Offenses

Dave Bricker — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:11:52 +0000

Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in grammar school. We all know every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. We all should … More ☛

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Speechwriting: Who and That

Dave Bricker — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 19:15:32 +0000

A common mistake is to confuse “who” and “that” —another common misuse of the word “that.” She’s the girl that loves me. My boss is the only one that cares about the late project. I’m looking for the man that … More ☛

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Speechwriting: Cut THAT Fat

Dave Bricker — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 19:09:21 +0000

“That” is often useless fat that slows down an otherwise elegant sentence. Fortunately, misuse of “that” is one of the easiest writing patterns to find and evaluate. I think that you and I need to talk. I told my … More ☛

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Jazz and the Dangerous Magic of Creative Flow

Dave Bricker — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 14:01:49 +0000

Perhaps you’ve experienced flow writing. You sit down, watch your fingers tap away at the keyboard, and wonder, Where did that come from? Did I write that? That’s really good! Sometimes the experience of flow can be as simple and … More ☛

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How Good is AI at Writing Stories?

Dave Bricker — Tue, 30 May 2023 14:05:00 +0000

AI Storytelling – Is it any good? I entered a simple prompt into ChatGPT. Yes, I could have been more specific about what I wanted—better prompts make for better output from the AI—but my intention was to analyze the … More ☛

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Sound Advice for Writers & Publishers

Dave Bricker — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 15:00:26 +0000

The following advice on writing and publishing is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it valuable and encouraging, even if it changes your expectations. I’ve written and published twelve books, and I’m … More ☛

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Storytelling and The Avant Garde

Dave Bricker — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:00:29 +0000

An accomplished jazz musician, educator, and friend pointed out that too many virtuosic young players blow a lot of noisy notes with fire and conviction, ignore the structure of the music, and brand themselves as “avant garde.” To his ears, … More ☛

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