First Word

I thought today it would be fun to talk about my least favorite things in prose that bog down both story and readability. Inexperienced authors tend to do this. Can you guess what it is? Probably not because I’m being super vague LOL … hey, maybe that’s it! Being too vague. Nope, but that’s a discussion for another day. This habit drives me, your intrepid editor, crazy: too much attention to unimportant minutia or details. I saw this discussion on one of my social media groups. The question: should you describe someone’s clothes in a scene? A very good question and the answer is: yes, but don’t go too far. Actually, that answer applies to all setting descriptions – yes, but don’t go too far. The “too-far” part of the answer is the minutia. When describing people’s appearances, for example, it’s good to be straightforward to give an idea of the person’s looks and how he/she comes across in a scene. So, let me give you two examples. Bad : She was attractive when she w...

I just finished my new novel titled The Abused . I also received feedback from my focus group of early readers. Responses were all extremely positive with the common comment being “I couldn’t stop reading it.” I get asked all of the time, “How do I write a page-turner?” My answer may sound simple, but it’s not easy to do. The main ingredient to writing a page-turner is to create constant intrigue. Your reader must be interested and intrigued enough to want to keep reading. How do you create intrigue? Tip #1: Show don’t tell . Last night I read a chapter from The Abused. “I love the way you built up the tension. How did you do it?” So let me give you the set up scene from the book… On this outing, Frank was in his usual laid-back mood. Jonesy had gotten up early ready to jog. They were standing in front of the morning fire watching the gray tin coffee pot that sat on the grill begin to bubble up. Jonesy wore a green jogging suit, and Frank had on...

I read this statement in a recent review of the 3L Publishing book Vengeance is Now , which to paraphrase went something like this: strictly bad and good characters are boring. Author Scott D. Roberts and I have discussed flawed characters practically from the first time we met each other. We both have a propensity to enjoy the flaws the most -- and it's those flaws that prevent boring. In real life do you know anyone who is perfectly "white" or perfectly "black"? I know people who are overall good people, and I know people who I question their morals and ethics. Truth is most of us have our good points and our "messier" points. So when you're writing a novel or a story, it's always more interesting and provocative to make characters "gray" and then fill in the greater or lesser color of white or black. Let me give an example: In my forthcoming novel  Body in the Trunk , I've written the ex-husband as a real jerk. Yet our heroi...

Having trouble getting your creative spark lit? I have trouble all of the time. Yes, I'm super prolific and I write every single day. I have to write this blog every day, too. Do I make it look effortless? Well, sometimes I start with nothing. I got nothing! Today ... I got nothing except last night's weird dreams to fuel my ideas. Yes, I had a super weird dream, something about a story about animals and my fellow writing friend's desk. The manuscript was sitting on his desk, and it was a song ... all right what is my point? I don't have a point LOL, but I do have some great tips to kickstart your creativity if you're having writer's block. Let a title define your project . The title of my book California Girl Chronicles came to me first. I actually built the story around the title. For some writers this would be backward, but for me it worked. Just start writing from an unconscious level . Just sit down at your desk and let your fingers type and see where ...

Writing pitch-perfect dialogue is an art form in and of itself. Did you know that some writers are called in to rewrite just dialogue on scripts? The producers might be happy with the exposition of the script and the concept, but the dialogue might be weak. It doesn't mean the writer isn't talented at writing, but perhaps he or she isn't quite as adept at natural-sounding dialogue. Here are my tips to writing great dialogue. #1 Choose a Voice -- I've said this many times, but it's a very good idea to find the person you want to play a role or even to "inhabit" a part in your novel. Basing a character on a real person with a voice all his/her own enables you to keep it clear in your mind how he or she might say something. Now that is not to suggest you can't create upon their basic voice and be creative, but it's so helpful to enable you to hear it in your head. I don't know about other authors, but I can very clearly hear the voice in my min...