And help ensure you’re using possessive compounds correctly in your writing — I’m from a big family, and that means lots of birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. On one recent Saturday, two family members shared a birthday and another got married. When writing about anything that’s shared, the key is to remember that fact. …

According to the head of a noted book industry consulting firm — Not so long ago, the term “author platform” was new and not exactly widely understood. Today, though, most published authors understand that building their platform to reach potential readers can make a difference when it comes to selling their work. And luckily there are options when it comes to developing…

Including how to use “who/whom” and “farther/further” correctly in your writing — In a reply to my recent post on commonly confused words, science fiction author Mike Van Horn referred to some additional culprits in that category: “farther” vs. “further” and “who” vs. “whom.” Of course, this prompted me to look further into these — and other—particularly vexing commonly confused words. With…

Including some exceptions to common rules related to plural compound nouns — In my post “Different Types of Compound Nouns,” I review closed, open, and hyphenated compound nouns and how they differ. I also provide some tips for making sure you’re using compound nouns correctly in your writing. While doing this is often simple, in some cases compound nouns can get a…

And when to hyphenate compound nouns in your writing — In my post “All About Adjectives, Part I: Syracuse Edition,” I discuss various types of adjectives, including compound adjectives, which have more than one word and are sometimes, but not always, hyphenated. Similar to compound adjectives, compound nouns also contain more than one word and are sometimes, but not always…

Plus a few other writing and editing tricks I’ve learned over the past few decades — Actually more than a few decades, if I’m being honest. When you decide early that you want to be a writer when you grow up, you tend to soak up every trick related to writing that any teacher mentions beginning in elementary school. I have a distinct memory of my…

And the many ways you can use “since” in your writing — I mention the word “since” in my post “How to Correctly Create Connections with Conjunctions.” In that post, I list “since” with other “subordinating conjunctions,” including “because.” I also state that a subordinating conjunction connects the independent clause that precedes it to the dependent, or subordinate, clause that it creates…

Two uses of “so” and how to punctuate it in different instances — I’ve written about “so” before (in my posts Two Tricks to Help You Remember When to Insert a Comma Before “So” and Adverbs Revisited II: Conjunctive Adverbs), but new questions about this seemingly simple word continue to pop up. This isn’t surprising when you consider the many ways “so” is…

Including when they really should be used in your writing — In a response to my recent post on conjunctive adverbs, Jeanine Tew said she’d appreciate a post related to semicolons and whether it’s wise to generally avoid using them. Jeanine’s comment made me realize I’d only mentioned semicolons occasionally (as in Correct Punctuation When “But” or “However” Appear in the…