• Delete redundancies
A redundancy exists when the modifying words aren’t needed because they say exactly what the word being modified implies. For example, “rich heiress” is redundant as an heiress by definition is rich.
• Strengthen writing by deleting adverbs
• Tighten writing by not countersinking
• Don’t shrug off this bad writing habit
• ‘Murder your darlings’ to better engage readers
To engage your readers – whether writing fiction or nonfiction – you’ll need to be utterly ruthless with your own words. In short, you’ll need to “murder your darlings.”
• Tighten writing by cutting begin fallacy
One way to tighten your writing is to eliminate the begin fallacy. This occurs when the writer introduces an action to the reader by saying “began to,” as in “My nerves began to calm.”
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.
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