Writing Resources

Predicate Swapping: Let’s Get Weird

Remember when Dylan Thomas was all like, “Don’t go gentle into that good night”? And you were like, “Doesn’t this legendary moron of a poet know how to use an adverb?”

Actually, he did a cool thing there, basically forcing an action verb to wear one of the predicates of a linking verb, thus taking an adjective, or subject complement, instead of an adverb. Consciously or not, lots of literary writers use this trick to pop off striking prose, but as we’ll see in this article, not just any adjective will do.

How This Dialogue Works: Speech Tags in Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

When you’re writing dialogue-heavy scenes, you might be tempted to reach for something more impactful than “said,” even though it’s basically an invisible word. The edict is to keep your speech tags simple, but like a lot of writing advice, it’s overstated and you can have fun ignoring it.

If you want to study someone who gets unapologetically purple with their speech tags—and is widely acclaimed as a genius—check out Paul Murray, specifically his novel Skippy Dies.

Stressing Out: Using It-Clefts for Argumentative Emphasis

We humans are wildly into emphasis, and we have all kinds of ways of expressing it, including mannerisms, tone, and language. When we’re writing, those means seem to narrow—until we consider the huge array of emphasizing tools available in written English.

Cleft sentences are a common one, but they’re really hard to understand. In this post, we’ll get you started by focusing specifically on the it-cleft and how you can use it to correct or stress information in a debate. This might get a little technical, so don’t forget to bookmark it for future reference.

How This Symbol Works: Billy Devine’s Birdhouses in Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Is there a better modern crime novel than Mystic River by Dennis Lehane? I doubt it. Turning twenty-five in 2026, it’s endured partially because of the literary touches Lehane applies without ever hijacking the story and slowing down the pace.

In this article, we’ll look at the birdhouses Billy Devine makes while trying to escape his domestic life. If you’re a writer looking to add a bit of depth to your genre fiction, you’ll find a few takeaways here, and if you’re just a fan of the book, we’ll explore one of its lesser-known symbols.

Spike That Comma: When to Mess with a Compound Predicate

Who doesn’t love a comma? In both standard and non-standard writing, the mighty comma offers so much to the page. But one type of usage is often overdone, particularly in academia and its popular counterpart: commas in compound predicates. What the heck are they? In this article, we learn what they are, how they work, and why we should use them with restraint.

How This Symbol Works: Blue in The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

In Andrew Miller’s Booker-shortlisted The Land in Winter, the colour blue is a busy symbol, and breaking it down is a real trip. Because it has a pre-existing meaning, Miller has to work to recode it before he can starts using it as basically the opposite of what it normally represents. It’s an awesome feat, and the depressing result is ever so fitting for such an affecting book.

Part 1. In Praise of the Passive Voice: Effacing the Subject to Showcase the Object

The passive voice is seriously over-policed, particularly in academia, where profs and advisors sometimes don’t know what passive constructions actually are, never mind how useful they can be. Pushing back against a prof or advisor might not always be the most politically savvy thing to do, but knowing what’s going on will make you a better writer, and it’ll prevent you from over-policing later in life. This three-part series will help both academic and creative writers get a grip on what the passive voice is, what it’s commonly mistaken for, and when it’s useful, with support from leading style guides. In this first post, we learn what it is.

Part 2. In Praise of the Passive Voice: Ergatives and Other Commonly Accused Verb Phrases

The passive voice is seriously over-policed, particularly in academia, where profs and advisors sometimes don’t know what passive constructions actually are, never mind how useful they can be. This three-part series will help both academic and creative writers get a grip on what the passive voice is, what it’s commonly mistaken for, and when it’s useful, with support from leading style guides. In this second post, we learn what it’s commonly mistaken for.

Part 3. In Praise of the Passive Voice: Where to Use It and How to Explain Your Choices

The passive voice is seriously over-policed, particularly in academia, where profs and advisors sometimes don’t know what passive constructions actually are, never mind how useful they can be. This three-part series will help both academic and creative writers get a grip on what the passive voice is, what it’s commonly mistaken for, and when it’s useful, with support from leading style guides. In this last post of the series, we get an idea of when to use it and where to turn for expert justification.

How This Setting Works: Rural Montana in Winter Range by Claire Davis

In Winter Range by Claire Davis, the setting is so well drawn that it becomes a character in its own right, complete with a dramatic arc that forces it through multiple changes. This article explores how you can bring similar life to your own backdrops.

How This Theme Works: Transition in Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

In Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan, a central theme takes shape in the very first paragraph, and the whole opening chapter offers a model for writers who want to quickly but elegantly introduce readers to the ideas animating their characters. This article explores how that first paragraph sets up the rest of the chapter and launches the whole book.

How to Write Better Academia: Organize Your Thoughts with a Narrowing Focus

If you’re a student drafting a thesis or dissertation, a prof who needs to publish a lot, or a research professional working long hours on a big project, it can be hard to keep your arguments and explanations neatly structured. One helpful concept is narrowing, unpacked in this article.

How This Style Works: Peter’s Troubled Interiors in Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

In Intermezzo, Sally Rooney uses a slew of sentence fragments to bring us into Peter’s grief-stricken and drug-addled thoughts, giving his brain an aesthetic that sharply contrasts with the calmer, more composed, but also more guarded interiors of his brother. In this post, we look at some of the sentence-level techniques Rooney used to pull it off.

How This Style Works: Discursive Sentences in Lesser Ruins by Mark Haber

In Mark Haber’s hilarious but sad Lesser Ruins, absolute phrases pepper the aesthetic, allowing the author to write long, rambling sentences without overly relying on commas splices and coordinating conjunctions. In this post, we learn what absolute phrases are and how you can use them in your own writing.