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10/12/2010 • 4:02 PM 0

The Difference Between Regret & Remorse is…

Image by Dave Dyer via Flickr

You feel remorse for running over that little old lady when you were drunk.

You feel regret when you think how much better it would have been if you had run over (and then backed up over) your college freshman roommate.

In the first instance, it’s something you did do which was bad, so you feel remorse.

We regret the things we didn’t do.

Thank you to Christopher Hitchens. He had a better education than I did, but he shares what he knows.

Seven Tips to Develop The Art of Apologizing (socyberty.com)

Filed under: grammar, publishing, writing tips, Christopher Hitchens, Remorse, remorse vs. regret, the difference betweem remorse and regret

10/12/2010 • 10:00 AM 0

The Proper Use of Exclamation Points

Image via Wikipedia

Occasionally I come across a manuscript in which the writer tries to inject excitement where there really isn’t any. That’s considered an amateurish mistake.

Exclamation points are common in tweets and in advertising. In the newspaper business, the slang for the exclamation point is “dog’s prick.” (i.e. they really don’t like exclamation points.)

In books, exclamation points are permitted, of course. However, please don’t overuse them. The more they are used, the less effective they are. Even better? Write around the exclamation point where you can. The reader’s experience will be richer if they get the mood of the scene through context instead of spoon-feeding with them.