Improve Your Writing

Lesson #144: Five Small But Important ‘Fruits’ Gathered From Gaskell’s ‘North And South’

/

I thought it would be nice for a change to take a short text from a classic and analyse it in today’s lesson.  So I have the pleasure of re-introducing one of my top favourite novels, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), having been inspired today by this biscuit tin which I bought last year when I […]

Lesson #144: Five Small But Important ‘Fruits’ Gathered From Gaskell’s ‘North And South’ Read More »

Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 2)

/

In the previous post, we began looking at a passage by Jane Austen (continued below) to consider how she created distinctive voices for different characters: 📙 ‘Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth. “And you really are not engaged to him!” said she. “Yet

Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 2) Read More »

Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 1)

/

One of the most rewarding stages in language learning is when you begin to have your own STYLE or VOICE in the language you have been studying.  As a proofreader of various texts, I must exercise caution when correcting a text so that I do not end up changing the writer’s style, but rather know

Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 1) Read More »

Lesson #121: The Smallest Element in Writing That is Often Overlooked

/

There are numerous factors that must be considered when writing well. Grammar. Vocabulary. Clear thoughts. But one of the most overlooked of all is PUNCTUATION. The right commas, semicolons and periods (along with the appropriate use of brackets, dashes, and hyphens) can ‘make or break’ a sentence.  In many ways, I believe that if you

Lesson #121: The Smallest Element in Writing That is Often Overlooked Read More »

Lesson #120: Mini-lesson Monday (Part 2): How Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Children’s Book Illustrates Effective Writing

/

Mini-lesson Monday (Part 2): ✨This passage by Frances Hodgson Burnett is noteworthy for how simply yet effectively it describes ACTIVITY: (both physical movement and internal thoughts).  It does this in two ways: ✒️ Firstly, by using SHORT SENTENCES that express some kind of tension and transformation. ✒️  Secondly, by including A SINGLE ADVERB in the whole

Lesson #120: Mini-lesson Monday (Part 2): How Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Children’s Book Illustrates Effective Writing Read More »

Lesson #120: Mini-lesson Monday (Part 1): How Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Children’s Book Illustrates Effective Writing

/

Mini-lesson Monday (Part 1):  I still have some childhood favourites on my bookshelf – books that I read and dreamt about so often as a young girl. One of those was Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess (1905), which I am looking forward to sharing with you today (at least a small part of it)! Today I’d

Lesson #120: Mini-lesson Monday (Part 1): How Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Children’s Book Illustrates Effective Writing Read More »