William Zinsser on Adjectives
The adjective that exists solely as decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and a burden for the reader. … make your adjectives do work that needs to be done. —William Zinsser, On Writing Well
The adjective that exists solely as decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and a burden for the reader. … make your adjectives do work that needs to be done. —William Zinsser, On Writing Well
When you open MS Word, you probably just start typing without giving much thought to the settings of that document. But those settings may not be the ideal for a novel manuscript. For example, all manuscripts should be double spaced, but Word’s default document is single spaced. Therefore learning about styles and templates will allow
As you know, I’ve had some setbacks with my latest novel. It sent me back to the books to learn more. The following are those I’ve read this year. Secrets to Writing a Series by K. Stanley and L. Cooke came recommended by a friend from my critique group. Here’s a portion of the sales…
When should I capitalize the word mom? What about sir or ma’am? Today, I want to address some of the most common capitalization errors I see in the manuscripts I edit. When you know the basic rule, capitalization becomes much easier. When to Capitalize Mom and Dad We all know that proper names are capitalized….
Writers conferences are not only great places to learn, but they are a lot of fun to attend! I enjoy teaching at conferences as much as I enjoy attending them. That’s me in the pic above, teaching at the Called to Write Conference in Pittsburg, Kansas, this past April. At conferences, you’ll learn about writing and…
Updated November 4, 2024. Knowing your target audience or ideal reader—today’s term is avatar—is important in many ways. As the term implies, you are aiming at a target, so knowing as much as you can about it will enable you to hit the bull’s-eye. Often the message you hope to convey through your fiction or…
I’m delighted to have RJ Thesman with me today for this month’s Friday Feature author interview. RJ’s publishing credits include 500+ articles, four books, and 13 anthologies. And like me, she’s a writing coach. Grab your brew of choice and sit back for a great read. RJ imparts some terrific tips for writers to add…