Many people feel they ought to write a book, or they’re told by other people they ought to write a book, but when they sit down to write…nothing. Writing is often called a craft, and it is something most people learn to do competently. I find that businesspeople, especially, are …
Category: Writing
Use Excel spreadsheets to organize writing projects
Novelists are often advised to keep a story timeline, especially for complicated plots. But if your plot gets too complex, or you have multiple storylines going on, you may need more than a linear list in Word or on a notepad. I started creating my timelines in Excel years ago, …
Use styles to keep your manuscript in order
We all want our documents to look good. Here are some advanced techniques to make sure your manuscript is not only good-looking, but orderly, whether you’re submitting traditionally or self-publishing. The first thing to remember is that your manuscript needs to be edited before it’s designed, so save the design …
Cheat Sheet: Lay and Lie
Lay, lie, and the other lie seem designed to cause trouble. Two are homonyms, and the present tense of one is the same as the past tense of another. Mix-ups usually come when we mistake the intransitive lie—she was lying on the floor—with the transitive lay. If she was laying …
The difference between your voice and the character’s voice
Voice, like art, is one of those things that, being hard to define, often falls into the category of “I’ll know it when I see it.” It’s a quality that writers strive for and editors look for, precisely because it’s so hard to accomplish. There are two kinds of voice; …
Q&A: Can you use unlisted words?
Q: A word I want to use isn’t listed in the dictionary. Can I use it anyway? A: Yes, as long as your reader will understand you. Contrary to popular belief, dictionaries are not prescriptive manuals that tell you what words you may or may not use. They are descriptive …
How to write your author bio
Novelists like to tell stories about people who don’t exist, but they often hesitate to tell their own stories. The key to getting over this shyness is to understand that the author bio does not exist so we can tell everyone how great we are. Its purpose is to show …
Simplify dialogue tags
The way writers tag dialog is often evidence of how experienced they are. New writers frequently make dialog tags more complicated than they need to me. The classic example is the flagrant use of “said bookisms,” those awkward constructions reminiscent of Tom Swift. “I love Old Faithful,” she gushed. Such …
What to include in a book proposal
For the last several weeks, we’ve focused on getting ready for a conference. So you go to a conference, pitch your book, and the editor says, “That sounds like it has potential. Send me a proposal with your first 50 pages.” And your stomach caves in, because you don’t have …
When to use who or whom
English is complicated and can confuse the best of us. Many editors have dog-eared grammar manuals and style books with Post-It notes on the sections we have to double-check every time. One fine point that even experienced editors find hard to memorize is the distinction between who and whom. The …