Writing Coach

Three Things That I Give My Critique Partner When I Share a Story

I’m a member of some fantastic critique groups. I’m actually in three groups that meet regularly, two over zoom and one in person. I love these groups, and I feel like my critique partners give me some fantastic advice. You can read about their advice on creating characters here, on tightening the focus of my… Read more »

Three Things to Help You Write A Better Story that AREN’T Writing

  In this month’s post, I’m going to share three things to help you write a better story thatAREN’T writing. There’s a lot of writing advice out there about how to write better that are focused on actual writing. Things like dialogue, voice, and clarity. And those are incredibly important parts of writing. But sometimes… Read more »

12 Days of Revision – Day 12

12 Days of Revision Search the document for overused filler words like just, should, Once, I used the word shrugged 117 times.  Search the document and double-check your their, there, you’re, your, where, were. Does the first scene deliver your story promise? Are all of these characters necessary?  Write out all of the letters of… Read more »

Do you want to be a writer?

Do you want to be a writer? Then start writing today. There’s nothing holding you back. You don’t need a fancy pen and notebook. Just write. You don’t need to write the perfect book all in one day. But you do need to write every day. Even if you can only write a little bit…. Read more »

More writing tips that are all about success

When you want to be a writer, the first step is to sit down and write. But then what? You can’t write a book all in one sitting. (Well, you can write a picture book in one sitting. But then you revise it for months, am I right?) It can be hard to get that… Read more »

Writing is a lot like Birding

Writing is a lot like birding. It’s great to be in a critique group, you can learn so much. But most writing you have to do on your own. And you can learn so much birding with others. But at some point, you have to learn to identify the birds on your own. Sometimes you… Read more »

How to Be a More Productive Writer

Did you already part 1 “Tips to help you Write More”? No? Check it out here! OK readers, you’re looking for more tips on how to be a productive writer. You already know that you need to set aside time on a regular basis – something even I am having trouble doing right now! But… Read more »

Tips to Help You Write More

Are you having trouble writing? Not sure how to get started? Looking for tips to help you write more? I do a lot of writing. Every day. And I do a lot of reading about writing. Every so often I read a book with advice on writing. These books usually have really great tips in… Read more »

Some Free Critique Advice

I’m in several critique groups and I try to really provide useful, actionable feedback for my partners. I thought you might like to read some useful, actionable feedback that YOU can use on your story. Yes, these comments are for other writers writing other books, but if you think about them in general terms you… Read more »

Should I hire a professional editor for my book?

You’ve written the final draft of your book, and you’re so proud. You want to submit it to that dream agent RIGHT NOW! You’ve revised it, used the “find” tool to go through the whole manuscript and delete unnecessary words, you’ve worked on showing, not telling, and you’ve even come up with a great pitch…. Read more »