Advice for Writing, Editing, Reading, and Life.
New posts on Mondays (for non-fiction) or Fridays (for fiction)
2023 Novel November Editing Giveaway
Every year, come October, I tell myself I should participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). And most years, come the day after Halloween, I’ve decided I can’t handle that much extra work in my life right now.
This year, because I knew I wouldn’t be writing, I decided to do something for writers.
Adeptly Avoiding Adverbs (And Allowing Them Adroitly)
Many famous writers, from Mark Twain to Stephen King, have suggested that the only good adverb is one left out of your draft. As with lots of advice offered glibly, this comes from a good place, but it has to be understood in context of why adverbs cause problems. A poorly constructed sentence without adverbs is still poorly constructed.
Five More Rookie Writing Mistakes
No writer is perfect. The closest we can get is to keep pushing forward, and allow others to speak into our work to help us find and fix mistakes. My hope is that you, by reading this post, are helped to find and fix these rookie mistakes (that I still sometimes make).
Three Tips to Write Better Dialogue
You may not immediately think so, but dialogue can make or break a work of fiction. When I wrote about common writing mistakes, I didn’t touch on dialogue, but it’s not because dialogue is easy. It’s because it’s hard, and the mistakes writers make when writing dialogue aren’t, in my opinion, rookie mistakes.
A Case Study on Character: The Jungle Book (1967 vs. 2016)
With the recent release of Disney’s “live-action” Pinocchio remake, it would be too easy to simply point out all the issues with stripping a character of agency and regurgitating a colorful mess onto a streaming platform.
Instead, I want to look at what happens when you take a listless character and breathe life into them. That’s right, we’re finally tackling The Jungle Book, the only remake that I would argue wasn’t just good, but better than the animated classic it drew inspiration from.
Helping Fledgling Ideas Take Flight: Advice from a Self-Published Author
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve spoken with someone who excitedly shared a book idea. When I eagerly inquire what they’ve done with this idea, too often they say, “nothing.” They haven’t written it down, or if they have, they haven’t taken steps to find out how to publish.
This saddens me, so here is some advice for aspiring authors
How to Receive Feedback Well
Writing with the intent to distribute is a beautiful paradox; it’s at once intensely personal and intimate, and highly collaborative and public. Asking for feedback can be terrifying, but it’s also very often thrilling and always necessary.
How to Give Feedback Well
Every bit of feedback you provide should be helpful above all else. When you work with another writer, you’re a collaborator, not a competitor. The more good writing that makes it into the world, the better off we all are.