How to Engage Your Readers using Deep Point of View

I'm over at The Kill Zone blog today, where I was a regular contributor (every second Monday) for three years. Here's the beginning of my post there today, with a link at the end to the rest of the tips.

Tips for Deepening the POV in Your Fiction

by Jodie Renner, editor & author

Most of today’s popular fiction is written in first-person POV (I) or third-person limited point of view (he, she), both of which show us the story mainly from inside the character’s head and body. These narrative techniques engage readers much more emotionally than the more distant third-person omniscient, which was popular in previous centuries.

Current popular fiction, although a long way from the old omniscient style, still employs a variety of narrative distances, depending on the genre, the target readership, and the writer’s own comfort level. There is a whole spectrum when it comes to narrative distance, from plot-driven military or action-adventure novels and historical sagas at one end to character-driven romantic suspense and romance at the other.

Today’s post focuses on close or intimate narrative distance – how to engage readers emotionally, bond them with your character, and draw them deep into your story, so they can’t put it down. And how to avoid interrupting as the author, which some readers might even find akin to “mansplaining.” See a great post here on TKZ by bestselling thriller writer, Robert Dugoni, “Hey, Butt Out! I’m Reading Here!”

Most female readers (and apparently females make up about 70% of readers of novels) prefer to identify closely with the main character. The reading experience is more satisfying when we connect emotionally with the protagonist, worrying about them and rooting for them.

What is third-person limited POV? As Dan Brown says, “limited or ‘close’ third point of view (a narrative that adheres to a single character) … gives you the ability to be inside a character’s thoughts, feelings, and sensations, which can give readers a deeper experience of character and scene, and is the most common way to use point of view.”

(For an introduction to point of view in fiction, especially deep point of view or close third-person POV, see my articles here on TKZ: POV 101, POV 102, and POV 103)

From third-person limited, you can decide to go even deeper, into close third person or deep point of view to create an immersive experience where readers are more emotionally invested, feeling like participants rather than observers.

As David Mamet says, “Deep point of view is a way of writing fiction in third-person limited that silences the narrative voice and takes the reader directly into a character’s mind…. Deep POV creates a deeper connection between readers and characters.”

In deep POV, the author writes as the character instead of about him. The character and his world come to life for us as we vicariously share his experiences and feel his struggles, pain, triumphs, and disappointments.

As editor and author Beth Hill says, “deep POV…is a way of pairing third-person POV with a close narrative distance. It’s a way of creating the intimacy of first-person narration with a third-person point of view.” (And without all those I – I – I’s.)

Depending on your personal style, you could decide to write in a deeper, more subjective third-person point of view for a whole novel or story or reserve this closer technique for more critical or intimate scenes.

Assuming you write in third person and want to engage your readers more and immerse them in your story world, here are some tips for getting deeper into the psyche of your character, starting with more general tips and working down to fine-tuning.

~ First, decide whose scene it is. ...

For the rest of this post, go to 

Tips for Deepening the POV in Your Fiction

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized and edited two anthologies. Website: https://www.jodierenner.com/, Facebook, Amazon Author Page.

Tricks & Tips for Catching All Those Little Typos in Your Own Work

 by Jodie Renner, editor & author  

 

Whether you’re writing a blog post, a magazine article, a short story, an assignment, a novel, or a nonfiction book, it’s important to go over your work several times to make sure it’s polished and flows well. No matter what your you’re writing, you’re your credibility will be eroded if readers find mispelled misspelled words, misused words, missing or duplicate words, or other typos. 

If you plan to enter your short story or novel into a contest or query an agent, your credibility will be eroded and your reputation tarnished if the judge/reader/agent finds awkward sentences, boring word choices, missing words, extra words, or grammatical or spelling errors.

And if you're publishing your own novel or nonfiction and want to avoid annoyed readers and negative reviews, it's essential to submit a clean, polished, properly formatted book. 

