Good Grammar and Capitalization
Proper capitalization is one of the cornerstones of good grammar, yet many people fling capital letters around carelessly.
Not every word deserves to be capitalized. It’s an honor that must be warranted, and in writing, capitalization is designated only for very special words.
Capitalization of Titles
Keep in mind that there are several contexts in which we can examine capitalization. For example, when writing a title (of a blog post, for example), almost all of the words in the title are capitalized. This is called title case.
Title case is used for titles of books, articles, songs, albums, television shows, magazines, movies… you get the idea.
Capitalization isn’t normally applied to every word in a title. Smaller words, such as a, an, and the are not capitalized. Some writers use a capitalization rule for only those words longer than three letters. Others stretch it to four. There’s no fixed grammar rule for which words are capitalized in a title and you should check your style guide for specific guidelines.
Capitalization of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Acronyms and many abbreviations are capitalized, regardless of whether the words they stand for warrant capital letters.
First Word of a Sentence
As I’m sure you know, the first word in a sentence is always capitalized.
Capitalization of Proper Nouns
In a recent post on parts of speech, I explained what constitutes as a noun. To keep things simple here today, we’ll refer to a noun as a person, place, or thing. You need not worry about the other parts of speech because only nouns are eligible for perennial capitalization.
There are two types of nouns that matter in terms of capitalization: proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, and things. Common nouns are all the other, nonspecific people, places, and things.
When considering whether to capitalize, ask whether the noun in question is specific. This will tell you if it’s a proper noun, which should be capitalized, or a common noun, which remains in all lowercase letters.
Proper Noun Capitalization Example
The word country is not specific. It could be any country. Even if you’re talking about the country in which you live, which is a specific country, the word itself could indicate any number of nations. So keep it lowercase because it’s a common noun.
Conversely, Chile is a very specific country. You can tell because Chile is actually the name of a particular land in which people reside. When you discuss the people of that land, you won’t capitalize the word people. However, if you’re talking about Chileans, you definitely capitalize because Chileans are a very specific people, from a very specific country, Chile.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not, keep reading because I’m about to confuse you even more.
Capitalization of Web and Internet
Have you ever noticed the word Internet capitalized? How about the word Web? The linguistic jury is still out on these newfangled technology terms, but generally speaking, the Internet is one great big and specific place. The Web is just another word for that same place.
Wait — what about websites? Do they get capitalized? Only if you’re referring to the name of an actual site, like Writing Forward. A website can be any number of pages online. Think of it like a city in Chile, which is similar to a website on the Web or Internet.
Capitalization of Web and Internet is not a hard and fast grammar rule. Lots of people write these words in all lowercase letters. Do note, however, that when these terms are used as adjectives (also known as modifiers or descriptive words), they should never be capitalized:
I was accessing the Internet from an internet cafe.
The first occurrence of “Internet” uses capitalization because it refers to the (specific) Internet. But an internet cafe is a type of cafe and in this example, internet is used as an adjective rather than as a proper noun, and is therefore not capitalized.
Again, capitalizing Web and Internet is optional.
Common Capitalization Errors
Folks often think that capitalization should be applied to any word that’s deemed important. Here’s an example:
We sent the Product to the local Market in our last shipment. Have the Sales Force check to see if our Widgets are properly packaged.
It’s not uncommon, especially in business writing, to see nouns that are crucial to a company’s business capitalized. This is absolutely incorrect. Here’s correct capitalization of our example:
We sent the product to the local market in our last shipment. Have the sales force check to see if our widgets are properly packaged.
Now, in a rewrite of the example, some of the words will be again capitalized, but only if they are changed into proper nouns – names or titles of things and people.
We sent the Widgetbusters (TM) to WidgetMart in our last shipment. Have our Sales Manager check to see if our widgets are properly packaged.
What about Capitalization for job titles?
Ah, this one’s tricky. Job titles are only capitalized when used as part of a specific person’s title:
- Have you ever met a president?
- Did you vote for president?
- Do you want to become the president?
- Nice to meet you Mr. President.
- He once saw President Obama in a restaurant.
Again, this has to do with specificity. “The president” or “a president” could be any president, even if in using the phrase, it’s obvious by context who you mean. However “Mr. President” or “President Obama” are absolutely specific individuals and they call for capitalization.
That’s it for Capitalization
Do you have questions? Need clarification on capitalization or good grammar? Do you have your own capitalization capers that need to be addressed or do you have more capitalization rules to add? Leave a comment!
Who Has the Best Writing Ideas?
Writer’s block is probably the most frustrating experience any writer will have to face. You feel creative and you want to create, but you’re just not inspired. You need writing ideas.
