Tips and Resources

Tips on Writing Flash Memoir

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 3 Comments

I love writing flash. Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or a memoir piece about my former life as a nurse.

What I’ve found as I attempt to write the perfect piece is –  it ain’t easy! Getting to the story in a sharp, succinct manner while packing just the right punch is difficult for the most seasoned writer. I’m still reaching for that star.

Brevity covers this topic in one of the best posts I’ve read in a long time Here’s just a sample of the Don’t tips you’ll learn from,  All’s Well That Ends Well.  

Things to Avoid

  • Summarize
  • Explain
  • Justify
  • Excuse

To read more and see the examples, check out All’s Well That Ends Well at Brevity.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

10 Gift Suggestions for the Writer

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 4 Comments

It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on Thanksgiving and the inevitable Black Friday Christmas rush! Buying for kids and grandkids that already have the latest gadgets is becoming more and more difficult, but I refuse to resort to the dreaded gift card.

Unlike our children, there are lots of great ideas for the writers in our life.  So, to help you get a start on the madness, check out these great gift ideas.

My ten top suggestions for the writer in your life.

  1. I would be remiss if I did not plug my own short story collection – Maybe Next Time – available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

 

 

2.  Carve Magazine Gift a one-year subscription plus an extra goodie.

 

 

 

 

3. Available on Amazon:

3d-Rose, Please Do Not Annoy The Writer Black – Two Tone Black Mug, 11.oz

       3d- Rose I Write What’s Your  Superpower?  Two Tone Black Mug, 11 .oz, Black/White

4. The Writer’s Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the ‘Write’ Side of Your Brain.

 

 

 

5.  Ernest Hemingway Engraved Quote Pen – “In order to write about life, first you must live it.”

 

 

 

 

6.     5-Pc.Typewriter Coaster Set          

7.  On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft  Special Edition by Stephen King.

 

 

8. Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft: A step-by-step guide to a better novel by Janice Hardy.  

 

 

 

9.  Say What? Second Edition: The Fiction Writer’s Handy Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage by C. S. Lakin.

 

 

 

10.  a must-have collection from Writers Helping Writers. The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, The Rural Setting Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

      

  

Happy shopping!

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Ask the Experts: Tips for Self-Editing

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 16 Comments

 As many of you know, I have been hard at work on my first novel. Currently, my focus has been on getting the story down and for once, have not disappeared down the rabbit hole of editing while I write, although the temptation has been great. After more than two years, I finally can see the end in sight and couldn’t be more excited!

I do plan to hire an editor for this novel, but in the meantime, I will clean up some of the apparent errors.  As a practice, I use three-four editing tools for all my work, and I must say, I find them an essential tool in my writing.

  1. The Writer’s Diet is one of the first tools I use. A free resource, this tool provides an overview of your writing. Insert 100-1000 words to find out if your is writing is lean or flabby.
  2. The Hemingway Editor  – available for both MAC and Windows, provides an incredible array of convenient tools:
  • Use it anywhere;  even without internet connection.
  • Format your prose
  • Publish directly to WordPress & Medium
  • Export to Microsoft Word or other editors – a New feature
  • Send Hemingway highlights to colleagues –  a New feature

3. Grammarly –  an excellent grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary tool.

4.  Autocrit – A manuscript editing software, specifically for fiction writers.

These are my tips, but, since I’m still learning, I checked with the experts.

Jacqui Murray offers specific and detailed tips in her article, 19 Self-editing for Your Writing.  Tips include:

  • eliminating weak/waste  words – very, was, it, but, just;
  • eliminate redundancies and word repetition, and as many dialogue tags when possible.
  • Limiting adverbs, gerunds, qualifiers, prepositional phrases,
  • Secure place and time in each chapter; verify timeline.
  • Change passive to active words and phrases.

To read more from Jacqui and get the details, as well as other resources she can recommend, check out her article.

Other resources you might want to check out, include:

What about you? Do you have some advice for this writer on self-editing? I’d love to hear all about it.  I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

How Long Your Novel Should Be

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 2 Comments

I have finally put finishing my first novel, Hello Hell, into high gear. I had a good idea about how long my book should be and believe, especially after reading this post, I’m on the right track. Thanks to Ryan Lanz and author, Doug Lewars for this thorough look at the numbers.

Want to know the stats and if you’re in the ballpark? Read on …

theryanlanz's avatarRyan Lanz

by Doug Lewars

How long should your novel be? The simple answer is that it needs to be just long enough to tell your story. Animal Farm is only 29,966 words and it’s a pretty good tale. At the other end of the spectrum is War and Peace at 544,406.  That’s quite a difference.

Now ask yourself this. Have you read Animal Farm? There’s a good chance that you have – particularly since it was on the high-school English curriculum for some years. So have you read War and Peace? Some have – but then some people like to climb mountains, cross deserts and dive deep into the ocean. The point here is that if you have to make a mistake, you should probably err on the low side.

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