​Here are four tips to help you overcome common barriers to concise, compelling writing.

1. Reduce filtering language
Filter words strain the action through the narrator's mind before it reaches the reader. These words, such as felt or realized, aren't bad in and of themselves. Sometimes you want to call attention to the experience of an event rather than the event itself. But filter words can distance the reader from the story if used unnecessarily. One solution is to use more concrete language focused on the action. Let's look at an example.

He saw her walking toward him. As she got closer, he realized she was crying.

In this example, the focus is on the point-of-view character's perception of what is happening. It reminds the reader that everything we experience is being filtered through him. If that's not the intention, we might rewrite it like this:

She approached him, the tears on her cheeks glistening in the lamplight.

This version not only contains fewer words but also puts the focus on the action without filtering it through the narrator's perception.

2. Use strong verbs
Strong writers use strong verbs. Letting a weak verb, such as is or would, support the action leads to a weak sentence. Instead, look for finite verbs that can handle the heavy lifting. Let's look at a few examples.

Weak: We would go to the library every Tuesday.
Stronger: We went to the library every Tuesday.

Weak: The man's victory at the competition was the result of his excellent dancing.
Stronger: The man's excellent dancing won him the competition.

Weak: There was an argument between the girls.
Stronger: The girls argued.

3. Eliminate redundancies and circumlocutions
If you find yourself writing lengthy descriptions, you are probably falling prey to either redundancy or circumlocution.

Redundancy is the needless repetition of a word, phrase, or idea. For example, an unexpected surprise is redundant because all surprises are unexpected. Similarly, saying He screamed loudly is redundant because a scream, by definition, is loud.

Circumlocution is the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea when fewer will suffice. If you have emotions that are distressing, you have distressing emotions. And if something will happen in the not too distant future, then it will happen soon.

Evaluate long passages in your writing and ask yourself if there is a simpler way to convey what you want to say.

4. Transform passive voice into active voice
When the subject of a sentence is actually the object being acted upon, that sentence is in the passive voice. You may have heard that you can determine if a sentence is in the passive voice if you can add by zombies to the end of it and still have a coherent sentence.

This is great advice for spotting the passive voice, but how do you fix it? Simple! Instead of having the action be performed by zombies, switch the sentence around so that the zombies perform the action.

Passive: The curtains were thrown open (by zombies).
Active: Zombies threw open the curtains.

Keep in mind that passive voice is useful when the person doing an action is unknown or unimportant or when you want to intentionally leave the subject out of the spotlight. But in many cases, you'll want to make your sentences active by ensuring that the subject is the one performing the action.

It's difficult to spot things like redundancies and filtering language in your own writing, but a trained editor offers invaluable assistance. If you'd like help making your writing more concise, get in touch with me. Let's make your writing stronger together!

​1. Sentence construction and length
This is one of the subtler suggestions on this list, but you can vary the sentence length and construction for each character. For instance, one character might think or speak in short, decisive statements, while another rolls on in long, complicated sentences. In my own WIP, one character tends to think in questions, conveying her uncertain, insecure nature. The other character speaks in short, confident statements, signaling a more close-minded view of the world.

2. Dialogue and word choice
Each character's dialogue can do a lot to set them apart. They might have a catch phrase or a specific way of swearing (or a complete avoidance of swear words). For more information about how to convey personality with dialogue, see my previous post on the importance of dialogue tags.

In a broader sense, your word choice for each character can also make an important difference. Do they use eloquent, fluffy words, even in their internal monologue? Perhaps they're more precise and direct. Their general disposition can be conveyed through the words you use when writing from their perspective—whether they're funny, morose, cheerful, or bitter.

3. Their focus or worldview
Each character should have a unique worldview based largely on their background. Their motivations, opinions, and emotional awareness will all contribute to their focus. What do they notice when describing things? A florist might name every flower they see along the sidewalk, while a construction worker might pay more attention to the cracked concrete.

In my WIP, one of my characters tends to notice the sky a lot, and it often has an emotional impact on her. But my other character, while oblivious to the more ethereal nature of things above, is hyperaware of what occurs around him, at his same level. It can be subtle, but I use this notion to inform my decisions about what each focuses on or ignores.

4. How they appear to others
If your POV characters interact, show one from the perspective of another. What quirks or mannerisms does character A notice about character B—that character B doesn't notice about themselves—and what does that convey to character A? This could be something as simple as character B closing their eyes every time they laugh or running a hand through their hair when they're frustrated.

One way I like to do this is to relate each character to an animal and then have their movements subconsciously mimic that animal. One of my characters often likens the other to a bird and, when describing her, uses words like flutter or perch to convey that image to the reader without overstating it.

