First Word

When I do manuscript coaching and editing for new and emerging writers, I get a front-row seat on common new-writer mistakes. Here are some of those common errors that can bog down what otherwise would be a perfectly good story. Redundancy -- the repeating of words or phrases within the same paragraph or even page. Keeping your writing fresh and interesting means you need to abandon your own commonly used words. It can be challenging. Even when we speak we have certain expressions we use a lot. I was working on a book the other day in which the writer used the word "okay" no less than 10 times on a single page of copy. If you can't think of a new way to say something use a Thesaurus, which is my opinion is an irreplaceable tool when your mind is getting tired. Useless details that bog down the pace of the story . What I try to teach writers is to use the setting as part of the storytelling process. For example, if you've got a character's hometown don't s...

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 ...