While writing, I would jot down the words I suspected were overused. Then when the draft was done, I would do a search and correct them. [See image] But no more. The dinosaur bought an app. Like many apps, this one will search for those deadly adverbs, the (mostly)...

First, research and create your meaningful character names. Then when you've grown to know and love them, change them. To ease reader confusion, I carefully crafted and differentiated my major characters' names in my first book. Then while working on one of the last...

Revisions can leave some chapters too long or too short. You are welcome to use my method to keep track, called "The Way of the Dinosaur." [Note image of scribbles.] And we all know what happened to those cold-blooded reptiles. The Triassic-Jurassic extinction...

That depends. Is your brain wired for analog or digital? My brain is analog, or dinosaurian. Like some people, I struggle to remember my flashes of inspiration, but unlike most, I don't have opposable thumbs. No! I mean I'm one of the few remaining creatures who...

One day in the life of a self-publisher My debut novel wasn't selling, so I pulled it from the market to gamble time, money, and energy int a revision and a new cover. Today was typical: I contact the new cover artist to say I need more time. He wants the spine width,...

Or: Should I subject my art to deconstruction? My debut novel took me ten years to research, write, and publish. Perhaps its production was like the return of Jesus--taking an awfully long time but appearing at the right moment.  I dunno. What slowed things down (for...

I've written and edited a few million words for Sons of Adamah. (100,000-word doc x 50ish drafts.) A person has to be a bit crazy to do that, no? My creative writing degree required short pieces, so the scale of a novel was daunting. But short pieces or long, showing...

As I lost all self-control in the hotel's buffet room, this quote came to mind: "To win back my youth, Gerald, there is nothing I wouldn't do--except take exercise, get up early, or be a useful member of society. (A Woman of No Importance. Oscar Wilde)Ironically, my...

YOUR EDITOR WILL NOT SAY:

 “Wow, I found nothing wrong with your manuscript. First time ever in the history of editing. Congratulations.”

 “This book has changed my life. Here, let me pay you.”

 “This is Pulitzer material for sure. My eyes are blessed to have seen it.”

 “Get a financial planner to help with that huge advance coming to you.”