List Of Confusing Words And Homonyms

 

From Writers Relief, a great website:

aide:(noun) an assistant

Aida: (noun) an opera and a musical

aid: (verb) to assist
aid:  (noun) asistance

ade: (noun) a beverage

 

List Of Confusing Words And Homonyms
BY WRITERS RELIEF STAFF ON MARCH 8, 2008 ·








Below is a list of confusing words and homonyms compiled by Writer’s Relief’s expert proofreaders. Learn the differences between these commonly confused terms and phrases.


Ability OR Capacity
Ability refers to the power to do something
Capacity refers to the ability to hold or contain something


Acclamation OR Acclimation
Acclamation refers to an oral vote or praise of some kind
Acclimation refers to adapting to a new climate or environment


Adhere OR Cohere
Adhere means to stick fast, to be devoted, or to carry out a plan
Cohere means to hold together as part of the same thing


Adverse OR Averse
Adverse means difficult or unfavorable
Averse means opposed to


Bad OR Badly
Bad is an adjective describing nouns or pronouns (Joe had a bad feeling about leaving.)
Badly is an adverb (I think he paints very badly.)


Because of OR Due to
Because of refers to cause and effect
Due to should be used with a linking verb (are, was, is, etc.)


Callous OR Callus
Callous refers to having an unfeeling attitude
Callus refers to a thickening or hardening of the skin


Hoard OR Horde
Hoard refers to a hidden find or cache
Horde refers to a crowd or throng


Liable, Libel, Lible, OR Slander
Liable means legally responsible or likely
Libel is damaging someone’s reputation in print or other media
Lible is not a word
Slander is an oral statement that damages someone’s reputation


List of commonly confused homonyms (words that are spelled similarly but have very different definitions):


ade: fruit beverage
aid: to assist
aide: an assistant
altar: raised center of worship
alter: to change
arc: portion of a circle
ark: vessel
ascent: the climb
assent: to agree
boar: wild pig
boor: a person with rude, clumsy manners and little refinement
bore: not interesting
breach: to break through
breech: lower/rear portion
canvas: rough cloth
canvass: to examine thoroughly
carat: unit of weight for precious stones
caret: proofreader’s insertion mark
carrot: vegetable
karat: 1/24 part of otherwise pure gold
forego: to precede
forgo: to abstain from
heroin: narcotic
heroine: female hero
lightening: removing weight or darkness
lightning: static electricity from the sky
palate: taste
pallet: a platform for transporting goods; bed
palette: a selection of paint
pincer: clawlike gripping action
pincher: one who pinches
pinscher: terrier
vain: worthless, conceited
vane: flat device that moves with the air
vein: blood vessel
vial: narrow glass container
vile: despicable
viol: stringed instrument
yoke: oxen harness
yolk: yellow center of an egg

There will be a test tomorrow. JKJ

Writers Relief: Query letters - don't look like an amateur!

By Writers Relief: a great website. Click on title above for a link to this and many other excellent articles. 


Here are the most common mistakes we (at Writer’s Relief) see in the query letters that are sent to our Review Board. Don’t make these amateur errors when you’re submitting your work! Some of these may surprise you.

Cheesy lead. Don’t be cute. Skip the rhetorical questions. The “What if you were stuck on a sailboat in a hurricane with a mysterious killer” teasers get old fast. Better to lead with the facts; otherwise your reader may feel as if you’re trying to manipulate him or her to create more sensation than pure fact warrants.

Bobbled blurbs. The biggest problems we see with blurbs are 1) too many characters and secondary characters when only the main character should be the emotional hook, 2) a description that’s more thematic than plot-driven (i.e., this book is about peace and love), 3) the author attempts to tell the whole story, including the ending, when he or she should use the blurb as a teaser instead.

Appearance. The letter looks bad, smells, is printed on cheap paper or photocopied, etc. We also receive e-queries that are poorly formatted (all caps, colored and silly fonts, goofy pictures in the signature line) or that lose their formatting once they are sent. TIP: Do yourself a favor and test your e-query to make sure it keeps its formatting by sending it to a bunch of your family members and friends to see what it looks like in their inboxes. Then you can send it to agents.

Mentioning prior manuscripts (and/or certain self-published books). If you’ve written three unpublished book manuscripts in the past, best not to mention them. Otherwise the agent in question may be intimidated by your prior projects, thinking, “If I take on his/her current project, the writer will probably pester me to represent all those previous books that, for whatever reason, didn’t sell.” The same goes for self-published manuscripts, which agents will look at the same way as unpublished manuscripts UNLESS you have significant accolades for your self-published book. (Read more about the best way to mention your self-publishing credits.)

