Footnotes and endnotes tend to be cumbersome for most writers. Most certainly, I keep my Chicago Manual of Style handy when I’m editing notes. To avoid the weightiness of correct formatting, I like to cite my sources within the body of my text when I can. But I realize there is a time for notes….
Sentence structure is a riveting subject, don’t you think so? Okay, maybe not. Me either. Let me ask you this instead: When you’re engrossed in a book, do you notice sentence structure? If you’re like me, you don’t notice it at all unless…it becomes monotonous. Last month, I looked at pacing. In that post, I…
“Pace yourself.” In my running days in the Marine Corps, I heard this imperative regularly. Perhaps you’ve heard it too. It means managing how quickly or slowly you run your distance. If you plan to run a mile, you don’t run the whole distance at a sprint like you would the 100-yard dash. You can…
Writers ask lots of questions, and the writing community pays it forward quite well. I see many questions on a regular basis. One is “what program do you use to format your manuscript?” These writers aren’t talking about how to format their manuscript for presenting to agents, editors, or publishers, but programs to format the…
Last year while I was stumbling around in the midst of having my blog shifted to a new domain, my blog fell off the cliff. In early 2020, I decided to shift my writing website from one domain to another. I hired Marta Goertzen (Trail Guide Webworks) to do all the migrating and such, and…
MJ Scholz, a good friend of mine and part of my writers critique group, just published her debut book, Connecting Colors, Feelings, and Words. I’m so excited for her because this book was 2 years in the publishing process—from contract to finished book, with lots of questions in between! This unique children’s book—a coloring book…
Doing research for your book isn’t restricted to those who write nonfiction. It’s just as essential for fiction, even more so if you are writing historical fiction or have set the story in a region of the world you are unfamiliar with. Later this month, I’ll be making a trek to Montana for just this…
Updated August 16, 2021. You mean I have to build a platform at the same time as I write my book? you ask. Yes. And as I look at what September, October, and November hold for me—teaching at 3 writers conferences, a trip for book research, finishing book 2 of my Her Inheritance series, maintaining…