It happens to most artists from time to time, this disconnect from the muse. Yet there are creative people who seem to have overcome creative roadblocks — authors who publish one or two novels a year, filmmakers who produce annual blockbusters, and entertainers who are on the top hits list week after week. How do they do it? Have they tapped into a secret, endless stream of inspiration?
How can you tap into that stream?
I always say look to the source. So, when I see successful artists and innovators who are consistently producing creative work, I find myself wanting to learn more about where they get all their great ideas.
The Keepers of Writing Ideas (and Other Ideas, Too)
It makes sense that as a writer, you would look first to other writers to find out what inspires them. So go ahead and do that. Read biographies of your favorite authors and listen to interviews with writers to see where some of the best ideas are hiding (there are excellent writer interviews on podcasts such as The Writing Show and Writers on Writing). Often, if you look hard enough (or listen closely enough), these writers will explain where they get their ideas.
But don’t limit yourself to writers. Inspiration is similar across all of the arts. So check in with folks from other disciplines too. And don’t limit yourself to only those artists whose work you enjoy and appreciate. You might find that a movie director whose films you don’t care for has a creativity technique that would work perfectly for you.
I recently heard a musician talking about inspiration and he said it was like the music came through him rather than to him. He explained that his source is unknown and outside of himself. Other artists will talk about “the zone,” a state of mind in which concentration and focus are absolute and intense. In this zen-like state, creativity can reach an all-time high. In fact, in this state, creativity is the high.
The Idea Zone
How do artists get into the zone? Some meditate, others use rituals, which might include praying, dancing, or even listening to music. There are countless ways to get into the zone. Sometimes, you might find yourself slipping into it by sheer coincidence or by accident.
There does seem to be this space that all creative people share. It’s not a physical place that you can visit, but it’s a place in our minds (though some believe it’s outside of ourselves, and that certainly is plausible).
The point is that by stretching your own boundaries and reaching out to other people who have creative passions, you can find new ways to keep creativity flowing. The writing community is one you should belong to, as a writer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t engage with other types of creative people. Nothing is more valuable than the exchange of ideas and knowledge, and you never know — the next street musician you meet might have a little bit of wisdom that will open doors to a whole new world of writing ideas for you.
Do you ever exchange creative writing ideas with other writers? What about other artists who are not writers? How often do you think about the source of your creativity? Share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment.
Fiction Writing Exercises: Step Out of Your Shoes
One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of being a writer is creating characters. It is an opportunity to step outside of your own reality and take on a completely different persona.
Unless you’re an actor, an undercover agent, or just plain crazy, you don’t get many chances in life to do that.
With fiction writing exercises that focus on character creation, you can start building skills that allow you get under your character’s skin and get inside his head. These types of fiction writing exercises will take you beyond writing character sketches and descriptions and will truly help you understand your characters and all their deep complexities.
Realistic Characters
For characters to truly resonate with readers, they must be vibrant and stir the audience. Readers have to become attached to the characters, feel sympathy, compassion, even love (or hate) them. It’s not easy to fabricate people (or other beings) that don’t really exist, have never existed, and yet make them real. But it can be done.
So how do writers achieve this great feat?
Well, much credence has been given to the old adage write what you know. Base a character on a friend or family member, or yourself. But what fun is that? If you’re an accountant by day, do you really want to play an accountant in your fantasy world too? Probably not. And when you create a character, that’s pretty much what you’re doing, playing a role. You have to get into the character’s mind, live the life, absorb the environment in which the character lives. You have to be your character.
Character Writing Exercises
So, here’s a challenge: write a character you know nothing about. If you grew up in the big city, write as a farm hand. If you grew up on a farm or small town all your life, write about an army brat who was raised living in dozens of towns, going to different schools each year. Are you a stay-at-home, married mom? Write as a single woman making it big in the big apple. If you’re a successful businessman, write as a prison inmate who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
The idea is to get outside your comfort zone, and explore a different life than the one you know. Even if this is not the type of character you’d normally create, fiction writing exercises like this one will help you when you have to come up with a secondary character who’s not from the world with which you’re familiar. It will also expand the types of characters you’ll feel comfortable bringing into your stories.
This is not a character sketch. It’s more like a monologue. Write a one-page essay in first person from the perspective of a character you’ve created who is totally outside your realm of experience. Think about your wildest dreams or the most incredible adventure you’d like to have, and be that character. Or, if you’re really brave, try something that intimidates you. If you have a fear of flying, write as an airline pilot. Fear of drowning? Write as a SCUBA diver. Does math make you squirm? Write as a mathematics professor at university.
