A synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell the other one. – Baltasar Gracián It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly. – C.J. Cherryh It takes an awful lot of time to not write a book. – Douglas Adams I love deadlines. I like the […]
Welcome! In this week’s Roundup: Janice Hardy helps you break through that frustrating voice bubble and find a different verbal perspective with 5 Ways to Develop Character Voices (that don’t sound like you). Faye Kirwin at Writerology makes a welcome return with 3 Ways Your Characters Could Forgive… Or Not. Dr. John Yeoman investigates the […]
Previously, we talked about how descriptive writing is a crucial aspect of creating a book that absorbs, enthrals and entertains your reader… But what happens when descriptive writing goes too far? You know what it’s like – how often have you read a book by a novice that contains seemingly endless run-on sentences so packed […]
We’re big fans of our friends at BooksGoSocial, and this weekend they’ll be amongst the headline experts at the 2017 Dublin Writers’ Conference. When they asked if they could take over the blog for a few minutes to fill you in on the happening at this year’s shindig, we just couldn’t refuse – especially when […]
As fiction writers, it’s our job to create a vivid, detailed world for our readers. But that won’t happen if you have boring, generic descriptions in your manuscript. Generic descriptions are fuzzy, ambiguous words – words like: nice good uncomfortable pretty really very Sometimes known as abstract words, such descriptions make it difficult for the […]
In this week’s AutoCrit Weekly Writing Roundup, the cream of the writing tips crop comes from: Bestselling author Dan Walsh, as he takes over the NovelRocket blog to say that Sometimes You Gotta Take a Risk. Melissa Donovan at Writing Forward, whose advice that You Can’t Edit a Blank Page is both literally true and […]
Ah… passive voice. Just hearing that term conjures images of ninth-grade English class with all its confusing grammar rules! Passive voice is something that’s often talked about with disdain by editors and writing coaches – but many writers find it hard to recognise when they’re using it. That muscle can be a difficult one to […]
To many of us, especially if you’ve rarely (or never!) worked with your own personal editor, the ins, outs, expectations and daily frustrations of the editing life can feel like a bit of a mystery. A strange land the writer just isn’t fully equipped to traverse unscathed. Which of your possible submissions are likely to […]
In this week’s AutoCrit Weekly Writing Roundup, prepare your brain for: Hannah Collins at Standout Books, who offers up some excellent tips on How to Write an Epic Battle Scene. Writer’s Digest lifting the veil and easing some anxiety with Answers to 14 Questions You’re Too Afraid to Ask Literary Agents. Mark Nichol at Daily […]
Writing a movie script is a task that isn’t for the faint of heart. The world of screenwriting is a notoriously difficult one to break into – and equally difficult to remain active in even when you’ve had your time as the flavor of the month. Without representation (an agent, a manager or both), your […]