For advice on various aspects of writing, revising, and editing your fiction, you can check out my three writing guides and my many blog posts here and elsewhere. Writers find my to-the-point Fire up Your Fiction, with lots of bullet points and before-and-after examples, very helpful.

After you’ve resolved any big-picture content problems and any style issues, such as slow pacing, awkward sentence structure, or overly wordy phrasing, it’s time to go through the manuscript again for typos, spelling, and grammatical errors, including punctuation. 

My tips below will help you with the final editing and proofreading steps, smoothing out clunky sentences, cutting excess wordiness and repetition, and improving your word choices, as well as ferreting out those tiny little gremlins that escape your notice when you’re concentrating on content issues. At the bottom are links to more articles on specific topics related to revision and self-editing.

When we read our own work, we’re so familiar with what we want to say that we fill in words that aren’t actually on the page and skip over words that shouldn’t be there.

Of course, getting detail-oriented, eagle-eyed friends who are great at spelling to read your work carefully is a great option, if you know any. 

Here are some tips for fooling your brain into thinking your story is something new, something you need to read critically and revise ruthlessly before it reaches the demanding eyes of a literary agent, acquiring editor, contest judge, or picky reader and reviewer.

1. Set it aside for a while. First, if you can, put your article, blog post, or short story away for a day or two before revising and editing it, and your book manuscript away for a few weeks or more, if possible, so you can come back to it with fresh eyes and a bit of emotional distance. If you’re on a tight deadline, start at #2.

2. Start with Word’s Spell-check Editor and check those squiggly red and blue lines under words. Don’t rely entirely on spell-check, though, as it misses a lot (like the well-known laughable gaffe, “pubic” for “public”), and often flags words that will actually change something from correct to incorrect. For example, in a manuscript I edited, MS Word suggested that “I like your thinking” (as in “I like how you think”) should be “I like you’re thinking.” (Blatantly wrong for the context.) And it often suggests the wrong its/it’s, and misses all kinds of typos in manuscripts I edit, like “crowed” for “crowded,” “father” for “farther,” “county” for “country,” and “manger” for “manager.” So definitely don’t trust spell-check blindly.

4. Do a search (“Find”) for words you know how to spell but tend to spell wrong when you’re in a hurry, especially ones spell-check often won’t flag, like “you” for “your,” “the” for “their,” “your” for “you’re,” and “there” for “they’re” or “their.”

5. Maybe invest in grammar and spelling software, such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or AutoCrit. Here's a recent (2021) article on the Best Grammar Checkers and Editing Tools.

Then choose some of the following strategies, which are also excellent for picking up on clunky sentences, awkward phrasing, repetition, and wordiness.

~ Increase the size of the type to 140% -180%, by clicking on the + sign at the bottom right of the document.

~ Change the font to one that looks quite different to fool your eyes and brain into thinking this is new material you’ve never read (or thought of) before, so you need to pay close attention. Try Comic Sans or Franklin Gothic Book or Book Antiqua.

~ Format your novel to book size, like 6″ x 9″ with half-inch margins, a font like Georgia or Cambria, and single-spaced, maybe format it to two-column landscape so it looks like an open book, then, if you can afford the paper and ink, print it up and read it in a different location, somewhere you don’t write, preferably out of your home.

~ Send your book manuscript to your Kindle or other e-reader, then read it in a different location, preferably not at home. If you already have an e-reader, this is of course much cheaper and less wasteful than making a print copy of a whole book. Format it to book size first (6"x9", 0.5" margins, indents of 0.2" or 0.3"), then send it to your Kindle email account as an attachment.

~ Send your story to yourself and read it on your tablet or phone. Or use Word's OneDrive or another cloud option.

~ In a print version, place a ruler or piece of paper under the line you’re reading to keep from skipping ahead. Or keep your finger under each word as you read.

~ Read it out loud. Wherever you stumble, your readers will, too. This will also help with punctuation. If you pause briefly, put in a comma. If you pause for longer, put in a period. 

