Sudden Weight Loss: Put your prose on a diet with this free tool

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Is your manuscript weighing in far over your word count? Has your willpower to cut words weakened? Are you bothered by bloated scenes?

Try this: put your prose on a diet.

WritersDiet is an online tool to evaluate your writing on a scale from 'lean' all the way to 'heart attack territory'. Simply paste a block of writing in the box and click 'run the test'.

In seconds, the site analyzes your sample with an algorithm, grading different areas of efficiency. You'll see an overall grade, then an analysis of your use of five different categories: verbs, nouns, prepositions, adjectives & adverbs, plus those pesky words like it, this, that, and there.

The score indicates areas you could consider tightening. Here's an example of a score chart. Click the red 'see full diagnosis' for a printable pdf file of your sample, score, and suggestions for changes.

Below the ratings, the site shows your sample passage with individual words highlighted in each of the colors. I was surprised to see that I used the word 'up' three times. I'll definitely make some changes.

If you find you need to cut words, here are two tips to try:

Fantasy author Carol Berg challenges herself by looking at the end of a paragraph. Mine (above) has a 'tail' of four words at the bottom. Carol, who admits to wordy first drafts,  would find enough words to cut in the paragraph to eliminate that tail.

Agent Rachelle Gardner compiled a list of words to watch for. Use the 'find' feature on your word processor to locate and then eliminate excess verbiage.

Keep in mind that the WritersDiet site warns,

The WritersDiet Test is a blunt instrument, not a magic bullet. A stylish passage may score badly on the test, and a dull passage may score well. It is up to you to make intelligent use of the targeted feedback that the test provides.

What kinds of words add inches to your manuscript? Any additional tips for tightening?

Free Resources from Author Alton Gansky

I'm all about free resources. And when I stumble upon an author who shares what they've learned, I like to share those tips with you guys. 

You may not have heard of Alton Gansky. He's published dozens of novels and non-fiction books. He has co-written more. He runs his own writer's conference each year. 

One of the things Gansky offers is 'Writer's Talk' interviews. He chats with other authors, agents, and publishers, giving writers great information they might only get at writing conferences. Check out his YouTube channel for the complete list.

But that's not all Gansky provides. He offers a series of screencast videos where he explains how he uses certain software, and gives other tips for writers. I love his voice, and his calm, teaching manner. Here are a few I found interesting:

Google for Writers: several different Google applications that make a writer's life (and research) much easier. Do you use them?

Pitching Agents & Editors: how to pitch your project in a conference setting--great principles if you're gearing up for a pitch session!

Organize your novel: Gansky explains how to use a free online application called Trello to keep track of your novel's details and structure.

What are page proofs? What writers can expect when they receive page proofs (also called galleys) and what to do with them.

Manuscript formatting: How to format your manuscript in standard form before sending it off to an agent or editor.

Tight Writing: helping writers to look for what clutters manuscripts and invites rejection. Have you ever heard of 'pleonasm'? You'll want to watch for it in your writing.

Kindle Singles: for writers with shorter works, great information on the hows & whys of loading them onto Amazon, and he also demonstrates another platform called Atavist, where readers can choose to read or listen to the book.

What authors do you rely on for writing information?

How to find the best Beta Readers for your novel

Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng

When your book is finished, and you need some feedback, it's time to think about beta readers. What is a beta reader? I heard someone recently describe it this way: You, the author are the first reader. The alpha. Whoever reads it next is the beta reader.

Finding the right beta readers for your novel is important. You want individuals who won't just pat you on the back, yet you don't want folks who will criticize you to the point you'll never write again.

Fortunately, my fellow Pikes Peak Writers member, Deb McLeod, has written a wonderful post explaining why you might want certain beta readers at one stage of your novel, and other readers at different stages. Definitely check out The Beta Reader Love-O-Meter on the Pikes Peak Writers blog.

Have you ever used beta readers? How has it been helpful, or not-so-helpful to your editing process?

Join now! Operation Agent Ink

Fantastic things are going on over at Ink in the Book, and it's not too late for you to join in. It's called Operation Agent Ink, and it's a great way to work on your WIP and possibly nab an agent, too!

The event runs from November 1st through February 8th, with breaks for the holidays. It's a workshop-style event, and culminates in February with a pitch session with some amazing agents. Best of all, you'll know what the agents are looking for.

