Celia’s TTT-Writing Tips!

Woo hoo!  Another of Celia’s Tuesday Top Ten.  Today it’s about writing tips, for the writerly folks among us.

Simplify Descriptions!  I understand that we (the royal we) want to create a setting, but unless we need to know that the wallpaper was purchased at Lowe’s, you don’t need to tell us.  Same with the colors of curtains.  And carpet.
“That” is often overused.  I tend to cut them out as much as possible since they’re not really necessary.  Try reading your sentence with and without “that”.  If the sentence sounds fine without it, dump it.
Unless the scene/chapter moves the story forward, dump it.  If it’s not integral in either moving the story forward or providing necessary back story, it doesn’t belong in your book.
When writing a short story, you cannot save the world.  You cannot cure cancer.  You might be able to safely escort an old lady across the street, but that could be pushing things.  The point is, short = simple.
Avoid exclamation points.  Or use them sparingly.  As in, once in a novella.  Using them all the time lessens their effectiveness.  Really! They! Do!
If you end dialogue with a question mark (?), you do not need to then tag on “he/she asked”.  “What are you doing?” She asked.  Um…there’s a question mark. The asking part of that bit is already established.
Use contractions.  Unless you characters are stuffy, make use of contractions.  It’s more fluid and better resembles how the public at large speaks.
Keep dialogue tags to a minimum.  Personally, I tend to use actions instead of dialogue tags to indicate who’s speaking.  “What?” Griffin raised his eyebrows.  ”Totally.” Wren nodded.  See? We know that Griffin is doing a WTF and Wren is telling him word up.
Nodding.  The only thing in your body that can “nod” is your head.  So, saying “he/she nodded his head” is redundant.  This was drilled (seriously) into my head by my verra first editor.  Read and follow.  Or suffer her wrath.
This is a two in one.  Keep sentences under twenty words (seriously hard for me) and paragraphs under 12 lines.  It’ll keep the reader “with” you longer.

So, got any other tips you want to share? Anything cool that can help us bunches?

Have a mwah! day!

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