Those !@#$%^&* Dialogue Tags

Expressive, excessive dialogue tags can be bothersome at best, cringeworthy at worst.

fiction, writingLynda DietzJune 27, 2019dialogue, dialogue tags, said

Writing Readable, Believable Dialogue

Written dialogue should sound as natural as spoken dialogue. Why do we make it so difficult for ourselves?

fiction, writingLynda DietzJune 13, 2019dialogue, dialect

What It Really Means to Kill Your Darlings

Sometimes, you have to let go of what’s good to make room for what’s best.

writing, editingLynda DietzMay 30, 2019killing your darlings, rewriting

6 Reasons No One Is Going to Read Your Nonfiction Book

There’s a lot of great information out there, so why is nobody reading your book?

nonfiction, writingLynda DietzMay 16, 2019common problems, writing advice

The Perils of Info Dumps and How to Avoid Them

If you’ve ever read a book that seemed to throw an overabundance of details at you all at once, you’ve most likely experienced an info dump.

writing, fictionLynda DietzMay 2, 2019info dump, editing, writing process

Editing: Good, Fast, Cheap—Choose Any Two

They say you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes, choices need to be made.

editing, pricingLynda DietzApril 18, 2019editing, copyediting, cost of edits, value

Anachronisms: Timing Is Everything

We would no sooner give Cleopatra a can of Coca-Cola than we would have Columbus crossing the seas on an ocean liner. Fiction that's set in our own world—current-day, ancient history, or somewhere between—needs to make sense within the boundaries of that world.