General Writing and Word Craft Topics

Adverbs! You may have heard that one should avoid overuse of adverbs in favor of stronger verbs. Correct, but they are a perfectly useful part of speech (l0l), and Beth Hill has a great blog post on common usages and how to correctly implement commas with them. (See what I did there?)
"As you know, Bob..." - :) see Exposition/Info Dumping
Autonomous Body Parts - Great explanation and consideration of the topic in Wordsmithereens Beware Autonomous Body Parts by Lee Allen Howard and in Kate Stradlings' qualifying/moderating argument: The Case of the Autonomous Body Parts.
Body Language - MASTER LIST of Gestures and Body Language! by Bryn Donovan
- Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language by Amanda Patterson of Writers Write
Catalyst/Inciting Incident - is whatever sets things in motion for your story. You might find this article from Writers.com helpful: "Inciting Incident Definition: The 'Why' of Fiction" by Sean Glatch
Character Arc - soooo much has been written about this essential aspect of fiction. You can get started by reading this Master Class article entitled "How to Write a Captivating Character Arc."
Chekhov's Gun - ever heard this term and wondered about it? Check out this article by Gabriel Gaynor-Guthrie in Literature & Latte: "What Is Chekhov's Gun? A Guide to Chekhov's Gun and the Power of Foreshadowing."
Clarity - How clear is your writing? Do you encumber or dilute your message with jargon, purple prose, or complex literary cleverness? Don't. History Through Fiction has an awesome article: The Importance of Clarity in Fiction.
Climax - K.M. Weiland says: "The function of the climax is to conclusively end the plot conflict by deciding whether or not the protagonist will attain the plot goal."
Consistency - critical for reader immersion in your story. You need to make sure your world and characters remain consistent and change in a logical way throughout your story to maintain your reader's suspension of disbelief. Keeping your chronology straight is important as well, especially if you utilize such devices as flashbacks or shifting perspectives. Incredible article in TCK Publishing: The Importance of Consistency: How to Keep the Details Straight When Writing Your Novel. 
Conventions - Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, Hyphenation, etc. - The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation !
Writing vs literary conventions/devices -  Writing conventions are capitalization, grammar, punctuation, and spelling - the bread and butter of the copy editor. Literary conventions are the elements or clues that differentiate genres: arcs, cliches, devices, and tropes (e.g. a meet cute, happily ever after, second chances, etc. signal that a story is in the romance genre). And while there is some overlap (as some devices are more common in certain genres), this is different from a literary device, which is a figure of speech like alliteration, personification, simile, etc. 
Dashes/hyphens - what's the difference? And when do you use which kind? Louise Harnby has a wonderful overview in this article: How to Use Dashes in Fiction: UK and US Style.
Merriam-Webster has a great article: A Guide to Em Dashes, En Dashes, and Hyphens: Be dashing—and do it well. And Leff Communications offers A Brief History of Dashes in this article.
Dialogue - see Dialogue section in Topical Resources
Ellipses - plural (ellipsis - singular) - how and when to use them depends on your preferred style guide and your own preference as well as, possibly, what medium you are publishing in (i.e., ebook or print). Debbie Emmitt has a great overview on her website: How to use ellipses (... a complete guide).
Epigraphs - those little quotes sometimes found in the beginning of a chapter. Good discussion in the Writing. StackExchange.
Exposition/Info Dumping - a common world-building pitfall that requires clever writing to avoid. You can find lots of advice and examples on the internet. Jessica Brody offers two: "Exposition and Window Characters." And K.M. Weiland writes about: "The Sneaky Secret Life of 'As You Know, Bob...'" in her blog: Helping Writers Become Authors.
Filter words - are words that separate the reader from the experience of the protagonist in fiction. Writers often use words like "thought, saw, felt, watched, looked, wondered, considered, noticed, seemed, spotted, realized, believed, knew, decided to" establish the POV of a character, but they can have a distancing effect instead. Louise Harnby has a great article: Filter words in fiction: Purposeful inclusion and dramatic restriction.
Flow - What Writers Mean by "Flow" - is a great article in Writer's Digest with explanation and examples.
Foreshadowing - a literary device (either direct or indirect) that offers a clue to readers about possible later events in a story. In Helping Writers Become Authors, K.M.Weiland explains - "Setup and Payoff: The Two Equally Important Halves of Story Foreshadowing."
Grammar - See my Grammar section of the Topical Resources page
Grammatical Expletive - you can read a great article with clear examples and explanations for what this is and how to fix it in Just Publishing Advice. Another good explanation is in The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Grammar:  Grasping the Grammatical Expletive.