5. Their actions
Perhaps the most obvious way to differentiate your characters is to have them react to the same situation in different ways. If a fight breaks out, one character might boldly charge into the action, while another hangs back, afraid or indecisive. Maybe one character starts the fight, and another attempts to restore peace. As you come to know your characters, you'll better understand what each of them would do in a given situation. To make each of them feel distinct, make it clear to yourself and the reader what actions are automatic for the character but also where they draw the line.

​If you're writing a novel with multiple POVs, I congratulate you. That's hard to do! But I've found that some of the subtlest details can make a big difference in how real and diverse your characters feel. That goes for non-POV characters too.

If you need someone's support as you determine how to better differentiate your characters, check out my beta critique service, which includes a character evaluation. I'd love to help, so get in touch today!

After you've written a full manuscript draft and done at least some revising and editing, you'll want to enlist a few beta readers before you continue with the publishing process.

A beta reader is a type of manuscript reader who reads a (usually) late-stage version of your manuscript to evaluate big-picture elements like plot, character, and setting from the perspective of a general reader.

The best way to ensure you get the kind of feedback you're looking for is to provide your beta readers with a list of questions. Aim to start a conversation rather than stopping at simple "yes" or "no" answers. Here is a sample list of beta reader questions, divided into general categories. This is a good starting point, but you may want to add your own questions to address specific areas of concern. Let's dive in!

Intro

• Did the story grab your attention from the start? If not, why?
• Did you immediately understand where and when the story was taking place and who the story was about? If so, how?
• Did you feel the need to keep reading after the first chapter or two? If not, why?
• Is the tone established at the start of the story appropriate for the genre and audience?

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Plot

• Was the plot intriguing and complex enough to hold your attention?
• Were there any obvious logical fallacies, inconsistencies, or holes in the plot?
• Were there any questions left unanswered by the end of the story?
• Which scene was your favorite? What made it exciting?
• Was there any aspect of the story that confused you? If so, what about it was confusing?
• Was the plot predictable, or did it keep you guessing? If there was any foreshadowing, was it subtle or too obvious? Did you ever feel led astray in an unnecessary way?
• Was the conflict realistic and engaging, or did it feel forced or contrived?
• Did the climax meet your expectations? If not, why?
• Did you find the ending satisfying? If not, why?

Pacing

• Were there any parts of the story that dragged or that you found boring? If so, which ones and why?
• Were there any parts of the story that seemed to go by too quickly? If so, which ones and why? What would be gained by slowing down in these moments?
• If you could cut one scene from the story, which one would it be and why?
• Was there a good balance of description, action, and dialogue? If not, which was there too much of? Which was there too little of?

Character

• Did each character feel distinct? If not, how could the characterization be improved?
• Did you feel emotionally invested in the main character and their journey? If not, why?
• Did you understand each character's motivations? Did any character ever act out of character in a way that wasn't later explained?
• Who was your favorite character and why?
• Who was your least favorite character and why?

Dialogue

• Was the dialogue engaging?
• Did the dialogue feel stiff, or did it sound natural?
• Did each character's dialogue feel unique to them, either how they spoke or what they said? In other words, would you be able to tell who was speaking even without the dialogue tags? If not, in what way did each character's dialogue feel too similar?

This is by no means an exhaustive list of questions for beta readers, nor should such a list overwhelm your readers. Provide these questions as a guide to get your readers thinking, but don't expect answers to each and every one. And don't take any critical comments personally. Remember that the goal of all feedback is to help you improve your story. If it doesn't do that, let it go.

If you're looking for a professional beta read, consider my beta critique service. I'd love to help you make your story the best it can be.

We've talked about the different types of editors, but did you know there are also different types of readers you might solicit for your book manuscript? Let's talk about manuscript readers, what they do, and why they're important.

Are you the type of writer who waits for that spark of inspiration to come and zap you into action? It feels amazing in the moment, but eventually the lightning fades and leaves you twitching. I used to be the same way. Like you, I spent years waiting for the right moment to write. 

But do you know what I've learned? That moment, when the heavens part and suddenly there are no distractions or obligations and inspiration pours from the sky in never-ending waterfalls? Yeah, it isn't coming. Disappointing, right? The perfect moment never comes. Or if it does, it comes because we make it come by putting in the work. A consistent writing habit will win out over flighty inspiration every time.

So how do we develop a writing routine that will stand the test of bad days, busy schedules, and dried-up wells of inspiration? ​Well, here are five things I've started doing that have worked wonders for my writing life. I've been able to build a consistent daily writing habit with minimal effort, and the returns have been amazing. I've made it about a third of the way through the rough draft of my current novel in just a month and a half. Keep reading to find out how you, too, can create and rock your daily writing habit!