Check out all the details of what Operation Agent Ink will do for you so you can decide if it's a good fit for your needs. It doesn't matter if you're starting a new novel, in the editing stage, or all finished.

The workshops running through the event include:

Novel Writing From the Beginning
Novel Writing: Wading Through the Middle
Creative Inspiration
Revisions and Edits
The Submission Process
Agent Interviews and Thoughts

Check out the links to workshop downloads and a list of literary agencies already committed to participate.  And here is the first wish list from some of the participating agents.

If you're interested, you can sign up now, until November 7th. Only those who sign up will be able to pitch to the agents in February. This is a great opportunity that goes hand-in-hand with NaNoWriMo, for those participating. Since it's spread over several months, it won't eat all your time.

Are you up for Operation Agent Ink?

Smackdown With Your Inner Editor

Do you wrestle with your inner editor? Do your eyes wander over the last paragraph you wrote, unable to rest until you've eliminated the little red squigglys under each word? Do you find it easier to spend your precious writing time analyzing previous pages than writing new words?

It's time for a smackdown.

Your creative side loves to explore new worlds and uncharted territory. Your analytical side wants to fix everything and make it logical. Unfortunately, to do both at the same time makes for a double-minded writer.

I've gathered a great crop of resources from other writers who have tackled this issue. They haven't solved it, but some of their advice might be exactly what you need to try to keep your editor at bay--at least until your manuscript is finished and it's time to let him or her out from exile.

 One thing I do when my inner editor won't keep quiet is to write in the dark. Yes, it's messy, but effective. Computer users can also choose a font color that matches your screen color so your words will be invisible, or dim your screen to black. Don't forget to save, though! If you have a desktop with a wireless keyboard, move across the room from your screen. Here are some more tips:

Mandy Houk, member of Pikes Peak Writers, shares a great visual for writers to understand what the inner editor does to our confidence.

Cassie Mae, at The Writer's Dojo, gives four practical tips for shutting off the inner editor. I really like her color idea.

Tina Radcliffe over at Seekerville, wowed me with her unauthorized cheat sheet of self-editing tips. I'll be using tip #4 to create my own 'weasel words' list.

The Nanowrimo blog has a post on A 7-Step Guide to Big Picture Revision (With Bonus Checklists!). I love using highlighters to help me visualize what's missing--or overdone.

And finally, Entrepreneur offers a list of ten words to cut from your writing. Super fast and easy fixes to get your manuscript into shape.

Have you found anything useful for keeping your inner editor locked up? Or is yours particularly well-behaved?

When Your Words Count Against You

For writers on the road to publication, it's a good idea not to alienate the agents and editors who make that possible. Submitting a manuscript that runs far too long (or shorter than the norm) is an easy way to a quick rejection. Learning the typical word counts for your genre is part of understanding the business of publishing.


Try to think like an agent. Two manuscripts come across your desk, and both exhibit strong writing and great ideas. One project is 150K, and the other is 90K. Which will you choose to spend your time on? One book will need extensive editing and revision, including convincing the author to cut a significant number of words. The other may need some revisions, but is more or less ready to go.




How many is too many?


Keeping your manuscript in the ideal range will make it easier for you to find an agent, and for your agent to find a publisher. Let's run down some lists of word counts.


Chuch Sambuchino on word counts for different genres.

Agent Mary Kole on word counts for children's books.


And a recent post by agent Colleen Lindsay about the latest in word counts.

Why can't publishers just print it the way I wrote it?


Another point regarding word counts concerns the economy. The longer your manuscript, the more it costs to print, ship, and store. If you're a debut author, why should a publisher take a greater fiscal risk on an unknown?


But what about Twilight, you might ask? There was a debut author with an exceptionally long manuscript. Check out what agent Kristin Nelson has to say on the subject.

Agent Nathan Bransford explains why there's a trend toward shorter books.


How do I keep my words down? 


If you are planning a book, read Nathaniel Cassani's post about how to estimate the length before you begin.

And if you've already written your manuscript ant need to tighten it up, read through this post. 

Also, check out the cool "paragraph squaring" method.

How do you keep yourself from being too wordy? Or do you let yourself go and cut later?

