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Friday, August 5, 2011

Muse is a One-Trick Pony



Muse is an unfaithful lover. She whispers honeyed words then leaves us when the pen hits the paper.


However, the storyline and voices in my head is one thing. Skillful writing is another.



Stylistic Advice, Quick and Clean:
  • Use simple nouns, simple verbs especially in the hook stage.
  • Limit adjectives/adverbs and echoes that describe the same event again in different words.
  • Pronouns, a love-hate relationship. Overuse can bog a sentence down.
  • The dreaded “to be” verbs. Stronger verbs are out there. Use them instead.
Books on writing:
  • The First Five Pages – Noah Lukeman
  • Hooked – Les Edgerton
  • Writing Tools – Roy Peter Clark
  • The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need – Susan Thurman
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – Renni Browne & Dave King
  • The Breakout Novelist – Donald Maass
Sites:


Have I missed your favorites?

3 comments:

Brooke R. Busse said...

I don't know if this counts as a writing book, but No Plot? No Problem is a great tool for me when I'm writing first drafts.

mshatch said...

how about:

Stephen King, On Writing
Janet Burroway, Writing Fiction
Constance Hale, Sin and Sintax

Anonymous said...

Good sites - I practically live on Bookshelf Muse