The feedback I received on my first submission to my friends in the Deadwood Writers group included many comments about my use of passive voice. Make that many, many, MANY comments. After I highlighted every instance of the verb ‘to be,’ my pages lit up in yellow. If I owned a color printer at the …
Category: Editing & Revision
Aug 10
Clarity
When I dream of becoming a published author, I see myself as a stand out amongst a large populous of romance authors. My books sit alongside those written by authors I’ve admired and learned from by reading and being absorbed by the characters they’ve created and the stories they continue to roll out year after …
Jul 24
Curse-ive Writing
Have you ever been reading a book and been jarred by the use of a curse word? While I believe that swearing is something to avoid as a matter of personal virtue, I understand the dramatic effect and occasional necessity to a storyline. However, sometimes the use of curse words doesn’t fit with the story, …
Jul 16
Perfect Endings Belong to the Quotation Mark
Picky Penny said, “I’m studying The Chicago Manual of Style.” Misplaced Mark replied, “I hope I never have to read that”. Penny is attracted to Mark because of his gifted story-telling. He’s prolific with his ideas. Mark thinks Penny is really cute, and he likes that she always seems to know how to spell words …
May 24
I Pledge Allegiance to the Flow
When did you first know that you were a writer? I can trace it back to saying the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school. Whenever we got to the line “one Nation under God” I thought it sounded awkward. Now mind you, I had no knowledge of the political forces and controversies surrounding the words …