10 WRITING TIPS THAT HELPED ME GET A BOOK DEAL

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  Hello, and welcome to my blog. 

 Today, I want to share some important tips that helped me.  I   have limited it to 10 useful pearls, so this is brief. If you have   a tip to share, please leave a comment. This list is not all-  inclusive. And I don't consider these rules. When I started   doing fewer of these things, a publisher noticed my work. 

 1. Write concise sentences. Don’t stack the adjectives.

 Here’s an example of stacking. Her father has a long, pointed,   frizzy, red beard and a large, scarred, crooked nose. There is  too much at once. If the details are important, sprinkle it into more sentences.

 Consider the following. Her father has a pointed beard and a crooked nose. Specific details are better than a list of descriptions. They help the reader remember the character.


 2. Use strong verbs and omit most adverbs to form stronger sentences.

Consider this sentence. Devon walked slowly across the room. What does walking slowly look like? Did Devon tiptoe or slink? Describing how he walked will improve the prose. Not all adverbs must go. Study the line in question and try to improve it with a stronger verb. I limit my adverbs to one or two in a chapter, if that.


3. Describe and resist explaining the interesting parts of a story. When we explain, we slip into telling.  When we describe, we show. Most writers have heard the saying show don’t tell. One way to check for telling is imagine yourself doing whatever your character is doing. If you can do it, you’re showing.

Adverbs tend to tell instead of show. Consider this dialogue.

“I can’t go,” she said, sadly.

Let’s see her pain.

She lowered her head and swiped a runaway tear. “I can’t go.”

Now the reader can see a sad woman.


4. Save telling for the boring parts and make it quick. If your character takes a bath, don’t include the details unless something exciting happens. That goes for house chores, travel, and anything a reader can imagine without help. No one cares about the soap unless it's laced with poison. 


5. End scenes with the point-of-view character experiencing a different emotion than at the beginning. If she was carefree, give her something to worry about. Maybe she realizes the man she loves is married to the sister she hasn't seen in ten years. The changes we create drive the plot. Readers need a reason to turn the page.


6. Avoid unnecessary words that add nothing important. Cut words like just, very, that, rather, quite, and seem unless you’re using them in dialogue to make a point. Even then, double check. Google crutch words in writing. Look for them in your story by using the word processor search box. Cut, cut, cut. Long, confusing sentences drag the pace.


7. Ask yourself how you can make your story more interesting. Maybe cats have wings in your novel. Perhaps butterflies bite and spread disease.  Anything goes. It’s your story.


8. Read to become a better writer. Learn to recognize good and bad writing. The best writers I know read several novels a year.


9. Leave your readers with an impression. Your fans may not remember everything in your story, but they will recall how it made them feel.


10. Connect with other writers. Go to conferences in person or online. Join writing critique groups. Try to find groups with published writers who mentor others. Learn from others. 


· Bonus tip: Keep writing if you like to. Don’t let anyone convince you to stop. While some people have more talent than others, perseverance counts. If you want your work published, keep trying.


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STRATEGIES FOR PUBLISHING YOUR NOVEL

The Leap from Writer to Published Author

How do you make the leap from writer to published author? It takes more than talent and hard work. You'll need persistence, thick skin, and a plan to get your manuscript traditionally published. I'll give you my best advice. 

Write Your Best Story

Let's pretend you wrote an entire novel. ( If you did, wonderful!) Go ahead and release a long overdue sigh. Now take a deep breath because you have a lot more to do. So far, you finished a first draft. If you want, take a short break from working. Eventually, you must edit, edit, rewrite, and edit. 

What feels ready probably isn't. It might take ten edits or more before it's ready to share with professionals. Check your manuscript for plot holes. Does the story make sense? Get rid of every typographical error. Check for inaccurate tense issues and other problems. If you don't know where to start, read a craft book on the subject. I liked one titled Fix Your Damn Book! by Jame Osiris Baldwin. The book provides a no-nonesense method to make the process easier. 

Reading your story out loud helps to find missing words, duplicate words, or unneeded words with double meaning. Microsoft Word has a free download called Read Aloud. It's simple to use. Search your own files with it, and let the software read to you. It has helped me find mistakes in my own work. 

