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I wrote a first draft of a picture book this week. Except, I didn’t finish. And that’s a good thing. This often happens to me when I’m writing the first draft of a picture book or the first draft of a chapter. I write and write and write, then suddenly stop. Why stop? I’ve learned [...]
Sometimes I write for other places or other places talk about my books. Here are some links for your reading pleasure. 2012 Writer’s Market This year’s market guide–the best in the industry–includes my article on Book Trailers. Based on my experience writing The Book Trailer Manual, the article talks about the pros/cons of book trailers, [...]
I am working on a novel revision for an editor and I expect to turn it in by Monday. But today, as I was reading through one last time to polish everything up–oh, my gosh!–there’s still so much work to do. Last Minute Revisions At this point, it’s not major structural changes or big plot [...]
Creating the voice you want for your story or novel begins with Word Choices. It continues with control of your sentences. I emphasize control because many writers–well, they just write. Without consideration of sentence structures. Sentences, as the basic building block of the written word, need careful attention. You can write long, short, simple, complex, [...]
Voice begins with the right choice of words Each story or novel has its own diction, or the group of words that could be used for this story. For example, a historical fiction would have different word choices than a romantic comedy. Of course, there’s lots of overlap, but each story has certain words that [...]
Design Star Finds Voice Last night, I watched HGTV crown the new “Design Star,” Meg Caswell. I had watched some throughout the season and the judge’s commentary always made me think of the writer’s voice. One of the challenges of the Design Star is to meld entertainment and solid interior design, making information fun. While [...]
It seems like all I am doing is printing out my WIP right now. Of course. Revising a novel is always a circular process. Get it Right the First Time Some authors get it right the first time; others claim to get it right the first time. For experienced writers, who are used to editing, [...]
Where did July and August go? Computer Woes. First, my server has been wonky for the last two weeks–apologies. If you have any difficulty getting to pages, please send me an email so I can straighten it out (darcy at darcypattison dot com). Travel. For me, this summer included a great two-week trip to China. [...]
Importance of Sentence Variety My niece was here this weekend and we talked about her college writing experience. She said they try to change her habitual writing of high school into something more sophisticated. For example, they eschew the five-paragraph essay, rightly so. Instead, they look for more sophisticated structures. But when I teach writing, [...]
First Drafts are Uncertain, by Nature I’m at that fragile stage of the first draft when I’m not totally committed to this story. I’m still feeling my way and haven’t yet gained confidence that I will like the story, or that my readers will like it. I’m walking on eggshells. What can I do to [...]
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