Stuart Aken's Blog, page 201

Quick Reminder that the Writing Table is Updated

The promised note to those interested to let you know the Writing Contests Table has been updated.Filed under: Author, Creative Writer, Prizes Tagged: News, Writers Resources

Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 31.

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here are some ways to trim our writing. Readers will appreciate us removing common redundancies and flabby expressions. Completely engulfed: When something is engulfed, it’s completely enclosed in whatever is engulfing it, so ‘completely’ is a tautology. e.g. The flames completely engulfed the high rise building. Try: […]

Whistles After Dark, by April Taylor, Reviewed.

This novella introduces amateur sleuth, Georgia Pattinson, early music soprano and a lady with guts. Sound a little specialist? Not a bit of it. Whilst there are references and interesting details relating to both her skill and the musical world she inhabits, this isn’t one of those elitist books that allows a special interest to […]

Amazon: a Solution to the Review Problem?

Perhaps, Amazon can be persuaded to do something positive for authors who provide it with a living? The company currently has a policy preventing honest reviews from writers giving opinions on the books of other writers they may know. The whole policy is a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. It’s intended to prevent dishonest reviews […]

Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 30.

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here are some ways to trim our writing. Readers will appreciate us removing common redundancies and flabby expressions Completely eliminate: To eliminate is to remove entirely, so ‘completely’ is superfluous. e.g. If you want your dog to really love you, completely eliminate all competition for your attention. […]

The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson, Reviewed.

Subtitled, ‘English and How it Got That Way’, this is typical Bryson wit and erudition at his best. I confess, I was tempted initially to disagree with some of his numbers on the speaking of English, but a quick gander at Google soon put me right on that issue. The book is divided into 16 […]

Writing Contests and First Names, 2 Free Listings.

Here’s the weekly post to alert users of updates to the Writing Contests Table on my Writer Resources page. This one has been quite extensive, so have a look and get your entries in. Think of all that cash from your writing, not to mention the kudos of adding, ‘Winner of such and such a […]

Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 29.

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here are some ways to trim our writing. Readers will appreciate us removing common redundancies and flabby expressions. Completely destroy: If you destroy something, it is shattered, demolished, pulled to pieces: in any case, it ceases to exist as it was before the act. ‘Completely’ is therefore […]

Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 28.

Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here are some ways to trim our writing. Readers will appreciate us removing common redundancies and flabby expressions. Commute back and forth: You commute to get to and from work, so ‘back and forth’ is unnecessary. Unless, of course, you have the sense to live close to […]

You can’t tell me what to do!

Originally posted on Meg Sorick- writes better than she dresses:
I came across this photo/list of Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing on Pinterest. ?It’s an excerpt from?his?essay of the same title. ?I thought it would be interesting to see if you all agree or disagree with these rules. Here’s my opinion: 1. Personally, I…