Print out the story and mark it up with a red pen. Go back to the file and make changes. Edit, edit, edit. Work on it until it is as good as you can make it. If you decide to self-publish instead of traditionally publish, you will need to hire an editor. Every writer needs an editor, even those with editing skills. 

The Query

After completing your masterpiece, give some thought to where to send it. If you want an agent, consider sending queries to seven agents at a time. Most of them have a full plate of stories, so they're picky. You must convince them your book will sell. Think of literary agents like book realtors. They help books find a publishing house.

Your query letter makes the first impression. Go to Query Shark at https://queryshark.blogspot.com/  if you need to see examples. Your cover letter must stand out from the crowd. If you can distill an interesting story into a few sentences, you can grab an agent's attention. 

Never send queries to random agents. Always research the agencies first. If their website says they want romance submissions, don’t email a letter describing a horror novel. After they receive it, they’ll tap the delete button, sending the file into the dreaded black hole.  

Give the recipients a few months to respond. No response means she has rejected the work or she’s swamped with submissions. If you don’t get an answer within twelve weeks, consider sending another seven. 

Direct Submissions

Some writers send submissions directly to publishers. That’s okay too. Sometimes writers can pitch to publishers at conferences. If they ask for the manuscript, you may get a contract offer. Fewer people are using agents these days. Small to medium presses have great editors that can help you publish a fantastic book. 

Follow Directions

Always read the publisher's or agent's submission guidelines before sending your query. They are busy people and will reject your work if you fail to follow their instructions. 

Never Give Up

While in the query trenches, write the next novel or a short story for a literary magazine. Sending a few to open call anthologies will improve chances for publication as well. Never give up. I recently signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press. Dreams really do come true, so don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t beat the odds.

10 Ways to Enjoy National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo)

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Writing Ideas for November

 

Fall swept in along with National Novel Writing Month.  Nanowrimo, a nonprofit organization, encourages writers to write 50,000 words in 30 days. 

As I blog, millions of fingers are tapping thousands of keyboards. I imagine people are typing like mad at their desks, on their sofas, or in their recliners. Some of them are sitting in coffee shops or in the park.  

What if you want to participate, but you feel like you

missed the boat? No worries. I have 10 ways to make 

this month productive.

1. Start writing late. Don’t worry about hitting the 50K word count. Consider 1,667 words a day, which is 50,000 divided by 30. Your word count will fall short of the Nanowrimo goal, but hey, you put in the effort. Here is the official Nanowrimo link if you want to check them out. https://nanowrimo.org/come-write-in 

2. Finish an old manuscript. Once upon a time, you loved the project. Maybe you can rekindle the desire.

3.  Go to a conference or take an online writing course. If money is tight, binge on free YouTube videos.

4. Research writing contests and prepare an entry.

5.  Start a new blog or prepare a post for an existing one.

6.  Revise an old manuscript that didn’t make the cut. Sometimes a rewrite does the trick.

7.  Write a nonfiction book on a topic dear to your heart.

8.  Write short stories or poetry 6 days a week. Spend 1 day a week submitting them to magazines.

9.   Spend November reading craft books or a novel that’s collecting dust on its jacket.

10.   Give your brain a rest and let it percolate. By December, your mind will brew a fresh story. Down time prevents burnout. If writing isn’t fun, you need a break.
 

REASONS TO READ

Make Me Time

Most people read books as children and when they became adults, not so much. For years, I was in that category. My busy job kept me at work twelve hours a day, six days a week. There wasn’t any more energy left in me after I drove home, cooked, cleaned, showered. My head hit the pillow and the sandman caught me, pulling me into dreamland.

The never-ending cycle of responsibilities sucked the time away. One day I decided to slow down. No one on their deathbed ever wished for another seventy-two hour work week.

The books were waiting, collecting dust on the shelves. If I didn’t start reading, I never would. Sight can’t be taken for granted either. Vision can fade away with the next birthday. I can make several arguments about why people should read.

