Before I started working in charity communications, I spent four years teaching English as a foreign language in Prague and London. One of my first classes was full of Czech bankers who gave up their Saturdays to learn English. They were an intermediate-level group, so they could make themselves understood but were far from fluent.… Continue reading Tools for culling repetitious words from your writing
Tag: polishing
How a small community can smother your characters
As a contemporary romance writer, I know that series set in small towns and tight-knit communities are insanely popular. But there’s also a danger that, as a series grows, those communities can begin to smother the vibrancy of later novels and their characters. This isn’t just a danger with small-town contemporary romance. It can happen… Continue reading How a small community can smother your characters
Discovering the book you wish you’d written
A few weeks ago, I sat down to read a book by a new-to-me author that’s coming out soon. The premise had sounded intriguing, but to be honest, I’d requested it along with about a dozen others so by the time I started reading it I couldn’t even remember what it was supposed to be… Continue reading Discovering the book you wish you’d written
Attack of the overbearing body parts
For some reason, my first drafts tend to be dominated by one body part, and it’s probably not one you’d expect, considering I’m a romance writer. I hadn’t realized I had a bullying body part until one of my beta readers returned her incredibly helpful comments on the novel manuscript I wrote last year. Throughout… Continue reading Attack of the overbearing body parts
Finished the draft! Need a beta!
After one year and two weeks, I’ve FINALLY finished the first draft of my novel. *insert appropriate noises connoting excitement and nervousness here* I’ve been editing and polishing as I go – which is one reason I’ve only written the last scene this weekend. It’s 343 pages (96,500 glorious words) but there are around 250… Continue reading Finished the draft! Need a beta!