An oldie, but a goodie! Silent monks “singing” Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Makes me smile every time I see it.
Tag, You’re It!
One of the most common habits I see burdening stories is overemphasis on conversational tags, which goes hand in hand with not making good use of action tags. Here's an example I just made up:
"No," she exclaimed. She looked at the the pot of stew bubbling the stove and saw red juice splattering. She began to stir.
Unable to resist multitasking, I demonstrated several bad habits in the above …
A Different Perspective
When I was in grade school, a nosy neighbor decided my parents were too conservative, so she loaned me some of her old books by Helen Van Slyke. My parents let me read anything in book form, so we were good to go. Helen was a divorced New York City career woman with views unlike those I would encounter in my hometown. Today, as I cull my book collection, I am revisiting some of those titles with a …
What Were They Reading?
In attempting to declutter, I am culling my book collection. Parting with beloved tomes is one of the hardest parts of decluttering for me since I enjoy books so much! I’m keeping copies of all the books I’ve written and the many I have had the honor of representing. Because I tend to buy nearly every book that interests me, I have a massive stack to review. Re-reading bestsellers from the past …
To Romance or Not to Romance
According to St. Teresa of Avila’s biography, the battle over romance novels has been going on at least since the 1500s:
Teresa's father was rigidly honest and pious, but he may have carried his strictness to extremes. Teresa's mother loved romance novels but because her husband objected to these fanciful books, she hid the books from him. This put Teresa in the middle -- especially since she …
I Have Plans to Write That Book
Last week, I talked about a few reasons why I don’t plan to write a nonfiction book on style, mainly because I have no desire to develop a presence or platform as an expert on style. But what if you want to write a nonfiction book about a topic you know and love? Let’s look at the list, revised from last week, to help you decide if you should: Are you well-known outside of your immediate circle of …
I Have No Plans to Write That Book
Whenever I go out, strangers offer unsolicited compliments about some aspect of my appearance, usually my hair or clothing. From this fact alone, I might decide that people like my style. Perhaps I should write a book! But aside from the fact I have no desire to write a style book, there are other reasons why starting this project doesn’t make sense for me: I’m not well known outside of a few …
Don’t Worry About Idea Theft!
Have you ever thought to yourself: This is it! The perfect story! My new plot has it all: A polar bear A snowstorm A palm tree A romantic fireplace Hot cocoa A lovesick couple A poodle Triplet toddlers in need of a stable home Then another writer breezily posts on a loop: Hey, you guys, I just added a polar bear and a palm tree to my snowstorm story about Bixby, Alexa, Snappy the Hound Dog, and …
It’s All About the Plot
Last week we discussed characters portrayed in a sympathetic light. Another type of plot relies less on the character being sympathetic, but the reader is engaged because the plot itself is intriguing enough to keep reading. For instance, books can: Solve a murder. Some authors make plenty of money with a series following a detective’s career as he or she solves crime after crime after crime. Some …
Writing Sympathetic Characters
Have you ever stopped reading a novel because you didn’t like or weren’t interested in the characters or you couldn’t muster enough caring about them to stick with them for 300 pages? Here are a few tips to try to keep this reaction from happening to your readers: 1. Portray your character as a true victim. Do use caution, so you don’t venture into melodrama. People like rooting for the underdog, …