1. Life is stressful. Stories are a diversion.

2. Reading keeps your brain fit and helps fight off dementia. Wilson RS. Boyle PA, Yu L, et al. Life-span cognitive activity, neuropathologic burden, and cognitive aging

Neurology. Published online July 3 2013.
http://n.neurology.org/content/81/4/314.short

3. Children and parents can bond and make life-time memories by reading together.

4. Books make us think, expand our vocabularies, entertain, and educate us.

5. If no one ever reads, writers might stop writing, depriving the world of brilliant stories.

My favorite books are the ones that make me forget I'm in a crowded airport or some other unpleasant place. Written words send me on a journey and become a movie in my mind. Try going on a mental adventure sometime. Pick up a good book, and you won't miss television or the commercials. 





http://n.neurology.org/content/81/4/314.short

HOW TO MAKE MINOR CHARACTERS SHINE

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Give Minor Characters Five Minutes of Fame

Some writers give little thought about minor characters. They’re written into a scene to relay information so the main character has a link to move on to the next scene. Too often filler characters do clichéd things and add nothing to the story. When they’re written in this way, it’s a missed opportunity.

To avoid minimizing the minor characters, imagine that they want to be the star of the story as if the story is about them. Let them shine though their part is small. Minor characters can add interest to the scene by helping or hindering the protagonist. For example, in the story, Cinderella, the stepsisters have minor parts, but they are unforgettable. 

Here is the link to the original story by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html It’s different from the Walt Disney version and is quite interesting.  Below is a piece of it illustrating how the stepsisters were irritants to Cinderella.

 "Why should that stupid goose sit in the parlor with us?" they said. "If she wants to eat bread, then she will have to earn it. Out with this kitchen maid!"

 They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is!" they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen.

Later, when the prince searched for Cinderella and presented the gold shoe to the stepsisters, one cut off her big toe to make it fit. The other sister chopped off her heel. This was a shocking surprise.

The birds were also minor characters. They were Cinderella’s allies. When the stepmother made her pick lentils from the ashes, the pigeons and turtledoves helped. During her wedding, the pigeons punished her stepsisters by pecking out their eyes. This made the story memorable.

When writing about minor characters, give them dialogue, mannerisms, and descriptions

that set them apart from the other characters. If they’re too common, the reader will yawn and put down your book. I hope this post helps you write better. Let minor characters do the unexpected, giving them five minutes of fame. Sprinkle a little spice into your stories.

DANGLING AND MISPLACED MODIFIERS

                                             Photo by George Bakos on Unsplash
 

I've been away from Blogger for several months now. Since things are changing here, I will probably move my posts to a different site. After the pandemic started, I didn't spend as much time on social media. Like this unplugged, abandoned television in George Bako's photo, I was isoloated and felt out of place. And I noticed other bloggers either stopped posting or moved their posts off Blogger. 

Today, I wanted to blog again. Dangling and misplaced modifiers came to mind. Sometimes writers write unclear sentences and end up with something silly. This is the case with dangling modifiers. A dangling modifier is usually a prepositional or participial phrase that describes, or gives more detail about the wrong word. The word it was supposed to modify was left out of the sentence, and the modifier was placed near the wrong word, leaving the modifier dangling.

Let me give you some examples:

While still in diapers, my father remarried. 

Ha ha. Babies don't get married, so we know this is a messed up sentence. Since while in diapers is next to my father, the sentence means my father was still in diapers. It should refer to the narrator, and the word I isn’t in the sentence. To correct this, the I should be added. While I was still in diapers, my father remarried.

Here is another dangler with the same problem:

While reading a book on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap.

Cats don’t know how to read, so this is silly. Instead, it should say: While I was reading on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap. Or: While I read on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap. 

 Here is a misplaced modifier which has a similar problem:

He read from his Kindle wearing glasses.

We can assume it is the male in this sentence who is wearing glasses, but the way it’s written says the book is wearing glasses since the modifier is next to Kindle. Maybe rewrite it as: He wore glasses and read from his Kindle.

Here is another problem sentence:

At the bottom of the aquarium, Leslie saw the eel.

Leslie wasn't swimming in the aquarium with the eel. To fix this issue, rewrite it like this. Leslie saw the eel at the bottom of the aquarium.

One day, I walked the dog in my pajamas.

A four legged dog can't wear two legged pajamas. The fix: One day, while I wore pajamas, I walked the dog.

I am selling several old hats from grandpa in great condition.

Is grandpa in great condition or are the hats? How about: I'm selling several old hats in great condition that belonged to my grandpa.

