Tag: grammar

He Said/ She Sighed Part 3 – Enough Already!

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Catherine Austen

Here’s one last rant sparked by a “how to write fiction” book that advised using “said/say” as the only dialogue verb (as in, “‘I spent thirty dollars on jelly beans at Mont Tremblant this weekend,’ she said.”) (That is a true statement, sadly. They fool you with the… Continue Reading “He Said/ She Sighed Part 3 – Enough Already!”

Category: authors, friday form, writingTags: adverbs, creative process, dialogue, grammar, revising, writing, writing tips

He Said/She Sighed Part 2

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Catherine Austen

4 Comments

I grabbed twenty books from the living room shelf, opened each to a random page, and checked out all the verbs used in dialogue. And here is what I learned: Almost all the authors used a simple “said” at least half the time. But… Continue Reading “He Said/She Sighed Part 2”

Category: friday form, writingTags: dialogue, editing, grammar, revising, rules of writing

He Said/She Sighed – Part One

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Catherine Austen

11 Comments

I dislike lists of rules for writing fiction. There are many good writers whose work I can’t stand. And many books I’ve loved that were obviously flawed. I would not advise anyone to make a paint-by-number novel. Big picture rules are good, like: A… Continue Reading “He Said/She Sighed – Part One”

Category: friday form, writingTags: creative writing, dialogue, editing, grammar

Suddenly a blog post

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Catherine Austen

6 Comments

“World is suddener than we fancy it.” (Louis MacNiece, “Snow”) We’ve long been warned not to build tension on the cheap by spattering our manuscripts with the word “suddenly.” Lately I’ve read a few posts advising writers not to use the word at all… Continue Reading “Suddenly a blog post”