Inciting Incident - see Catalyst
Info Dump - see Exposition Dumping
Interiority - M-W defines this as the "1: interior quality or character - 2: inner life or substance, psychological existence," and this Writing Mastery article describes it in terms of character development.
Italics in fiction - Kristen Chavez has a fantastically balanced and sensible post: Writing Wrongs: In Defense of Italics in Fiction !!!
Killing your darlings - Where does the advice to "Kill your darlings" come from and what does it mean? a Masterclass article. Another great article on this topic found on Helping Writers Become Authors: Why You Should Kill Your Darlings by Adrienne Giordano
Literary terms and devices - "SuperSummary offers a library of explanations ranging from allusion to metaphor, alliteration to hyperbole, irony to symbolism. We also cover figures of speech, poetic and rhetorical devices, and literary techniques and eras. Each article provides in-depth information, including the term's definitions and uses, as well as examples from literature. Learn something new or relive high school English class with these comprehensive articles."
The MacGuffin - what in the world is this? This Master Class article asks and answers that very question. "Writing 101: What Is a MacGuffin? Learn About MacGuffins in Film, Literature, and Popular Culture."
Narrative Psychic Distance - Emma Darwin has an amazing blog This Itch of Writing in which she offers a fantastic explanation with examples for the spectrum of narrative points of view, which she refers to as "psychic distance" (Psychic Distance: what it is and how to use it) in accord with John Gardiner's description in his book The Art of Fiction. This article is a gem, and indeed, I look forward to exploring her whole blog, which is a treasure trove for writers and editors alike!
Numbers - deciding when to use numerical or written out numbers can be confusing. Consistency is important but reader experience is even more important. Check out this awesome article from CMOS Shop Talk from the Chicago Manual of Style: Numbers in Creative Writing.
Opening Hook - Lewis Jorstad of The Novel Smithy has some wonderful interconnected articles around the opening hook, the first chapter, etc. in: "Act 1 and the Hook: The Story Structure Series Part One."
Pacing in fiction - an excellent article explaining this concept with examples is in Writer's Digest. 
​Passive Modals - a great explanation with examples of "passive modals" can be found in the Learning English website.
Passive Voice - I like this nuanced take by Amelia Winters in When to Use and Avoid Passive Voice in Fiction
Past Perfect - see Grammar section of Topical Resources page
Payoff - see Foreshadowing
Perception - How does your protagonist perceive the world, and how does that affect how you tell the story from their POV? A great article How to Enhance Your Character's POV by Alicia Rasley in Writer's Digest.
Point of View (POV) - Whose perspective is your story written from? Jericho Writers has a great explanation of your options with examples in an article: Points of View in Fiction Writing by Harry Bingham.
Psychic distance - see Narrative Psychic Distance
Save the Cat principle - "Save the cat" is a phrase coined by Blake Snyder and nicely explained by Steven Pressfield
Self-editing - Before hiring a professional, it is important to edit your own work. ProWritingAid is a quality tool for self-editing that highlights weak spots in your writing and their website has some good explanations and recommendations, including 10 Top Tips. Reedsy also has self-editing tips and templates in How to Edit Your Own Book.
Showing vs Telling - Heaps has been written on this subject!
Check out Jerry Jenkins' article - Show, Don't Tell: What You Need to Know, which is straightforward and helpful for grasping the concept.
Then pop over to Jericho Writers where Harry Bingham posts a couple articles that elaborate on the nuances: Showing, Telling, and a Truckload of Nonsense and: Showing and Telling, a Middle Route.
And Beth Hill of The Editor's Blog addresses it in: Show and Tell - Not Just a Game We Play and: Showing and Telling Particulars.
Skin - see 300+ Words to Describe Skin by Kathy Steinemann. See also the Conscious Language section on my Topical Resources page.
Storytelling and Structure - see this section on my Topical Resources page.
Syntax - Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines this as "the way in which linguistic elements (such as words) are put together to form constituents (such as phrases or clauses)." Wikipedia describes it is "the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences ... usually including word order."
Trope - the term often used today "to describe themes, motifs, plot devices, plot points, and storylines that have become familiar genre conventions." This Masterclass article describes the classical understanding of the term and explains the modern, often pejorative, connotation which refers to the overuse of these devices.
Verb Tenses - see the Grammar section of my Topical Resources page.
Voices - How to Describe Voices in Writing (300+ Words & Examples) by Christopher Kokoski
World Building - Reedsy has an informative article on their website. Worldbuilding: Create Brave New Worlds [+Template]
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