The Aftermath of 'Send It'

This isn't the first time I've heard 'send it'. But it's the first time I actually did send it (see here for why I didn't before). I've been thinking this week about how differently I looked at my manuscript once I knew who would be reading it. Suddenly, the pages I thought were just fine (having been critiqued and edited and re-edited), didn't look as ready as I'd thought.

Length. The agent asked for the first 30 pages. For my novel, that included the first four chapters. But I really wanted to include chapter five in the sample, since the end of that one precipitated something significant for my character. So I really examined each paragraph, identifying which ones carried their weight, and which sentences could be eliminated.

Tightness. Once I started rereading the pages, I realized there were many words that weren't completely necessary. I hunted for words like 'that', unnecessary phrases like 'I saw', and excess prepositional phrases. A couple of made-up examples:
Before: I saw the guards moving closer.
After: The guards moved closer.

Before: She thought that she ought to leave now.
After: She ought to leave now.

Paragraph squaring. I made up this word, but I learned the idea from fantasy author Carol Berg. It's a way to shorten the length of a manuscript (and Berg should know--her first drafts can be as long as 175,000 words!). Look at the tail end of a paragraph--the words that don't fill a whole line. Try to eliminate enough words somewhere in the paragraph to eliminate the 'tail'. When I first heard this idea, I was skeptical, but it really made me examine my words with a new eye, and I felt so good when I shortened the manuscript by another line. I'll be using this in the future, for sure.

Working hard for a week helped me get rid of over one thousand words, and I fit the extra chapter into my sample pages. Whew! It wasn't easy, and I read and reread those pages more times than I could count, but it was worth it. Now I'm applying the same techniques to the rest of my novel, hoping to bring the word count down.

How do you tighten your writing? Does submitting to an agent or editor make you look at it differently?

How to Format Your Own Ebook

More and more writers are testing the publishing waters with their own ebooks. Likewise, many traditionally published authors are dusting off their backlists and offering their previous books for sale (if they've got the rights back). 

But putting an ebook online is much more than just uploading a Word document. There's formatting and cover design, and choosing which of the ebook formats to target. You can pay someone to do it for you, but fortunately, it's not impossible to do it yourself.

Recently, my local Pikes Peak Writers group offered a workshop on how to format an ebook. The presenter, author Deanna Knippling, has graciously provided the same information in a series of blog posts aimed at beginners in the ebook world.

Part 1: The most common ebook formats, and which ones you should target first. Plus, the importance of editing.

Part 2: The nitty-gritty of formatting your ebook. Knippling saves authors a huge amount of time by teaching how to make an ebook template, so future ebooks will be a snap to format.

Part 3: Finalizing, uploading, and validating your ebook. Also how to trouble-shoot if things aren't working well.

Part 4: How to design your book cover, with information for beginners and advanced cover artists. Knippling includes a list of helpful tips about what to put on your cover, and shares advice about what not to do.

Part 5: Advanced formatting topics, and links to resources for ebook writers.

And if you need some plain-English information on ISBN numbers, here's an easy to understand post by author Claire Delacroix.

Have you formatted your own ebook? Are you thinking about it?

Ending #NaNoWriMo: I Wrote a Novel. Now What?

November 30th. The last day of NaNoWriMo. You may have a complete book in your hands, or a good start on one. What's next? Check out this post from last year.

So, you accomplished one of your major goals this year. You wrote a novel. 

What do you do next?

Do you send it off to an agent or editor and sit back to wait for a contract? Do you start the sequel? Set up  a fan page on Facebook?

Typing "the end" is really just the beginning. When I began writing several years ago, I mistakenly thought that finishing my novel gave me the right to look for an agent immediately. These days, agents want to see work that is polished, not a first draft. And seasoned writers will tell you that the real writing happens in revision. It's when words are finally out of your head and on the page, that you can actually do something with them.

There are many things you can do once you finish your novel. But I've boiled them down to two essentials.

Revise. Set your manuscript aside for a month before you begin. You need a little distance from it. Writing teacher and author James Scott Bell suggests printing it out and reading it like you would someone else's book. It's surprising how much I miss when I edit on the computer. For more tips on revisions, check this Nanowrimo page.

Books like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Manuscript Makeover, and Revision and Self-Editing can help you know what to look for in your manuscript. Once you've combed your manuscript several times, and have improved it to the best of your ability, it's time for the next step.

