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A lot of writers with nonfiction books ideas come to the table with topics too broad or, too “me” centered and not reader-centered. Writers who mainly desire therapy for some trauma, who are bent on educating readers or who just want the world to see how much they know may be shocked to find little […]
Scenes that keep the camera close are usually the kind of writing that hold readers’ attention. Writing Tip for Today: What do we mean to “keep the camera close” and how do we implement it? General v. Particular In almost any genre writing that focuses on particulars is more effective than general or abstract words […]
For many, writing dialogue is as natural as brushing teeth. Others struggle to produce authentic dialogue. Writing Tip for Today: Here are a few tips for improving dialogue skills: Point to Tension I’ve published many posts about basic dialogue mechanics: Use “said” as attribution or tag, avoid encyclopedic or longwinded dialogue, use first names sparingly, […]
Many first-time novelists complain that without back story, readers have no way to fully understand the characters. Yet most readers are willing to forgo a detailed history in favor of action in the real-time story. Writing Tip for Today: How can you add back story without stalling your story? No Cold Mashies! Anytime you […]
You can improve your scene writing like a movie with 3-D elements.
When I teach memoir writing, my main focus is always about what truth means for the writer’s story. Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss ways to write a truthful yet engaging memoir. Read and Write If you’re writing a memoir, you must know the difference between autobiography and memoir. An autobiography is similar to memoir, […]
Don’t edit while you’re creating drafts, I tell students. But what if you just can’t stop editing? Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss self-editing and drafting and separating them. Draft in a White-hot Heat Seasoned writers understand that if you keep self-editing while your draft develops, doing so may stall your progress. Many of my […]
Rewriting a novel is hard. Yet after you’ve spent so much time drafting and then cooling off your hot property, that story deserves to be fixed up. Writing Tip for Today: Here are a few ideas for rewriting your drafted novel. So What? Most first-time novelists rewrite by tinkering with sentences and word choices. Some […]
Writers hear a lot about using active verbs in their work. What’s this all about? Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss passive and active constructions—and the pros and cons of each. Always Active? New writers often hear that passive verbs bad, active verbs good. In general yes, we should strive for particular and lively verbs […]
When drafting a scene, an essay or article, writers often create rabbit holes or tangents that don’t work. Here’s how to fix them. Writing Tip for Today: How can writers spot rabbit holes in their drafts and learn to either delete or move them? Drafting Creatively When you embark on a writing project, try not […]