~ Get your computer to read passages aloud to you, while you follow along. This will help you hear errors you may not catch otherwise. To enable text-to-speech in Word: First, add “Speak” to the Quick Access Toolbar: Along the very top above “File,” the blue line that starts with W for Word (or “Autosave” or the “Save” icon), go to the far right to find the small down arrow. Click that. It will say “Customize Quick Access Toolbar.” Click “More Commands.” In the “Choose Commands” from the list, select “All Commands.” Scroll down to the “Speak” command, select it, and then click “Add.” Click “OK.” When you want to use the text-to-speech command, you’ll use the icon on the Quick Access Toolbar, which looks like a square speech bubble on a cartoon. To hear some text read aloud, turn on your speaker, highlight the paragraph or chapter you want to hear aloud, then click the Speak icon on the toolbar. To stop it, click the icon again.

Follow along the text while listening to the text being read aloud. Stop it whenever you need to add, delete, fix, or change a word or smooth out awkward phrasing.

~ For final proofreading for little typos, you could try this: Read the whole thing backwards or upside down (!). I’ve heard these suggestions, but haven’t actually done this myself, and probably won’t.

~ If you’re self-publishing, get a pre-publication sample book printed by Amazon or Ingram Spark and read it somewhere else, preferably away from your home, like in a coffee shop, a park, or the beach. This makes a huge difference – you're approaching the book as a reader, not the writer. I read all three of my writing guides in book form, pen in hand, while away on vacations, and I caught all kinds of repetitions, sentences that didn’t flow as well as they could, were too wordy, or generally needed polishing, etc., as well as the odd typo.

~ I also recommend my two quick, clickable e-resources to help you verify spelling and word choices: QUICK CLICKS: SPELLING LIST – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips, and QUICK CLICKS: WORD USAGE – Precise Word Choices at Your Fingertips. Click on the titles to check them out. These handy resources will save you tons of time looking up words in the dictionary, and every word is verified as correct. (They're perfect for viewing on computers, laptops, tablets, or e-readers but don't work on small screens like phones.)

Also, check out these articles for more specific help:

 

- 16 Concrete Tips for Effectively Editing Your Own Fiction

- Tips for Creating Sentences That Flow

- A Single Word Can Change the Tone

- People in Motion -- Vary Those Verbs!

- How and When to Use Hyphens, Dashes, & Ellipses

- 90+ Commonly Misspelled Sound-Alike Word Pairs

- Revise for Success - Concrete Tips for Revising & Editing Your Fiction

- It's All About Those Hyphens!

- Basic Formatting of Your Manuscript

Writers – do you have any questions or other strategies to add for catching all those little typos lurking in your manuscript? Let us know what works for you in the comments below. (Your comment will not appear instantly – it will need to be approved first.)

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three writing guides in her

series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized and edited two anthologies. Website: https://www.jodierenner.com/, Facebook, Amazon Author Page

How Will Your Story Rate in a Contest? Evaluation Criteria

by Jodie Renner, editor & author

How do you think your unpublished novel or short story would rate in a writing contest? Do you think it's ready to send to a literary agent? And how will your readers react to it, once it's published? Will it get a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down? 

Here's a list of MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION CRITERIA to guide you, point by point, before submitting your story to a contest, editor, or agent (or publishing it yourself).

I was recently asked to read and review the first 50 pages of some unpublished novels that had been submitted to a well-respected contest. Below are the criteria I was sent, with a few points I've added myself. 

These questions will also help anyone wanting to publish their novel (or short stories) themselves, send it to an editor, or pitch it to an agent or publisher. 

Ask some friends, your critique group, or some other savvy beta readers (who read avidly in your genre) to read your first 10-30 pages and reply to these questions. Then collect their responses to see how your novel or short story would measure up to contest judges, agents, or readers. Then it's likely time to do some revising, editing, and polishing before submitting.

1. Intro/Beginning:       

- Does the opening hook you in?

- Is tension established early on?

- Is there too much backstory in a lump? Or maybe too little information provided?

- Does the beginning compel you to keep reading?


2. Characters:

- Can you identify with the main character? Do you care what happens to him/her?

