Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published
As writers, we all know how important it is to make our story as strong as possible. We also know that we each have our specific weaknesses in writing.
Maybe for you that weakness is grammar, or spelling, or passive voice.
Maybe you are too wordy.
Today, I’m going to show you how to use MS Word’s readability statistics to help clean up those kinds of errors. [Read more…] about How to Use Readability Statistics to Improve Your Manuscript
Every writer has words she or he uses too often. I call them crutch words. Words like “well, smiled, laughed, however, tears, cried” etc., in addition to adverb usage.
These words aren’t easily spotted when you revise simply because you’re looking at other things like character and plot development.
So today I’m going to show you how to find those words whether you use MS Word or Scrivener. [Read more…] about How to find overused words in your manuscript
Do you want to get published? Then learning how to write a book proposal that captures the editor is essential.
I’m not an expert on book proposals, but here are three people who are and their advice on writing book proposals.
Michael Hyatt is a best selling author and [Read more…] about How to Write a Book Proposal: Advice from 3 Experts
Oh those pesky dialogue tags.
Said.
Asked.
Replied.
Responded.
There’s a lot of conflicting information out there on what to use.
What’s a writer to do?
In the multitude of manuscripts I read, I see writers employ such things as “Sally smiled” or “Gerald laughed.” In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when the writer uses it as a substitute for “she said” and suddenly the character is constantly smiling or laughing.
Generally, a reader needs to have an identifier every 4-5 lines of dialogue in order to stay on track with who is speaking. So a tag isn’t required every time someone speaks (but I’ve seen writers do just that).
Let’s look at an alternative to the dialogue tag. [Read more…] about Those Pesky Dialogue Tags
While reading a book, have you ever found yourself saying There’s something wrong with that sentence, but I can’t quite figure out what?
Do you stop to figure out what’s wrong or just keep reading? I’m guilty of doing both, depending on the circumstances of the moment. Of course, if I’m editing a manuscript, I stop to figure it out.
Today, let’s take a look at what might be the problem. [Read more…] about When Effect Comes Before Cause
What book on the craft of writing has been the most helpful to you?
I recently asked that question on my Facebook author page, but no one left an answer.
So I have to wonder if I’m wasting my time with today’s post.
But maybe it was a question that required too much thought.
Or they weren’t trolling Facebook that day (after all I posted that on a Monday).
Or maybe they didn’t find any book particularly helpful. And if that’s the case, [Read more…] about 8 Books on Writing I Recommend
Scrivener, Scrivener, Scrivener.
You’ve been hearing about it from a lot of writers, including me. In fact, I recently taught a workshop on using Scrivener at the Called to Write conference in Pittsburg, Kansas.
You may be wondering what’s so terrific about this software and why you should consider using it.
So let’s take a look at it. [Read more…] about Discover what’s so great about Scrivener!
Do you dream of getting published? What writer doesn’t?
But in their excitement and exuberance of completing a manuscript writers often make these 3 crippling mistakes when submitting their manuscripts to publishers.
They don’t include a book proposal.
The book proposal is [Read more…] about The Top 3 Mistakes Writers Make When Submitting and How to Fix Them