Having a strong and unique voice is considered a good quality in an author. It is one of those intangibles that keeps readers coming back for more. But novice authors often have a rookie habit of "butting in" to the story to interject their own thoughts and/or information. It can be a jarring disruption to the story line. Here is an example: John walked past the flowering shrubs, enjoying the smell. Forsythias are what he was smelling; they are indigenous to Southeast Michigan. He spotted Mary standing next to the water fountain, walked up to her and said, “Hi, Mary.” Mary’s face lit up as she said, “Oh, hi, John, long time.” ~~~~~ See how the second sentence is just stuck in there? It stops the story's forward motion while the author tosses in a fact. It is better to deliver information by letting the characters do the talking - like this: John walked past the flowering shrubs, enjoying the familiar smell. He spotted Mary standing next to the water fountain, walked up to...

Editors often cringe at hastily put together headlines. You know, those blaring boo-boos committed by harried "gotta rush and meet the deadline" news journalists. I collect them from time to time, and thought I'd share some of the more utterly ridiculous ones, along with my own quips, for your amusement today. Fun stuff. Here we go ... check these out. Include Your Children when Baking Cookies Certainly important in some recipes, "Northern Witch Missionary Lip Stew" comes to mind, but a rather expensive ingredient, no? Child’s stool great for use in garden Another reason to leave your kids out of your cookies. The fertilizer they produce is so valuable. Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case Hmm - must be a little people? Survivor of Siamese Twins Joins Parents I sense a rather strong compulsion-to-bond personality disorder here. Seems hereditary, also. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms Oh my god - next he'll be wanting legs, too. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope Well, better ...

Today I want to share with you another example of writing styles. It's all about pace - the speed of movement of your story. Here are two versions of the same scene. One is slow paced, the other fast paced. *** Crack! The ball went up. Up. Up. Out. Further. Higher. Further. Thirty thousand fans held their collective breath as time stopped and held them transfixed. Glen clutched at his sinking heart. Still there was hope. Maybe. A mighty west wind had held center field yard unbeatable all afternoon. The ball rose higher. Glen's heart sank deeper. Surreal, it seemed, as the slow motion play unfolded below. Like clay puppets struggling to scramble, but without actual muscles to propel them with any efficient motion. Fate seemed to mold their motions frame by frame in a stop/adjust/stop/adjust/stop/adjust impossible to believe lackadaisical series of jerky hiccups. Excruciating. The pitcher's pained face was fixed on yonder far yard. The catcher's mask was off, his stance a...

An important element in effective writing in fiction is knowing when you are telling the readers your story and when you are showing it to them. There is a place in any good book for both methods, but the shown passages are always more illustrative, while the told passages are more narrative. They create two entirely different effects. Instead of telling you the difference, I will show you. Here is a short paragraph, an example of a story being told to the reader. *** Bob walked over to the door. He turned the door knob, opened the door and started to walk outside. It was an icy cold winter day so he hurried back inside and put on his coat. *** Now, if I’m the reader I haven’t missed anything, I know what’s happening, but the passage doesn’t draw me into Bob’s world. It doesn’t let me feel or sense much of anything. Now I’ll rewrite the same passage showing you the story. *** Floor boards creaked underfoot. Step by step, across the room. The chill of cold brass felt smooth in his palm ...