- Is the protagonist interesting and complex, with some desires, secrets, and regrets?

- How well are the characters developed?

- Does each character feel unique? Or are they run-of-the-mill, flat, or stock characters?

- Are extraneous characters bogging down the story?


3. Grammar, Sentence Structure, Mechanics:

- Does the author have a strong command of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, or will he/she require significant editing help?

- Does the author vary sentence structure to create rhythm, or does the writing feel monotonous?

- Does the writing meander or go on and on? Does it need tightening up to get to the point?


4. Setting:

- Does the author treat setting like an afterthought, or has it been given an attentive eye?

- Does the story have a real sense of place?

- Does the author get too hung up on describing setting when it is not integral to the progression of the story?

- Is the setting shown from the viewpoint of the character, and does it include sensory elements and character physical reactions to it?

5. Dialogue:     

- Does the dialogue seem natural, organic? Does it seem forced?

- Does it drive the story forward or simply fill space?

- Do the characters use many clichés?

- Are conversations interesting or are they too mundane?


6. Premise/Plot/Pacing/Conflict/Tension:

- Does the basic premise of the story make sense, and is it believable within the story’s context? 

- Does the story move along at a good pace? Do things drag on too long, or get passed by too quickly?

- Does there seem to be something really at stake throughout?

 - Does tension drive the story forward, or does it fizzle out and fall by the wayside?


7. Voice:

- Does character voice feel unique? Does it feel apropos to the character’s nature and background?

- Does the authorial voice tell too much instead of showing?

- Could the story work better with a different POV?

- Is the authorial voice unique, or does it feel like a regurgitation of similar works?

Once you and your volunteer readers have examined your story with these elements in mind and you've done any needed revisions, your novel or short story should be much closer to being ready to send to an editor, contest, agent, or publisher.

Good luck!

I could add more points/questions but don't want to overwhelm you. How about you? Can you suggest a point or two that should be added? Let me know in the comments below. (Comments will appear after being approved.)

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized and edited two anthologies. Website: www.JodieRenner.com, Facebook, Amazon Author Page.

How to save a bundle on editing costs – without sacrificing quality

by Jodie Renner, freelance fiction editor & craft-of-writing author

Whether you plan to publish your novel yourself, query agents, or pitch it directly to publishers, it’s highly recommended (essential, really) to get your manuscript edited by a respected freelance fiction editor who reads and edits your genre. 

Can’t afford it, you say? Realistically, if you want your novel to get accepted, sell well, and get lots of 5-star reviews, you can’t afford not to. All successful authors use editors. Read the Acknowledgments page of bestsellers – the author often thanks 3-5 editors. (Of course, the average indie author can't afford that, but at least get one!)

Editing fees vary hugely, depending on the length and quality of the manuscript and how much work is needed to take it from “so-so” or “pretty good” to a real page-turner that engages readers, sells well, and garners great reviews. 

Before approaching an editor, it's important to be sure your story is already as tight and compelling as you can make it – and that it’s under 100,000 words long. 70-90K is generally preferred for today’s fiction.

Here are some tips for reducing your editing costs and ensuring a much higher-quality edit and final product. Down at the bottom you'll find more specific tips for revising various aspects of your story.

Don’t be in a hurry to pitch or publish your book before it’s ready.

If you rush to publish an early draft, you could do your reputation as a writer a lot of damage. Once the book is out there and getting negative reviews, the bad publicity could sink your career before it has had a chance to take off. And you can't get those reviews deleted – they won't go away. It’s important to open your mind to the very real possibility probability that your story could use clarification, tightening,  revising, polishing, and generally sprucing up on several levels, areas that may not have occurred to you because you’re too close to the story or maybe even unaware of key techniques that bring fiction to life. 

First, of course, write freely. Then, when inspiration wanes, step back, hone your skills, and evaluate.

