#fromtheeditor

Exciting Announcement is finally here!

Hey lovelies! 

Sooo... as some of you know, Live Literate has partnered with amazing organisation, The World Literacy Foundation. You know we’re a bit nuts about literacy over here, so we thought we’d put our money where our mouth is. 

From now on, 5% of our annual net profit will be donated to The World Literacy Foundation each year. Money isn’t all they need though, so we’re offering up our services and workshop spaces where we can, including editing the Social Media content for daughter organisation, Reading Out of Poverty, and donating workshop spaces as prizes for fundraising campaigns. 

Do you ever stop to think about how lucky we are, having words that need editing? Being able to read the tips and tricks we find all over tumblr? Communicating with our peers in written language? It’s pretty standard these days, with emails and facebook taking over, but not everyone can do it. 

A startling 1 in 5 people globally cannot read or write. Did you know that? I didn’t. 

We can all do our bit to improve the international literacy levels, and donating to The World Literacy Foundation is a great step to take, as they have projects aiding 80 countries. 

You can donate directly by clicking here, or you can donate to Reading Out of Poverty here. 

Can’t donate? No worries. It’s not always doable. What you can do though, is reblog this post, and help us create awareness so that these awesome people get the assistance they need to do their thing. 

Passive isn't always bad!

Following our info on what the Active Voice actually is, and why and how it's generally proffered by writers, editors and grammar gurus, here's a few reasons why to choose PASSIVE instead.

Many historically lauded authors, including Jane Austen, Stephen King (who preaches the Active himself), and George Orwell (openly critical of passivity) use The Passive Voice to great success.

Whilst I sit here, going through pieces and writing notes about being more Active, I indulge in Passive Voice regularly in my own work. I use it to guide my reader's deeper into my scene, and right into my characters heads.

Use your developing feel to decide where it's right for you. Google the authors I've mentioned (and many, many more) to find Passive examples of their work. Have a read. See what you like and what you don't. See if you can see why they chose to use Passive Voice for a certain passage, line or phrase.

Jump in on this weeks Drabble Challenge to play with both styles yourself.

As always, questions, requests, and reblogs welcome! Follow for more!

What's the big deal about passive voice versus active voice?

This is a topic I get a lot of questions about. It's more nuanced and influenced by style than a lot of other topics, so we're only touching the surface today.

Often, we're encouraged to write in active voice, and only active voice.

There are many reasons for this, including some that we'll explore more in the future. The most important thing to remember is that active voice provides clarity and facilitates forward flow, thus making your work easier to read and increasing immersion.

That said, there are also many reasons to choose passive voice for a particular passage, line or sentence. Passive voice can allow you to focus on a very specific detail, a significant action, or a generality, and in these ways, can also improve readability and immersion.

Active voice can be difficult to maintain in certain tenses and points of view, and we'll be having a look at ways around this in the future.

Don't forget to write today!

A few notes to round out the cheating guide to commas...

Using this cheat sheet, the simple comma trick, the reason why Oxfords are not obsolete, and how to not use comma splices, you should be able to get by fairly well.

There is an awful lot more to learn when it comes to appropriate comma use, and we'll touch on those things another day.

In the meantime, it's important not to get so caught up in the technicalities of writing that you forget to actually write.

Use the little cheat tricks where you can. When reading, keep in mind that personal style and voice plays a large part in comma use. When writing, remember that although the rules are made to be broken, it's best to know them first!

Have fun!

From commas to semicolons--out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Going to take a quick detour from commas to address the semi, as it gets a mention a few times alongside the comma information.

These things are difficult. They're controversial. They're awkward.

Are they just for academic writing? Are they just for poets, or poetic prose? Are they pretentious, or plebian?

Let's be reasonable about it. The semicolon is a punctuation mark--just like its components: the full stop and the comma. When used correctly, it has a simple function and adds a little of my favourite thing--clarity.

You may see it more frequently in academic writing because it allows no-nonsense precise text. You may see it more frequently in poetic prose as it promotes brevity and weight.

You may see it avoided like the plague.

If you know how to use it correctly and sparsely, it can be just one of many useful tools in your arsenal.

If you're still struggling with the idea of sentence structure, independent clauses, and dependent clauses, hit the follow button for explanations coming soon.

Be inspired!

DRABBLE CHALLENGE #1

It can be hard to get enough writing time in, but we can all manage 100 words over the weekend, right?

It's important to make time for words, even if our goals are small.

I want to start with something small, simple, and inclusive of all writers. Original characters and characters from all fandoms are welcome to join in.

Rules:

Must be exactly 100 words. No more; no less.

Use the prompt : DREAMS AND FANTASIES if you need to, or write what comes to mind!

Experiment with commas and semicolons; try to use at least one of each correctly (it's not a test--no one will be grading you)!

Post your challenge piece for us to enjoy as a comment by 11:59pm Sunday 21st --in YOUR OWN timezone. Late? No worries--post anyway!

Please feel free to reblog and tag others so everyone can join in!

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Follow for regular and weird challenges!

Magic Tag List:

Let's face it: commas are hard.

There's rules for everything, and there's countless reasons to break these rules. If there's one solid, unbreakable truth for writers, it's that we've all been pulled up about comma use.

I certainly have; in fact, I'm told off about it in every single piece that makes it to edit or beta.

There is an endless amount of information to learn about where and when to use a comma, including within a standard compound sentence. It can be a lot to take in, and there's always, always, always style exceptions.

Here's a simple little cheat trick you can use to make sure your essential commas are in the right place.

Enjoy!

Speaking of commas...

Sentence structure is really important in regards to readability and clarity. We'll dig a little deeper into that later; for now we're just going to address some of the major ways commas influence your structure.

Do you get told you use too many commas? Get jumped on about your sentence structure, fragments or clarity?

Almost every piece I edit contains some of these.

Some add style and help give voice to author and character, but too many just make it difficult to read.

Use this little bit of comma wisdom to increase your clarity and technical correctness.

Have fun!