Writing Tips From a Master: Mark Twain. “Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very.” Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Here, Twain offers some advice that can help writers young and old learn to express themselves more clearly. By eliminating unnecessary words, you’ll make …
I got the book back from my mom a week or so ago. And despite her insistence that I would hate her for all the comments she made in the margins, her editing was no different than any other editor. She caught a lot of details I didn’t catch on my first couple of read-throughs, …
I officially booked my editor yesterday for the novel. I am both excited beyond belief, and scared witless. My mother is finishing up her own editing adventure with the story, and has both constructive criticism and not very constructive criticism for it. I’m just anxious to get it back from her so I can fix …
My book is in its second phase of edits, which basically means I have passed it on to my mother to give it a thorough read through before I correct any lingering mistakes and hand it off to the professional editor before I publish it. Which means I basically cannot speak to my mother until …
I’ve spent the past 24 hours setting up my Facebook page and Twitter account, and tweaking my website a bit more. I feel like I’m cleaning house in preparation for this new novel. Currently, my husband is taking the first read-through of it, viewing it from a reader’s perspective so that I know where to …
The rough draft of my novel is done! Notice the new title, changed from ‘After Life’ to ‘A Symphony of Cicadas’. I mulled this one over for awhile. Cicadas play a large role in the story, and it became a must that they be a part of the title. The title I actually wanted was …
With one book ready to be edited and another 1/4 of the way done in its rough draft stages, I am closing in on being an actual published author. Of course, these things take time – mostly wasted time as I have trudged through the muck of fear and hesitation. Fear of what? I’m not …