‘Was’ can be a very useful verb, but not a dynamic one. Often it can be replaced with something more vivid.
But Jill and Gena, sometimes a thing just was.
You’re absolutely right! That’s why our advice is to PRESS but not OBSESS. When you can replace it with something stronger, do. If it works in the sentence and conveys the message you want, don’t. And don’t spend hours and hours trying to find a way to replace a word your readers will spend a millisecond reading.
We were writing. → We wrote.
Not a big difference, right? But what happens when the was/were -ing construction is prevalent throughout your entire manuscript? You can lose a sense of immediacy and action.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TEN of your novel.
Day 320
Titles
The title of your book is important. A good title can spur the imagination of readers and garner sells before anyone even knows what the book is about. And if not, it enhances your cover or your killer tagline. (More on taglines later!)
GENA: One of my most memorable and beloved titles is Alice In Zombieland. With the title alone, readers are able to guess what kind of story they’ll be getting: a paranormal/zombie tale inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. But I also have titles like The Darkest Night. Not the most original title, and it doesn’t tell you much about the story (except that it’s dark) yet it works because it fits within a series name that does tell you the kind of story you’re getting: Lords of the Underworld.
JILL: Sometimes it’s just a tweak to a title that makes a difference. At first, Sharing the Darkness was the title given to my second Harlequin Blaze, but taking off the “ing” felt more right and Share The Darkness it became (soon to be rereleased as Sworn to Protect).
There might come a point where you’ll need to tweak a title to fit a season. My first book Never Naughty Enough was originally titled When She Was Bad, but when the publication date moved to December, my editor suggested I brainstorm titles with the word “naughty” in it.
Your assignment: Red and edit CHAPTER ELEVEN of your novel.
Bonus assignment: Make a list of 5 titles for your book—at least!—ensuring each one reflects a different aspect of your novel. In the end, you’ll only acquire one title, yes, but sometimes it takes work to come up with THE ONE. When you give yourself multiple options, you can mix and match different parts of them until you find your winner.
Day 321
Taglines
Some book covers have taglines while others display blurbs from bestselling authors. For new authors, snagging a blurb from a best seller might be difficult. A tagline of your own might be your best bet. The thing to remember? A tagline serves a single purpose: to tempt the reader into picking up or out your book.
These taglines should be short and punchy and fit the tone of your book. Think about your hooks, tropes and themes. What is the WOW factor that sells your book? Build your tagline around it.
GENA: In my opinion, one of my best taglines is on the cover of The Evil Queen. It is: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who will perish when I call?
Since the book is a Little Snow White retelling, I twisted the infamous line about the “mirror on the wall” to fit my equally twisted story.
JILL: Both The Naked Truth and Naked Pursuit were part of the Wrong Bed series from Harlequin Blaze. Wrong Bed tells you everything.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWELVE of your novel.
Bonus assignment: Write 5 possible taglines for your book.
Day 322
Reflect and Catch Up
Words matter. I know this seems obvious, but after as many books as I've written, I still find myself reaching for the easy and lazy (yes, I said lazy) adjective instead of something that relates to the story, that brings it alive. Words that mean something to those characters in that situation. Don't be generic!!
–Bestselling author Alison Kent
Day 323
Grammar Basics: Dynamic Verbs
There are two kinds of verbs. (1) Dynamic—the action verbs. They are the things we do, or things that happen, and they can be used in simple, perfect or progressive forms. And (2) stative—the non-action verbs, in an unchanging state, and they can be used in simple and perfect form only.
Dynamic:
The cat is biting my hand. (progressive)
The cat bites my hand. (simple)
The cat bit my hand. (perfect)
Stative:
I love you.
I recognize your face.
I own a stable of book boyfriends.
Verbs can be present or past tense. Just make sure you don’t accidentally shift tenses in your narrative.
Example: Gena typed her book and bows.
Typed is past tense. Bows is present tense.
The is/was/are/were sentence construction is popular because it can be easy, but too many of these in the narrative can come off sounding vague and boring. This can be a hint that you need to rewrite using more dynamic verbs.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER SIXTEEN of your novel.
