Write Settings & Descriptions that MATTER

I consider myself a pretty fair writer. But I can face it–I’m never going to be as good with description as Delia Owens (Where the Crawdads Sing), or Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides), or even Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath). If you are, you have my great respect. Have you ever opened a book, and the…

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A Bit on Backstory

Backstory is important. It gives essential context to what’s happening in the story. So why does it have such a bad rep? Because writers are heavy-handed with it. It’s a garnish – not a main course. The majority of badly handled backstory I see is at the beginning of the book. A friend of mine,…

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First Page Critique

I believe it’s easiest to learn from example, so I’ll be doing this from time to time – analyzing a generous and brave writer’s donated work. Thank you for trusting me with your baby! This isn’t a bad beginning. My main points are: Remember, the reader comes cold to the page. You can’t even assume…

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Happy Women’s Fiction Day!

  Never heard of it? Here’s what it is: So it isn’t just for women – it can be written by men (and it is!) and can even have a male protagonist. I was lucky enough to have my WF mentioned in the BookTrib post today. There are some wonderful books here! And it has…

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Trust Your Reader!

I am a very lean writer (not a lean person, mind you, that’s a different meeting). I think when you pare a sentence to its essence, making sure that every word is critical and sparkly, that’s when the power comes through. Many writers (and not just beginners) end up saying something more than once. It…

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