Archives for 2013

An Author’s Favorite Words: “The End”

The End There’s something so immensely gratifying about typing those words. A hint of sadness, perhaps, but an overwhelming cause for celebration! Typing “the end” means that you have completed a huge task–one that you began with trepidation, perhaps, not really sure you had it in you. “The end” means that you’ve said what you […]

Stacking BBs in a Bathtub…

Can you picture it? Stacking bbs can be fun, but it’s hard to make much progress. 😉 I used to wonder why professional publishers advise authors to select one genre–one style of story–and stick with it. I like to read LOTS of different genres, and the stories brewing in my head were not necessarily similar. […]

Grammar…Pffft! Who Needs It?

Yuck! Grammar is not our favorite subject. At the end of the school year, it’s the last thing we want to see in a lesson. However, these errors could make or break your writing. We’ve all read books with errors and typos. Those can scream amateur and beginning writer. I borrowed and modified seven examples […]

How to Build Scenes and Add Length and Substance to Your Novel

“I want to make my story longer.” That’s something I hear a lot of young writers say. Excited about embarking on a first novel-length work, the tendency is to get a little bit stuck on what to add to the Big Middle to lengthen the WIP. If that’s where you’re stuck right now, here’s what […]

I’m Not as Dumb as You Think!

I wonder how many readers have thought this? Writers must resist the urge to explain or risk insulting their readers’ intelligence. Most readers catch on quickly to the fine points in a story, and they like to make up their own minds about the meanings, morals and messages. When you read a mystery, for example, […]