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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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, […]