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Do you have earlier writing sitting on a thumb drive or in a drawer? For a fun and enlightening exercise, try retro revision. Writing Tip for Today: What can you learn from self-editing earlier writing work? Cringe Factor When I pull out old manuscripts, I cringe. I’m not the same writer today as I was […]
An author approached me for an endorsement for her debut book. I was happy to help, but it made me wonder. Do endorsements help, and if so, how much? Writing Tip for Today: What are some pros and cons of endorsements? What’s an Endorsement? A book endorsement is the sentence or two you see on […]
The best writing reflects a deep commitment as well as the willingness to become vulnerable. How much is your writing costing you? Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to write honest emotions? Refine Your Purpose Writing is meant for your readers. Even autobiographical material isn’t really about you. It’s about how your experiences […]
Readers process your written scenes on several levels. Make the most of the deeper layers of symbol and metaphor. Writing Tip for Today: Here are a few tips for layering your scenes with symbols and metaphor: Setting is Character Your fictional setting can influence the reader’s perception of a story. You may have […]
When writing, remember to delete unneeded words. Writing Tip for Today: Inserting unnecessary words in your writing puts too much distance between your meaning and the readers. Here are some tips: To and Fro Prepositional phrases are like lemmings—they pop up a lot but can run your writing over a cliff. Most unnecessary prepositional phrases […]
So many things arise during the summer months: warm (or blazing hot!) weather, vacations, conferences, kids out of school. All these things can interfere with your writing routine. Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss some strategies for writing in the summer season. Be Flexible When summer hits, many writers lose productivity. Whether it’s a writing […]
When you begin a story or novel, you have some ideas on how it unfolds. But as you revise, you discover threads that didn’t exist when you started. Writing Tip for Today: How can we amend a plotline or story arc if it has changed since it began? Plotter/Pantster We’ve all heard about plotters and […]
A basic element of every scene is to clue in readers to its time and place—the when and where. Writing Tip for Today: Here are a few ideas for setting up your scenes: Be Plain Any time you change the time and/or place of a scene, you’re creating a new scene. Some writers leave an […]
I love fiction writing. But when I started out, I no more knew why I was writing a scene than why there is air. I learned that knowing the “why” of a scene makes all the difference. Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips for determining the “why” of your scene: Move Your Character […]
Writers often hear about successful authors who somehow make every word count. What does this mean for us? Writing Tip for Today: Here are some observations about how to make every word you write count: Paint Instant Pictures When you write, you must create mental imagery for readers. As I’ve said many times, you are […]
