The Dreaded Passive Voice Self-Editing for the Know-It-All Author – Post #3 As an ESL teacher, who teaches grammar every day, and an author of several books, I believed I knew my grammar inside out. When I wrote the romantic comedy, The Hockey Player & the Angel, I had several of my English teacher associates […]
That-itish—Better Known as a Bad Case of That, That and More That Self-editing for the Know-It-All Author (Post #2) Take a little test. Count how many times you used “that” in your completed manuscript. I had over five hundred in my last manuscript. My editor told me to delete four hundred. Yikes! I had a […]
Self-editing for the Know-It-All Author Reducing Prepositional Phrases Has an editor or critique partner recommended you tighten your sentences? Have you wondered how when you edited to the bare bones? Think again. You may have a case of surplus prepositional phrases. Deleting them won’t damage the beauty and flow of your well-thought and over-revised sentences […]
A Punch of Emotion What do you think about the emotional impact of the following passage? It was midnight and there was a full moon. Henri and Anne moved quietly through the tall grass toward the Spanish border. The four French guards were on the constant lookout for émigrés and patrolled the station with large […]
Adding Descriptive Layers to Your Writing Writing comes to life through the descriptions authors present. Readers are engaged when those descriptions draw them into the scene. But most authors rely only on the visual to describe. This makes for a one-dimensional scene that excludes the reader. Adding sounds, smells, tastes, and touch to narrative can turn […]
Description through Actions Tags What do you learn about the two characters and the setting from the following exchange? “Brian, is that you?” Lisa asked. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a long time.” “I’ve been busy,” Brian replied. “Yes, your new job. A new job can be overwhelming.” “It’s so far from […]
Cranking Up the Action An action scene isn’t just a car chase in an espionage novel, a sword fight in a historical, or even a hot and heavy sex scene in a romance. An action scene is any scene that needs the pace cranked up to its most intense level to build tension, deliver emotional […]
Giving the Moment to Your Readers To read a novel is to experience a character’s highs and lows and everything in between. To be carried away into the make-believe world of an author’s imagination. To experience what you would never experience and in ways never imagined. Yet some authors steal these joys from their readers […]
Using Dialogue to Build Characterization Have you ever overheard a conversation while sitting at a coffee shop or on a bus? Without looking at the people speaking, have you been able to pick up on their personality traits, educational levels, ages, social circles, etc.? The answer is probably yes. This should work the same when […]
A Name Is Not Just a Name Have you ever been stuck trying to come up with a name for a fictional character in your novel? Sometimes the perfect name comes to you easily but usually research is involved or should be. A name for a fictional character isn’t just a name. It’s a personality, […]