by Jeanette Taylor | Jul 29, 2018 | Writing Tips
When is a draft manuscript ready for feedback? Writers ache to share their literary darlings with others, but therein lurks danger. To the writer, those first few chapters—or even a first full draft—are loaded with the sparkle of a rough-cut gem. But that’s not how an...
by Jeanette Taylor | Mar 7, 2018 | Writing Tips
Is Consent Needed from Others for Personal Writing ? Many personal writing projects get shelved at the concept stage because of fears about how others portrayed might respond. What’s lost is not just a writer’s search for personal meaning, but insights for others...
by Jeanette Taylor | Jan 19, 2018 | Writing Tips
The Complex Craft of the Opening Paragraph in Fiction & Nonfiction The first paragraph of a piece of writing must be impeccably crafted. And that’s just the start of what’s required to draw readers in. A structure and purpose should be evident, promising...
by Jeanette Taylor | Dec 29, 2017 | Writing Tips
Specific Details Fully Engage Readers’ Minds Deliver need-to-know background details at a rapid clip, but for transformative drama slow the pace and inject life with the sparkle of sensory and specific details. This is the passage readers will remember years later...
by Jeanette Taylor | Sep 20, 2017 | Writing Tips
Writing about People in Nonfiction Intriguing people are at the heart of most stories and you need to know them intimately, whether you’re writing a community history, a travel piece, a memoir or a biography. Hemingway advised writers to compile...
by Jeanette Taylor | Aug 26, 2017 | Writing Tips
Write Straight to the Point The passive voice—with its side stepping, roundabout phrasing—lacks clarity, punch and immediacy. Many of us speak in this suggesting-things way, but when it slips into our writing it both deadens the impact and requires more words. I know...
