Category Archives: Writing Tips

Today’s Writing Tip

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If possible, include keywords that describe your story in the title. This will help it appear in more searches. If you have a great title that doesn’t include them, you can always cheat a little and add a subtitle.

Make sure the categories you can include in various places are accurate as well. The more accurately you can place your book in one of them, the more likely it will show up there as well. The BISAC  codes are especially important since they are what librarians and other book professionals depend upon. You can find a complete listing here. You can sign up for free to get more information.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Perfect people are boring, the same with those that are too predictable and have their lives entirely together. You don’t want your readers to get bored reading about your character, so they need to have some issues. Even if they’re a very strong person, then they need to have a challenge before him or her that tests that strength.

However, don’t make your characters such a piece of work that they’re off-putting to readers. I have read books where the character, or at least one of them, was so dysfunctional that I was rolling my eyes and wanted to slap this person upside the head. I came very close to not reading any further, except I usually give a book about three chapters before I ditch it.

Interesting characters and plots are essential and character growth through the story is essential, but remember, if your reader doesn’t like or can’t relate to him or her at all, they may quit reading.

Today’s Writing Tip

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How many award winning books have you read? These are great reference points for what constitutes not only a good read, but excellent writing. Don’t just read them for enjoyment, study them for what makes them special.

When a book wins an award or is a finalist, the author is given a seal or medallion that recognizes their status, which they place on their book cover. Thus, you can tell by looking at the cover if it’s been given an award. Another way to find them is to go to the websites for the organizations that provide awards. If you don’t know where to find them, here are a few, though there are numerous others: ReadersFavorite.com; BookExcellenceAwards.com; NewAppleAwards.com.

If you think your book is top notch, enter one of these and get a professional opinion. However, bear in mind that as with all reviews, there’s a level of subjectivity. I know one author who got blasted by one of these and awarded the top award for the same book by another. Nonetheless, it does provide a baseline.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Mercury retrograde is a great time for editing and bad time for starting a new project.  While this prognostication is astrological in origin, it’s often a time when skeptics start to recognize there may be something to it. Astronomically, it means that the planet Mercury is moving backwards in the sky. Of course this isn’t true, only by appearance, similar to when you’re passing another car on the freeway and it appears that the other car is moving backwards when you are actually moving away from it.

Astrologically, since Mercury rules communications of all kinds as well as anything that moves, this is not when your brain, electronics, or anything mechanical is functioning properly. Computer, automobile, and appliance problems are common at this time as well as communication problems at the people level. This is a time to go back and review, revise, reconsider, and reassess while starting something new is likely to not go anywhere ever or, at best, be delayed.

This usually happens three times each year. The next one will be from November 17 – December 6, 2018, but to be safe, avoid new projects from October 29 – December 25. Put this time to good use by editing and revising as opposed to new copy.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Many authors will tell you, including myself, that book blurbs are harder to write than the book itself! After creating numerous characters, devising a complex plot, and describing the time and place over hundreds of pages, distilling this down into a few sentences is no easy task.

Some great advice from author Nicholas Rossis that he passed along in a recent writers conference stated that the main elements to include are your main character, what s/he wants, what’s in the way, and the consequences of failure. Whatever you do, don’t include any spoilers or too many extraneous details. You want the reader’s curiosity to be aroused enough for them to want to read the story.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Do you fully understand what it means to show versus tell? Your reader should experience the story through the eyes of your characters, up close and personal, not as an observer from afar.

When you tell a story, there is little to no reader engagement at the emotional level. They may be able to sympathize with the character or relate story action to their own experience, but they do not feel as if they’re part of the story or that they really know the characters.

Showing involves rendering the same feeling in your reader as your character is experiencing, whether it’s love, joy, fear, sadness, grief, anger, etc. You are not going to be able to do this with a single word or sentence. If you ever find yourself using the word “feel” in any of its conjugations, stop right there. For example, saying, “He felt angry” simply doesn’t do it. However, if you describe how he really felt, such as his heart rate increasing, hands shaking, mind racing, tension in his muscles, or thinking that he might explode, then you’re showing.

Today’s Writing Tip

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The Greeks had six words for love and would be horrified at our lumping them all together. For example, eros is love of a sexual or passionate nature; philia is deep friendship; ludus is playful love, such as flirting; agape is love for everyone; pragma is long-standing love, such as seen in couples who have been married for many decades; and philautia is self-love.

This is an example of how a language or even your vocabulary contributes to (or conversely, limits) the precision that defines strong writing, i.e. using exactly the correct word. Besides showing expertise in expression, it also helps avoid unnecessary use of adjectives and other modifiers. If the “right” word is available, use it!  This is why reading the dictionary comes in handy because often the word you need is not in common usage or on the tip of your tongue.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Do you ever read the dictionary? Words are an author’s tools. Your vocabulary will determine the quality of your writing. Using the word that precisely expresses your meaning strengthens your writing.

By reading the dictionary from time to time, you’d be surprised what you might discover that will come in useful. Along those lines, when you’re reading and encounter an unfamiliar word, look it up. While you may be able to discern its meaning from the context, it is likely to have a certain slant that adds to the sentence’s meaning.

This is the kind of precision that makes your writing stronger.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Does your story have a deeper, philosophical or thematic meaning than meets the eye? Symbolism is an important element if you really want to make a point in a subtle way. This can make the difference between fiction and literature.

When I was in school studying literature I often wondered if the author deliberately included the symbolism or if it just “happened.” This is something to think about as an author. Incorporating a strong theme and symbolism into your story can give it substantially more depth. While it may escape the more casual reader, anyone who knows something about literature, particularly some reviewers, will catch the meaning and give you more respect as a writer.