Have you ever tried to explain what your book is about to a stranger only to see their eyes glaze over after the first minute or two? You know in your heart that your 80,000 words is full of intrigue, drama and an amazing ending. But how do you get this across to someone you […]
The world is full of people who want to give writing advice, but not everyone’s qualified. The only people who truly understand writers and the writing life are writers themselves. We’ve compiled twenty quotes from famous authors with some of the very best advice on living the writing life, the craft itself, and the only […]
For some of us, hearing criticism or seeing those red marks on our drafts indicating places where we may need to make changes is like hearing our newborn baby is ugly. How can you make receiving feedback easier and more productive? Here’s how to handle criticism without getting disheartened. Why Does Criticism Hurt? You pour […]
Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is . . . the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Powerful language fills your writing with energy, which impresses agents, editors, and readers. Here’s how to use power verbs to make an impact. 10 Examples of Power Verbs […]
Pacing in writing is the key to creating stories your readers can’t put down. Think of how many times you’ve heard someone comment on a book they’ve abandoned by saying “I tried to get through it, but it was just so slow” or “It just raced along, but it didn’t have any substance.” What is […]
Stephen King said, “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Hemingway, known for his spare writing style, used -ly words far less often than the average writer (42% as often, according to LitCharts.) But what are adverbs? And are they really that bad? What are Adverbs? Adverbs are words used to modify […]
Self-editing is a challenge for even the most skilled fiction writers. Once you’ve poured your heart and soul into a draft, it’s difficult to slash and revise the words you’ve become attached to. But, as the famous writers’ expression goes, you must kill your darlings if you hope to create a work of fiction readers […]
Take a quick browse through a bookstore or Amazon’s virtual shelves and you’ll discover that there are hundreds of books about how to write fiction. But when you need to get serious about self-editing your manuscript, pickings are slim. Still, a few fantastic books stand out as tremendous guides to help fiction writers self-edit. Here’s […]
If there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to get your proofreaders and editor on your case with a vengeance, it’s falling prey to homophone confusion. Homophones are words that sound alike when you’re speaking out loud but have different spellings and completely different definitions. It might seem, to some, like a small thing – but using […]
When you sit down for each editing pass on your manuscript’s first draft, you’re going to be working your way through a series of elements (if you’re taking our advice, that is). And one of the elements that demand the utmost scrutiny and determination in editing is dialogue. In this article, we’ll be approaching dialogue […]
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