My first language is Polish, the most comma-happy language ever. If I were to write that first sentence, there would be one after “Polish” and before “ever.” English doesn’t work this way. For clarity’s sake, commas are so helpful and I get into back-and-forth edits about them too often. Here are some tips.
Yeah, I haven’t blogged since the first Reading Recap, so I’m doing a quick dump on a tip that really is helping me churn some words out a day in the middle of readings, assignments, etc. I’m going to use headlines from my consumer insights class because my mind is breaking in real time.
Recently, I went to an event with the amazing Victor LaValle and we talked about the course in introductory novel writing that he teaches. What stuck out to me was that he said that many beginner writers lack focus in this work. There’s an . And I realized that that was totally true about my work during the first draft, way back in college when my writing was actual trash.
Deleting words is just as important as writing them. When you’re trying to hit that desired 50,000, 75,000, 100,000 or whatever word count, you’re not focused on things to keep and get rid of. I have two tips on how to get rid of excess words. One takes work, the other is self-explanatory.
I’ve just finished playing Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II and reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. Both books tackle the idea of having blood magic, which gives me food for thought as I develop the seven main magical systems in my work.
This is my contribution to the fact that it is Valentine’s Day today. I’m going to focus on three couples that are almost formative in my idea of what romance is.
Where I am in my story, weather doesn’t play a huge factor. I use phrases like “biting cold,” “oppressive humidity,” and “sunny” to get an atmosphere going. After this weekend’s Winter Storm Jonas, it gave me fuel for thought as my characters do more traveling as the tale goes. Here are some tips for navigating the weather of your realm.
Originally, I was going to make my last post of 2015 a retrospective or a list of resolutions. But no one needs to know about the conferences, conventions, and workshops I attended and no one needs to hear about how I’m employed now. So, I decided to do a regular post on my top 3 8tracks playlists for getting words on sheets. Click the images to get to the playlists.
Back to the editing board. This time, my book is on a diet to shed some excess words. And it’s working! I got rid of 8,000 so far and the plot hasn’t changed yet. I have, however, gotten to the point where some chapters just have to go. And the first one I got rid of was chapter 1. It came down to one thing.
I sent off my manuscript to some agents so I’m taking the liberty of taking time to work on hobbies I’ve neglected. It just so happens that drawing is one of those things. I had been into art since I was a little Jo and it’s nice to get back into it a bit. That’s not to say writing isn’t art, but you can’t hang writing on a fridge to admire later. And the improvement curve isn’t necessarily as obvious.
Jo Writes Fantasy 