If you Google the word "English," one of the top three results -- ahead of giants like the BBC Learning English homepage -- will be a humble but entertaining website called Common Errors in English. It's run by a professor at Washington State University named Paul Brians, a professor specializing in the history of ideas. "This is just a sideline for me," Paul says. But a sideline that has gained a loyal worldwide following since he launched the site in 1997. Paul has now come out with a handy book version of his website called Common Errors in English Usage. (And a daily calendar, too.) We talked to him about his work, and navigating language pitfalls.

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This much every writer knows is true: You don't get better by working in vacuum. You need feedback, criticism, a good ripping apart of your page every now and again. So where to find this kind of writerly tough love? (Gentle, too!) Author Julie Smith offers an innovative answer -- over the phone. A New Orleans resident and veteran writer, Julie began her career as a newspaper reporter and has won the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe Award for her mystery novels. She now teaches "distance learning" writing courses called WritersTrack, where students across the globe get on a conference call and get writing! We spoke to Julie about how to get the most out of writing instruction.

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When I talk to people about how to improve their writing, I often begin by suggesting we go for a metaphorical helicopter ride. We start by walking toward the whirling beast...Whappa, whappa, whappa. Our hair is whipped 'round our faces and we duck to protect our precious necks as we walk under the madly spinning blades. We scramble inside the door, stow our briefcases under the seats and pop on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Phew!

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Jon Franklin is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer and distinguished journalism professor at the University of Maryland, and the author of the classic writing book Writing for Story. He's a pioneer in applying the literary techniques of fiction to nonfiction stories. We had a fascinating conversation with Jon about writing creative nonfiction.

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Have you ever seen a five-year-old trying to learn to ride a bicycle? The bike wobbles like a duck in choppy water, the child shrieks and then suddenly takes off. But one false move -- a lean in the wrong direction or a bit of over-enthusiastic pedaling -- and whoosh, she's off too fast down the street and veering into the bushes with a thump and tears.

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I don't know about you, but when I was in school I remember being urged to "improve" my writing by adding more adjectives. As a strategy, I feel this is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

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With the average American home watching more than eight hours of television a day, it's no wonder how we talk has become eerily similar to how they talk on the tube. Duh! Author Leslie Savan has studied the way popular idioms have crept into our language and -- long story short -- wrote an entertaining and enlightening book on the subject called Slam Dunks and No-Brainers. Just released in paperback, it was recently selected as a "Book for the Teen Age," by the New York Public Library and has been required reading at several universities. In her book, Leslie explains the phenomenon of what she calls "pop language." We phoned Leslie and said, Bring it on!

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