Day 324
Instead of said
The word “said” can be an awesome dialogue tag, because it’s often invisible to readers. “At the same time, it tells them who is speaking, without interrupting the flow of your story,” Gena said.
But, sometimes the word “said” doesn’t convey the proper emotion, and you need to go a different route. Here are some options:
Rasped
Croaked
Whispered
Lamented
Vowed/Pleaded/Begged
Screamed/Bellowed/Yelled/Shouted
Snapped
Snarled
Growled
Babbled
Blurted
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER FOURTEEN of your novel.
Day 325
No Need to Rhyme All the Time
Rhymes can be distracting in fiction, especially if you are a poet and didn’t even know it.
She walked out the door, her muscles sore.
He bought a pack of cards to play in his yard.
They ate a steak, and it was great.
Personally, we prefer to keep rhyming sentences to a minimum.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER FIFTEEN of your novel.
Bonus assignment: As you edit, take a second look at any sentences that rhyme. Reading your manuscript out loud or having your computer read it really helps with this task.
Day 326
Grammar Basics: Adverbs
Adverbs get a bad rap, but shouldn’t. Just don’t overuse them, and you’ll be fine. And always double check to make sure you aren’t using your adverbs as shortcuts to tell your story versus show the action. Let the reader experience the tale alongside the characters.
Using an adverb: She walked quietly.
Using a stronger verb: She tiptoed. She crept. She skirted.
Tiptoed, crept and skirted are much stronger images.
However, a more dynamic verb is not always needed or necessary. Sometimes, they can weaken or dilute the message behind your sentence.
She sang her songs with a beautiful voice. Versus: She sang beautifully.
He skittered his fingers over the lace. Versus: He lightly traced the lace.
Always ask yourself if a change improves your writing, or complicates it. On the other hand, it never hurts to vary the very.
If you’ve used the word “very,” consider tweaking the sentence to remove.
Very quiet = silent
Very fast = warp speed
Very hot = sexy
Other likely culprits in need of adjusting include “really,” “exactly,” and “finally.” When needed, challenge yourself to find more a dynamic verb to replace a verb/adverb combination.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER THIRTEEN of your manuscript.
Day 327
Let’s Agree On It
Make sure your subject and verb agree in number. If the subject is singular, then the verb must be.
Example:
The cats purr. (Plural)
The cat purrs. (Singular)
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER SEVENTEEN of your novel.
Day 328
How Many Spaces After a Period? AKA Jill IS RIGHT
Some say there should be one space after a period (Jill.). Some people are correct and say two spaces after a period. (Gena.)
GENA: Jill would be right if she wasn’t completely wrong. Fine! When my publisher reformats my books, they always delete one of the spaces after my periods. But I was taught to put two spaces, and now when I type the muscle memory in my fingers forces me to add the spaces without conscious thought. I’m helpless to change it. Helpless, I tell you!
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER EIGHTEEN of your novel. Do you need to double up your chapters to finish your first round of editing within the next 12 days?
Note from Jill: Please notice how many spaces come after the periods in this novel. Jill right, Gena wrong.
Day 329
Reflect and Catch Up
Grow thick skin. There, likely, will be rejections. Lots of them. Even if you are that rare gifted and lucky author who writes a masterpiece the first time you put pen to paper and it immediately sells, there will be reviews. Taste is subjective. One reader's 5 star manna is another reader's 1 star no thanks. Sometimes the comments can border on almost being cruel or leave you wondering if they even read your book as what they're saying doesn't mesh with what you wrote. Rejects? Bad reviews? Just keep writing those emotion-filled stories and moving forward one word after the next. Keep putting yourself out there and listen to advice, take what will make you a better writer, and chuck what tears your voice down. Did I mention to just keep writing?
–Bestselling author Janice Lynn
Day 330
Fragments and Run-Ons
Fragments. They are...incomplete. Incomplete thoughts.
Run-on sentences go on and on and on and on, much like this sentence is doing right now, and I bet you would rather be doing anything else than reading more of this nonsense that just won’t stop. Both serve a purpose. Yep. They do. Just don’t forget that they usually work best in moderation.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER NINETEEN of your novel.
