Currently, stronger synonyms for said are out of fashion. A century or more ago, writers stretched for synonyms for said: asseverated, averred, conveyed, voiced, uttered, proclaimed … and it became distracting, even ridiculous. The current enthusiasm for just plain … may be a reaction against that excess. On the other hand, the quality of the speaker’s voice can sometimes be important information for the reader, adding texture and nuance, and conveying the character’s mood or emotion. “Over my dead body,” … Read More »

Ah, the dreaded glitch. We’ve spent months or maybe years on a story, alternately elated and despairing that we’ll ever find the end. Or maybe we wrote right through the first draft to the end and have spent that time fleshing our baby out, adding meat and fluff scene by scene or line by line. And then we see it on the fifth read-through. The plot hole big enough to fly the starship Enterprise through. Or maybe it’s only Mini-Cooper … Read More »

Chapters of twenty to thirty pages used to be the adult fiction norm. When I started attempting to write novels, I crafted long chapters—and proud of it. Guess what. Nowadays I’m cutting those long chapters by half, thirds, and sometimes even by quarters. What changed? I think technology transformed reading habits. When I was learning to write, transitions were a big deal. Writers were advised never to change a scene, setting, or time period without preparing the reader with a … Read More »

I took this image of a carpet of autumn leaves years ago. I love it for many artistic reasons, but I thought it would be fun to apply the various components of this image to some of the aspects of the creative writing process. It’s a pleasant scattering of leaves, in different angles, layers, and directions. My creative mind thinks about a story plot that is multi-faceted, includes different characters and the stories/baggage they bring with them, and I consider … Read More »

A Velcro Moment is a bit of writing that sticks with a reader. Velcro, you probably know, is a strip of fabric with tiny “hooks” that “mate” with another fabric strip that has smaller loops. These strips attach to each other, until pulled apart. (Thank you, Wikipedia.) Isn’t Velcro a perfect image to illustrate readers getting hooked on your writing? How do we make our writing unforgettable? National Book Award winner, Barry Lopez, offered gems of advice about this a … Read More »

I used to watch the decorating shows on HGTV. One of the principles I learned was “If you can’t hide it, make it a feature.” An ugly, useless old chimney would cost too much to tear down. So they painted it suitably, filled the fireplace with candles, and mounted the flat screen TV on it. Sometimes our stories include awkward facts that a mass audience won’t understand and believe right away. I recently read a novel that featured a set … Read More »