Fiction Writing Exercises for Fun and Focus
It’s just one page and one character, so this shouldn’t take too long. If it sticks and you get really into it, write several pages, or try doing this exercise with different characters. You might unveil a new side to yourself that you didn’t know about before. You might find it completely uncomfortable and decide to go back to writing what you know, but at least you will have tried something new.
Remember, fiction writing exercises are supposed to be fun, but their purpose is to challenge you to try new things and think in new ways, so be sure to focus on your character and make a conscious effort to get inside the character’s head as you work your way through this exercise.
Feel free to post comments about your character, or post the whole page. Who or what will you become? What shoes are you going to step into when you step out of your own?
Good luck and have a great weekend! Keep on writing!
If you have any fiction writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments.
Word Pairs: Who vs. Whom
It sounds pretty old fashioned: To whom have you sent those letters? Modern colloquial speakers expect something more along the lines of Who did you send those letters to?
While whom may sound outdated, it can pose a problem, especially if you’re writing for an erudite audience, or if you are a stickler for using words properly and adhering to the rules of grammar.
In the example above, the second sentence (Who did you send those letters to?) breaches the standards set forth by proper grammar, and it breaks the rule in the ongoing battle of who vs. whom.
Here are the two grammar rules violated by our example sentence:
- It ends with a preposition
- Uses who where whom is the correct interrogative pronoun
Interrogative Pronoun! Are You Kidding?
Yeah, I guess it sounds pretty fancy, and no, I’m not kidding. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not one of those grammar sticklers. I do, however, believe that writers who learn the rules can better get away with breaking them. If you are a writer, then it couldn’t possibly hurt to know what an interrogative pronoun is, and how to use it in a sentence, correctly.
Plus, learning about interrogative pronouns will help you know the difference between who vs. whom.
Interrogative Pronoun
Simply put, an interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that is used in a question. You know these words: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Whence and whither are also interrogative pronouns, but I’ll spare you on those. For now.
Who Uses Whom Nowadays?
The word whom seems to have fallen out of favor, although some crotchety old aunt or anal-retentive English teacher might force it into your vocabulary at some point. For all I know, whom could still be used in British English, Canadian English, or Aussie speak. It’s safe to assume that a high profile writing assignment (Ph.D, anyone?) would require you to adhere to strict rules, and to use whom where it would be expected. Also, if you were writing an historical novel, or perhaps a fantasy tale with a medieval flair, you’d want to know such things so your characters would have realistic dialogue.
So, What’s the Difference between Who and Whom?
First I’ll give you the technical answer, then a trick to help you remember which one to use in your own sentence crafting.
Who refers to the subject of a sentence, while whom refers to the object.
Yep, it’s that simple.
Example:
I see you.
In the sentence above, I is the subject and you is the object. I always remember subject as the giver and object as the receiver.
Since who is the proper interrogative pronoun for representing a sentence’s subject, you could say:
Who sees you?
(I do. I see you.)
The object of a sentence is represented with whom, so you would say the following:
I see whom? or Whom do I see?
(I see you.)
Tip for Remember Who vs. Whom
Some months ago, while listening to Grammar Girl (one of my favorite podcasts), I picked up a neat little trick for remembering when to use who vs. whom. Both whom and him are pronouns that end with the letter m. If the sentence can be constructed with him in place of whom, you’re on the right track.
I see whom?
Whom did I see?
I see him.
Grammar sure is fun.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January, 2008, but has been updated with more information and therefore republished for your reading (and learning) pleasure.
Writing Resources for Naming Your Characters
Have you ever read one of those epic fantasy novels in which the magical characters can gain total control over any living being (or non-living object) simply by discovering its real and true name? I’ve read about ten of those novels.
What do you think is more perplexing, the fact that authors continue to use this rule of magic (even though it’s tired and ready to be retired) or the astounding number of unique names that writers come up with for all the characters in these stories?
Dubworthy or Dubless?
I have been known to spend hours pondering names and wondering how a writer managed to choose a name that so perfectly fit a character, especially those characters that are iconic. Holden Caulfield. Harry Potter. Hamlet. Hanibal Lechter. And they don’t all start with the letter H. Ebenezer Scrooge. Mary Poppins. Sherlock Holmes. Gollum. Cinderella. Willy Wonka. The list goes on and on. And it doesn’t stop with literary characters. Remarkable character names can also be found in movies, comic books, and on TV.
Think about the most famous, unforgettable, and compelling characters. They have names that are memorable. Names that resonate with the character’s energy: Bond. James Bond. How do you forget a guy like that?