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​1. Start Small
You wouldn't decide to run a marathon and then immediately go run it. If you did, you'd probably die, just like Pheidippides, the first man who ever ran one. No, you'd train for months, starting small and building up your endurance and speed over time. Writing, especially if you want to be a skilled lifelong writer, is a marathon. 

Some people write every day; some don't. Personally, if I miss one day, then I might as well abandon all hope of building a consistent habit, so I don't skip days if I can help it. But that may not be the case for you. Maybe you work better with rest days in between your writing days. Maybe you legitimately only have the time, physical energy, or mental bandwidth to do a few times a week. That's perfectly okay! Pick whatever works for you, but stick with a schedule. Consistency is key.

Commit to something small to start off with. I've committed to writing every day for at least thirty minutes. Even if I end up writing only fifty words or staring at the screen thinking about character motivations for half that time, that's still thirty minutes of intentional time spent on my writing. More often than not, though, those thirty minutes turn into an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours. And the longer I've sustained this daily habit, the quicker I get into the flow each day, and the more my output has increased.

But if I had decided from the beginning that I was going to write for two hours every day, there's no way I could have sustained that. I probably would have given up after the second day. It wouldn't be fun. It wouldn't be comfortable. It would feel like a punishment to make myself sit when the words weren't coming. So start small and build from there. Don't get overeager or impatient. If all you can do right now is five minutes a day, that's still enough to build the habit, and then it can grow from there. ​

2. Make Yourself Comfortable
​We humans don't like to be uncomfortable. Think about it. When's the last time you stepped in a puddle of water with your socks on and didn't immediately go change your socks? If you feel a sense of dread or unease when you think about writing, ask yourself why that is. Most likely, it's because you've had sporadic or negative writing experiences in the past. 

We perform our best when we're comfortable and happy. So, what do you do when you want to encourage yourself to do something? Make it a positive experience for your brain. To this end, start each writing session by ensuring that each of your senses is experiencing something pleasant. 

Put something you find inspiring in your line of sight. Maybe it's a written quote from your favorite book. For me, it's a little plastic unicorn figurine. (It's actually a Uni from Neopets because, yes, I did play Neopets throughout my childhood and adolescence and still have this figurine for some reason—anyone else?)

Listen to music or sounds that help you focus or keep you calm. I've always been the type of person who needs total silence to focus—or so I thought. Now I listen to the same Yo-Yo Ma album every time I write, and the swelling of the cello evokes something in me I didn't think was possible. 

Smell something pleasant. I often diffuse essential oils. Some people light a candle before each writing session. This is a two-for-one because not only do you get to smell something nice but the act of lighting the candle becomes like a trigger for your brain: "I'm lighting this candle, so it must be time to write!"

Get something tasty on your tongue while you write—chocolate, tea, coffee, your favorite snack. Whatever it is, it will trigger dopamine in your brain. And the next time you go to write, your brain will say, "Oh! I like this writing thing. We always get chocolate! Let's keep doing it!"

And it all comes back to comfort. For touch, get cozy. Cuddle up with sweatpants and a blanket—or not, if it's hot. Put your body somewhere that feels nice and relaxing: the couch, the bed, the floor. Don't sit at the rigid kitchen table where you pay your bills. Find a spot that's only for your writing time. I have a saucer chair in the corner of my bedroom where I sit to write, and I always put my feet up on a cushion. It's become so automatic that I can hardly write with bent knees anymore!

Are you starting to see the pattern here? Make your brain and your body understand that writing is not a punishment—it's a reward! The more you do that, the easier it will be to get your writing in each and every day, and the easier the writing will flow.

3. Breathe and Focus
I don't know about you, but in the busyness and stress of life, I often forget to breathe. Maybe you can relate. Perhaps your thoughts are often so crowded that you can't sort through them all. But even if you got a flat tire or the dog puked on your favorite shoes, you don't want to carry all that baggage into your writing.

That's why I do a short meditation with deep breathing before every writing session. Making sure I stop at least once a day and take some deep breaths helps me clear my mind, reset my body, and focus exclusively on my writing. Here's the video I use. Try it; you might just feel like a completely new person when those three minutes are up! Then dig into your writing with renewed energy. ​

4. Don't Edit Yet
I've admitted to you before that I'm a perfectionist. I don't like to leave things a mess, which means that my natural tendency is to edit while I write. Maybe you're the same way. It's natural for writers to want to craft something beautiful. But first drafts, at least, aren't the place for perfection. They're usually messy and almost always terrible. Accepting that truth is one of the hardest parts of being a writer. 

