10 Rules For Good Writing

Advice from Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard started out writing westerns, then turned his talents to crime fiction. One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, he’s written about two dozen novels, most of them bestsellers, such as Glitz, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, and Rum Punch. Unlike most genre writers, however, Leonard is taken seriously by the literary crowd.

What’s Leonard’s secret to being both popular and respectable? Perhaps you’ll find some clues in his 10 tricks for good writing*:

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

* Excerpted from the New York Times article, “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle”

Read the rest of the article.

Writing Tip for Today

WRITE THE WAY YOU SPEAK
Don't overthink it and don't overwrite. Sometimes people, especially beginners, want to sound smart and literary and professional, but that only makes your writing stilted. Write so that people will want to read your work. Make it natural and casual, particularly when writing dialogue. Read it out loud. If it doesn't sound like you and your friends talking re-write it until it does.

Mr. Right-Enough Now in a Kindle Edition!

Pretty soon there won't be anywhere where you won't be able to find my book! (Okay, that's a slight exaggeration.)
Do you have a Kindle? Check it out: Mr. Right-Enough Kindle Edition

Not Just a Chick Book!

If you think Mr. Right-Enough is just for women, think again!

5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive!
By L.X. Berlant
"First of all I'm a 50-something male, and second I typically only read technical books; I don't have time for fiction. This was a huge departure for me but a very enjoyable one. The author is masterful with both the story and words. Every chapter left me hungry to know what happened next, and so I pressed on regardless of how tired I was. Excellent and entertaining book, highly recommended even for tech nerds."

Thanks so much!
Come on, guys, you can read it too!

Book Review - The Help

If you haven't read The Help by Kathryn Stockett do it now. This is a first novel by this author and I hope it won't be her last. Her writing is so perfect. She's not only a beautiful writer but a fabulous story teller. It's the story of black maids in the 60s in Mississippi and the white people they work for, and it's amazing to think the world was actually like it's painted in the story, but it was. It's not only an engaging story from beginning to end, it's a great history lesson as well. I couldn't put it down and was sad when it ended.
Read this book!

Writing Tip for Today

How To Write A Novel
Want to know how to write a book? One word at a time. Not very original, I know, but truly, there's no trick to it, you just do it. When I was writing my novel I said I would write as much as I could five days a week. I didn't have a set time or set days, or a special place or daily word count, but what I did say was that no matter what, I would write every one of those five days. And if I didn't feel inspired or just plain didn't feel like it I would write at least five minutes. It doesn't sound like you'd get much done in five minutes so why bother? But what it does is get you in front of your computer or your typewriter or your notebook, however you write, and it gets words on the page. And once you begin, magic happens. If you're on a roll five minutes turns into fifteen, thirty, an hour, maybe two. And if you're not on a roll at least you got something accomplished.
So write your book. One word at a time.

Mr. Right-Enough is Not Just For Women

Here's a cute story (and review) from my cousin Janice (and a cute picture of them from her sister Wendy's wedding!):
I had your book out on the table in the living room, as I was going to start it as soon as I finished the book I was currently reading. Mike picked it up and started reading it. Now, you have to realize that my dear husband has never read a book for pleasure in his life! He does like audio books, but does not like to read traditional books. Well, he actually sat there the whole evening and read it cover to cover!!!! He said it was because he knew you wrote it and could see you (and Bill) in the characters, and that it was just really cool to read a book by someone he knew.
He really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to starting it tonite!!
Love,
Jan