About This Writing Thing

Some explicit language is included in this episode.

Disclaimers:

I am now offering LINE EDITING services, not developmental editing services. I don't know why my brain ceases to function when I hit record!

Also, because I am rambling a bit in this episode I want to clear up a couple of things that may be unclear:

1) When speaking about social media followers: I think it is important, as writers, for us to build and be a part of a strong and supportive writing community. I love the writing community on Twitter because there are so many wonderfully supportive members who strive to help other writers. On both Twitter and Instagram I follow back writers/authors who follow me. However, I do unfollow those writers who unfollow me. Mostly because we were only connected due to a mutual follow back. I'm not on social media to up my numbers, and I'm certainly not there to up anyone else's. I have 1700 followers on Twitter and most of them are writers. I am so grateful to be connected with every single one.

2) I do not mean to accuse the unnamed writer of plagiarism. What I meant to say is there are a number of coincidences that seem uncanny. That being said, I think if there was any sort of borrowing from the smaller author it was unintentional. Perhaps the bigger author read the "smaller" author's book because it was the same subject matter and some of those details subconsciously made it into the bigger author's book. As a side note: I think it sucks that the earlier published author is being overshadowed.

3) When I mention the editor not stopping the repetition in the book I recently started reading, I meant pointing it out and suggesting heavily that the author remove it. Seriously, repetition of this type slows your narrative down and should be avoided. Literary and upmarket writers (hand raised) often use repetition as a stylistic choice, but it isn't to remind the reader how many years (35 times in 10 pages!) the MC has been away from home.

Do you refer to yourself as an "aspiring" writer/author? Stop it!

This week I'm talking about a few things that we really need to stop doing in the writing community. First and foremost, stop minimizing what you're doing. If you're writing creative works you are not aspiring, you are writing. Want to write faster? We've all seen those videos and heard the spiel, right? I've got the answer in this episode!

**I say YouTube podcast in this episode. Sometimes my words don't work well. I meant, of course, YouTube video**

Thanks for listening!

After reading Chuck Palahnuik's article Nuts and Bolts: "Thought" Verbs on Lit Reactor I knew I was in trouble! Time to eliminate those "thought" verbs from my narrative.