Other Eyes. This is where you step out (perhaps with fear and trembling) and let other people read your novel. Family and friends do not count. It's important to get honest feedback from people who already know how to write. Your friends will only be impressed that you actually wrote a novel, and most will think it's great, no matter how many problems there are with your plot.

No, what you need are people who are strangers. People who will give you the brutal truth about what works and what needs changing. People who aren't worried about hurting their relationship with you. You'll win in two ways: your manuscript will become stronger, and you'll develop the thick skin you need for the road ahead. If you're looking for a critique group, here are several to choose from.

Where are you at with your novel?

#Revision and #Writing Hand in Hand

I'm feeling schizophrenic these days. In the writing sense. I'm revising one novel, and plotting another (for NaNoWriMo). But I've found a kind of synergy in this double-minded activity.

When I work on finding plot holes in my revision, it reminds me to keep that from happening in my new novel.

When I deepen character motivations in my revision, I'm conscious of working on the backstories of my emerging characters.

When I brainstorm plot points in my new story, I check to see if I did that effectively with my written novel.

When I plan research for NaNoWriMo, it forces me to check if I've done enough research for my previous novel to sound coherent.

Basically, what I do with one project, I try to do with the other. And I'm finding that both are becoming stronger as a result.

At the moment, I'm using three books in my revision and planning.

Manuscript Makeover, by Elizabeth Lyon is one of my favorites, and I'm finding her advice on revision just as effective in planning a new project as it is in reviewing a completed one. One of my favorite sections is her advice on creating backstory wounds for characters, and her "riff writing" exercises.

Blockbuster Plots, by Martha Alderson is a crash course in getting a new plot laid out that moves the story along. But I also like to consult it after the story is written, to make sure I didn't get off track in my enthusiasm.

Writing Fiction for Dummies, by Randy Ingermanson contains comprehensive advice. His Snowflake Method of planning a novel can't be beat. And he's funny, too.

So I'm plugging away with my brain stuck in two different stories. Are you single minded or double minded? Would it work for you?

[Sentence] Variety Is the Spice of Life

 Have you ever read a paragraph of fiction and wondered what was wrong with it? Sometimes, when you can't put your finger on the problem, it may be sentence variety.

Click here for an example of a paragraph full of five-word sentences. Not pretty. Even though the paragraph is grammatically correct, the cadence gets tiring. I decided to check out a few resources to help improve my knowledge of sentence patterns. I don't want to bore my readers!

Dr. Kristi Siegel, of Mount Mary College, explains how to analyze your writing to decide if your sentences are too short, or burdensome.

Patricia Schulyar explains how to begin your sentences in interesting ways, and includes links to more articles on the topic.

This article on sentence patterns, explains the four different kind of sentence structures writers use, so you'll be able to bring in more variety.

The Purdue Writing Lab gives great examples of using both short and long sentences, and varying the way sentences start. They offer 'before and after' revisions.

And last, but not least, consider reading your work out loud, or listening to someone else read it. If your sentences are too similar, you'll notice right away.

How do you check the cadence of your writing?

Free Resources for Slaying Your Cliches

I attended a wonderful workshop last night. Author Evangeline Denmark shared several solid tools for avoiding cliches. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop from her, don't miss it. And if you need a laugh, check out her blog, Breathe In, Breathe Out.

One of the resources Denmark mentioned was the blog How to Slay a Cliche. I've blogged several times about cliche resources, and this is another good one.

The author, Wordsmith, takes a different cliche in each post, and rewrites them five times. Writers can search through the many dozens of cliches already rewritten, and are encouraged to add their own rewrites in the comments. For ease of use, there's an alphabetical listing of the cliches already posted.

And to give you one spot for cliche advice, here are links to the previous cliche resources, all of them amazing:

Are You Blind? Digging Out Cliches in Your Manuscript--includes a link to the wonderful Cliche Finder.

No More Cookie Cutters: Avoiding Cliches to Create Original Fiction--links to lists of cliches and four different types of cliches you may never have considered.

What do Cliches Do to Your Readers? Three things you don't want to subject your readers to.

Are you a cliche player, or a cliche slayer?

Till It Shines: Examining the Editing Process

I've been thinking about editing. Did you know that many publishers are spending less on editing manuscripts they publish? Even if you have the good fortune of being traditionally published, the economic realities mean your manuscript might not get the spit and polish you expect.

