It’s All About Writing!

Let the words spill forth and create the story. Check out tips and information from the Dark Oak Press & Media team for ways to improve your writing.

The Beginner’s Guide to Writing for Publication at the Hernando Library

PatSawtelle It's All About Writing!, Movies & Videos

The Beginner’s Guide To Writing for Publication – This 6 part series features authors Kristi Bradley, Pat Sawtelle, and Allan Gilbreath. Recorded live at the Hernando First Regional Library we’ve broken the topic into smaller video segments for you.
Part 1 – Levels of publishing, finish the book before editing, beta readers, and the business of writing.
Part 2 – Tropes, pitches, and hooking the reader.
Part 3 – Great characters.
Part 4 – Data dumping, word choices, and guidelines.
Part 5 – Beta readers and story techniques.
Part 6 – Research and application.
We hope you find our YouTube videos helpful. If you don’t find a topic, post a note about it in the comments.

Don’t forget to Subscribe to the channel and share it with your friends.

It’s All About Writing – Writing a Series and Keeping It Fresh

PatSawtelle It's All About Writing!

Start your New Year with a goal. Write a book series. Authors Pat Sawtelle, Kristi Bradley, and Allan Gilbreath as they cover key things like:

  • Stringing books together
  • Foreshadowing
  • Character traits
  • Genre influence.

Recorded at the Germantown Community Library we encourage you to watch more of our It’s All About Writing Seminars on the Dark Oak Press and Media YouTube channel.

Show Don’t Tell by Kristi Bradley

PatSawtelle It's All About Writing!

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard, “Show don’t tell your story.”

What does that mean?

It means don’t tell us the victim was stabbed, bring her on stage and let the audience hear her scream as the knife slips between her ribs. Another way is to keep adjectives and adverbs (‘ly’ words) to a minimum. Also, do not modify ‘said’ with adverbs. Avoid the word ‘WAS’ and its other forms – am, is, are, will have, have been – as this shows passive voice.

Example:  Instead of – The floor was covered with dirty clothes. Try – I couldn’t see the floor for all the dirty clothes. Avoid the words ‘LOOK’ and ‘FEEL’. Use more powerful words as this is another sign of telling, not showing your story.

Use sensory images, yes, all five senses, when describing the setting. If describing a cave, don’t just tell us it has rocky walls and cold air, but have your character touch the wall – is it covered in moss? Is slime flowing in rivulets? Does her breath fog on her exhalation? Don’t overwhelm the reader with too much description either, sometimes less is more. Find a happy medium.

Avoid clichés – use good comparisons for your metaphors. Vary sentence structure to avoid monotony. Shorter, choppier sentences help draw out suspense and create tension. Good grammar can slow a sentence down. Sometimes writers make mistakes on purpose to make the sentence resonate. Don’t use dialogue for conveying information dumps. Yes, dialogue can give information, but it should not feel like a description. Don’t be afraid to use contractions. People speak in contractions, so your writing needs to show that, too. Language matters. How it happened means turning the action into words the reader will be able to translate and see in their head as if watching a movie. Punctuation matters. It could be the life or death of a sentence. Grab a copy of Eat, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss for your punctuation questions.

Crafting Compelling Characters by Kristi Bradley

PatSawtelle It's All About Writing!

Create your characters with care, know and understand them as you do yourself. You should know their deepest and darkest, how they would react to any given situation. Give depth by instilling strengths and weaknesses. Make them a big hot mess. Perhaps your main character is a cat burglar with a soft spot for felines, using the proceeds from her crimes to finance a cat shelter. Maybe the cop on her trail can’t believe a sweet girl-next-door type could commit the crimes, blinding him to the truth.

For every three strengths, give a weakness. Even Superman had a weakness. What is your character’s Kryptonite?

What’s the Difference in Writer’s Group, Critique Groups, and Beta Readers? by Kristi Bradley

PatSawtelle It's All About Writing!

A good writer’s group should inspire the craft of writing and encourage and assist each member toward the goal of publication through programming and member activities. These groups range in size from a handful of members to hundreds of members.

Critique groups are smaller than writer’s groups, usually four to five people maximum. They trade chapters and give comments and feedback about plot, characterization, lack of content, and violations of Point of View. Be willing to take criticism, but if you leave your group feeling defeated after every meet, you might be in the wrong group. When offering a critique, give two to three good points before dropping the bomb. Never make someone feel bad for what they’ve written. Always find ways to encourage and help them improve. If you don’t feel you’re getting this from your critique group, it might be time to move on.

Beta Readers usually read the finished story before sent to the publisher. They can indicate where chapters bog down, where they got confused and had to reread a section and indicate if something is unbelievable. They get to know the characters and advise if they are likable, or even acting out of ‘character.’ Be sure to choose a Beta Reader that reads the genre you write.