First, get your ideas down as quickly as you can, with no editing – write with wild abandon and let your muse flow freely. But once you’ve gotten your story down (or as far as your initial surge of creativity will take you for now), it’s a good time to put it aside for a week or three and bone up on some current, well-respected craft advice, with your story in the back of your mind. Then you can re-attack your novel with fresh ideas and inspiration, and address any possible issues you weren’t aware of that could be considered amateurish, confusing, heavy-handed, or boring to today’s sophisticated, savvy readers. 

Now’s the time to read a few books by the writing “gurus” and maybe join a critique group (in-person or online) and/or attend some writing workshops. Also, read and analyze successful novels in your genre.

Then, notes in hand, roll up your sleeves and revise your novel, based on what you’ve learned. (See link at the end to my step-by-step revision tips.)

If you then send your improved story, rather than your first or second draft, to a freelance editor, they will be able to concentrate on more advanced fine-tuning instead of just spending all their time and energy flagging basic issues and newbie-type weaknesses. 

With a cleaner, sharper copy, they'll be able to tackle more advanced issues and take your manuscript up several more levels. Not only that, if you're more informed, you’ll “get” the editor’s suggestions, so the whole process will go a lot smoother and be more enjoyable and beneficial.

A great book to start with is my short, sweet, to-the-point, award-winning Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Stories,  Fire up Your Fiction. 

And for additional advice on point of view, avoiding author intrusions, and showing instead of telling, peruse Captivate Your Readers. 

And if you’re writing a suspenseful story or other fast-paced fiction, check out my Writing a Killer Thriller for more great tips. 

All three are available in print or e-book, which you can also read on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. 

And when it comes time to find a freelance editor, don’t shop for the cheapest one and insist that your manuscript only needs a quick final proofread or light edit.  

That approach will result in a cursory, superficial, even substandard job, like hiring a painter to paint the exterior of a house that’s falling over and needs rebuilding, and will actually end up costing you more money in the long run.

Why?

Because you could well be unaware of how many structural, content, and stylistic weaknesses your story may contain, which should be addressed and fixed before the final copyedit stage.

Paying for a basic copyedit and proofread on a long, weak manuscript, only to find out later it needs a major overhaul, which will then require rewriting and another full copyedit, is short-sighted — and money down the drain.

Is your novel more than 90-100K words long? Time to go through and tighten it up!

If your novel is a rambling 120-130,000 words long, it needs weeding of anything superfluous or repetitious. It’s very likely you need to focus your story; cut down on descriptions, explanations, and backstory; eliminate or combine some characters; maybe delete a sub-plot or two; plug some plot holes; fix point-of-view issues; pick up the pace, make your dialogue snappier; and turn those long, meandering sentences and paragraphs into lean, mean, to-the-point writing.

Not only will this process make your story much stronger and more captivating, but it will save you a bundle on editing costs, since freelance editors charge by the word, the page, or the hour, and editing your 80 or 90,000-word, tighter, self-edited and revised book will cost you a whole lot less than asking them to slog through 120-130K words written in rambling, convoluted sentences.

Is your novel too long? Check out these practical tips:

 ~ How to Slash Your Word Count by 20-40% …and tighten up your story without losing any of the good stuff!

Your story may even need a structural or developmental edit.

If you’re at the stage where you know it’s not great, but you’re too close to your story to pinpoint the weaknesses, perhaps you should hire a developmental editor or book coach to stand back and take a look at the big picture for you and give you a professional assessment of your manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Or if you can’t afford a developmental editor, try a critique group or 3-6 beta (volunteer) readers – smart acquaintances who read a lot in your genre – to give you some advice on your story line and characters and flag any plot holes or spots where the story lags or is confusing or illogical, or they can't warm up to the character.  Here is a list of questions to ask your beta readers.

Enlist help to ferret out inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

You don’t want to lose reader trust and invite bad reviews by being careless about facts and time sequences, etc., either. Find a critique partner or an astute friend or two with an inquiring mind and an eye for detail and ask them to read your story purely for logistics. Do all the details make sense? How about the time sequences? Character motivations? Accuracy of information?

