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Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6LATER, LATTER Later means afterwards; latter is the second of two things. "Later that day we went for a walk." "We have two choices. The latter is the more reliable, but the former would be cheaper." LAY, LAID This pair confuses writers almost more than any other. "He lay on his bed." Although this sentence is past tense, "laid" would be incorrect and suggests he was laying eggs. "She sighed as she laid the visitors' book beside the pen and lay back wondering if she would ever make an entry in it again." In present tense the sentence would read, "She sighs as she lays the visitors' book beside the pen and lies back, wondering if she will ever make an entry in it again." BUT "I sigh as I lay the visitors' book beside the pen and lie back, wondering if I will ever make an entry in it again." (In practice, I would probably write I place/placed and she places/placed. It's so much less confusing, not to mention less repetitive!) "It lay on the desk beside an open book." Present tense would read, "It lies on the desk beside an open book." "Our hens lay every day." "The hens laid ten eggs yesterday." LEAD, LED Lead (pronounced led) is a heavy metal or (pronounced leed) the present tense of led. So: "He opens the door for me and I lead the guests upstairs to their rooms." "He opened the door for me and I led the guests upstairs to their rooms." LEND, LOAN Lend is a verb meaning to give something temporarily to someone; loan is a noun, meaning the temporary transfer of something to someone else. So, "Dad, can you loan me a few dollars until pay day?" is incorrect. LESSEN, LESSON Lessen means to make less; lesson is something you learn. LOATHE, LOATH Loathe always means hate or detest, and loath means reluctant or hesitant. It's that simple! "I loathe the idea of complaining about such a small thing." "I'm loath to complain about something so small." These sentences may seem to say the same thing, but the speakers' feelings are different. It's nearly always "loathe" that is used when the writer means "loath", seldom the other way round. LOSE, LOOSE Lose always means mislaying or dropping something and not being able to find it, while loose means slack or free: "If the fastening on your wrist-watch is loose (slack) you may lose your watch." MAYBE, MAY BE Another tricky one, best explained by demonstration: "Maybe you could explain this to us a little clearer." "It may be a good idea to give us a clearer explanation of this." MEET, METE, MEAT The two more often confused are meet and mete. Meet means to encounter (and can also mean fit or suitable); mete means to allot, apportion or distribute; meat refers to flesh as food. NO, KNOW Strange that these two should get confused, but they do. No is always the opposite of yes; know is to be certain (that you know the difference!) OVERDO, OVERDUE It baffles me that people get these mixed up, but they do. Overdo means to exaggerate or carry something too far; overdue is what your bills are when you forget to pay them! About the author: Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people. Visit her web site at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz. Fantasy for Children & Young Adults</a> for FREE stories and novel excerpts. Sign up for the NOVELLA OF THE MONTH CLUB, absolutely FREE! Circulated by Article Emporium Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don't Worry Sure, we all want to look on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and see our books there. It's thrilling. But it's really not necessary. I see so many authors waste their time and money paying distributors and driving from store to store, delivering books when they should be selling di... The Published Novelist: Nine Essential Qualities So what does it actually take to make it as a selling writer? And beyond that, what does it take to ride out the tough spots in a highly competitive field? These are questions I get asked on a regular basis from readers, as well as people who are just plain curious about ... Book Proposals 101.: What Publishers Want Lots of writers like to talk about writing books. You hear very few talking about writing book proposals. Maybe that's why it's easy to forget that a strong book proposal is the first step to getting a great deal for your non-fiction book. It's where you make the big pitch and tell... Avoid Crafty Traps in Essay Writing Hidden pitfalls are on watch for your paper success in every paragraph of the essay you write. They are notorious misprints, insidious misspellings and numerous stylistic, syntax and format errors. Indeed they are your restless essay writing enemies, which are always on the alert, ... Journaling Your Book To Completion On any given day, how many people, events, problems, projects, family issues, things to remember and appointments are running through your mind? A LOT, right? If you're writing a book, you have to add on top of that a whole other world of characters, events, settings, plots, (if yo... Publish or Perish: It's Not Only for Academia, Part 1 I am the daughter of an obsessed writer. My father, a math teacher by vocation, a writer by avocation, brought me up believing that writing is a fine passion and that the highlight of a writer's life is being published. He gave me his love of the English language, great literature ... Do You Know What A Plot Is? What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same¡K They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures¡K <... Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6 LATER, LATTER Later means afterwards; latter is the second of two things. "Later that day we went for a walk." "We have two choices. The latter is the more reliable, but the former would be cheaper." LAY, L... You Can Write Poetry Today Have you ever sat there staring at the paper, ready to write, but unsure where to begin? Want a solution that will overcome even the worst writer's block? Anyone can start writing poetry today using a few simple techniques. One, two, ...? Did you say or think thr... The U.S. Prison System The U.S. Prison System By Kenneth J. McCormick Http://aboutfacts.net The U.S. in now in the position of having the largest prison population in the world. How can this be, when we are not the most populous country? Well there could be many reasons for this... Top Ten Tips (Part 2) Golden Rules For New Writers - Things you need to know before you begin. Rules govern everything we do in life; even if those rules are of the unwritten kind we abide by them and expect other people to do the same. Why should writing be any different? I... Writing Tips - Is The Conflict Able To Be Resolved? Now that you¡¦ve made the conflict so bad it can¡¦t be resolved easily, you¡¦ll have to make sure it can be resolved ultimately. So what you need is a way out. When you can¡¦t find a way out, what you do is keep on making things harder for your character until y... Re-fresh, Re-hash, Re-write word count: 410 You are running out of ideas, you sit down in front of your computer and stare at the blank screen with a blank mind. Your fingers are idly waiting for some action. Writer's block? Perhaps. You must have an “Id... The Unexplained The Unexplained By Kenneth J. McCormick http://aboutfacts.net Life if full of unexplained things. It makes you wonder how so many things can be a mystery? Are we just not intelligent enough as a race to understand everything, or is it that we just haven't... Understanding The First Rule Of Writing—Before You Start The Great Bestseller Chaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are not followed. Even mixing and matching systems to favor one's own position can cause a great deal of consternation. In writing a book, the first rule is to know and understand why you want to write in the first plac...
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