Day 331
Grammar Basics–What’s With the Dot Dot Dot?
Most fiction writers use ellipses (...) to indicate a trailing thought or dialogue. In the past, this was formatted with a space . . . and another space, but ebooks changed things. Typically, ellipses are now formatted with no space, as if it’s all one thought—
I couldn’t believe it...I just couldn’t.
—or a space after the ellipses when the next sentence is a different thought.
I couldn’t believe it… No. I wouldn't think about it.
Most writers we know love em dashes (—). Em dashes take the place of a comma when the author wants a stronger break.
Sometimes people will confuse the em dash and the en dash (-). An en dash is a replacement for the word “through,” like when you are using dates.
Example: January 1-31, 2025 will be the time to focus.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY of your novel. Only ten more to go after this, unless you have more than 30 chapters and need to double up.
Day 332
Next Time
Now that you’ve finished a rough draft, you should have the confidence to do it again. And again. And again.
What writing exercises worked for you? How can you apply those skills to your second novel?
For that matter, have you begun to think about what you’ll write about next? A sequel or a standalone? Do you want to try a different genre now?
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE of your novel.
Day 333
Make This Funnier
GENA: “Make this funnier” is a comment I’ve received during the editing process. Jill, too. It forces us to take another look at a comedic line and polish it until it sparkles.
Are there any lines in your story that you need to make funnier?
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO of your novel.
Day 334
Dig Deeper
Double check your emotion driven scenes. Do the emotions crackle off the page? Can you feel what your characters feel, or do you need to dig deeper into your well? Did you kill a character at the end? Make sure the death resonates.
GENA: I’ve killed off a lot of characters. What? I like to make readers cry. I use reminders of words and actions from past scenes to deepen the sense of loss. I also add reminders about something the character wanted but will now never receive.
Example: In The Evil Queen, the heroine and her sister enjoy playing the anti-joke game.
What is blue and smells like paint? Blue paint.
The novel is peppered with these anti-jokes. As the sister is dying, she tells the heroine, “How do you know I lived a good life? Because I lived it with you.”
That bit of dialogue harkened back to their favorite game, reminding readers of their incredible bond. It deepened the loss. Evil? Yes. But also fun.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE of your novel.
Day 335
Anticlimactic
Ever read a book or watched a movie, your excitement building... then you reach the moment where everything comes together and you just feel let down? Chances are good the climax didn’t live up to the series of events that lead up to it.
As you are reading the ending scenes of your novel, remember how your story began, the main characters’ SEARCH and RANGE, and make sure the climax is worthy of them. Only then will it be satisfying.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR of your novel.
Day 336
Reflect and Catch Up
I made this goal that I’d be published by the time I was thirty. Looking back now, I realize I’d set myself up for failure because that dream wasn’t fully in my hands.
This was before the wonderful rise of self-publishing, so I could put myself in the position to be published, but not truly make it happen.
I’m not sure why I latched onto thirty, but I do know it became my safety net—if I didn’t get published by 30, I had an excuse to quit trying.
Have you worked up a safety net excuse? See if one of these fits:
I don’t have the skills.
I don’t know how to start.
No one believes in me.
It’s too late.
With All Write Already, our goal was to help you battle against those excuses. It will never be too late. Toni Morrison didn’t publish her first book, The Bluest Eye, until she was forty, and later won a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize. Julia Child didn’t pen her cookbook until the age of fifty.
Goals can change over time, but please don’t let your dream of holding your book in your hands die before giving it a shot!
–Bestselling Author Jill Monroe
Day 337
Are We There Yet?
You’ve written a satisfying climax. Your characters have faced and conquered their fears. Does your ending stay true to genre expectations, or do you have a logical reason for going a different route?
GENA: If I haven’t overshot my word count goal and I don’t plan on writing an epilogue, I like to prove my characters can sustain a happily ever after before the big climax. That way, if the story is strongest ending right after the climax, I can end it right after the climax.
Your assignment: Read and edit CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE of your novel.
Day 338
Colon Versus Semicolon
A colon is used when something is meant to follow it: a list, a quote etc.
All Write Already: Year Of Your Book Page 25