These two related booby-traps are often hidden beneath our little darlings (clever dialogue, beautiful description, etc). That is probably why Stephen King recommended we kill them. Yes, kill them dead. No burying them in the Pet Semetary, also known as “revision.” Killing means killing….as in delete forever. Yet too many times we hang on to those favorite characters or bits of dialogue, reworking them and hoping we can make them fit…at the expense of the rest of the story.
Tag: editing
Jul 20 2010
Top 10 Reasons to Become a Writer
I created We Are Not Alone to make learning about social media marketing fun. Sort of like when you get a traffic ticket and have to take Defensive Driving…why not take Comedy Defensive Driving? My goal is to change your habits, not your personality. I assume most of you aren’t doing this writing thing until your dream of working in sales pays off. No? No one? Cool!
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Jun 08 2010
Writers–Facing Your Oogie-Boogie Man
It took years for me to use Kristen Lamb. Why? Because I had to find the courage to name and claim my destiny. I had to rally the courage to dare to dream and take it on the chin if it went to the dogs. Not easy!
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Apr 02 2010
Growing Pains–Meet "Critique Jerk" (Repost)
So you may think the jerk in your writing group serves no purpose, but he does. He is there to rub and rub and rub and rub on you….until you build a callous. Publishing is brutal, and the thicker our skin, the better the chances we survive and thrive
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Mar 25 2010
The Secret to Story Magic
Most of the time when I hear a new writer announce that his piece is “literary fiction,” that is a short-hand cue for me to expect no structure, lots of similes, metaphors, self-indulgent flashbacks and no overall conflict other than a main character’s really pretentious angst. Most of the time, it smacks of self-therapy thinly guised as a story
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International Association of Professional Writers & Editors
Featured Books
Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital Age
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