Please tell your readers where to turn.
This weekend I took a car ride up a twisting mountain road. I’d not been on that road for a year, so the route wasn’t familiar.
But as we ascended the highway we had an advantage. Ahead of each curve, a yellow sign’s twisting black … Continue reading
What steps do you take to listen to your audience?
Yesterday I had lunch with a large group of people from my target audience.Today I’m driving an hour and a half to spend time with an even larger group.
I have two goals, both essential to my task.
First, I simply want to establish rapport. Call it platform building. I want my readers to see … Continue reading
Remember to review your verbs.
While I’ve worked and taught with several bestselling writers, I learned one of my best tips from someone who wrote picture books for children.
She advised writers to print out their first two pages and circle every verb. “You don’t want,” she said, “writing that’s isy and wasy.”
Thirty years later, I’m still seeking and correcting wasy … Continue reading