Best Articles

Below you’ll find some of the more popular articles from Write It Sideways.

23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger

Thumbnail image for 23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. ~Ernest Hemingway How strong is your writing? No matter how good you think it is, there’s always room for improvement. In most cases, plenty of room. Luckily, there are some amazing websites that’ll help you improve your writing, and take it

Read the full article →

Do You Mispronounce These Common Words?

Thumbnail image for Do You Mispronounce These Common Words?

What’s your pet mispronunciation? I once had a school teacher who said hippo–crissy for hypocrisy, and polly-gammy for polygamy. I thought it was pretty funny. While hippo-crissy and polly-gammy are fairly extreme examples, most of us are less-than-perfect when it comes to speech. We swap letters, we slur, we substitute. I was recently looking through

Read the full article →

6 Ways to Hook Your Readers from the Very First Line

Thumbnail image for 6 Ways to Hook Your Readers from the Very First Line

Although I consider myself an avid reader, I must admit I have a short attention span when it comes to getting into books. If you fail to grab my attention in the first few lines, I start spacing out. Most readers are like me. Most people don’t want to spend the first 50 pages trying

Read the full article →

The #1 Reason You’ll Never Finish Writing Your Novel

Thumbnail image for The #1 Reason You’ll Never Finish Writing Your Novel

Feeling frustrated at how long it’s taking to write your novel–especially that all-important first draft? Some writers can bang out a novel in a manner of weeks, but for most of us, it’s a long and arduous task. If you find the process taking longer than you want, and you’re beginning to lose motivation to

Read the full article →

How to Steal a Plot for Your Book (and get away with it)

Thumbnail image for How to Steal a Plot for Your Book (and get away with it)

Creating the full-fledged plot for a novel can be a difficult process. There are many elements you need to consider before you can be assured of its strength and readability. Maybe you have some great ideas, but you’re having trouble working them into the correct story structure. An easy way to know you’re on the

Read the full article →

Are You a Word Nerd or a Grammar Rebel?

Thumbnail image for Are You a Word Nerd or a Grammar Rebel?

Are you a Word Nerd or a Grammar Rebel? I recently came across this amusing post on Humorous Reminders of Common Writing Mistakes, which made me ask myself this very question. Reading through the list of writing faux pas, I kept vacillating between, “Oh, I would never do that!” and, “Uh oh, I do that

Read the full article →

Next Entries →