I stared at my screen, face tilted to the side, calculating each sentence. Was it pithy? Too flirtatious? Witty? Should the main photo be the picture from my sister’s wedding or perhaps the head shot ...

Two recent experiments highlight aspects of writing instruction that are rarely studied—or taught. Recent research suggests that secondary students can benefit significantly from learning how to ...

In 1919, the young E.B. White, future New Yorker writer and author of Charlotte’s Web, took a class at Cornell University with a drill sergeant of an English professor named William Strunk Jr. Strunk ...

In my six semesters as an English major, this is the best thing I learned: When in doubt, put the best bit of a sentence at the end, the next-best bit at the beginning, and the rest in the middle. So ...

Most people know a good sentence when they read one, but New York Times columnist Stanley Fish says most of us don't really know how to write them ourselves. His new book, How To Write A Sentence: And ...

Semicolons must combine similar elements and are either used to combine complete sentences or items in a long, complicated list. Use semicolons in the following situations: Combine two complete ...

Judith C. Hochman has long seen holes in writing instruction. “We’re very good at assigning writing,” she explains. “We’re not very good at teaching kids how to write.” In 2012, the Hochman Method, as ...

A dependent clause cannot stand alone, though they often contain both a subject and a verb. Where independent clauses express complete thoughts, dependent clauses do not, and left on their own, ...