Last month, I wrote about story beginnings (“Top 10 Ways Not to Start a Story”). A reader asked if I could expand on why those story beginnings may be weak choices, beyond just overuse. (Thanks for the suggestion, author Gloria Lesher!) A story’s first pages make promises to the reader. As an author, you must…
Tag: revision
Top 10 Ways Not to Start a Story
Story beginnings are challenging. On the one hand, you’ve got all the excitement of getting to know your characters and their dilemmas for the first time, and you haven’t yet hit the point where flaws begin to raise their thorny heads. Ah, young love! On the other hand, those first-draft opening pages are seldom the…
The Road to Publication, Part 3 – Revision, Revision, Revision
I just finished the fourth major revision of my WIP (Work In Progress). Before I went into this version of the book, I read some of the craft books by my virtual mentor, James Scott Bell. He writes great thrillers, but also some fantastic books on the craft of writing. His writing style is light…
To the Monkey Bars
Remember the grade school track meet where you earned a ribbon for finishing among the top three runners? First place received a red ribbon, second got blue, and third got green. The girls in my class were fast. I attribute their speed to the habit of boys relentlessly pursuing them during recess. Naturally they were…
Resources for Writers
I’ve put together a list of resources I’ve used or that have been recommended to me by great authors to help me with my writing, editing, and submitting. What others do you use? Share in the comments! Books On Writing by Stephen King The series of writing thesauruses by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (and…