Writing Tips & Guidance

General: Basic Formatting & Structure

The sections you'll find here consist of: paragraphs, sentences, commas, the Oxford comma, dialogue, and tools.

Paragraphs

"A paragraph is a group of sentences about one specific topic. A paragraph has three main parts: the topic sentence, the body, and the concluding sentence." Now, in creative writing, that structure isn't as strict. However, paragraph is always a group of sentences about one specific topic.

A paragraph can be nearly as long as a page, with sweeping or intricate, beautiful or haunting description. A paragraph can be a short, impactful sentence or a single word of onomatopoeia. A paragraph can be senseless, detached prose. A paragraph can be a recount of history. A paragraph can consist of passionate or spiteful dialogue. It is a block of wood in a carver's hand. You must respect the basic format before you can embellish it with stylized beauty.

This particular platform does not appear to allow indentations, which is strange. All paragraphs, all quickly traded lines of dialogue are subject to the simple formatting rule of indentation. Until the platform decides to embrace proper formatting, I advise applying proper formatting to your personal copies of your writing, especially if you want to be published at some point.

Sentences

Sentences are amazing, powerful tools that we writers use to create magic. All sentences have a subject and a predicate, which I know sounds daunting. Not because those two things themselves are daunting, but because of the implied rabbit hole of information promised. I probably won't fall that far in, but instead grab onto a piece of floating furniture.

Subjects are pretty simple, just a noun or a pronoun. In "Sally sells seashells by the seashore," Sally is the subject. You can usually spot it amongst other nouns and pronouns, like seashells and seashore, by deducing which noun or pronoun is affected by the verb or effects the verb. Sally sells, so Sally is the subject and sells is the verb.

Instead of explaining a predicate, because they're relatively abstract, I'll simply say you need a verb in your sentence. You wouldn't consider "Sally seashells by the seashore" a sentence. You also wouldn't say "Sally blue," you would say "Sally feels blue" or "Sally is blue."

Now, knowing that you require a subject and a verb, you must consider them together. The two must agree with one another. "If a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular. If a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural."

Example: Honey loves cake.

Example: They love cake.

Without both of those things, you risk creating a sentence fragment or a dependent clause. "A dependent clause, also called a subordinate clause, is a clause that cannot stand on its own because it does not contain all the information necessary to be a complete sentence." A sentence needs a subject, verb, and complete thought. You can combine a dependent clause with an independent clause to create a complex sentence, but leaving it alone is wrong. It needs a friend, like a shy person at a large event.

However, you might have just left some words out of a sentence in the void of structure, floating confusingly there, wanting to mean something but hopelessly unable to do so. That would also be called a fragment, to my understanding (shrug). Either show mercy by removing them or give them somewhere to exist in peace by creating a sentence for them. 

Creating a basic, simple sentence is great, but you should know it has another name. "An independent clause, also called a main clause, is a clause that can stand on its own. It contains all the information necessary to be a complete sentence. An independent clause has a subject that tells you what the sentence is about and a verb that tells you what the subject is doing. It expresses a complete thought, relaying that something has happened or was said." We loved these on their own as kids. Sentences like, "The dog ran," or "The cow moo'd", were new, exciting treasures back then.