Category Archives: Writer Wednesdays

Writer Wednesdays: The First Draft

Posted on January 30, 2014 by alisaacarter

Know why it’s called a first draft? Because there should be a second, a third, however many you need to make your book perfect. So many authors seem to think once they’ve written the first draft, they’re done. I understand … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: Dialog tags vs. dialog beats

Posted on December 22, 2013 by alisaacarter

Don’t use dialog tags and beats together! I casually mentioned this in a previous post, and I think a lot of readers were confused. Certainly some of my writers have been! Here’s the dialog tag: “I hate you,” Joe said. … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesday: Conjunctions

Posted on July 10, 2013 by alisaacarter

This is a tale of coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. What’s the difference? Coordinating conjunctions join two independent clauses; subordinating conjunctions join an independent clause to a dependent clause. Who cares? Well, the comma does. Because the comma has to … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: Telling detail

Posted on April 24, 2013 by alisaacarter

Details are awesome. Fancy writing there, huh? But they are. They do so much in your writing. They are the paint we use to create a picture in a reader’s mind. Words don’t stay individual words when we read. They … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesday: Apostrophe s

Posted on April 12, 2013 by alisaacarter

Is there anything more annoying than the -‘s? (Well, other than tornadoes.) When do you use -‘s and when do you use -ies? Even worse, what about -ies’? It all comes down to possessive or plural. –If something is being … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: $10 words and $1 words

Posted on February 20, 2013 by alisaacarter

I learned this phrase when I was working in journalism, editing a monthly magazine: “Don’t use a $10 word when a $1 word will do.” What does that mean? Simple: don’t say “azure” when you mean “blue.” Never say “azure”? … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: Don’t Overexplain

Posted on February 13, 2013 by alisaacarter

One issue a lot of writers seem to have is overexplaining. They describe a situation, they describe the character’s expression, they tell us what the character says … and then they tell us why the character has that expression and … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: The Oxford Comma

Posted on February 6, 2013 by alisaacarter

The Oxford comma is when you use a comma between the last item and the word “and” in a list — I like chicken, rice, and beans. Here’s why I like the Oxford comma: I can’t tell you how many … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: Take criticism like a man

Posted on January 30, 2013 by alisaacarter

The worst part of writing is by far the criticism. It hurts so bad hearing someone talk trash on your baby, your blood, sweat, and tears. But if you can’t take criticism, honestly, you’ll never be a good writer. And … Continue reading →

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Writer Wednesdays: Adjective types

Posted on January 23, 2013 by alisaacarter

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you use commas in a list of modifiers, and sometimes you don’t? “The big black car turned the corner.” “The shiny, bright car turned the corner.” So why is that? Because adjectives have an … Continue reading →

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