The multiple personality bio. Often writers will inadvertently begin their bios in first person, but wind up in third. Be on the lookout for pronouns gone wild! Also, some bios will begin in present tense, but then end in past. And, as always, it helps to have a strong bio! Read more about bios:Building Publication Credits and No Publishing Credits? Get Publishing Credentials: How To Build Up Your Writing Bio Super Fast. 

Groveling. It may seem like it makes sense to acknowledge your own humility by pointing out a lack of experience, but resist this urge. Confidence wins hearts.

TMI. While it’s always good to convey your own unique personality in your bio, be careful not to include too much information. If your novel is about sailors, it may help to include your background in the Coast Guard. Be personable and interesting, but do so with care.

Listing publishing credits that aren’t really publishing credits. Be careful that the publishing credentials you’re listing are not part of poetry contest scams or anthology scams. Including bad credits suggests you don’t know the market (and therefore don’t know good writing).

Copyright. Industry standard is to not include the copyright symbol on your work. (For more information on copyright, read: Urban Legend: The Poor Man’s Copyright).

Cover art. If you include cover art, you show a) that you don’t know how the industry works (since writers get almost no say over their covers), and b) that you might just be the kind of high-maintenance writer who wants complete control.

If you flatter, mean it. Agents can often see straight through the “I greatly admire your agency” bit; they know a generic form letter compliment when they see one. If you’re going to take the approach of flattery, be specific in your praise.

Some common phrases that authors should not use in query letters:

This is the first book I’ve ever written! If this is true, you don’t need to say it; better to position yourself as a person who knows the biz (which means you must be a person who knows it!).

I’ve been writing since I was five. Writers who feel compelled to explain that “I’ve been writing since I was X years old” or that “It is my greatest wish to get published” inadvertently declare to agents, “I am a newbie.” It’s presumed that you’ve been writing since you were X years old and now want to get a book published. That’s what every writer wants.

This would make a great movie. Almost everyone thinks his or her book could be a great movie. You want your query letter to ask your agent to do one thing and one thing only: represent and sell your BOOK—not a screenplay, not a series of action figures, not your foreign rights. Let the agent in question decide if your book is screenworthy or not.

This book will appeal to readers of all genres. Literary agents want to work with writers who understand that each genre appeals to a very specific demographic. When you say, “This appeals to everyone,” an agent will read, “This appeals to no one in particular.”

My friends/parents/teachers like my writing. We often read how new writers get a favorable response to their writing from close ones. But unless your mom or dad is a renowned literary critic, leave off any amateur praise.

Oprah will love this book. If the story is solid and the writing is strong, there’s no reason an author should feel obligated to proclaim that a book is the next Harry Potter. Don’t promise what you have no control over. Your work should speak for itself.

Further Reading: When (Not) To Mention Trilogies, Sequels, and Other Projects In Your Query Letter

Writer’s Relief works closely with clients to prepare powerful query letters and target them to the best-suited agents. If you’re not ready for our intensely effective Full Service program, check out our A La Carte services. We can do as much or as little as you like, to help build up your bio and get your submissions to the literary agents and editors who will be most likely to enjoy your work!

May v. Might: Ruling by Writers Relief

Odds ’N’ Ends: May Versus Might


Monday, 16 March 2009 09:41 by Writer's Relief Staff

These two troublesome words are modals, which combine with main verbs to suggest conditions like need, ability, probability, likelihood, and permission. Other modals include can, could, should, would, and must. May and might are troublesome because there is such a subtle difference between the two.

In general, may is considered to be present tense while might is the past.

I may go to that concert.

I might have gone to that concert if it had been less expensive.

Might is also considered more tentative or less likely to happen than may.

May I have that book?

If I promise to return it promptly, might I have that book? (Tentative.)

I might stick my hand in that wasp’s nest if I decide it is a good idea. (But probably not.)

Sometimes may is used regarding having permission.

I may be able to use the corporate library.

This implies that you’re hoping for permission. However, if you’re unsure whether or not you’ll have time to use the library, use might.

When it comes to expressing possibility, may and might can be interchangeable.

They may arrive before midnight.

They might arrive before midnight.

They might have already arrived.

It gets more confusing when you’re trying to determine the likelihood of something happening.

I might write a best seller someday, but I may get a poem published next week.

The previous sentence suggests that publishing a poem is more likely than writing a best seller. If the outcome is likely, use may; use might when the outcome is not certain.

One more example to help confuse, er, clarify things further:

A ferry crashes in the Seattle harbor. We don’t know how bad things are yet, but the captain may have been injured. A few hours later we find out that the captain is fine. He’s lucky. He might have been seriously injured. If not for the captain’s skill and experience, this might have been quite the disaster.



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