It’s finally Friday! Welcome to the end of the week on the GWN blog. Today we have Alissa Callen talking about polishing your prose.
Here’s Alissa!
Your muse is happy dancing, your plot ducks all in a neat row and now you need to polish your words to crystal-brilliance before your trigger finger presses submit.
For some this book buff-and-shine is more rewarding than chocolate while for others it is as gratifying as ironing handkerchiefs. But whatever your polishing-mindset a list of ‘seek and destroy’ words can hasten and streamline the process. For every author this hit-list will differ but no matter how vigilant you may be a hard core group of words may shoulder their way onto your page.
The key code Ctrl + F is a perfect tool to not only identify your ‘crutch’ words (words you use all the time) but also to eliminate any general hit-list words. Below is a list collated from my own work as well as others. Be sure to cross out the words that don’t frequently appear in your work and add in any extra ones that do.
Happy polishing and all the very best when you hit submit.
When Alissa Callen isn’t writing she plays traffic controller to four children, three dogs, two horses and one renegade cow who really does believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. After a childhood spent chasing sheep on the family farm, Alissa has always been drawn to remote areas and small towns, even when residing overseas. Once a teacher and a counsellor, she remains interested in the life journeys that people take and her books are characteristically heart-warming, emotional and character driven. She currently lives on a small slice of rural Australia in central western New South Wales.
Beneath Outback Skies
Book/buy link: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/alissa-callen/beneath-outback-skies-9780857980397.aspx
What Love Sounds Like
Book/buy link: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857990129
Face book page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alissa-Callen-Author/355366704552838
Vist Alissa’s Website: www.alissacallen.com
Cindy here again!
So true, Alissa. I have my favourite words and I have to do a search and destroy before I send my stories anywhere.
Happy writing!
Cindy
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