Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Dedication -- Introduction -- part one: Stylistic Decisions -- one: Which Verb Tense Should You Write In? -- two: How Should You Format and Punctuate Dialogue? -- three: What Words Should You Use to Present Dialogue? -- four: Should You Phonetically Represent Characters' Speech? -- five: What Are Your Options for Portraying Characters' Thoughts? -- part two: Fundamentals of Language -- six: The Past Perfect -- seven: Pronouns -- eight: Adverbs -- nine: Participial Phrases That Modify -- ten: Diction -- part three: Nuances of Punctuation -- eleven Fragments -- twelve: Comma Splices, Run-ons, and Semicolons -- thirteen: Dashes, Parentheses, and Nonessential Commas -- fourteen: Exclamation Points and Italics -- part four: Common Errors -- fifteen: Verb Tense Shifting -- sixteen: Commas -- seventeen: Betrayals of Language -- eighteen: Cliché -- Afterword -- Glossary -- Exercises -- Index.