CREATIVE WRITING TIPS #2 - ARTICLES

Unless you give up writing in English, and use a language such as Russian or Polish instead, articles will appear all over the page. In English these are ‘a’, 'an’ & ‘the.’ 

I’ve never come across any advice warning about their overuse, apart from not using them with a noun which can stand alone. However, I was stunned by how many times they cropped up in my own work. 

I read through the first chapter and looked for ways to eliminate them. I was astounded when I cut the use of ‘the’ by one third. My guess is that even when applied correctly, they can still be used too much.  Other words to watch out for include of, by, into, about, in and for.


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