For technical info, do your research or try to find an expert or two in the field, and rather than asking them to plow through your whole novel, just send them the sections that are relevant to their area of expertise. 

It’s even possible that you’ve based your whole story premise on something that doesn’t actually make sense or is just too far-fetched, and the sooner you find that out the better!

Read it aloud.

Read your whole story out loud to check for a natural, easy flow of ideas, in the characters’ vernacular and voice, which of course need to suit the tone, mood, and situation. This part of the process should also help you cut down on awkward sentences, confusing wording, and overall rambling / wordiness, all of which will turn agents and readers off. 

Run it through grammar check and spell-check. 

Or get someone you know who's good at that to go through it for you. Of course, you and they need to keep in mind that fiction is usually written in casual language, with lots of contractions, and the dialogue is often in incomplete sentences, with colloquial and sometimes profane language.

The more advance work you do, the less you’ll pay for editing.

So, to save money and increase your sales and royalties, after writing your first or second draft, it’s critical to hone your fiction-writing skills and go through your manuscript several more times and enlist some beta readers to give you feedback before sending it to an editor. 

Also, be sure to find an editor who specializes in fiction and edits your genre, and get them to do a sample edit (free or paid) of at least the first four or five pages. 

(See my article, “Looking for an editor? Check them out very carefully!”) 

Many editors, including myself, will offer a detailed edit and critique of the first few chapters (not free, of course, and you need to send them a brief synopsis, too, so they'll know what the story is about). I highly recommend you start with that introductory edit. This is often a huge eye-opener for the author and money extremely well-spent, as you can then use their suggestions to revise the rest of the novel before getting them (or another editor) to go through the rest, at a – possibly significantly – lower rate because it will now be cleaner, tighter, and more polished. 

And don’t make your main priority finding the cheapest editor, as they may be just starting out and unaware of important fiction-writing issues that should be addressed, such as point of view, showing instead of telling, and avoiding info dumps and other author intrusions. 

And whatever you do, don’t tie the editor’s hands by insisting your manuscript only needs a light edit, because that’s cheaper. 

You could well end up paying for that uninformed, “cheap” light edit on an overlong, weak manuscript, then discovering that the story has big issues that need to be addressed and requires major revisions, including slashing and rewriting. Then you’ll have to pay for another complete edit of the new version! $$ multiplied!

Speaking as a professional editor with 13 years of experience, I have found that often, new writers are unaware of weaknesses in their novels, issues that can cause rejections or that readers will catch and complain about. You don’t necessarily know what you don’t know.

Also, check out the editor's guidelines and be sure to send them what they need, including the genre, a brief synopsis (story line), and brief character descriptions. 

And be sure to format your novel properly before sending it to an editor or agent: 

Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced, left-justified, paragraphs indented, no extra space between paragraphs, and one space (not two) between sentences. And don't use Tab or the space bar for indents – that causes headaches. Use the Paragraph function to do it properly. 

For more specific tips, see my article, Basic Formatting of Your Manuscript.

Check out these other articles by Jodie for lots of concrete tips on revising and tightening your novel (Click on the titles below):

~ REVISE FOR SUCCESS – A Stress-Free, Concrete Plan of Action for Revising, Editing, and Polishing YourNovel

Is your novel more than 90K words?

 ~ How to Slash Your Word Count by 20-40% …and tighten up your story without losing any of the good stuff!

~ 15 Questions for Your Beta Readers -- and to focus your own revisions

And a handy alphabetical spelling checklist:

~ 90+ Commonly Misused Sound-Alike Word Pairs

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized and edited two anthologies for charity. Website: www.JodieRenner.com, Facebook, Amazon Author Page.

90+ Commonly Misspelled Sound-Alike Word Pairs

by Jodie Renner, editor & author  

Have you chosen the right word/spelling for the meaning you want to convey? When two (or three) words sound the same, it's easy to inadvertently choose the wrong one.

 If you sometimes get a “brain blip” about the spelling of homonyms / homophones, bookmark this chart to help you with 90+ of the most commonly confused, misused, or misspelled sound-alikes in English.

