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Sadness

Hello everyone. I am so sorry for this incredibly long overdue post. Obviously, I haven’t blogged in quite a while. I am sure some of you have wondered why. Roughly six months ago, my older sister, Michelle Boyer Dykstra, tragically passed away. It was so sudden...

The Use of “Said”

I really like this post by Melissa Eskue Ousley regarding the use (and potential overuse) of said as a dialog tag. I am firmly in the camp of those who believe that dialog tags should typically be small and unobtrusive. Yes, said may be boring, but it’s very...

Love this article. Great reminder about the ways and reasons to control the pace of your story. I especially like her comments about big words slowing a scene (lol) and the use of staccato dialog in fast scenes. I rarely write long monologues, but its worth...

A Word About Dialog

Here’s an interesting article about writing dialog. I’m not sure I agree that ‘dialog is action,’ but I definitely think dialog should be succinct (Nothing like real conversations!) and ideally work on multiple levels at the same time...

Character

Below is an interesting article about Creating Authentic Characters written by Sherman Smith. As with previous articles I’ve reposted in the past, I enjoyed the message and want to offer a few observations of my own a well. When it comes to creating characters,...

The Easiest Writing Tip Ever

Following is an article with a surprisingly good writing tip. As the author indicates, it’s a very simple, and yet I never really thought it before reading her post. Still, it appears to makes a lot of sense. Check out her advice and decide for yourself. The...