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Asking the “Write” Questions
I’m up to my eyeballs in editing and revision. As much as I would like to say things are going smoothly; the truth is, the process is dragging me through the mud. While writing the rough draft I didn’t...
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More matter with less art
As suggested by the title, this week’s language usage lesson addresses a pet peeve of mine – wordiness. Defined simply, “wordiness” is using more words than necessary to make your point....
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The Comma, Clarified.
I could spend a very long time to write in my own words what so many people have already written about comma usage. In fact, I just spent an hour trying to do just that, which was far more than any...
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Quickly Quotable #6
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it...
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A Writer’s Voice, pt. 1
Voice, the catchall term that describes how the writers put their thoughts down on the page. A good voice makes a story shine. A bad one will put your manuscript in the rejection pile. How does one...
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A Writer’s Voice, Pt. 2
To read part one, click here. Today we will discuss the less tangible aspect of a writer’s voice - what makes your writing distinct from other writers. This is a far more difficult task than...
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The Art of Finishing
I hope that I’m the only one who struggles to find the perfect way to end a chapter. If I’m right then all you lovely people will jump to my rescue and teach me the trick. It’s not just ending a...
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Weather? Or Not?
Last night, lightning boomed across the sky in a summer storm. It made me start thinking about the use of weather in writing. One of the unofficial rules of “good” writing is to talk about the...
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Writing Without Looking
Not too long ago I started using yWriter5, a software program specifically designed for writing novels. I was willing to try anything to help pull the pieces of my story together and motivate me to...
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Am I Editing, Revising, or Rewriting? (via Cassandra Jade in the Realm)
The vacation is going splendid, the kids are having a terrific time and we’ve been able to do all the different fun things planned without a single tantrum! For the blog today I would like to share a...
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Getting Back to Business
Back in January I started my quest to write the book that had floated around in my head since college. About ten weeks later I held in my hands a very rough draft. At that point I was pretty proud of...
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Point of View Discussion
Let’s make today’s post a sounding board, shall we? Yes? Fabulous. I’m fighting with some POV issues. I’m hoping that some of you wise writers (and wise cracks) out there have opinions to share, or are...
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Before I knew better…
In January of this year I wrote a lengthy post called, “Writing a Fantasy Novel: The Basic Steps”. Looking back I can see how naïve and pretentious I was then compared to now. At the time, I was...
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The Cutting Room Floor
These last four weeks I have done more work on Mr. Manuscript than the entire summer combined. It feels so good to move forward once again, to make progress. I am working in the murky middle of the...
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“Open-Pit” Writing
There are several different ways of getting gold from the ground. On one end of the spectrum is open-pit mining where they blast huge sections of dirt with dynamite and then screen and process the...
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Allegra Goodman on the Vision of Revision
I received an email containing a Wall Street Journal article written by Allegra Goodman talking about revision and thought it was an excellent topic to share on a Monday Morning. A hat tip goes to my...
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5 Proven Ways to Waste Time Editing
Every free minute of these last two weeks have been filled with attempts to edit and flesh out my fantasy manuscript. Needless to say I’ve paid much more attention to what is working and what has...
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Using Personal Space to Your Advantage
Two weeks ago in the post “Using Stereotypes to your Advantage” we discussed how the careful use of widely accepted stereotypes can add flavor and personality to a scene without adding the bulk of...
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Three Great Reasons to Write a Query Letter Early
Query Letter… The mere thought of those two words is enough to send many a novelist into cold sweats. While most writers wait until they are ready to start seeking representation before tackling the...
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Transforming Awkward Thoughts into Useable Text
The writing powers that be are laughing at my humorous attempts at editing. If you could see the notes in my manuscript you’d understand. On each page there are notes pointing out sections of telling...
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