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Matthew Ward Writes

Short story author, Novelist in the making & Grammar enthusiast

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Could I help you write? My Big Blog Directory

Matthew Ward · 05/03/2021 · 30 Comments

Ever lost time humming and hawing over a comma?

Or simply wished ‘further’ and ‘farther’ were more straightforward?

Or wanted to investigate how a truly great novel describes its setting?

Since July last year, I’ve indulged my inner writing geek and tackled these issues—and many more—across 32 blog posts.

And I want to make it as easy as possible to find exactly the blog that will help you.

So, welcome to my Big Blog Directory!


Choose a topic:

Commas
Hyphens, Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes
All Things Grammar—especially the nasty pitfalls—from confusing words to troublesome phrases
Dialogue for Storytelling—how to paragraph, capitalise, and punctuate it
Writing Stories—the lessons that have transformed my stories

Commas

To Comma or Not to Comma?
When to put commas before “and”, “but”, “or”, “nor”, and “yet” made simple
How to Put Commas Between Descriptors
What’s an Oxford comma? How do I use it correctly? And do I need one at all?
A tiny comma edit guaranteed to make a massive improvement
Can a single comma change the meaning of a whole sentence? A simple guide to placing commas before ‘which’ and ‘that’
‘However’ and commas
MicroBlog 1: Commas, Names, and not eating Grandma

Hyphens, Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes

Hyphens? When to use them made simple
Colons—How in the world do you use those?
Semicolons—What in the world do they do?
Oh, Dash!
Hyphens, EN dashes, and EM dashes. What’s the difference? And how do you type each of them?
Dashes, Colons, Semicolons—which is right for my sentence?

All Things Grammar

A Simple Guide to Fixing Run-On Sentences
What makes a complete sentence?
How to avoid talking elephants. Fixing faulty introductory phrases
Everyday or Every day? How to choose between words like these with ease
Taking the Complex out of Complex Sentences … and taking on one of their greatest complexities
“If I was” or “if I were”? Simple methods for choosing the right one every time
‘Further’ vs ‘farther’ as simply as possible
MicroBlog 2: When to capitalise words like mum and dad?
MicroBlog 3: If your sentence starts with an ‘-ing’ word, don’t make this mistake!
MicroBlog 4: ‘You and I’ or ‘you and me’? A simple way to know

Dialogue for Storytelling

How to paragraph dialogue
How to capitalise dialogue
How to punctuate dialogue

Writing Stories

How to write Riveting Description with “The Pillars of the Earth”
Sentence cadence. Uncovering this secret of great prose in “The Pillars of the Earth”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” teaches story structure
3 Awesome Writing Lessons I Learned in 2020
From tighter prose to cooler novel openings: More Awesome Writing Lessons I Learned in 2020

Filed Under: Directory Tagged With: English grammar, English punctuation, grammar, punctuation, story structure

Reader Interactions

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  1. How to write Riveting Description with "The Pillars of the Earth" - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:03

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  2. A Simple Guide to Fixing Run-On Sentences - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:09

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  3. How to Put Commas Between Descriptors - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:13

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  4. What makes a complete sentence? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:17

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  5. Sentence cadence. Uncovering this secret of great prose in "The Pillars of the Earth" - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:24

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  6. What's an Oxford comma? How do I use it correctly? And do I need one at all? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:35

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  7. A tiny comma edit guaranteed to make a massive improvement - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:39

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  8. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" teaches story structure - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:43

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  9. How to avoid talking elephants. Fixing faulty introductory phrases - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:47

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  10. How to paragraph dialogue - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 15:51

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  11. How to punctuate dialogue - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 16:01

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  12. Everyday or Every day? How to choose between words like these with ease - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 16:05

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  13. Can a single comma change the meaning of a whole sentence? A simple guide to placing commas before ‘which’ and ‘that’ - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 16:08

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  14. Hyphens? When to use them made simple - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 16:15

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  15. 'However' and commas - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 16:18

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  16. MicroBlog 1: Commas, Names, and not eating Grandma - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 17:58

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  17. MicroBlog 2: When to capitalise words like mum and dad - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:01

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  18. Taking the Complex out of Complex Sentences ... and taking on one of their greatest complexities - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:03

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  19. Leapfrogging! A simple solution for grammar pitfalls and pink poodles - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:05

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  20. MicroBlog 3: If your sentence starts with an '-ing' word, don't make this mistake! - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:11

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  21. MicroBlog 4: 'You and I' or 'you and me'? A simple way to know - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:13

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  22. "If I was" or "if I were"? Simple methods for choosing the right one every time - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:16

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  23. 'Further' vs 'Farther' as simply as possible - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:18

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  24. What is passive voice? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:22

    […] And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  25. 3 Awesome Writing Lessons I Learned in 2020 - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:25

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  26. Colons—How in the world do you use them? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:30

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  27. Semicolons—What in the world do they do? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 18:34

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  28. Hyphens, EN dashes, and EM dashes. What's the difference? And how do you type each of them? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 21:46

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  29. Dashes, Colons, Semicolons—which is right for my sentence? - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 21:51

    […] And for lots more punctuation pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply
  30. From tighter prose to cooler novel openings: More Awesome Writing Lessons I Learned in 2020 - Matthew Ward Writes says:
    05/03/2021 at 21:52

    […] And for lots more storytelling tips, check out My Big Blog Directory. […]

    Reply

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I’m a nineteen-year-old budding writer with a passion for grammar, short stories, and novels.

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“What about milk?” Debbie asked. Mark reached for the milk. “Let me see.” He shook the carton. “There’s only a drop left.” “I’ll add it to the list.”

This paragraph includes several mistakes.

The paragraph starts with Debbie’s dialogue. Then, it moves to Mark’s. Then, it returns to Debbie’s. We need to start new paragraphs with each new speaker.

And we need to make sure that information about Debbie is alongside her dialogue, and information about Mark is placed alongside his dialogue.

When we put this into action we get this:

“What about milk?” Debbie asked.

Mark reached for the milk. “Let me see.” He shook the carton. “There’s only a drop left.”

“I’ll add it to the list.”

Now that’s perfect.

Mark, standing in the kitchen and hearing her call, opened the fridge. “I think,” Debbie continued, “we might be low on cheese.”

This paragraph includes a mistake. The dialogue in the paragraph is Debbie’s. Therefore, information that is primarily about Mark shouldn’t be in the same paragraph.

This is how it should be written:

Mark, standing in the kitchen and hearing her call, opened the fridge.

“I think,” Debbie continued, “we might be low on cheese.”

Mark moved one block of cheddar and checked behind it. “No, we’ve got two blocks.”

This paragraph is perfect. It involves Mark’s dialogue and information about Mark.

“Have we got enough groceries to last the week?” Debbie shouted from the living room.

This paragraph is perfect. It involves Debbie’s dialogue and information about Debbie.


There’s no need to wait for my next post because I’ve got an offer for you.
I’ll edit the punctuation and grammar in any two paragraphs of your writing for free.
You could choose the most awkward ones if you like!
(I’d probably do that if I were you.)
Then, when I return your paragraphs, I’ll include full explanations of every edit so that you can apply them to the rest of your writing. I’d love to help.
For more information and to take up my offer, click here.