Should I use sentence fragments in my book manuscript? Is this bad writing or style? Sentence fragments. Who cares? You? Me? Anyone? Depends. Writing nonfiction? Probably wouldn’t. Work, that is. Writing fiction? Could be. Depends. On what? Style. With some authors? Might work. Others? Not so much. A hundred years ago? Wouldn’t have been acceptable….
How Many Manuscript Drafts Should You Go Through? When working on a book of any kind, if you haven’t gone through a minimum of three drafts, you probably don’t have a finished product. The first draft should be seen only as an opportunity to articulate and develop ideas in a rough form. This tells you…
What’s the Best Way to Write a Book? There are as many answers to that questions as there are authors. And while no answer is inherently better than another, a few examples should serve to set the aspiring writer on a successful course to completing his or her first book. Obviously the answer also depends…
Engage Your Characters in Their Setting When you’re characters interact through dialogue, make them interact as well with their surroundings. There should be a continual interplay of character and setting. Examine your dialogue sections to ensure they don’t just take place in a vacuum. What are your characters holding in their hands? If they’re not…
The Three S’s – Scene, Setting, and Senses Stories don’t occur in a bubble. They have to be set in a real and believable place. And what makes a scene or setting, is detail. And what makes the details, is work. Hard work. A lot of time and effort, in other words. Settings aren’t just…
You’ve Written “The End” – But Is Your Book Ready? Okay, so you’ve finally reached the magic words, The End. But is it really? Are you done? Have you really finished your book? Chances are, you haven’t. If you’ve only written the words The End, once or twice – if you’ve spent very little time…
Harmony THEORY-PRACTICE: The history of music is replete with songwriter/performers who – technically speaking – didn’t know squat about music. But through creative genius and a good ear, they were able to create songs that inspired millions of people the world over. So while “THEORY” isn’t essential to make good or even great music, if…
IMAGERY IN SONG WRITING – Songwriters use flowery or descriptive imagery in place of the actual things they describe. Think Bob Seger in “Like a Rock”, Or Poison’s “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”, or Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”. Beware of tortured or awkward sounding metaphors or similes. He was like a dog with…
HOW TO WRITE A SONG – PART 2 – LYRICS AND THEME When writing lyrics, the first rule is never to take yourself too seriously. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking all your lyrics must be deeply profound or meaningful to be considered worthy. To disabuse yourself of this notion, all you have to…
A song can be broken down into four constituent elements. 1) Words – or LYRICS – which are sung along to a: 2) MELODY – which is the part of a tune you hum to yourself because you can’t get it out of your head. Melody is overlaid with: 3) HARMONY – and harmony consists…
How often should you post on Social Media There are a lot of different opinions regarding how often to post on social media, but one of the things I’ve found is that there are a lot more factors to keep in mind than just a number. Here are some tips to keep in mind: The…
Obviously you want to post content on social media that creates interest in your book and builds your audience. But how do you know what to post? First, you want to be sure you’re posting daily on your social media networks – see: How often should you post on Social Media Secondly, be sure you’re…