And in this new world inundated with ebooks, it's essential to stand out. Quality will do that, but you'll need to take a bigger part of the responsibility.

What's an author to do?

First, become an active part of a critique group (or two). There are different kinds out there. Some are 'fluffy', where no one will speak a critical word, and everyone's manuscript is 'so nice'. That's not what you need if publication is your goal. You're looking for a group that will toughen up your rhino skin. That won't let you get away with a half-effort. That will put you on the spot till you get it right.

Second, work hard at critiquing your fellow members. Read books on craft. Read lots of fiction. These activities will hone your own editing skills, enabling you to spot more inconsistencies in your own manuscript. You might even start getting requests from other writers to edit their stories. Imagine that--getting paid and learning at the same time.

Third, learn about the different types of editing available. Rachelle Gardner shared a fantastic article recently that details the different types of edits you might expect. Even more helpful, she posts a list of comments she's made on contracted books. It's a great visual for prepublished writers to see that even multipublished authors get the same kind of critique comments we do.

So, with all my thinking about editing (maybe it's because I'm in the middle of a client's big editing project), I thought I'd begin a weekly series, called Red-Letter Days. Each Monday, I'll post a snippet of writing that exhibits a particular writing issue, along with ways it can be fixed. I'd love for you to chime in with your ideas. After all, I'm still learning, too.

Question: What is the biggest editing issue that trips you up?

The Big No: Surviving and Thriving Through Rejection

Can rejection actually help you get published? Think about it. When success comes without a lot of effort, it's easy to ride the wave and not push for perfection.

Take Kathryn Stockett, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Help. She was rejected by a stunning sixty agents over several years before landing an agent. What did she do during those years of submitting and getting a negative response over and over? She wrote and rewrote her book. The story of her journey and perseverance is inspiring.

Had Stockett landed an agent with her first batch of submissions, her manuscript might not have sold in three weeks, like it did. It would have needed multiple rounds of revisions before it was polished to the point it would interest a publisher.

Sure, a manuscript has taken a chunk of time to write, but how ready is it to submit? Sometimes a few rejections can bring a writer face-to-face with the truth. Despite how much family, friends, and even critique group members like it, it may need some more work. This is the time to read and apply knowledge from books like these that can help turn a "no" into a "yes".

Mauscript Makeover

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Revision and Self-Editing

The Fire in Fiction

Writing the Breakout Novel

If you end up with a batch of rejection letters, know that you're not alone. Here are some lists of famous writers who were rejected--some of them many times, others with hurtful criticism:

50 Iconic Writers Who Were Repeatedly Rejected (Even bestselling James Patterson was rejected multiple times.)

Naked Rejection: You Have to Take It On the Chin Steven King tossed his Carrie manuscript in the trash, and his wife fished it out.

Rejections received by famous authors and famous books. (Did you know Beatrix Potter was rejected so many times, she initially self-published?)

30 Famous Authors Rejected Repeatedly and Rudely (One publisher told Faulkner, "Good God! I can't publish this!")

And if all this rejection confirms your belief that the publishing industry is beyond help, read this post by Nathan Bransford to renew your faith.

Where are you at? Has rejection (or fear of rejection) made you work harder at your craft?

Perfect That Manuscript: Grammar Links That Beg to be Bookmarked

Let's face it. Grammar does not equal glamour. But if your manuscript is lacking it, you can forget about snagging an agent. So while subject and verb agreement might make you yawn, here are some sites that will help you have fun while tackling the grammar beast.

One easy way to go over your story is to check for overuse of certain words. Scrivener writing software has this built in, and I use it frequently. I also use a free website to make a visual map of my chapters that shows which words I'm using the most. Then there are sites that track frequently used words and phrases.

I also love Grammar Girl's website and book. She brings humor to grammar, which isn't easy.

I've discovered a new and fun site for the ticklish terms in grammar at ChompChomp. It's a fun and irreverent site with great grammar definitions, exercises, and even videos to help users wrap their heads around grammar intricacies (complete with rock music).

If you need the help of a thesaurus, you've got lots of options. For a physical reference, I recommend The Synonym Finder--a great volume to keep handy. If you're more of a visual person, there's nothing better than The Visual Thesaurus, a free-to-try online tool that maps out the connections between words.