It’s important to edit your writing to avoid silly mistakes. I hope this brief post helps you understand how to identify a misplaced or dangling modifier and how to fix it.

 

 

TIPS FOR GREAT DIALOGUE

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Hello Writers,

Come on in and hang with me a while. Let me give you some tips about writing dialogue for your characters. I'll start with the basics for new writers, then move on to easy rules that help everyone. 

Structure

For each line of dialogue, the character’s words must have curly quotation marks on both ends.

For example. “It’s in the car.” 

The other punctuation marks such as any period, question mark, comma, explanation point must be inside the quotation marks. Think of it as a neat package with everything kept inside.

Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags are the small phrases that show who's speaking. They stay outside the quotation marks. 

I’ll use our example above to show you. “It’s in the car,” Sara said. 

The sentence ends with a period after the tag said. Some writers are confused about when to capitalize while using a dialogue tag. Only capitalize when the tag starts with a proper noun like Sara. If I had used the word she instead, I wouldn’t capitalize it. 

For example: “It’s in the car,” she said.       NOT: “It’s in the car,” She said.

When using dialogue tags, give them purpose. It’s best to use tags sparingly to tell the reader who's speaking when there may be confusion. Also, stick to said or asked. Readers gloss over said and asked, but linger on words like exclaimed, whispered, yelled, huffed, and other expressions. But back to what I was saying; let me show you how writers overuse tags.

“It’s in the car,” Sara said.

“Where in the car?” Todd asked.

“Under the seat,” Sarah said.

“Which seat?” he asked.

Don’t write like that. There are too many tags. No reader wants to look at that. If you are unsure if you used too many, read the line out loud. You’ll know instantly if it sounds robotic. 

Now to my next point. Each person speaking gets their own line like I wrote it above. What if everyone wrote dialogue like this?

“It’s in the car,” Sara said. “Where in the car?” Todd asked. “Under the seat,” Sara said. “Which seat?” he asked.

It’s hard on the eyes, isn’t it? Don’t write like that either. Those are basic tips for structure, and I only mention it to help new writers who may not know the difference. Give each speaker their own line. 


So, what do you put between the quotation marks? I have easy rules.

#1. Dialogue isn't a conversation. It must be in line with a character’s desire for something. Nobody talks unless they want something.

When people talk, they chitchat, pause, and sometimes never get to the point. If your characters speak like that, they'll bore the reader. Drop all the pleasantries and think about the character's motivation. What do the characters need or want to move the plot along? 

For example: If Mary is looking for her husband’s killer, she won’t chitchat while that is on her mind. She wouldn’t ask her neighbor, Leanne, how to grow mums. She might ask Leanne about strange sounds the night of the murder. 

Whenever you’re not sure if the dialogue is appropriate for the scene, ask yourself, if I eliminated it would the reader understand what’s going on? Make each line count. The next time you watch a movie, listen to the dialogue. Each line has a purpose. The actors don’t talk unless there's a reason.  

#2. Dialogue expresses the character, not the writer. It's not there to dump information that the writer wants the reader to know. It isn’t a speech.

Please don’t dump information on the reader in long-winded character speeches. 

For example, a man is talking to his neighbor: “As you know, Bob, my son has been in college for five years. He should've graduated last year, but he likes to come home in the summer instead of taking classes to catch up. I think he should work harder. Finish and get a job.”

If Bob already knows about his neighbor's son, he doesn’t need to hear the story again. This is an example of the writer trying to dump information onto the reader. Don’t force-feed the details. The writer is putting the words in the character’s mouth instead of letting the character move closer to his goal.

#3.  Choose to show a scene instead of using dialogue when possible.

Sometimes it’s better to let the characters show rather than talk, even with conflict. In my following example, a married couple is having a problem in their relationship. I could let them argue and fight, but consider the following instead of a page of dialogue. 

 The couple leaves their penthouse apartment. Harry rushes toward the elevator while donning his hat, leaving his wife far behind him. When she finally catches up, the elevator doors bump her as she gets inside. She clutches her purse against her chest. Both of them are frowning until the elevator stops on the fourth floor, and the doors open to reveal a beautiful woman. Harry holds the elevator, removes his hat, and smiles at the lady when she enters. His wife takes a step away from him.