The list, with deliberately simplified definitions for quick and easy reference, is in alphabetical order and includes some easier words you may know well and other combos you may not be 100% sure of, such as rein/reign, illusion/allusion, oral/aural, cord/chord, pour/pore, it’s/its compliment/complement, aisle/isle, peddle/pedal, gorilla/guerrilla, exercise/exorcise, discreet/discrete, who’s/whose, peek/peak, council/counsel, and lightning/lightening.

accept – to take, receive
except – all but this or that one

ad – advertisement

add – plus; augment; increase

advice (noun) – you give advice
advise (verb) – you advise someone

affect (verb) – to cause change
effect (noun) – the result of change

aisle – corridor in a store or church
isle – island
I’ll – I will

allot – to assign, to distribute
a lot – many, a bunch, numerous
alot – not a word

allowed – permitted
aloud – out loud (not silent)

allusion – an indirect reference to something (you allude to something)
illusion – false impression, misconception

altar – a table or place that serves as a center of worship or ritual

alter – to change, fix

aw (or aww) – to express a soft, warm feeling (Aw, that's cute.)
awe – expressing wonder, reverence, or admiration (in awe of something)

bare – unclothed; unprotected; plain; unadorned
bear – wild animal; to hold up or support

bazaar – open-air market
bizarre – strange, weird

beat – win, overcome; or hit, strike
beet – red root vegetable

bolder – braver
boulder – a large rock 

boarder – room renter who gets meals as well
border – edge, boundary

brake – to slow or stop vehicle
break – shatter, fracture

buy – to purchase
by – go past; near; doer, creator
bye – goodbye

capital – city, wealth, uppercase letter     
capitol – legislative building

chord – musical, strike a chord
cord – string, rope; vocal cords

coma – lengthy unconsciousness
comma – , (punctuation mark)

complement – goes well with
compliment – say something nice

complementary – free
complimentary – giving compliments, praise

council – a group of people in charge
counsel – to give advice or instruction

coarse – rough, harsh, crude
course – route, direction, program, class

desert – dry, arid area
dessert – sweet treat after meal
  But "He got his just deserts" = "He got what was deserved."

discreet – unobtrusive, modest, prudent
discrete – distinct, individual, finite

doe – female deer
dough – unbaked cookies, bread, etc.      

do – to act
dew – moisture, condensation
due – owed, need to pay

dual – double, two

duel – combat, conflict, or contest between two opponents

evasive – avoiding

invasive – taking over, invading, attacking

exercise – exertion, action, practice
exorcise – to expel, to get rid of (evil spirits)

fair – not dark; unbiased; exhibition
fare – price, fee; food, diet

faze – to disturb, disconcert, daunt, bother, worry
phase – a stage of change

farther – physical distance
further – additional

feet – plural of foot
feat – significant, difficult act or accomplishment

flair – talent or ability

flare – blaze, flame

flea – bug
flee – run away

formally – in a formal manner

formerly – previously

forward – ahead

Foreword – part of the front matter of a book

gorilla – ape
guerrilla or guerilla – type of fighter

grate – to cut up; to irritate
great – wonderful; very large

grisly – gruesome
grizzly – bear

heal – to make well
heel – back of foot

hear – sound
here – place

heroin – drug
heroine – female hero

higher – farther up
hire – to employ someone

hoard – to accumulate a lot (too much)
horde – a large group or gathering

hoarse – condition of throat/voice
horse – large animal

humerus – bone
humorous – funny

incite – stir up, spur on, urge on

insight – perception, discernment, wisdom, seeing clearly

insure – to get insurance
ensure – to make sure

it’s – it is or it has
its – belongs to it

jeans – denim casual pants

genes – hereditary genetics

juggler – person who juggles

jugular – related to the throat

lightening – making lighter or paler
lightning – flashes in a storm

loan – something someone lends
lone – alone, solitary

loose – not tight
lose – misplace, opposite of find

main – principal, most important
mane – hair on a horse or lion

no – negative; opposite of yes     

know – to be aware of

oral – related to speaking
aural – related to hearing

our – belongs to us
are – to be: we are, they are

pail – bucket
pale – light-colored

pain – hurt
pane – window

pair – two together
pare – to peel, cut
pear – a fruit

passed - went by, past tense of pass
past - before now, earlier on, ago, bygone, elapsed, beyond (went past)

