Writing and editing advice are full of pithy phrases like Show Don’t Tell, Said Bookisms, or White Room Dialogue. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across a popular saying to describe the best piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard: Every sentence should serve multiple purposes. Frankly, you could probably …
“Show, don’t tell” is a phrase that gets flung around a lot in writing and editing circles. I’ve seen people complain about it and even come to hate the phrase. Perhaps in part because it is used a lot. But I think a fair portion of the dislike of the …
I wrote a series of articles on the editing process for a publisher I’ve worked for, Crystal Publishing, and they were kind enough to let me re-post the articles here on my blog. Last time, we talked about the basics of the editing process. Today we’ll delve into my favorite …
Does writing really have rules? Nope. Alright, hope you have a good week, I’ll be back… Oh, you want more of an answer? You don’t believe me when I say that there are no rules in writing? Ok, let me back up. Yes, you can find rules for English grammar …
I had a conversation with an author the other day about villain monologuing. He pointed out that plenty of fictional villains throughout the ages have revealed their plans to the heroes. I quoted Syndrome: Villain monologuing is one of those stereotypes that popular culture both accepts and ridicules at the …
Last weekend, I went to the Northern Colorado Writers Conference for the first time. I wish I’d known about it years ago! I’ve traveled to other cities for writing conferences, and it was super nice to be able to go to one just a short drive from my house. Didn’t have …
I’m going to tell you a secret: Editors aren’t perfect. *cue collective gasp* I know, I know. Now you’re asking, “Then why on earth should I be asking an imperfect editor to perfect my writing?” And, well, if absolute perfection is your goal, then I wish you godspeed on your …
I’ve thought about doing a full tutorial on how to use Microsoft Word’s “Track Changes” capability. And maybe eventually I’ll do a fuller post on that, but there are lots of other good tutorials out there. Also I don’t want to delve into the can of worms that is Microsoft …
As I was writing last week’s post about white room dialogue, I kept thinking about Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card—a book which famously (and thoroughly) breaks the rule about white room dialogue. So since my last post about a dialogue rule was followed by an example of breaking the …
Most writers fall into one of two camps: those who prefer to write dialogue and those who prefer description. Personally, my innate talents fall more on the dialogue side of the spectrum. As such, I have a tendency—if I’m not careful—to write “white room dialogue.” In general, this is a …