Editing is definitely important, but it comes later. In the beginning, you just need to get the story out onto the page. Second-guessing every word you write is only going to hinder your progress and lead to frustration. Get out of your own way. Write by hand if you have to. But don't erase or a change a single word the first time around. You never know when it might come in handy later. 

5. Celebrate Small Victories
Goals are great tools for motivating you to achieve what you want in life. But if those goals take a long time to reach, you can get weary waiting for your hard work to pay off. That's why you shouldn't wait until you reach your goal to celebrate; do it now, and do it often. 

Give yourself milestones along the path to your overarching goal. Make them frequent. For example, if your goal is to write an 80,000-word draft, turn every 10,000 words into a milestone. When you reach those markers, give yourself a reward. Plan these out ahead of time so you have something to look forward to. The reward doesn't have to be big (think ice cream or a new outfit). But it can be big, especially for those big milestones, like halfway or when you reach your overall goal (think of that splurge item you've had your eye on but keep resisting). Don't wait until the end to congratulate yourself. Allow yourself to feel proud now.

You may not realize it, but you crave validation for your efforts, even from yourself. Reward yourself for even the tiniest of accomplishments, and you'll reinforce the good feelings your brain has about writing. Celebrating early and often will make you even more likely to continue on the path you've started down. 

I hope you find these suggestions as helpful as I have. May your words flow!

Last time, we talked about how using different dialogue tags can affect your writing. Now that you've seen some examples of different ways to introduce dialogue, let's talk about the mechanics of dialogue tags. I see mistakes in dialogue tag punctuation all the time, but they're fairly simple to fix.

A dialogue tag, or attribution, is part of the surrounding sentence and is set off by commas. Most often, the tag comes after the dialogue. In these cases, the comma goes between the final word of dialogue and the closing quotation mark, then the tag follows. If the tag interrupts the dialogue, use a comma after the tag as well before continuing with an opening quotation mark and the rest of the dialogue. The attribution is lowercase unless it starts a sentence or includes a name. Let's look at a few examples. 

✅ "Let's go for a walk," she suggested.
✅ "If we leave now," he said, "we'll have time to get to the park and back before lunch."

Notice that she and he are lowercase, and the only periods are the ones at the very end of the sentence. If your speaker's name is given, of course, it will be capitalized. If the tag comes before the dialogue, the comma goes between the tag and the opening quotation mark. When you have a question mark or exclamation mark in the dialogue, it takes the place of the comma or period and goes inside the quotation marks.

✅ "Can I come too?" Stacy asked.
✅ They both shouted, "No!"

What you want to avoid is putting a period or nothing at all between the dialogue and its tag. You also don't want to double up on punctuation or put punctuation outside the final quotation mark. These sentences are incorrectly punctuated:

❌ "Let's go for a walk." She suggested.
❌ "If we leave now" he said "we'll have time to get to the park and back before lunch."
❌ "Can I come too?," Stacy asked.
❌ "They both shouted, "No"!

You can indicate interrupted dialogue with an em dash, leaving out the comma before the tag. But if you use an ellipsis to trail off, a comma is still needed.

✅ "I don't want—" She snapped her mouth shut.
✅ "Maybe we could . . . ," he muttered.

​Now, what happens if you replace a dialogue tag with an action or leave the tag out altogether? That's perfectly fine! In fact, I encourage you to do that sometimes. It will give variety to your writing and can even be used to convey pace and tone. In a two-person exchange, if it's clear who's talking, then you can leave out dialogue tags for a few lines. This is often useful in a fast-paced argument. But if there are more than two characters or it's not clear who is saying what, it's better to include dialogue tags.

If you want your character to move or do something while they're talking, you'll format your dialogue a little differently. If what they say before the action is a complete sentence, use a period instead of a comma and then capitalize the following sentence. If their action comes in the middle of their sentence and there is still an attribution, use commas like normal, but don't capitalize the first word of the dialogue following the action. Let's see some examples.

✅ "I know what you're doing." He uncrossed his arms and stood up. "It's not hard to figure out."
✅ "You're pushing everyone away," he said, taking a step toward her, "because you're scared."

In the first example, his actions come in between two complete sentences, and there is no tag. We therefore need to punctuate and capitalize the action sentence like we would any other sentence. In the second example, however, he takes an action while he's speaking. We use a comma before the attribution and another two commas to set off the action before continuing with the remainder of the spoken sentence. We also don't capitalize because since it is a continuation of his sentence and not the beginning of a new one.