See what I mean. A visual can show the reader the state of their relationship without them saying a word.

#4. Use contractions

 Unless your character speaks formally, use contractions such as don’t couldn’t, wouldn’t and others. It sounds better than do not, could not, should not. It will seem natural to readers. 

#5. Don’t use proper names excessively when using dialogue tags.

This goes back to what sounds good. It’s better to tag with he said, she said, instead of calling the characters by proper names when it’s clear who he and she are. Proper names identify individuals of the same gender. For example: If Mary is talking to Casey, one of them will need their name when tagged. 

#6. Give each character their own voice, a contrast from one another

Let each character have their own way of saying things based on their education, age, personality, outlook on life.

For example: If someone told a pessimist that her husband filed for divorce, the dialogue might go like this: 

“Oh, you poor thing. You’ll never ever find another man. Now that you’re over forty, you should move back in with your parents if they’ll have you.”

While an optimist might say:

 “He wasn’t right for you. But don’t worry, there’s this guy I know who's perfect for you. If I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’d go out with him myself. I’ll set you up.”

The optimist and pessimist will have different outlooks on everything. That’ll determine what each will say. Each character has a motivation even if it's only responding to what was said. It’s the writer’s job to determine how each character will reply.

#7. Don’t let heads talk in empty rooms.

Give the reader a little scenery and action between the dialogue. When the dialogue goes on too long, it seems like heads are talking. Without scenery, everything goes blank, sometimes referred to as white room syndrome. Ground the reader with a view of the surroundings. Give the characters something to do to engage the reader, so the scene becomes realistic.

#8. Use subtext when to add depth to the story when appropriate. 

Dialogue is interesting when the reader can read between the lines. The subtext is the meaning beneath the spoken words and within the body language. Often what’s said isn’t what’s meant. It’s implied. This avoids on-the-nose dialogue that points out the obvious to the reader. Readers like to come to their own conclusions.

Don’t get into the habit of letting characters to tell each other exactly what they’re thinking all the time. Whenever you find them being candid, take a step back. Is this information necessary to advance the plot or the readers’ understanding of what’s going on? If not, cut it. Why would one character share or withhold their thoughts from another character? There are whole books written on subtext, and it’s beyond the scope of this blog. I may write a blog about this subject later.

This post was longer than I had planned. I hope this helps you create believable dialogue in your stories. Whatever you do, keep writing.

THE WRITING SCHEDULE

My Own Routine

People ask me how I make time to write. My day job takes 40-50 hours out of my week. If I'm not physically at my office, I'm running errands to keep my small business afloat. I have a husband, two dogs, two cats, and a house that needs attention. 

My morning starts with preparing for work and tucking everyone in before I head to my job. When I get home, the chores are waiting. 

Colby is my only distraction.

It's easy to say there's no time to write. But I enjoy creating stories, and sometimes I'm up past midnight pounding the keyboard. It's part of my life and writing a novel takes months. 

CREATE A SPACE FOR WRITING

I have a cozy spot in my living room where I disconnect from the rest of the world. Phone calls, televisions, and distractions disappear. Occasionally, my cat sits on me. No problem. Two of us can fit in the chair. This is where I alternate between reading books and writing my own. To understand writing well, I read every day. 

When I'm in my den, my imaginary world takes priority. I build it line by line, page by page, and chapter by chapter. This is what I do most days. Some people think my habits are strange, obsessive, and unnecessary. It makes me different from them. It makes me a writer.

LET THE CHARACTER'S THOUGHTS CONVEY THEIR EMOTIONS

Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash

Every writer wants readers to connect with their work. After all, it’s not easy to craft a novel, short story, novella, or memoir. Today I’ll share a key to unlock that mystery.

People want to understand your characters and go on a journey with them. To provide a mental escape, make the reader feel what your characters feel.

There are three ways a writer describes a character’s emotion.

1. Tell how the character feels.

Example: Tom was scared.

By saying it outright as a fact, the reader can’t feel anything. You could say it’s September and evoke the same level of indifference from the person. If you dump statements in the entire story, filter words, such as angry, anxious, afraid, happy, etc., the reader will lose interest. 

2. Show the character’s reaction.

Example: Tom crouched behind the building and trembled.

