Harry Potter used a wand. Bewitched twitched her nose. Harry Dresden wielded a staff. Writers come with their own special form of magic. Whether it’s pen to pad, stylus to tablet, or keyboard to PC . . . a writer’s magic is as close as fingertips. New writers often feel that they must pursue fiction writing as they don’t carry a bag of non-fiction writing tricks. Don’t allow the concept of non-fiction writing to intimidate. Consider the 3 easily defined categories: Educating: How-to-manuals, directions, historical explanations, or scientific explorations fall into this category. Influencing or persuasive: Every sales brochure, each editorial, even academic critiques are designed to persuade the reader to a certain conclusion. Narrative: […]
Category: Better Writing
Learn tips for honing the writing craft.
Make the most of writing time.
Pack punch into writing with power words.
Be smarter than a 5th grader – grammar-wise.
Marketing Plan of Action – how to start simple and build to great!
Tim Grahl, author of Your First 1000 Copies and founder of booklaunch.com believes that Marketing doesn’t need to be a ‘eew’ prospect. So, I’ve read over a few of his techniques and decided to break-it down into a Plan of Action. New Year . . . New Goals . . . and all that. More importantly, it’s about finding a way to market that doesn’t make the author in me cringe at the idea. READ ALONG & SEE IF YOU AGREE According to Tim, MARKETING is about creating long-lasting connections. I’d say this is sound business whether you’re selling books, artwork or cars off the used lot. None of us want just the ONE-AND-DONE customer. […]
Snapping Photos?? Breathe LIFE into Writing . . .
I’m old enough that Kodak still means cameras to me. Instant camera was our phrase from the 60s & 70s. Of course, considering today’s technology, it’s ludicrous to think those were instant pictures. 1) First to film – The lucky owned a 35MM, which meant loading the camera was always a treat. Lining it up – perfectly – to catch the leading edge of the film reel (and hoping like crazy that you’d really accomplished that feat so you’d be taking pictures instead of just turning the hand crank). For the novice photo buff, it started with a Kodak Instamatic: a pop-and-click camera. 2) No do-overs — As you shot the roll of film, it […]
Chasing Destiny – The Donovan Legacy, Book 2
As I’m currently working through edits — CHASING DESTINY — and always on the look-out for snippets to share during release, here are a few that caught my Tuesday morning muse. My favorites for the day . . . 1) Garrick glanced toward the unopened bottle and glasses. She seemed far too at home, too at ease in his house. How long had this lovely stranger been living here—alone—with his father? “Enough of the cat and mouse game. Who are you?” Some strange woman, with endless mahogany eyes, was making herself quite comfortable. He would have his answer, and now. Sultry voice and cooking skills included, she could be a dangerous distraction for any guy, […]
Teaching an Old Dog (writer) New Tricks. Secrets to Better Writing.
The Donovan Legacy (HARM’S WAY – current release) actually started with a prequel. CHASING DESTINY CHASING DESTINY was written a year in front of HARM’S WAY and then promptly buried among all my floppy disks. Yep, that long ago. Having recovered my earlier works, I realized the characters of CHASING DESTINY (Garrick & Jaycee) deserved their own release. To that end, the rewrites began. The process has been enlightening: good & bad. And that tenuous, often painful, process deserved to be shared as well. Producing better writing is hard work. Short cuts are not generally the answer, but you can learn to be a smarter writer by following some of these writing tips. New eyes […]
Book Review – Tempting Mr. Townsend by Anna Campbell
Suffering from historical romance fever? Burning to read about past-times filled with heroes & heroines? Then an Anna Campbell romance is the perfect cure. In TEMPTING MR. TOWNSEND, author, Anna Campbell once again captures the incurable romantic heart. In this dashing widow selection, Lady Deerham has known and lost true love. Comfortable in her widow’s shell, Fenella is resolved to raise her son alone and spend her remaining years without the comfort of a man’s presence. That is . . . until a bear of a man burst into her quite proper drawing room, and conveys her cross- country to find her missing son. Anthony Townsend has never wanted a woman as he does Fenella, […]
Writing It Right with Wordle.net
Breathing new life into an older manuscript (Chasing Destiny) brought me to Wordle.net Writers . . . do you want to know your most commonly used words in a chapter? Writers . . . Do you know your most common words in your blogs, newsletters, query letters? Here’s how to find out: DIRECTLY FROM THE WORDLE WEBSITE: ‘WORDLE is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, […]
Secrets to Writing THE PERFECT PHRASE
Writers should be voracious observers. Listen carefully. Read anything, everything. Watch behaviors. Stare at the sky, the horizon, your backyard, the local park, the grocery store, the mall. Nuggets of WRITING gold can be mined from the most unusual & USUAL places. I watch America’s Got Talent. Sometimes to prove how out-of-sync that I am with the rest of the population. More often, because I’m continually awed by the gifts of so many. AGT comedians who entertain the most are the ones who focus on the mundane, the everyday life. The ones that truly earn my out-loud guffaws are those who keep it every day simple . . . say a grocery store adventure. Not […]
Grammar – A necessary evil to writing well.
I have been re-reading ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves’ by Lynne Truss. Glutton for punishment? Hardly. Like most authors, I must constantly refine my skills. There is no ‘quick grow’ method to sound writing. No short-cut or easy season. Study time, butt-in-chair effort to learn basic and advance grammar is the most effective method for a good crop of sentences. As to EATS, SHOOTS, AND LEAVES: if you haven’t read Lynne’s witty take on grammar and its sad decline, you are in for a treat. She entertains and educates – no easy feat. If you’re new to writing, then best advice: learn the grammar rules. A past critique partner, albeit a brilliant woman, continually brought her […]
Phrase . . . the true meaning behind the catch phrase: A fool’s paradise.
Pick a genre and you’ve probably read the catch phrase: Fool’s Paradise. ‘John thinks he’ll finally get the promotion, but then he lives in a fool’s paradise.’ ‘Her fool’s paradise ended the day she caught her cheating lover in bed with her best friend.” Are you writing historical stories and worried about the inception of this phrase? Unless, your characters are pre-1462, you’ll be safe. This phrase first found its way on page in the Paston Letters, 1462. But what exactly does a fool’s paradise mean? Shakespeare embraced its usage in Romeo and Juliet, and certainly that was one couple that lived in happiness based on false hope. Writing current fiction . . . or […]