patience – the ability to wait
patients – people under medical care

peal – ringing of bells
peel – to remove outer layer

peace – not war
piece – part, portion, fragment

peak – highest point
peek – glimpse
pique – excite, arouse (curiosity, etc.)

pedal – part of bicycle, make bike move
peddle – sell

perspective – a mental view; a visible scene; a point of view or opinion

prospective – expected; likely to be or to become

picture – image

pitcher – container for liquid; one who pitches

plain – not fancy
plane – flies in the sky 

pore over – study carefully
pour over – dispense liquid

principal – main, head of school
principle – basic truth or law

quiet – opposite of loud or noisy
quite – sort of

raise – to lift up
raze – to tear down
rays – beams of radiant energy – the sun's rays 

rapt – engrossed, absorbed in

wrapped – covered, past tense of wrap

rain – water falling
reign – monarch’s rule
rein – strap for a horse; to curb or restrain - rein in

review – look over, go over
revue – theatrical production

right – correct; good; opposite of left
rite – a ceremonial practice ("rite of passage")

sail – part of a boat
sale – discounted prices

sight – something you see
site – location, area
cite – to quote something

sole – one; fish; bottom of foot or shoe
soul – spirit, spiritual part of person

stair – steps
stare – to look intently at

stake – pointed piece of wood; prize; share
steak – cut of meat

stationary – not moving
stationery – writing materials

steal – take without permission
steel – metal

tail – part of animal
tale – story

than – compared to
then – what comes after

their – belongs to them    

there – not here
they’re – they are

threw – tossed
through – pass in and out

to – where you’re going
too – also; excessive
two – 2

vain – conceited; unsuccessful
vane – weather vane
vein – blood vessel; narrow channel; lode (minerals)

wait – don’t go yet
weight – measure mass

wander – to go aimlessly
wonder – to think about something (verb); awe (noun)

wave – hand motion, flutter

waive – to forgo, relinquish (waive your rights)

way – manner, method

weigh – to measure mass or importance

weak – not strong

week – seven days in a row

weather – atmospheric conditions – rain, snow, etc.
whether – choosing or comparing alternatives

were – past tense of "are" - they were
we’re – we are                                               

where – a place

wet – not dry
whet – excite, stimulate; sharpen

which – which one?
witch – woman who practices sorcery

whine – complain
wine – alcoholic beverage from grapes

who’s – who is
whose – belongs to whom

whoa – stop, cease
woe – sadness

wrapped – covered, past tense of wrap
rapt – enthralled, captivated, engrossed in

write – create note, message, story with words
right – correct; opposite of left

you’re – you are
your – belongs to you

Do you have any others you'd like me to add? Please mention them in the comments below.

See also "Just the Right Word is Only a Click Away".

Have trouble remembering whether to hyphenate a word or not? Check out "It's All About Those Hyphens!"

For many more words, in alphabetical order, with explanations and examples, check out Jodie's two handy, clickable, time-saving e-resources for writers, editors, students, and anyone else with writing projects: Quick Clicks: WORD USAGE – Precise Word Choices at Your Fingertips 

and Quick Clicks: SPELLING LIST – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips. 

With all kinds of internal links, they’re both super quick and easy to use! (They're designed to work on e-readers, tablets, laptops, and computers, but not phones.)

Click HERE to choose a way to receive email alerts of new posts published on this blog. 

Jodie Renner is a former English (and French) teacher, a freelance fiction editor and book coach, and the award-winning author of three writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized and edited two anthologies. Website: www.JodieRenner.com, Facebook, Amazon Author Page.