Do you have a simple trick for writers to remember the rules on writing lie, lay, laid and/or lain?
Percentagewise
Dear Geist, Which is correct: per cent, or percent?
Funnybone
Dear Geist, Is it just me, or does the message on this invitation sound like an ad for a bra? “[T]hanks for making the gallery a dynamic place that inspires and uplifts.”
Hyphen hassle
Dear Geist, You messed up the hyphens in your recent post Long Long Wind.
Then and now
Dear Geist, Is it cuckoo to go back and work on a book I started a few years ago, and which I have super mixed feelings about?
Long long wind
Dear Geist,When will you admit that Monty Rose and Wannabe writer are right when it comes to long-winded sentences?
Oy, hoi
Dear Geist, Why did my comp lit prof take off one mark on my essay and circle “the hoi polloi”?
Full force
Dear Geist, Are the words forcefully and forcibly interchangeable?
Character prep
Dear Geist, Have you got any advice on developing characters before the real writing starts?
Writing culture
Dear Geist,I’ve always been told that writing is a gift. You have it or you don't, and real writers just get on with the writing and don't pollute their vision with other people's ideas.
Who's whose
Dear Geist,Help! I need a trick to remember whether to write “who's” or “whose.”
Dancing on the side
I’m an ultra newbie writer and I love it! But I need to eat, etc. So my idea is to do some teaching on the side. What do you think?
Under-edited?
Am I a genius, or a low-priority author?
Judicious exclaiming
Where do you stand on exclamation marks? I love them!
Sense and sensitivity
Should I hire a sensitivity reader to vet my YA novel manuscript?
Getting snippy
Why is the word scissors plural, and how did we fall into the habit of calling it “a pair of scissors” and then end up clumsily calling it “a scissors”?