However, if we want to truly interrupt his second sentence with an action and no attribution at all, we would do it this way:

✅ "You're pushing everyone away"—he took a step toward her—"because you're scared."
❌ "You're pushing everyone away," he took a step toward her, "because you're scared."

It would be wrong in this case to use commas to set off the action because that would essentially be creating a comma splice (two or more separate sentences joined by only a comma, which is incorrect).

I hope this brief guide on how to correctly punctuate dialogue tags has been helpful. But I know it can get tricky sometimes. If you need some help making sure your dialogue is punctuated just right, contact me. I'd be happy to help!​

If you write fiction, then you know that dialogue is an important aspect of your story. Well-written dialogue is arguably the most engaging part of a story for the reader, and it is often the best tool for characterization. 

But did you know that the way you introduce dialogue can either enhance or detract from what the character is actually saying?

What is a dialogue tag?
A dialogue tag, or attribution, is what ties a piece of dialogue to a character. It can come before, during, or after a quotation and tells us who is speaking and how they're speaking. The most common dialogue tags are she said and he asked.

There are many writers who advocate for using said and asked almost exclusively rather than using other verbs like noted, whispered, shouted, posited, cried, muttered, etc. This is because said is virtually invisible to readers. 

There are some good arguments both for and against this preference. On the one hand, limiting the variety of verbs used in dialogue tags keeps the focus on the dialogue itself. It forces the writer to compose better dialogue to convey emotion instead of relying on the tag to do that for them.

On the other hand, using only said does not tell us how the dialogue is being delivered and may lead the writer to rely on adverbs to give us this information. Many writers frown on using too many adverbs, as these can lead to more bland verbs and a penchant for telling rather than showing.

Personally, I think a balance between the two views on dialogue tags is the best approach. Much of the time, you want the tag to remain invisible so your dialogue stands out. But sometimes, you want to convey something about the character with the tag. Does your character just say things, or do they snarl them? And there are certainly times when bellowing or whispering is called for.

A regionalism is a characteristic, usually pertaining to speech, of a geographic area. Most regionalisms that come to mind are differences in vocabulary. This might be pop vs. soda vs. coke or tennis shoe vs. sneaker. But did you know that some regionalisms are grammatical? I recently shared a tip on my social media pages about semicolon usage, and it contained a sentence with a regional grammatical construction that caught a lot of people's attention.

The crucial part of the sentence in question is "the brakes needed replaced." Some people commented that it should have been "the brakes needed to be replaced." I've been doing some research on regional grammatical constructions, and it seems that "needs replaced" is a construction wholeheartedly accepted by some and vehemently rejected by others.

Some researchers at Yale did a study in North America on what they call the need + V-en construction (need followed by a verb with a passive participle ending). In standard English, they say, this construction is deemed unacceptable. Yet they found that pockets of people throughout the US take no issue with this construction at all. You can read the full article on their findings here.

Have a look at their map of average acceptability of the sentence "My car needs fixed." There's also an interactive map at the bottom of the article with more details about the raw data used in their research. The regions where this sentence is fairly or wholeheartedly accepted cover quite a bit of the country, and not all of these areas are contiguous. I notice that Kansas and Northwest Arkansas (where I grew up and where I live now, respectively) are among the regions most accepting of this construction.

The discussion about this particular grammatical regionalism brings up a couple of larger questions: Should regionalisms be excluded from formal writing? And, if a significant portion of a population uses a certain construction, should it still be considered unacceptable? I'm not attempting to answer these questions here, but they are worth thinking about.

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​Language changes constantly. Just last month, Merriam-Webster added over five hundred words to the dictionary to reflect new terms being used in the English lexicon. Not everyone will have heard of all of these words, but enough people are using them that they warrant entries in a prominent dictionary. And I'm willing to bet that not everyone is using these words in the same way.

My point is that there is a difference between how language ought to be used and how language is actually used. In formal writing, those differences matter more. In informal writing, they may not matter as much. Ultimately, it's the writer who gets to decide where each piece of writing falls on that spectrum. 

As a proofreader, it's my job to fix what's wrong—​and leave what's not wrong alone. While some people might not agree with the need + V-en construction, others use it regularly. If something "needs fixed," the "to be" is implied. The truncated construction might be scoffed at by some, but no one is going to misunderstand the sentence.

What about you? If you live in the US, how has your region influenced your acceptance of the need + V-en construction? What about those of you who don't live in the US? Is this construction acceptable in your country or region? Let me know in the comments!

If you want to learn a bit more about regionalisms from an expert, check out Grammar Girl's article here. And if you'd like to have some fun and take a regional dialect quiz, this one shows you a heat map of your personal dialect. (Unsurprisingly, mine was centered around Kansas, as shown above.)