I love writing. I love teaching. I love teaching writing. I love listening to writers talk about their manuscripts. I love problem solving with writers. I love the delicacy and boldness of writing. These tips are things I’ve learned over the years that have held me in good stead and kept me going through the hard dry times. I hope they help you.

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Writing Tip #17-Counterintuitive edits

When my students are writing in the first person or close third, I often circle these verbs: felt/feel, see/saw, think/thought and ask them, “Do you need to use these verbs, if we are already in the main character’s point of view?” Oddly, these verbs can be distancing if we are already in a characters head. It feels risky to take them out. Like maybe the reader won’t know who is thinking, seeing or feeling. They will. If you have created a story in which the reader is fused with your main character, you can let go of these distancing verbs.