I plan on adding things as I go through this wild and crazy career so check back every once in a while. Helen

You ... are a Writer

Know Yourself as a Writer

Polishing

You … are a Writer

I’ve struggled through the years with identifying myself as a writer, not only to other people, but to myself as well. Although I did tell friends and family about my writing when I first started years and years ago, I ended up later regretting the admission. Primarily because it took soooo long to get published, and those well-meaning people had no clue when they’d ask, “So, how’s the writing going?” how slowly this business operates.

Back then, I was an at-home mom and it took me a year to write a book. Add to that, the time it takes to hear back from contests, agents and editors, and not a lot was happening from one of my husband’s holiday office parties to the next.

I dreaded people asking me the question, “So, what do you do?” Invariably, I’d go through some convoluted explanation that went something like this. “Well, my undergraduate degree is in accounting and I worked for eight years before deciding to stay home with my kids, and now … well, now … I’m … writing.”

I know, major identity crisis, but it’s not just me. It’s other people too. When you tell someone you’re a writer, she automatically assumes that means you’re published and your book is on the shelf.

Well, I’m here you to tell you that Webster’s definition of “writer” mentions not one word about contracts, or money, or covers. Same thing goes for the definition of the word author. A writer is “one who writes.” And an author is a “writer of a literary work (as in a book, any book).”

I just signed contracts for books five, six and seven, and when people ask me what I do, I still have a moment’s hesitation before I say the words, “I’m a writer.”

So start practicing it now. You will get there in your own way and in your own time. In the mean time, be proud of what you’ve accomplished. There are a lot of people who say, “I could write a book.” There are very few who even attempt to write one.

You did. And are still writing. That’s because you … are a writer.

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Know Yourself

Most of us writers have day jobs, or work at home, taking care of kids and family. That means writing is an aside. Although I now write full-time, I well remember when writing came second, third, or last in my life. I eeked out minutes in a day, or, if I was lucky, a block of hours on a weekend at my computer. We’re constantly trying to figure out how to fit it all in, how to be productive, how to publish.

I’m as bad as anyone at asking advice from seasoned writers. If I could just find that one diamond in the rough grain of truth, that key to it all, I’d be able to whip those manuscripts out in record time. Through the years, I’ve heard it all.

One person will tell you to write everyday, no matter what. Another only writes when the spirit moves her. This writer needs music. The next one complete silence. One will tell you to write the book of your heart. Another will claim that market trends drive this industry. Some authors swear they’ve been struck by writer’s block, while others will tell you that’s a bunch of hooey. Some stand by their muses and others snub their noses at the concept. Some use laptops. Others have to sit in the same chair, at the same desk, with the same sweater on, at the same time of day in order to create. Wear earplugs. Go to the library. Outline first. Write at night. Write in the morning. Write before you get out of bed. Eat chocolate. Drink coffee. Protein jumpstarts the brain.

Whew! I don’t know about you, but I get a little tired and confused (not all that unusual, I know) by all the advice out there. There seem to be as many opinions about how to write and publish as there are writers. And there, I guess, you have it in a nutshell. There is no one right way to write. Creative works are as unique as the individuals creating them.

So here’s one more (groan) piece of advice. Learn how to filter everything you hear, see, and read through your own beautiful eye. Learn what makes you tick, what jump starts your creative urges, what makes you want to sit down and write. Know when to be kind to yourself and when to give yourself a swift kick in the rear. Above all, trust that you know how to achieve your own goals better than anyone else.

There is no key to it all. There is only you, your computer or notebook, and this fact: if you don’t write it, it can’t get published. All the rest is a matter of opinion.

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Polish That Manuscript

Until It Shines

Congratulations! You’ve finished your book. Now, before you send your baby off to an editor, an agent, or a contest, stop, take a deep breath, and polish her until she shines. Why? Because polished work tells a reader you’re a professional. And there’s no room for extra baggage in series romance. So whether your story is a SuperRomance or a Blaze, you need to make sure your words count.

This is not the phase for wholesale revisions. If you’re ready to polish, you’ve already done your best on the basics like characterization, conflict, and story structure. This is the last thing you do before you mail your manuscript off, so don’t rush it. An editor would rather read your best possible work, even if that means it lands on her desk a little later than you’d hoped.

My steps for polishing have changed over the years as my writing as evolved. I encourage you to pay attention to your own weaknesses and come up with your own methods for eliminating them from your writing. In the meantime, here’s a good start:

1. Develop a list of words that are either unnecessary or that you tend to overuse and remove as many as possible. Some of my personal favorites are just, simply, even, that, clearly, besides, well, up, and down. These are unnecessary words that don’t materially change the meaning of the sentence. For example, replace the phrase, “He sat down” with “He sat.” I keep adding to my list because with every book it seems I become enamored with another word!

2. Develop a list of other words that can flag problems in sentence structure. I have a habit of using words like began, started, or tried/trying. “She started to walk toward the door” is cleaner and more succinct as, “She walked toward the door.”

Words like was or were alert me to the use of passive voice. “There was a dog sitting in her back yard” can be rewritten in an active voice as “A dog sat in her back yard.”

Words like saw or noticed alert me to another problem. “She saw him read the note.” We’re in her point of view, so there’s no reason to tell a reader that “she saw” “He read the note” gets the message across with fewer words and helps the reader stay seamlessly in your character’s head. something.

3. Look for redundancies. Speech classes teach students to “tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them.” This doesn’t work in fiction. Your pacing will suffer and you’ll lose readers. Sometimes narrative is needed to explain what a character is thinking or feeling, but sometimes well-written dialogue is enough.

For example: Her patience was running thin. "I don't want to wait,” she said. “ Can't you tell me about it now?"

The concept of patience running thin comes across to a reader in a much more efficient and interesting way through the dialogue. The words “I don’t want to wait” say it all.

4. Use adverbs sparingly. In the sentence, “Don’t go in there!” he said excitedly, the word excitedly is unnecessary. The dialogue and exclamation point are all you need.

Often, choosing a more appropriate action verb eliminates the need for an adverb. “He walked slowly across the room” might read better as “He strolled across the room.”

5. Mix it up, or streamline.

If every one of your sentences is short, or compound, or every paragraph starts with “He did this or that,” you’ll bore your readers. Mix it up. Remember, though, that overly long sentences can pull a reader out of the story by forcing her to dissect what’s happening. Here’s an example of a convoluted sentence I pulled out of my next SuperRomance coming in October 2008 before it went to my editor.

“After being certain she’d convinced the driver, with the promise of more money, to wait for her return, she jumped out of the cab and ran toward the rows of vendor carts.”

I rewrote it like this:

“After being certain she’d convinced promising the driver, with the promise of more money, to wait for on her return, she jumped out of the cab and ran toward the rows of vendor carts.”

A 32 word sentence drops to 21. It’s especially important to keep sentence structure tight in action scenes.

6. Read aloud. If you can’t figure out what’s wrong with a sentence or a paragraph, try reading it aloud. You’ll be surprised by what you hear. Stilted dialogue, duplication of words, verbose style. I’m certainly guilty of all three.

It’s a lot of work, but all that polishing will pay off and your writing will improve.