For the past three years, I’ve had the honor of being a first-round judge for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers annual Colorado Gold novel contest. This means I get to read and critique other writers’ first chapters and synopses. Every year, I’m amazed at how much I learn from analyzing these works, from plot structure…
Tag: crutch words
A Few Bad Habits
By Mark Stevens You brush your teeth. You comb your hair. You make a pot of coffee. You’re on auto pilot, right? Not much brainpower required. Your head is busy elsewhere, thinking ahead. Or something. You sit down to write. Man oh man, that first sentence of your new bestseller is going to be carved…