Words of Wisdom from Great Women Writers

In honor of International Women’s Day, we rounded up nine of our favorite quotes from women writers about reading. Share your favorite quotes about reading and writing in the comments section!

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense used to talk about actions that were completed before some point in the past.

We were shocked to discover that someone had graffitied “Tootles was here” on our front door. We were relieved that Tootles had used washable paint.

The past perfect tense is for talking about something that happened before something else. Imagine waking up one morning and stepping outside to grab the newspaper. On your way back in, you notice a mysterious message scrawled across your front door: Tootles was here. When you’re telling this story to your friends later, how would you describe this moment? You might say something like:

I turned back to the house and saw that some someone named Tootles had defaced my front door!

In addition to feeling indignant on your behalf, your friends will also be able to understand that Tootles graffitied the door at some point in the past before the moment this morning when you saw his handiwork, because you used the past perfect tense to describe the misdeed.

The Past Perfect Formula

The formula for the past perfect tense is had + [past participle]. It doesn’t matter if the subject is singular or plural; the formula doesn’t change.

When to Use the Past Perfect

So what’s the difference between past perfect and simple past? When you’re talking about some point in the past and want to reference an event that happened even earlier, using the past perfect allows you to convey the sequence of the events. It’s also clearer and more specific. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

We were relieved that Tootles used washable paint. We were relieved that Tootles had used washable paint.

It’s a subtle difference, but the first sentence doesn’t tie Tootles’s act of using washable paint to any particular moment in time; readers might interpret it as “We were relieved that Tootles was in the habit of using washable paint.” In the second sentence, the past perfect makes it clear that you’re talking about a specific instance of using washable paint.

Another time to use the past perfect is when you are expressing a condition and a result:

If I had woken up earlier this morning, I would have caught Tootles red-handed.

The past perfect is used in the part of the sentence that explains the condition (the if-clause).

Most often, the reason to write a verb in the past perfect tense is to show that it happened before other actions in the same sentence that are described by verbs in the simple past tense. Writing an entire paragraph with every verb in the past perfect tense is unusual.

When Not to Use the Past Perfect

Don’t use the past perfect when you’re not trying to convey some sequence of events. If your friends asked what you did after you discovered the graffiti, they would be confused if you said:

I had cleaned it off the door.

They’d likely be wondering what happened next because using the past perfect implies that your action of cleaning the door occurred before something else happened, but you don’t say what that something else is. The “something else” doesn’t always have to be explicitly mentioned, but context needs to make it clear. In this case there’s no context, so the past perfect doesn’t make sense.

How to Make the Past Perfect Negative

Making the past perfect negative is simple! Just insert not between had and [past participle].

We looked for witnesses, but the neighbors had not seen Tootles in the act. If Tootles had not included his own name in the message, we would have no idea who was behind it.

How to Ask a Question

The formula for asking a question in the past perfect tense is had + [subject] + [past participle].

Had Tootles caused trouble in other neighborhoods before he struck ours?

Common Regular Verbs in the Past Perfect Tense

Common Irregular Verbs in the Past Perfect Tense

*The past participle of “to get” is “gotten” in American English. In British English, the past participle is “got.”

7 Tips for Writing for Work and Job Searching

by Alison Doyle, Job Search Expert, About.com

Whether you’re sending an email for work or writing a cover letter for a resumé, it’s important to remember that this is professional writing, not personal. Your writing ability reflects on you as an employee or a prospective employee.

It’s important to take the time to carefully write, edit and proofread all your correspondence before you click Send or upload a document online. It will only take a few extra minutes, but taking the time will help you make the best impression on the reader.

Review these tips to make sure that your writing will get your email opened and read, and your resumes and cover letters will be considered for interviews.

Tips for Writing for Work and Job Searching

Make it actionable. Your resume should include your accomplishments, not just a list of what you have done. Your cover letter should show the employer, at a glance, what you have to offer the company. If you’re asking for something in an email message make sure you’re clear about what you want.

Make it personal. It’s always a good idea to include a contact person in your email messages and cover letters. If you don’t have one, check the company website, LinkedIn or Google to see if you can find someone to address your letter to.

Keep it professional. You’re writing to your boss, colleagues, customers or a prospective employer. Keep your correspondence professional and skip the slang, abbreviations, acronyms and emoticons. Use paragraphs and full sentences.

Keep it concise. Most people don’t read beyond the first paragraph or so of an email message. Keep your emails short, concise and focused. Use your opening paragraph for the most important point. With cover letters, include a brief introduction, and then use your second paragraph to pitch your qualifications. Finish your letter with a closing paragraph. Two or three paragraphs are plenty.

