Writing a Clean Copy

Legend has it, if you stand at the crossroads of your life, embrace the Desert Rose and ask for enlightenment, you will be shown your true path and the gifts waiting there for you.
Success and happiness are only a wish away.
But beware, wishes often require sacrifice.

Continue Reading →

Writing mistakes authors make and how to fix them.

What do newbie, unseasoned writers do that give away their inexperience? They overwrite. They use too many adjectives and adverbs. Their writing is inconsistent. They don't put the time they need into characterization and plotting. Things feel confusing. They depend too much on editors. While an editor can polish and…

Continue reading →

Top 10 Checklist for your Story

Be aware of the length of #books in your #genre. Different genres have different expectations. #Pacing. A #suspense #thriller will have shorter scenes and sentences to speed up the pace. But a literary novel will slow it down. #Dialogue. Make it authentic. Use the character's voice, not yours. #Openings. Open…

Continue reading →

Anticipation…

5 Tools of #Anticipation We all know that Alfred #Hitchcock was the master of #suspense. He once said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." Anticipation provides a forward momentum for your story. The main elements of a good plot are curiosity (what will happen), tension (whether it will happen or not), hope (looking…

Continue reading →

Testing Your Stories

How many times have you thought you had a great idea for a story, only to have it fizzle out later? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a simple process to test your story ideas, before you invested too much time and energy into them? As a journalist, I…

Continue reading →

3 Ways to Get Creative

The MuseLetter Especially if you're participating in NaNoWriMo, you might need a little help in preparing your mind for creativity. It isn't something that automatically happens just because you sit down at the computer to write. Sometimes, it doesn't happen at all. Here's a few things that might help: SHOW…

Continue reading →

Bringing your characters to life

Writing characters that are so real, your fans feel like they know them personally, is every writers goal. I've found some great little quotes that can help you along that path: "First, place an instance of self-talk very near your story's opening to immediately build characterization." ~ Nancy Kress "The…

Continue reading →