By Erin Bauer
I just renewed my membership with RWA for the first time. An easy choice, when I think of all the wonderful advice I’ve picked up at meetings and conferences over the past year. Here’s a list of the top ten tips:
1. Find the material that showcases your voice best. Don’t change or repress your individual voice – find the right frame for it. (Jane Porter)
2. Look for a critique partner who’s good at the things you’re weak at. (Tessa Dare)
3. Writer’s block is a step in the natural growth of an author, the process of gaining new mastery. Authors who work through their writer’s block think they are better writers when they get to the other side. (Dennis Palumbo)
4. Novelty is not the selling point of your book. It might catch someone’s attention but it won’t keep their attention. (Zoe Archer)
5. Every scene must have a goal. (Carol Hughes)
6. Dialogue is faster paced than narrative. Don’t bog down a conversation too much with musings or unimportant actions. Important details about where your characters are and what they are wearing go before or after. (Joan Johnston)
7. Think of characters and setting like an iceberg. Only 10% of what you know about them may show in the book, but you need the other 90% in your mind. (Terry Irene Blaine)
8. Adverbs allow you to be lazy when choosing verbs. When an adverb crops up in your writing, locate the verb it modifies and try to think of a different word that conveys just the right meaning. (Anne Frazier Walradt)
9. Take the tangent. If your story veers off in an unexpected direction, find out where it’s going. (Leanne Banks)
10. Readers may love or loathe a character that is done right. Indifference is the response you should worry about. (Tessa Dare)
Author Bio
Author Bio
Marianne H. Donley writes short stories, funny romances, and quirky murder mysteries. She also owns and manages the multi-author blog, A Slice of Orange. Marianne makes her home in Tennessee with her husband, son, and a really sweet, bad dog. She is a member of Bethlehem Writers Group, Music City Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Charmed Writers. You can follow Marianne’s various social media here: https://linktr.ee/mariannehdonley
-
That’s right, not a fairy tale, a Tale Faery. A genuine hetero, cis Tale Faery. We’re rare.
It started with dragonflies on a magic summer day in Gainesville Florida. One of those 100+ degree, 100+% humidity (seriously, a clear blue sky supersaturated with humidity, a state of dew), my five-year-old daughter and I rode our bikes around a swamp, and I discovered what faeries are.
-
By Erin BauerI just renewed my membership with RWA for the first time. An easy choice, when I think of all the wonderful advice I’ve picked up at meetings and conferences over the past year. Here’s a list of the top ten tips:1. Find the material that showcases your voice best. Don’t change or repress […]
-
By Erin BauerI just renewed my membership with RWA for the first time. An easy choice, when I think of all the wonderful advice I’ve picked up at meetings and conferences over the past year. Here’s a list of the top ten tips:1. Find the material that showcases your voice best. Don’t change or repress […]
-
By Erin BauerI just renewed my membership with RWA for the first time. An easy choice, when I think of all the wonderful advice I’ve picked up at meetings and conferences over the past year. Here’s a list of the top ten tips:1. Find the material that showcases your voice best. Don’t change or repress […]
-
By Erin BauerI just renewed my membership with RWA for the first time. An easy choice, when I think of all the wonderful advice I’ve picked up at meetings and conferences over the past year. Here’s a list of the top ten tips:1. Find the material that showcases your voice best. Don’t change or repress […]
ONCE AROUND THE SUN
$14.95eBook: $3.99
Stories about winter, spring, summer and fall, and seasons of life, seasons of love, and even seasons of discovery.
More info →
UNTETHERED: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF THE PARANORMAL
$17.95
Stoke the campfire and get ready for some chills and goosebumps when you open this paranormal addition to the award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group’s “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” anthologies.
More info → 
FUR, FEATHERS AND SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales
So cuddle up with your favorite pet-real or imaginary. No matter. You’ll find just the right story to share.
More info → 
AN ELEMENT OF MYSTERTY: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF INTRIGUE
$17.99eBook: 99¢
Dare you read our latest
Sweet, Funny, and Strange® Anthology?
×
Marianne H. Donley writes short stories, funny romances, and quirky murder mysteries. She also owns and manages the multi-author blog, A Slice of Orange. Marianne makes her home in Tennessee with her husband, son, and a really sweet, bad dog. She is a member of Bethlehem Writers Group, Music City Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Charmed Writers. You can follow Marianne’s various social media here: https://linktr.ee/mariannehdonley
Latest Posts
Featured Books
THE PERFECT MURDER
Reese and his brothers must track down the truth before the body count gets any higher.
More info →
ILONA’S WOLF
Imagine a world filled with magic, a tormented knight, a damsel in distress, an evil sorcerer...
More info → 
Great post Erin – thanks – I'm saving it!