On this blog, I try to mix up the topics, swinging from the lofty heights of creativity and the writing life to everyday tips from the trenches. Lately I’ve met quite a few writers eager to advance to the “next level,” whatever that means for each person.
Writing Tip for Today: Taking a step forward in learning the writing craft often means writing tighter. Here are some simple ways to keep your prose moving and “tighten up” the results:

• Stick with Active Verbs. As we discussed yesterday, avoid the passive voice (to be verbs) and be on the lookout for those pesky “ings” whatever you want to call them. Direct and active prose keeps readers going forward.
• Tone Down Modifiers. Are you seeing a pattern in your work? One where each noun has two modifiers (adjectives) or some other predictable pattern? You can edit out modifiers by choosing more particular nouns and verbs.
• Prepositional Horse Fodder. Tighten your stuff by eliminating extra prepositions and substituting contractions or breaking up long sentences. Thus, “She drove to the house by the ocean,” becomes, “She drove to the oceanfront home.”
• Watch Descriptions. We’re told to offer the reader lots of concrete sensory detail, (CSD). But be careful: over description halts the action. Learn to weave description into the action to avoid  big slabs of dense description. Try this: Only describe a few details that come with an instant impression. You might mention a person’s cow lick or their red suspenders but skip over other less unique details.
• Resist the Urge to Explain. RUE is good to remember. Explanation stalls action. Just SHOW it.
• Dialogue Dumping Ground. Limit your dialogue to words the characters would really say to each other. If you dump stuff you need the reader to know into the character’s mouth, it’s not credible and the reader resents the author’s intrusion. People don’t say aloud stuff they both already know. EXAMPLE: “You know, Harold, that we have to stay 24 hours in your Aunt Gert’s haunted house in order to collect the 1.5 million dollar inheritance money.” Who would say that? I thought so. Today, look over your draft and if you spot these issues, get out your red pen.