And last of all, Writing Forward has a list of ten grammar resources that are fantastic. Does anyone remember the Schoolhouse Rock videos that were shown during Saturday morning cartoons decades ago? Time to take a trip down memory lane--and brush up on grammar at the same time.

What do you use to keep your tenses straight? I'd love to add to this list.

Are You Blind? Digging Out Cliches in Your Manuscript

Recently, I posted some great resources to help you find overused words and phrases. But what if your manuscript is riddled with cliches? As writers, it's easy for our eyes to skip over them in our own work in progress. We're blind to them.

What's wrong with cliches? They're expected. Predictable. Readers (unconsciously) skip over them. And the last thing an author wants to do is encourage readers to skim.

Fresh writing is far better. It engages your readers. Makes them wonder what you're going to say next. Like the author of The Book Thief. His writing is fresh and unpredictable (see this post for more). Read further about avoiding and altering cliches in this article from Writer's Web.

One way to find the cliches you've used is to join a critique group. Several sets of eyes going over your writing will likely highlight most of the cliches you use. Don't stress about cliches in your first draft. Just get the story down. There will be plenty of time later to yank out the cliches.

And here's a great tool to help you do that: The Cliche Finder. Like the overused word finder mentioned above, writers just copy and paste a section of writing in the box, click the "find cliches" button, and any cliches will be highlighted in seconds. If you want to check it out, click the link, and you'll see a sample passage ready for you to try it on.

So don't worry about blindly inserting cliches. There are ways to yank them out. Do you have other ways to avoid cliches?

Fuel for the Fire: Take a Class to Ignite Your Writing

It wasn't writer's block. I wasn't stuck. I wasn't out of ideas. I had just lost the energy to write. Rehashing the same chapters over and over, trying to discover that spark to make them come alive, had sapped the creativity I needed to move forward.

Have you been there?

Since it's my birthday this month, I gave myself the present of taking a writing class. I longed to take a class from Margie Lawson, a trained psychologist who uses her decades of knowledge to teach writers how to pull readers into their stories. 

Lawson's lectures and assignments have lit a fuse that is igniting my passion to not only finish my novel, but to make what I've written far better than it was. Do you need a little inspiration?

From Lawson's website: 

"I am fascinated with the emotive power of words. When a scene grabs me, I analyze it, dissect it, figure out what the author did that worked.

 

How can writers 'up' the emotive power of their work?  By tuning in to the nuances of their characters’ nonverbal communication.  By writing visceral emotion and body language to strengthen subconscious connections with the reader.  By editing deep.  By writing fresh.

Writers work to capture the perfect balance of dialogue, visceral emotion, body language, action, setting, internalizations, and tension for each scene.  The goal is to entrance the reader, lead them into your fictional world, and make them beg to stay."

 Lawson's expertise will have you writing stronger, analyzing for weaknesses, and developing the ability to hook readers with the emotional intensity of your writing.

While Lawson's classes are not free, they are so reasonably priced, you'll be surprised. I'm taking Empowering Character Emotions, a month-long class that will net me over 300 pages of notes from Lawson, including individual critique of my assignments. In the first three days of class, I felt I had already got my $30 worth. For writers who can't invest the time in an online class, Lawson sells the complete lecture packets for any class for $22.

I've been learning from Lawson for years. In her free newsletter, she shares her analysis of current writers, and I learn something every time. Lawson's blog features "how-to" interviews with successful authors. And if you'd like to see the effects of the "deep editing" techniques she teaches, check out her deep editing analyses. Just reading her comments will get you thinking about your own writing.

Would you like to win a one-hour deep-editing consultation with Lawson? You have an opportunity to enter her Dare Devil Dachshund contest each month. The prize includes a pile of goodies and a one-hour Skype chat with Lawson about 15 pages of your manuscript.

I don't receive anything from letting you know about Lawson. I just believe that writers want to know about resources that can make them better writers.

Have you been in a place where you've lost your spark? What helped ignite your desire to write?

Want to Test-Drive Your Query Letter? Check Out Evil Editor

After spending weeks (or months) tweaking your query letter to perfection, you may want to solicit some feedback before you send it out. Evil Editor is your guy. He'll post your query on his blog, often with tongue-in-cheek comments, where other writers can chime in with their own opinions.

