Tag: craft

Almost OJT

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

I went to the Writer’s Police Academy this year. I wish I had time to talk about what a great experience it was. Meeting people who actually work in law enforcement and public safety without having a reporter’s notebook between us was a great experience. Almost “on the job” training.

And I got to shoot some guns. Which wasn’t nearly as scary as pretending to shoot a gun in the video training simulation that police cadets actually use.

But I don’t have time to go into detail. It will have to be enough to say I learned a lot that will, I hope, make my novels better.

Set the pace

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

When freelance editor Lisa Roettger offered tips to writers recently, she said a developmental edit might point out problems with pacing. Here are some ideas from fantasy writer Victoria Grefer about how to fix pacing problems.

In Fiction: How Much “Down Time” is Too Much? | Creative Writing with the Crimson League
http://crimsonleague.com/2015/02/17/in-fiction-how-much-down-time-is-too-much/

Book seers

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

For writers, the question is never resolved, is it? Do you plot or do you start filling pages until a project is done? Which is the better approach?
Obviously there is no right answer.
But, here’s another installment in the debate. See if any of the suggestions helps you through one of your projects.

To Pants or To Plot, That is the Question. Or is it? | writingwenches

http://writingwenches.com/2014/09/08/to-pants-or-to-plot-that-is-the-question-or-is-it/

Commas, etc.

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

In my work, I deal with several writers who speak — and write in —  multiple languages. And that pesky comma shows up all over the place. But for the publications I work for — all intended for US audiences — I default to US grammar and punctuation rules. Here are a few reminders.

TED-Ed Blog» Blog Archive » Be a better writer in 15 minutes: 4 TED-Ed lessons on grammar and word choice

http://blog.ed.ted.com/2014/05/29/be-a-better-writer-in-15-minutes-4-ted-ed-lessons-on-grammar-and-word-choice/