A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

I am a list making, goal setting, day planner kind of girl. I am. I love mapping out a course of action to get everything on my list completed. It dawned on me that next week I will post the first blog entry for the month of October. I am only three months away from my one year anniversary as a blogger. Time to make a list. Time to set some goals. Time to open up the calendar and map out the last three months of 2013. As a result, I have decided to share with you my goals as a writer for the next three months.  It’s a risky proposition. Making my objectives public makes me even more accountable to get the job done. Why write these now? Somehow, I think drafting goals now is even more important and productive than making a set of resolutions at the beginning of the year. The time frame is short. I am more likely to hang in there and finish what I start. Also, without a plan, it would be easy to get caught up in Fall activities, Thanksgiving preparation, and e...

I hope I didn’t shock you with the title. Then again, maybe a little shock treatment is in order. Since I started writing this blog, I have spent considerable time each week studying and learning my craft. It’s a process. Writing is a Learning Process  I read blogs about writing. I take notes from my critique group. I listen carefully to my editor. During the course of the year, I have encountered at least six blogs and had at least three discussions with my fellow writers about words and phrases authors  use that weaken their writing. I have researched the topic and read several good articles on strengthening my writing. I never professed to be a quick learner. A week or so ago, my editor made a note along the side of my manuscript. It read, in effect, never use the word “just.” Avoid it. Just? I knew that. I knew it, I just didn’t put it into practice. Just is a four letter word (literally) that serves onl...

Author Mark Twain “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.”  --Mark Twain I’ve been working with my editor to ready my first novel for publication. Most of my chapters have been around nine or ten pages long. I didn’t really notice chapter length until my editor pointed it out. Then I hit Chapter 11 –no, not financial bankruptcy. If you read my blog last week you may have guessed I am speaking of running out of words. Nope, not that either. This had to do with surplus. This week it was a surplus of words. The overuse of meaningless description. Thirty-three pages of discourse crammed into one chapter. I decided I suffer from a disorder prominent among emergent writers. My name is Rebecca and I am an Over Writer. I can see everything about the story in my mind’s eye and I want to include it all. If my character goes to the store, I feel compelled to tell my reader why she went, how she got there, what sh...