You don’t.
But here’s a better question. How does a writer come up with a name like that?
The Name is the Game
Let me be blunt. I suck at coming up with names. I can’t begin to tell you how many hours I’ve spent pondering great names and trying to come up with handles for my poor, nameless characters. But names elude me. They do. So, what do I do when my fiction writing antics require me to name a character? Well, if I’m already in the throes of writing, I generally write the characters’ names generically and in all caps:
GIRL is walking down the street and freezes when she spots ANIMAL sitting in the middle of the road as if it were perfectly ordinary for a tiger to be cleaning its paws smack dab in the center of a suburban middle-class neighborhood.
But I can’t avoid naming forever. The story is never finished until everybody is named, and I find that I can’t get very deep into the tale when I’m working with nameless characters. So, I do what any resourceful writer does. I turn to my handy dandy writing resources.
Enter, Internet
The internet is always my first choice for research. I use an online dictionary and thesaurus. When I need a quick fact, I’ve been known to obtain it from Wikipedia (judiciously, of course) and I also use the open-source, online encyclopedia as a starting place to look for more credible research (they often have excellent annotations). And when I need a name, I’ve engaged the power of Google (a search engine that happens to have a fantastic name of its own).
I’ve googled boy names and girl names, exotic names, and androgynous names. I’ve done it in reverse too, and searched for names by their meaning. I’ve gotten lucky a few times and found just the right name for a character I had in mind. I’ve even found a nifty tool that generates a character name, which is awesome if you can use a name like Magaga Dawntracker.
But looking for a name on the web is like looking for a song in your iPod when you can’t remember the title or artist. It takes forever. And you find yourself endlessly perusing, clicking, and nodding your head (or shaking it, as the case may be). I guess the benefit is that all those names you skim through might spark ideas for other characters, but what about the character you’ve already created? The one whose name launched you into this quest in the first place?
It’s not like this was a one-time ordeal. Name searching became a time suck for me. And fiction writing started to feel more like climbing a Mount Everest of names than a writing experience. I went through this ridiculous cycle more times than I care to recall.
And then one day, I was happily browsing through my favorite bookstore, a local and independent bookstore, and this book popped out at me:
A World of Baby Character Names
Okay, so technically, the title of this book is A World of Baby Names
Even though this was the first name book that I noticed, I checked out several others before buying this one. It had some features I thought might be useful. Turns out I was right. I’ve used this book a lot. A whole lot.
What I like best about it is that the names are separated by country of origin. And there are tons of names in this book that my American self has never heard before. I can look at the Hindu names and the Polish names, and then I can get creative and start combining them.
The names are also sorted by gender. That makes looking for an androgynous name a little challenging, but on the other hand, there’s a nice index, so I can scroll through every single name in a few minutes — a great method for finding a name that pops out at me. I can then navigate to the name page and find out what it means.
Each section also includes a written introduction about names in various cultures, which is pretty cool.
If you suck at names the way I do, then you should seriously consider getting this book or one like it.
A Rose By Any Other Name
As you can imagine, this post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on the baby name book and buy it, I’ll get a kickback, which would be cool. But what would be cooler would be for you to tell me how you come up with character names. Do you have a name book? Is there a website you use? Do you have a knack for names using nothing more than your own brilliant imagination? And what are some of your all time favorite character names? And finally (here’s a question for the most creative souls out there), can you think of any other good uses for a baby name book, other than naming babies and fictional characters?
36 Poetry Writing Tips
Poetry is the most artistic and form of creative writing. You can write in the abstract or the concrete. Images can be vague or subtle, brilliant or dull. Write in form, using patterns, or write freely, letting your conscience (or subconscious) be your guide.
You can do just about anything in a poem. That’s why poetry is so wild; there are no rules. Poets have complete liberty to build something out of nothing simply by stringing words together.
All of this makes poetry writing alluring to writers who are burning with creativity. A poet’s process is magical and mesmerizing. But all that freedom and creativity can be a little overwhelming. If you can travel in any direction, which way should you go? Where are the guideposts?
The truth is that there are no real guideposts, but there are ideas that a poet can follow, and they might lead to poetry writing breakthroughs. Below, you’ll find thirty-six tips for traveling through the realms of word craft. See which ones appeal to you, give them a whirl, and they will lead you on a fantastic journey.
36 Poetry Writing Tips
- Read lots of poetry. In fact, read a lot of anything if you want to produce better writing.
- Write poetry as often as you can.
- Designate a special notebook (or space in your notebook) for poetry writing.
- Try writing in form (sonnets, haiku, etc.).
- Use imagery.