This is better than the first illustration, but too many actions without Tom’s thoughts fail to engage the reader. If several scenes require him to be scared, each version of showing him that way becomes harder. After a while, it’s difficult to top the last description.

3. Introspection. It means the character’s thoughts are open to the reader. This helps the reader understand the stakes.

Example: It was Tom’s second glimpse at the monster—two heads and four eyes that rolled in opposite directions. It's searching for me, and there's only one building between us. If I can make it to the hills I might have a sporting chance. If not, I'll die like Jase and Melissa, ripped apart by two mouths in a tug of war while the creature fights itself for the bigger share. Why did I ever come here?

I could have said Tom was afraid of the monster, but that alone doesn’t give the reader much. By letting the reader know what Tom thinks about when he sees it, I raise the stakes. The reader will empathize with the character and hopefully tap into his fear.

This was a quick example I made up off the top of my head. Some authors use a combination of the three together to make sure readers get the connection. Look at the passages in your favorite books for better examples. I find introspection is the best way to make the book relatable.

SUMMER'S BOUNTY

Blackberries from Sta- n-Step Blueberry Farm

Peace on the farm

The dew still coated the grass when my husband and I arrived at the Sta-n-Step Blueberry Farm this morning. From surrounding trees, the birds called to each other, and the fragrance of green leaves scented the air.

Clear summer skies in Arkansas brought sweltering heat. We were prepared. Our hats and sunglasses shielded our eyes from the glaring sun.

 Les, the owner, greeted us with plastic buckets. Several people picked from berry-laden bushes. Les and his family tended the plants all year for the brief June/ July season.

We visited the rows of blueberries first. The branches were heavy with plump fruit. Blueberries seemed to drip off the vines. We filled our containers before finding the blackberry bushes.

The blackberries were bigger than my thumb. No thorns stuck me either. Tame plants don’t grow barbs like the forest varieties. With a light touch, the berries rolled off the stems into my palm. I collected a gallon of them within fifteen minutes, plenty to eat now and freeze for later. There may be cobblers in the future, but I doubt it. My husband can devour a gallon of berries in twenty-four hours.  

The Sta-n-Step Blueberry Farm is located at 3104 Wildcat Creek Blvd, Fayetteville, AR. It’s near Tontitown. If you want to pick berries, hurry. By mid-July, they'll be gone.

FUR DADDIES CELEBRATE FATHER'S DAY TOO

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Today is Father’s Day, and I hope all of you men find peace and happiness on this glorious holiday. Some of you are natural fathers, foster dads, adoptive fathers and grandpas raising your grandchildren. There may be a few uncles raising your nieces or nephews. And of course, I can’t forget the fur babies. My husband is a wonderful daddy to two cats and two dogs.

We have a petting zoo here at the Mueller Retreat. Our companions lavish us with doggy kisses and kitty-cat massages at least once an hour. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Celebrate fatherhood and enjoy your special day.

How to Show and Not Tell When Writing Stories

I found the concept of show not tell hard to grasp when I began writing. After all, isn't everything we write telling? The concept still frustrates me when I don't recognize too much telling in my own stories.

When we write we want to avoid making simple statements that don't add any details to the piece.
For example: The man was happy.

The sentence only tells us his emotional state. Instead, paint a picture and describe the man's happiness. His gestures, actions, expressions will help the reader see him.

Here is a showing example for the above sentence: The man hummed his favorite song as he bounced across the parking lot. 


Telling example: The room was a mess.
Try describing the items in the room that make it messy and how a character might react to it.

  Showing example: Jack stepped over the an empty pizza box,  dirty underwear, and used tissues that littered the floor. 

Telling example: John was mean to Jill.
How can I fix this telling line? I can by showing what John did to Jill.
Showing example: John clenched his fist and pounded Jill in the arm, leaving a bruise the size of a tennis ball. 

Telling example. Drapes covered the windows.
It is better to show someone acting upon the drapes than to tell the reader about the decor.
Showing example:  Margaret parted the velvet drapes, letting the sun inside. 

Telling example: It was hot outside.
Pick out some details that show the effect of how hot it was.
Showing example: Perspiration rolled down her back, and she tugged at her damp top.

