Melanie Spiller and Coloratura Consulting
Copyright 2020 Melanie Spiller. All rights reserved.
Articles About Writing
Melanie Spiller and Coloratura Consulting
General Advice
Blogging Copyright and Plagiarism Editorial Pet Peeves, Part 1 Editorial Pet Peeves, Part 2 The First Horrible Sentence Awards Losing Vision and Finding It Again Reading Critically
Seven Simple Things
Style Sheets
Term Papers Versus Writing for Publication
A Time and a Place to Write
Useful Resource Books
What Difference It Makes
The Writing Factory
Preparing to Write
Analyzing Good Writing, Part 1 Analyzing Good Writing, Part 2 Anatomy of a Paragraph Doing Research Lessons from Hemingway From Magazine Articles to Book Chapters Organizing Principles
Outlining
A Plan to Write
Writer’s Block
Write What You Know
Writing First Paragraphs, Part 1
Writing First Paragraphs, Part 2
Writing Conclusions
Punctuation
Apostrophe Apostacy Colons, Semicolons, and Em Dashes Comma Comments, Part 1 Comma Comments, Part 2 Exclamation Points and Question MarksGrammar
Adjective Agitation An Article on Articles Conjunctions Gerund Gymnastics Home for an Adverb Me, Myself, and I Misused and Abused Adverbs Participle Particulars, Part 1 Participle Particulars, Part 2 Passice Voice
Preposition Proposition
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses
Roadmap to a Sentence
The Sentence Rules, Part 1
The Sentence Rules, Part 2
Subjunctive Renaissance
Verbs
Verb Traffic Control
Who Versus Whom
Word Choices
Bewildering Words Emphasis Expanding Your Vocabulary Favorite Word Syndrome Gender-Free Language Gratuitous LatinThe Publishing Industy
An Editor’s Job Choosing a Publisher, Part 1 Choosing a Publisher, Part 2 Collaborating The Editorial Process Editorial Passes Flavors of Editors
Getting Started as a Technical Writer
Marketing
Presentation Slides and Handouts
When the Project is Right for You
Royalties and Advances
Writing Samples
Critique Groups
Reading Critically Writing Groups: Finding a Group Writing Groups: Preparing for the Meeting Writing Groups: What They AreFiction Writing
Basics
Building Character, Part 1 Building Character, Part 2 Building Character, Part 3 Heading Toward the Final Words Plot Versus Character, Part 1 Plot Versus Character, Part 2 Point of View
Revising
The Story Arc
Themes
When Characters Take Over
Writing Dialog, Part 1
Writing Dialog, Part 2
Writing Dialog, Part 3
Special Problems in Writing
The Complexities of Like The Five Ways of Learning The Full-Page Dilemma I Love a Good List Leaving Things Out Losing My Mind
Making Things Difficult (Simplifying)
Poking at Things
Stage Fright
Why am I Writing This?
A Writing Conference