Give it a subject line. Your email probably won’t even get opened if it doesn’t have a subject line. If the subject line is vague or sounds spammy, it won’t get opened either. Include a subject line that is relevant to what you’re asking to up your chances of getting your message read.

Add your signature. Don’t forget to include a signature with your contact information. Provide your name, phone number, email address and LinkedIn profile URL, if you have one. It will make it easier for the reader to follow up with you.

Make sure it’s perfect. Spell check, grammar check and proofread your email or letter, and then do it again. Read it out loud or, if you have trouble catching your own mistakes, print it and proof it again. Grammarly is a terrific tool for making sure all your written correspondence is perfect, and catching mistakes that you may not have realized you made.

Alison is a job search and employment expert with many years of experience in human resources, career development and job hunting with a focus on job searching, employment issues, and career options, as well as employment trends and technologies for job seekers and employers alike.

Alison has been the Job Search Expert for About.com since 1998. She is also the founder of CareerToolBelt.com and the creator of the Career Tool Belt series of free apps.

7 Simple and Quick Editing Tips That Will Elevate Your Writing

Guest post by Matt Banner

It doesn’t matter if you’re a New York Times bestselling author or a blogger from Kansas, everyone has to edit their work. The first draft is always a mess of disorganized thoughts and uncertain tangents. Writing begins as chaos and ends with order. It has been this way since the dawn of time.

Saving time while also polishing your work is every writer’s goal. These seven editing tips will help you achieve that goal.

Present Your Best Work with These 7 Editing Tips

When your first draft is finished and it’s time to edit, use these seven strategies to ensure that you hit all of the right literary notes and end up with a perfect final draft.

1 Eliminate Empty Filler Words

Phrases like it takes, here is, and there will be take the focus away from the nouns in your sentence. They basically combine with other filler words like who and when to pad out your sentences.

Look for phrases like these and train yourself to correct them:

• It’s fun to blog – Blogging is fun
• There are many people who blog – Many people blog
• Here are some ideas for you to try: – Some ideas for you to try are:

If you’ve already described the subject, then it’s okay to use words like here, it, and there. For example:

I love to blog. It’s a really great profession!

2 Use Strong Verbs

Look out for words that lessen the impact of what you’re saying. Try to replace these phrases with powerful and concise verbs.

Some examples:

• He went around the world – He traveled around the world
• Give out free items – Offer free items
• Make up a new idea – Create a new idea

3Focus on Powerful Adjectives

When you’re describing something, don’t use words like really or very. Instead, use words that get the point across confidently:

• Really gross – Disgusting
• Really great – Phenomenal
• Very large – Massive
• Very pretty – Gorgeous

Even if you cut out those two words before your adjectives, remember to focus on telling your readers what something is as opposed to what it isn’t. Take a look:

• It’s not that fun – It’s boring
• She’s not ugly – She’s gorgeous
• Blogging isn’t hard – Blogging is easy

For example, take a look at this food blogging article. Descriptive adjectives are imperative for this type of blog.

4Trim Fat from Your Phrases

People read fast these days, in most cases skimming content without reading every word. Make it easier for them by keeping your sentences short and to the point. Look at these sentences and imagine them without the bolded words. See how they read better?

• Every single person should love blogging.
• But the real issue here is people love to talk.
• You’re going to have to remove the extra words.

5Avoid Nominalization

Nominalization is when a sentence has a weak noun where a stronger verb or adjective should be. These tend to include several other words that pad out the sentence.

• Give your blog posts a good proofread. – Proofread your posts.
• Interruptions are the cause of slow work days. – Interruptions cause slow work days.
• He has a high level of intelligence. – He is intelligent.

6 Don’t Overcomplicate Commas

Punctuation in the English language brings a lot of rules with it. Even the poor comma is subjected to countless rules and regulations. Shane Arthur over at Boost Blog Traffic has a great policy on comma usage:

Here’s a tip: Use commas sparingly, but if you leave one out and it makes the reader stop reading, then add another comma!

Read your sentences out loud, and if they sound odd, add a comma to clarify the ideas in place. Otherwise it all runs together, and your reader has to stop to reread the sentence.

7Use Noun Modifiers

When you combine two nouns in a way that the first modifies the second, you’re using a noun modifier. They are useful because they shorten sentences. Try these out:

• Tips on blogging – Blogging Tips
• Great advice on how to boost focus – Great focus-boosting advice
• Information regarding your award – Award information

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to get swept up in the editing process, but it’s important to present your best work every time. Share your own editing tips in the comments below!

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Matt Banner is the author of On Blast Blog, a website that provides easy-to-read information on how to start and grow a blog. You can follow him via twitter @blastyourblog.