Telling example: It was icy.
Add details to the writing.
Showing example: Her foot slipped on the ice covering the sidewalk, and she tumbled to the ground. 

Use senses to show and not tell. Touch: How did something feel?  Smell: What did it smell like?
Hearing: Describe the sound. Sight: What did it look like? Taste: What was the texture, temperature, flavor? Describe a character's action upon, perception to or reaction to surroundings, weather, and situations to better show the reader your story.

The word was doesn't help to show anything. Look for was and consider revising the sentence if an opportunity to show has been missed.

REVISE YOUR STORIES

Revise to strengthen writing

What happens when you finish a favorite story, and no one seems to appreciate the effort? If the short story didn’t get picked up by the literary magazine or win the big cash prize in a contest, the piece might need tweaking. If your novel receives more than thirty rejections, there could be something wrong. 

Writing is a lot like cooking a gourmet meal. Some folks hate the duck confit with a side of roasted brussels sprouts. Agents and publishers have a huge menu to choose from. Make sure the people you are serving have a taste and preference for the type of story you cooked up. You can’t force steak on a vegetarian any easier than humor on an agent who wants horror.

Maybe you had the above figured out and sent your manuscript to the right agency, and they didn’t bite. Read the first page and pretend someone else wrote it. If a stranger picked it up at Barnes and Noble, could they keep their eyes on the paper? Remember, they’re surrounded by fascinating books the same way an agent has hundreds of manuscripts to choose from. If not, rewrite any paragraph that conjures daydreams. Boring scenes are not allowed. Write that on an index card in big red letters and keep it next to you as a reminder.

If you can’t figure out what’s amiss, other eyes can help; not your mom’s or best friends. Find someone who isn’t afraid of offending you. Writers’ groups are useful. If there isn’t one, start one. If no one is interested, consider going online.

I want to keep this post brief, but here’s another tip to make sure the revisions are saved properly. Back up your drafts twice. Do it every time you write. I don’t carve my story into a stone tablet, and neither do you. I’ve heard nightmares about lost manuscripts after a cat knocked a glass of water on the laptop. Keep that in mind next time you shut down the computer even if you don’t have a four-legged menace in your home.

Revisions are part of the process that makes writing better. I wish everyone one the best and happy writing.

Editing Your Stories

Writing is creating, but drafts need editing. I love Microsoft Word for its find and replace feature. Eons ago, I learned to type using a typewriter. Because of that, I have a habit of hitting the space bar twice after ending a sentence. That’s not correct when using a computer. But there’s an easy fix. By clicking the home tab and selecting replace, the find/replace window opens. Now the magic begins when I double space on the find what line, then single space on the replace line and select replace all. A twinge of satisfaction rushes through me when the command corrects twenty errors with a single keystroke. I repeat the task until the computer reports no replacements.

Recently, I wanted to rename a town in my book. Instead of reading every page to find the name, I used the feature. In an instant, Merryville became Cotton. I can also search for overused words. Turn and step pop up too often in my stories. When I’m on a creative streak, any generic word will do. Later I will use the find feature and change it to something fabulous.

To write well, I must write, write and rewrite.

A Time to Give Thanks

"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself."

D. H. Lawrence

For the past nine nights, I dreamed I could walk only to awaken the next morning to a broken ankle. The disappointment hit me. There was no gold medal hanging around my neck because I didn’t smoke the competition at the 5K race I thought I had won.  My mind cleared after I wiped the sleep from my eyes. My sneakers were in the closet. The wheelchair and walker took their place next to my bed.  

I can’t complain. Five weeks will whiz by like the last summer vacation. Today isn’t a time for self-pity. I must rejoice. A skilled surgeon drilled holes in the bones for the screws that realigned my joints. In time, the fractures will heal. I will walk again. That wouldn’t have happened a couple hundred years ago.

My husband is out running the trails as I write this. I’m thankful he can. No one has helped me more since the accident though I have close friends who have gone the extra mile. Mary Lou, Marie, Bonnie, Raven, Blake, Yolanda, and Father Williams made sure I had what I needed.

 When my husband returns, he and I will enjoy the sunshine on our backyard patio. It’s a good day to catch the rays and listen to the radio—a rare treat for February.   

In the coming weeks, I will use the extra time to write. No one ever needed a working ankle to write stories. 

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