- Embrace metaphors but stay away from cliches.
- Sign up for a poetry writing workshop.
- Expand your vocabulary.
- Read poems over and over (and aloud). Consider them, analyze them.
- Join a poetry forum online.
- Study musicality in writing (rhythm and meter).
- Use poetry prompts when you’re stuck.
- Be funny. Make a funny poem.
- Notice what makes others’ poetry memorable. Capture it, mix it up, and make it your own.
- Try poetry writing exercises when you’ve got writer’s block.
- Study biographies of famous (or not-so-famous) poets.
- Memorize a poem (or two, or three, or more).
- Revise and rewrite your poems to make them stronger and more compelling.
- Have fun with puns.
- Don’t be afraid to write a bad poem. You can write a better one later.
- Find unusual subject matter — a teapot, a shelf, a wall.
- Use language that people can understand.
- Meditate before writing poetry to clear your mind and gain focus.
- Keep a notebook with you at all times so you can write whenever (and wherever) inspiration strikes.
- Submit your poetry to literary magazines and journals.
- When you submit work, accept rejection and try again and again. You can do it and you will.
- Get a website or blog and publish your own poetry.
- Connect with other poets to share and discuss the craft that is poetry writing.
- Attend a poetry reading or slam poetry event.
- Subscribe to a poetry podcast and listen to poetry.
- Support poets and poetry by buying books and magazines that feature poetry.
- Write with honesty. Don’t back away from your thoughts or feelings. Express them!
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Mix art and music with your poetry. Publish it.
- Eliminate all unnecessary words, phrases, and lines. Make every word count.
- Write a poem every single day.
- Read a poem every single day.
Have you written a poem lately?
I believe that poetry is the most exquisite form of writing. And anyone can write a poem if only they want to. In today’s world of fast, moving images, poetry has lost much of its appeal to the masses. But there are those of us who feed on language and who still appreciate a poem and its power to move us emotionally. It’s our job to keep great poetry writing alive. And it’s our job to keep writing poetry.
January (2010) News and Announcements
Another year has come and gone. 2009 had its starts and stops, lots of drama in the news and on the world stage, and it doesn’t seem like anyone is sorry to see it go.
Now, we can all put 2009 behind us and look forward to 2010. According to science fiction literature, this is the year we make contact. But contact with whom?
Every new year, predictions and premonitions abound. This year is no exception, especially since in addition to starting a new year, we’re also entering a new decade. One trend I’ve seen predicted is, in fact, contact: real-world contact and community-building. Will we put more space between ourselves and the Internet to engage in more offline interactions both professionally and personally? Will we focus less on me or I and focus more on we and us?
I certainly don’t think it would hurt.
This Year at Writing Forward
Everyone’s making resolutions and setting new annual goals. I’m still working on goals I set this past fall. It’s tempting to get caught up in the resolution-making, but I find that if I set goals at more natural intervals rather than the ones dictated by the calendar, I have a much better chance at actually reaching them. Resolutions always seem to fade away by February or March, so, I have decided to forgo them altogether this year.
Last year at this time, Writing Forward’s editorial calendar for 2009 was complete. It was flexible, and I managed to stick with it for the most part. The cycle continues into 2010 with a mix of articles about creative writing. There will be more tips, ideas, and resources for writers that deal both with creativity and with skill-building.
Last year was heavy on fiction writing and light on poetry, so I’m going to flip that and work on articles for poets and poetry lovers. Finally, there will be more writing exercises and prompts, which were a big hit this year. They didn’t get a lot of comments but people were sure clicking all over those posts!
If you have any requests or suggestions for topics at Writing Forward, feel free to share your ideas by leaving a comment or sending me a message. I welcome all of your feedback, so don’t be shy!
News Update: mifiction Contest Winners Announced
In November, mifiction announced their Interactive Fiction Competition. Did you enter? If so, you should know that the winners have been announced:
Surrey, UK, December 15, 2009: The winners of mifiction’s competition to find new and talented writers of interactive fiction have been announced. The first prize of £300 was awarded to William Dunn of Barcelona, with a Victorian Vampire story entitled Dead Flowers. Chosen because of its tight plot and gripping story line, judges thought Dead Flowers was well written and full of intrigue.
Who won second and third places? For a full list of winners visit www.mifiction.co.uk.
What Will You Write in 2010?
I’d love to hear from all of you about your hopes and expectations for 2010. Will you write a novel? A memoir? Submit short stories or poems to literary journals? Start a blog? And what’s on your reading list for this year?
Finally, Happy New Year!
I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy, happy, and prosperous year. Keep on writing all through 2010!