But Evil Editor adds a twist. He posts the titles of the manuscripts the queries represent, and invites blog readers to guess the plot based upon the titles. The most interesting (and far-fetched) plot ideas get posted along with his query critique in his Face-Lift series.

Another feature on Evil Editor's blog is the New Beginning series. Writers submit the first 150 words of their manuscript, and blog readers show how they think the piece should continue. Evil Editor posts the most interesting continuation, and invites blog readers to give the original author feedback on how the opening captured their interest.

It's nice to find a site that gives good feedback with an element of fun. If humor is not something you want to mix with your fiction, you may want to stick to more "serious" sites.

Evil Editor conducts monthly book chats, where readers discuss recently published books. There's also a weekly contest for writers to contribute captions to a posted cartoon. The best captions get published on the blog. If you need a laugh to relieve your writer's block, check out Evil Editor's short films to give you some relief. And at regular intervals writing exercises are posted, with the best examples posted on the blog.

Does humor help to relieve the tension of the journey to publication?

Does Your Manuscript Have What It Takes? You Can Find Out Today. Really.

All writers crave feedback. Even if they're too scared to join a critique group, and letting someone read their work puts them in a cold sweat. But what if it was anonymous?

Page99Test is an ingenious website a friend pointed me to. It's based upon a quote from the late English novelist Ford Madox Ford: "Open the book to page ninety-nine, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you."

The site allows you to upload the contents of page 99 of your manuscript, and readers of the site will rate it by answering three questions.

1. Would you turn the page?

2. Why or why not?

3. Based on what you read, how likely are you to buy this book?

Because site visitors are reading just one page, and the questions are brief, it takes only a few minutes to read and give feedback on a submission. Once a reader clicks "submit" after the questions, they can see a summary of how others rated the same page, and their comments.

For writers uploading a page, you'll choose the genre of your story, and can give a brief background if you like. All the commenters have a number next to their screen name so you can see how many critiques they've done so far.

You may wonder why it's page 99, and not say, your first page that is critiqued. Most writers work and rework the beginning of their manuscript, so it's not really representative of the body of the story. It's a random page, yes, but hopefully all your random pages will have good dialogue, description, characterization, and tension.

The site creators warn against uploading an overworked page just to get better feedback. Since it's anonymous, no one cares what your feedback is

The nice thing about Page99Test is that even the negative comments don't sting so badly when you consider that the reader has missed the 98 previous pages setting up your story. You can use the feedback you get to improve your pages, without feeling like you have to give up altogether.

Head over to the site and spend a couple of minutes on a few critiques. It's kind of addicting, and you can feel good that you gave back some encouragement and helpful feedback to another writer. 

How open are you to feedback?

Pump Up Your Writing: Using Strong Verbs

As a writer, you hear that you ought to avoid adverbs. That you shouldn't include strings of adjectives, or cliches. One way to do all three is to strengthen the verbs you use.


There are plain-vanilla verbs, and there are Rocky Road-with-chocolate-sauce-and-whipped-cream-verbs. The verbs you choose will make a difference  in your fiction.


Sentences that use walked, sat, and thought pale in comparison to stalked, sprawled, and stewed. However, don't label yourself as a failure if strong verbs don't automatically show up in your manuscript. Adding stronger verbs is something you do in your rewriting.


The purpose of your first draft is to get the story on the page, in all it's unedited glory. Once you've got it down, you can analyze it for overuse of adverbs, adjectives, cliches--and wimpy verbs.


Here are a few resources to help you tackle the job.


Dragon Writing Prompts has compiled a massive list of 1000 strong verbs to take the place of weak ones. The list is grouped by verb: for example, she has dozens of strong verbs to use in place of "walked" or "ran". I'm planning to print out the list and keep it handy. And Coherent Visual has a similar, downloadable list in both Word and .pdf formats.


Charlotte Rains Dixon posted a two-part post on strong verbs. The first is What is a strong verb?, and the second continues with How to ferret out strong verbs.


Creative Juices Books lists seven reasons why strong verbs are important (and when to use passive verbs).


Carolyn Jewel shares why strong verbs help you write with strength and specificity, and why "to be" should be your verb of last resort.


Bob and Jack's writing blog gives a number of great examples of both strong and weak verbs.


Give it a try right now. Take a random page of your manuscript and highlight every verb on the page. Count how many are "plain vanilla" and substitute some stronger verbs. When you read it again, how much better is it?