How NOT to Use a Thesaurus—the Problem of Wrong Connotation

Here is a writing mistake I see often as a book editor. A client uses—or rather, misuses—hundred-dollar words to, supposedly, elevate her manuscript. She wants to dress the writing up, to make it sound professional, so she adds in fancy words from the thesaurus instead of going with simple words used in everyday speech. Let’s talk about how not to ... Read More

Two Secrets of Effective Fiction Writing

As a professional book editor and writing coach, one of the mistakes I often come across in the fiction writing of clients is the repetition of information the author already gave to the reader. For effective fiction writing, it’s important to remember that nothing is more boring to your reader than having to read the same information twice. Of course, ... Read More