Monthly Archives: May 2019

Originally posted on Polishing Your Prose:
On May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, declared Decoration Day as a time for the nation to honor…

Tenth element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) FINAL WORDS Time and Distance Do you give yourself time away from your work—do you give yourself distance—before rereading, revising, and … Continue reading →

Ninth element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) KILL YOUR DARLINGS “Kill your darlings” does not mean you have to kill off your favorite characters (although it may). This … Continue reading →

Seventh element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) PLOT This, too, may seem self-evident, but I assure you, for some authors it is not: A plot should be logical, … Continue reading →

Sixth element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) CHARACTERS Create three-dimensional characters; avoid stereotypes and cartoon characters. I know this may seem self-evident, but all too often I see … Continue reading →

Fifth element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) POINT OF VIEW Point of View (POV) confounds many writers, but it is critical to a story, so you as writers … Continue reading →

Fourth element in this series: Kill Your Darlings: The Art of Revision(Please read the Introduction, if you haven’t already.) NARRATIVE MODE Narrative Modes: first person, second person, third person. Most fiction is written in third-person (he, she, they, them), but … Continue reading →