With the nickname of The Evil Editor (TEE) – said with affection, remember! –I bet you think I’m all about editing. Not true. I’m also a writer. Which means I’m also about writing. But even before the writing, which comes before the editing, I’m about planning. I can see all you seat-of-the-pantsers (SOTPs) out there in the blog-o-sphere rolling your eyes. Thinking: Not another writer who chains herself to scripting out every last word of her novel, detail by infinitesimal detail. You think there’s nothing better than letting your story run away with you, surprising you with unexpected twists and turns as a character kisses someone unexpected – or maybe kills them. But even a SOTP has to plot something. Beginning, middle, end. The Disappointments (Ds). Maybe resist putting hands to keyboard and […]
Read the RestTag Archives | writing skills
Quick Skills: A tip to discovering your Voice
The concept of author Voice is so elusive, it’s can feel like a loose football, bouncing around the field (she says as she watches the Giants and 49er’s chase the ball). Just when we think we have a grip on it, it wiggles out of our hands. Voice, easily expressed, is your storytelling style. Words and plot and character – and how you weave these together. Much like an actor dons a role, bringing their own style to a script. Although we can work to recognize Voice and even analyze it by finding great style in other works, we don’t really discover our Voice until we put the pen to page. Until we write words that make our own hearts sing. Here’s a trick I’ve used to develop my voice: […]
Read the RestWriters’ Math: Word Count Basics
I’m a writer. I don’t do math. That’s my mantra — and I stuck to it. Until … I ran into two little words: word count. Stay in the writing world long enough, say longer than 24 hours, and you’re gonna run into those two little words too. Word count, like jeans, comes in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got non-fiction word counts for blogs. Magazine articles. E-zines. Devotionals. And then you have word counts for books, both fiction and nonfiction – everything from novellas to self-help to sagas the size of Gone with the Wind (960 pages in paperback). Just what are the basics when it comes to word counts? It depends. Really. It depends on the publisher. But there are some ballpark figures — and that’s what I’m […]
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