Writing Tips

[Rick Daley]

I've been tweeting writing tips lately, and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Anyone have more to add?

1. Unless you're writing a memoir, your characters are not really extensions of you. Give them their own personalities.

2. Extensive vocabulary alone does not make good writing. It makes a thesaurus. Let the story and characters direct the words. #writingtip

3. Wondering what will happen next is not the same as questioning what just happened. Be clear when building suspense. #writingtip

4. The only thing that happens overnight in publishing is writer's block. #writingtip

5. Their are many common grammar errors. Make sure your not making them. Its hard to tell some times. #writingtip

6. Critiquing another writer's work is a great way to hone your own skills. #writingtip

7. The only way to guarantee failure is to stop trying. #writingtip

8. There is more to character development than emotional people emoting things. #writingtip

9. Anything goes in a first draft. Anything can go in revisions. #writingtip

10. Don’t let style overpower your story. #writingtip

11. Act like a professional, even if you aren’t one. #writingtip

[polymath]

5. Their are many common grammar errors. Make sure your not making them. Its hard to tell some times. #writingtip

Three writes they're. Verbal irony? A rhetorical scheme for sure. Catachresis: The use of a word in a context that differs from its proper application. Grammatical vice or rhetorical virtue? I favor the latter.

[Rick Daley]

Three writes they're. Verbal irony? A rhetorical scheme for sure. Catachresis: The use of a word in a context that differs from its proper application. Grammatical vice or rhetorical virtue? I favor the latter.

Thanks, kudos too you! There is a debatable fourth...some times / sometimes. Technically I guess it's grammatically correct, although improper usage.

[polymath]

Thanks, kudos too you! There is a debatable fourth...some times / sometimes. Technically I guess it's grammatically correct, although improper usage.

I suppose we could debate endlessly whether using the adjective-noun clause "some times" in object position is proper Standard Written English or everyday conversational English dialect, whether it's better as an adverb, "sometimes," and whether the sentence needs reworking for standard syntax. Rather, it's an artful object lesson for grammar's power when reworking a composition.

"Its hard to tell some times."

"It's" sentence subject-predicate contraction, following a logical pronoun antecedent
"hard to tell" adverb-verb predicate compliment clause with infinitive verb
"some times" adjective-noun subject compliment clause

"Sometimes," adverb, could fall anywhere in a grammatically prescriptive position.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell.
It's sometimes hard to tell.
It's hard, sometimes, to tell.
It's hard to tell sometimes.

[macklinvinger]

thanks to share writing tips .

[sldwyer]

I keep a sign over my computer that says

WHAT IF.......AND THEN.....

It keeps the ideas flowing and makes me think

[Rick Daley]

I keep a sign over my computer that says

WHAT IF.......AND THEN.....

It keeps the ideas flowing and makes me think

I agree!

[Doug Pardee]

At the Publishers Weekly "Tip Sheet," "5 Writing Tips from Tana French".

[Mira]

Rick, I like your tips, especially tip #4. I never tire of those jokes. They are funny!

My tip: There is a time and a place for adverbs. Don't be afraid to use one when it feels right.

[Rick Daley]

Mira- You nailed it. BTW...I just published a new book, it's a kids book, but the main theme is finding the right time and right place for something. In the context of my story (Rudy Toot-Toot, it's on Amazon), it's a fart. Well, not just a fart, but a massive earthquake inducing blast, which, as you will see, can be useful (assuming you read the story).

Great to chat with you again, it's been a long time

Rick

[Mira]

Mira- You nailed it. BTW...I just published a new book, it's a kids book, but the main theme is finding the right time and right place for something. In the context of my story (Rudy Toot-Toot, it's on Amazon), it's a fart. Well, not just a fart, but a massive earthquake inducing blast, which, as you will see, can be useful (assuming you read the story).

Great to chat with you again, it's been a long time

Rick

Wow, Rick. Sounds really fun. Kids will love that kind of humor. I'll have to check it out.

Nice to chat with you too! Don't be a stranger - drop by here when you have time.