Pat Iyer’s Blog
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How a Writers’ Group Fuels Your Success
The most successful writers of fiction, memoir, and narrative nonfiction know that they can’t go down the writing road alone. When they do the actual writing, quiet and solitude are essential, but for the evaluation stage, their work needs fresh eyes and minds...
5 Ways Writing a Book Can Grow Your Business
You’re sitting in a conference room watching the speaker ask, “Raise your hand if you’d like to get started with writing a book.” When I asked that question, nearly every hand went up. Wanting to write a book and actually writing a book are two different things. One...
The Treacherous Homophone
A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning. Note that some of the word pairs aren’t pure homophones, such as lose and loose. I include them because they’re close enough to get easily confused. Lose/loose “Lose” is a verb...
Top 7 Benefits of Writing Publications
When you are sitting in front of a computer trying to write publications, you may wonder, “Is this really worth it?” Keep in mind these benefits when you question whether you should attempt to get something published. In this post, publications means articles and...
Make the Comma Your Friend
A comma may be a little squiggle, but it does a lot for your writing. It adds meaning, clarity, elegance, and, in some cases, beauty to your writing. Its absence can bore or confuse the reader. Comma usage is loaded with rules, and it’s a good idea to study them....
A “She” is not a “They”
Maybe. Are you confusing singular and plural forms in the same sentence? And is this really wrong? Grammar rarely enters the world of culture and politics. Pronouns are a notable exception to this generality. Prior to the 1970s, the default pronoun was “he.” “If a...
Why shorter is better when it comes to books
When we read something, we don’t pay much attention to subjects like long sentences, paragraphs, and chapters—until they interfere with our reading. That’s the point at which the writer is in danger of losing his or her audience. You don’t want that point to come....
What is a ghostwriter?
To understand what a ghostwriter does, it helps to understand what she does not do. Ghostwriters aren’t proofreaders, copyeditors, or developmental editors, although some ghostwriters perform all of these services as well. A proofreader goes through a manuscript for...
Sentence Fragments – Are They Always Wrong?
Also known as incomplete sentences, fragments are generally frowned on in the English language. Exceptions exist, and I’ll get to them later. Defining sentence fragments First, let’s define a sentence fragment. It’s a sentence...
Is Independent Publishing for You?
When you tell people you know that you’re writing a book, you’re likely to get a lot of unasked-for opinions. They may ask you if you plan on independent publishing or approaching a traditional publisher. Some will offer their views about traditional publishing. “It’s...
Recent Posts
Make the Most of Your Writing Time
One of the most frequent complaints of my writing students and clients is “I don’t have enough time. How do …Read More »
Inner Critic or Inner Guide: Who is Talking
At any stage of my writing, I may hear an inner critic, a voice that says things like, “No, that …Read More »
What’s Your Type?
When I write about errors in manuscripts, I usually focus on punctuation, spelling, and grammar because those are my favorite …Read More »
Readers Make Better Writers
I always loved reading more than almost any other activity. It’s no coincidence that my siblings are also avid readers. …Read More »
Why Do You Need a Good Vocabulary?
Writers, especially those who are just beginning to write regularly, think that having a good vocabulary means knowing a lot …Read More »