Oct 24
When I first started writing, I struggled with the passive voice. I remember one of my writing mentors drawing it to my attention. In an early chapter of my memoir I had too many “woulds,” “coulds,” and linking verbs. All of this led to my reader feeling distanced from my story.
As storytellers, we want to engage our readers. One way to do this is by using active verbs.
Here’s the difference:
He kissed her. (active) Read more
This weekend, I attended the Surrey International Writers Conference in Canada. It’s one of my favorite conferences and a wonderful, supportive environment to pitch your manuscript to potential agents and editors.
I didn’t feel like pitching my memoir, so I decided to practice-pitch my work-in-progress, an urban fantasy novel, because that’s the project I’m really excited about right now. Problem was–I didn’t have a pitch for it.
I did have my original idea and an overall grasp of my story so I spent half an hour throwing my pitch together before bed Friday night. In other words, I winged it. (Shhh…don’t tell). Read more
If you’ve written a draft and are now ready to jump into revisions, Wise Ink (@Wiseink) reveals a road map in At First Draft: The 6 (Minimum) Steps to Revising Your Manuscript before Submission.
At the blog YA Stands, Rachel Russell (@RachelxRussell) wrote Fisticuffing Revisions Into Submissions, about her process for revising her manuscript.
What’s your approach to revisions?
When you can convey authentic, universally true emotions through your characters, you connect with your readers and they’ll keep turning the pages. Your readers become invested in your story the moment they viscerally feel what your character feels.
See what else the Plot Whisperer, Martha Alderson, has to say about writing emotions in her 5-minute video here: Read more
I’m always intrigued by how other writers write. I like to see their routines and quirks. Not only is it entertaining and informative, just maybe, I think, I’ll find something in their process I can adopt to improve my own.
Here are a few tidbits from The Daily Beast’s feature, How I Write.
Michelle Gagnon, mystery writer and author of the young adult thriller, Don’t Turn Around, is a big believer in writing a complete draft before starting any editing. Read more
Best-selling author Patricia Cornwell was recently featured on Sunday Morning where she talked about her heroine, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, in her main book series. In the interview, Cornwell says she gives her readers a “huge does of forensic science and medicine” but, at the same time, the story is really about her protagonist Scarpetta, what she’s going through, and where she needs to get to.
One way Cornwell makes Scarpetta human and more relatable is to give her a simple, down-to-earth trait. Read more
In my posts last week I wrote about why original research is important to your stories and how to make dry research fun. When I have a writing project that requires research, such as my current work-in-progress, I create a list on my computer to keep myself organized.
Some quick tips for creating a research reading list:
Write it down. Sounds obvious but there have been times when I’ve said to myself, “Oh, I have to read that book,” then promptly forgotten about it. Write the name of the book down on a pad of paper or even on your hand, if you have to, until you can add it to the list on your computer. Read more
