I’ve heard some of my yet-to-be-published colleagues complain when they read a new release, saying, “This is so poorly written because (insert critique cliche here, from show-don’t-tell to overuse of adverbs, or what have you), I can’t believe this person got published and I can’t.” But flawed bestsellers are nothing new, and not just in…
Category: General Interest
One Little Dialogue Tip
I’m here with a quick tip for writing dialogue. It’s nothing new, but it really grabbed me this time around. It’s something I noticed while reading Angie Thomas’s novel The Hate U Give. It’s a stirring book, and yeah, it’s Thomas’s first novel. Twenty-five hundred reviews on Amazon; five solid stars. Praise is pouring in from…
The Anatomy of Emotion
I attended a workshop called Words, Words, Words at the Colorado Gold Conference a few weeks ago. As Susan Mackay Smith and Carol Berg waxed poetic about the importance of vivid, precise word choice, I despaired. I have a few strengths as a writer, but vocabulary is not one of them. I find myself particularly…
My Breakfast with Editor Deni Dietz
On Tuesday, August 14th, I attended the RMFW event at the Tattered Cover bookstore that featured a panel of the Writers of the Year nominees. They gave out raffle tickets, and I was the lucky one to win a breakfast with an editor at this year’s Colorado Gold conference. I spent an hour with Denise…
6 Weasel Words to Cut from Your Manuscript
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…