Writing tips

We're not grammar nazis, and typos really don't matter. However, since this is a pastime that fully revolves around writing, we try to do it well, and to continually improve. So, consider this a sort of self-help guide. Once this article is done, it will hopefully address many common grammar questions and mistakes.

Anyone is welcome to contribute to this article, but be sensitive about your timing and the examples you use. While another member's writing may be filled with grammatical bugbears that irritate you to death, you need to be polite and take care not to single anyone out. This article is intended to be more constructive than corrective.

Homophones and commonly confused words

Homophones are words that sound alike, but are not spelled alike, and are the most common errors observed. Here are some examples, including not only homophones, but also some words that are just spelled similarly, but don't necessarily sound alike.

Accept vs. Except

I will accept the award. / I like all cats except that one.

Affect vs. Effect

This change will affect everything. / Your decision had an amazing effect.

Do vs. Due

What do you want me to do? / Due to shipping delays, your order is now due on the 21st.

It's vs. Its

It's not easy being green. / I like its color.
(It's means it is; its is possessive.)

Sense vs. Since

I sense there is a problem. / I've been doing this crap since 2002.

Steal vs. Steel

To steal is to take something from someone. Steel is a metal. Also, you can steel your resolve, if you want to use it as a verb.

Than vs. Then

I like skating more than bowling. / We went to dinner, then a movie.
(This is the most common mistake of all. Than relates to a preference or difference between two things, while then relates to time.)

Their vs. There vs. They're

It's their house, not yours. / The house is over there. / They're not home.

To vs. Too vs. Two

Let's go to the store. / There are too many hedgehogs. / I would like two hamburgers.

Wander vs. Wonder

Don't wander around the bad side of town. / I wonder what's for dinner.

Weather vs. Whether

The weather is crappy today. / I'm going whether you like it or not.

Were vs. We're vs. Where

When were you robbed? / We're going out. / That's where we're going.
(This is technically not a homophone, as these words are not pronounced alike at all, but they are commonly confused.)

Who's vs. Whose

Who's to say it's a bad idea? / Whose camera is this? (Who's is a contraction of "who is," while whose is possessive.)

Other examples

Though technically not homophones (since they involve mistakes that are not valid expressions in any situation), the following are like homophones:

Could have or Could've vs. Could of
Should have or Should've vs. Should of
Would have or Would've vs. Would of

Never say any of the "of" versions up there. I'm sorry for this pedantry, but seriously, just think about it: What does it even mean to "of done" something?

Quotations

How is dialogue (and punctuation in dialogue) handled? This is often a source of confusion for RPers. There's a lot to cover with this, more than is really appropriate for a brief "tips" section like this article, but here are some examples.

Correct: "I'm going to the park," she said.
Incorrect: "I'm going to the park." She said.

When narrative follows quoted dialogue—and only when the narrative describes the dialogue—use a comma inside the quotation marks and a lowercase letter for the beginning of the narrative. Questions and exclamations are an exception to this rule, however. In those cases, put the question mark or exclamation point inside the quotes. (You still should not capitalize the first word of the narrative, however.

Here is another example.

Correct: "If you want to get out of here," the man explained, "you'll need to go back the way you came."
Incorrect: "If you want to get out of here." The man explained. "You'll need to go back the way you came."

It's the same as above, except in this case, the narrative "interrupts" the dialogue. In a way, this "narrative in the middle of the dialogue" approach can be used to imply a natural pause or beat without actually resorting to ellipses ("...") or other devices. It doesn't have to be used, but, regardless, the important thing to take away is that you only put the period in place when the complete thought (both the character's speech and the narrative describing it) comes to an end, or else you will end up with sentence fragments.

Quotes within quotes

If a character is quoting something another character said, it is common practice to use single quotes inside of the double quotes. For example:

"She said, 'I'll be right back,' but it's taking forever," said so & so.

Addendum for usage outside the US

In Commonwealth nations, it is often common to use single quotes (' ') instead of double quotes (" "). Being that some of our members are from these countries, you should not be surprised if you see this practice on our forums or in our wiki.

Carriage returns

Carriage returns are what you create when you press the enter key in a text field.
For example, I just used one
and another.

Here, I used two.

Anyway, the important thing to remember with carriage returns is that they are used to separate paragraphs. While books and other physical media tend to only use one carriage return to separate paragraphs, we use two online. This is a common convention (and the only accepted practice here) because most digital mediums do not support indentation well. As such, we use blank space between paragraphs to help readers recognize that a new paragraph has begun.

Please do not put carriage returns after every single sentence. While there are times when "paragraphs" may truly only be a sentence long (especially in situations where we're dealing with dialogue), most of the time, you're better off unifying your thoughts in larger, more cohesive paragraphs. (Of course, don't run completely different thoughts together in the same paragraph just for the sake of not using a carriage return. That only muddles what you're trying to say.)