Editing hurts. Yes. It hurts when someone cuts your words, rearranges your sentences, deletes your creative use of language, etc. It hurts. The first thing a writer has to do is leave their ego at the door. Most writers write with passion and passion doesn't always reflect good grammar or proper use of punctuation. I recently edited for the CEO of a large corporation. She was taken aback by my edits and questioned if she wanted someone cutting her writing up like I did. But, while she might be a great CEO, her grammar, word choices and sentence structure were lacking. Most people, when writing with passion, give little thought to how their words are put together. The words spill out with feeling while grammar is laid aside. And that's ok. That's actually how it should be. We should write with passion.....then hire a good editor to make our points flow well and be cohesive. We editors make your passion shine by clothing your writing in easy-to-read prose with good ...

That. It's nearly an enemy to an editor. When we talk, we use "that" as a transition word to help us keep our thoughts flowing while we talk. It gives us a chance to pause and think while we are speaking. "That" keeps a listener engaged because it lends anticipation to our speech, whether used in a conversation or a formal speech. It's true for any level of speech and perfectly acceptable. The opposite is true when writing. "That" is by far the word I delete most often. It's totally unnecessary in most writings and should be eliminated 90% of the time. The remaining 10% tells you it shouldn't be completely eliminated from all writings. Using it sparingly is key. Here's a relevant example. In the sentence above, I said,  "The remaining 10% tells you it shouldn't be completely eliminated from all writings."  The vast majority of people would write,  "The remaining 10% tells you that it shouldn't...

My 20-year-old son, a graduate of our home school, is in college and he recently turned in a first draft paper to one professor, the final draft being due the following week. He expected a vast number of notes and things he had to change before his final draft. Instead, the professor suggested he move a few sentences around, made no corrections and told my son it was basically ready to be the final draft. My son was stunned. I gave him a fist bump and said, "You're welcome!" He looked at me curiously and I explained, "I made you diagram sentences in middle school, remember? This is the pay off. You're welcome." He went on to say that when he's writing his papers for school, he's constantly analyzing his sentences, almost automatically. I told him, "This is memory muscle. It was ingrained in you, through diagramming sentences, to analyze and weigh each word and how it fits into your writing." Folks, make your kids diagram sentenc...

What is content marketing? Simply put, it's marketing your content....putting your content, the information you produce, out in the world for potential readers to see. You are marketing your content. This can be easier said than done. I briefly cover content marketing in my ebook, Writing for Publicaation , available here . In the ebook, I share that it's important to not only market your content, but brand yourself in your market. You are giving content to sell a brand....and that brand is you, but you're marketing your content, not yourself. Market your writing, not your personality. Use your personality as a marketing tool, but don't market it as the brand. People can get tired of you, but they will never tire of relevant, consistent information which helps them succeed. For more, be sure to read the ebook so you can be on your way to e-publishing success.  You can do this! Write often. Write well. Just write. ~Tricia

Happy New Year! It's always exciting to begin a new year. With the anticipation of all that 2016 can hold for you, make this the year you finally write that novel, memoir, short story, poem or e-book. This is your year to get published and I wrote a book designed to help you do just that. Writing for Publication is now available in paperback, in addition to the e-book. Writing for Publication is a simple, easy-to-read, comprehensive handbook on how to write for publication. In it, you'll learn why you shouldn't write the same way you talk, how to keep your audience in mind while writing, why grammar is so important and much, much more. My writing style is to the point with no frills. Just the facts. Just the plan. Just the way you like it. My students get published. As a personal writing coach, I've helped an 87-year-old great grandmother get published for the first time. I coached a 14-year-old girl who won the school writing contest she entered. I coach...

I started writing early in life. As a child, I wrote long, elaborate stories while sitting in a hollow tree down by the creek and it was an absolute escape for me. But, it never occurred to me to share that writing with anyone else. I did writing assignments in school with gusto and always got good grades on them, but it still didn't occur to me to write something that anyone else would want to read. My teachers had assigned the writing, so it was their demand I wrote for. I didn't write anything for anyone other than my teachers and myself to read. Then I got to college and a professor at Summit University (then Baptist Bible College of PA), Glenn Crabb, changed my life. I wrote a paper for his class and I not only got an A on the paper, he wrote a note in red at the top. He simply said, "Reading your writing is just like talking to you. You should write." I was not used to receiving compliments. His words astounded me, but it took years before I had the ner...

We all talk funny. The English language is full of idioms and words with double meanings. Different parts of the country use words differently as well. When we write for publication, however, we are writing for a much broader audience than most of us talk to. If we publish a blog post, it has potential to be read across the world, not just by the people in our state or county here in the USA. In light of this, I teach my writing students to never write how they talk. We have to write in a more uniform way in order to be understood by the most readers. We don't want our readers to have to work at reading our writing; it needs to flow effortlessly. If you write how you talk, it will not flow effortlessly for the reader, even if it seems to for you as the writer. The bottom line is that writing for publication means you write for others, not yourself. Your motivation does not have to change, you can still get your point across, but you need to do it in the best way possible. H...

I haven't posted on my writer's blog for nearly a month. That is very irresponsible, but I do have a good reason. After the busy holiday time, one of our sons and his wife came to visit us for 2 solid weeks! So, I was busy hanging out with them and didn't do much blogging. I love family time and it's a high priority in my life. I did do some writing while they visited, though. I posted on one of my other blogs and also sold an article to Regular Baptist Press . I've been a regular, contributing writer for RBP for over 25 years now. My break from blogging is over, however, so I'm back at it today with a plan to continue. One of the things I love about blogging is that it can be made to fit any schedule. That works for me. During this brief break from blogging, I continued to read, write and think about my writing projects. Thinking is one of the most critical parts of my personal writing process. I can think about an article, project or e-book so much th...

I've recently stepped up a major writing project that I've been working on in a slower mode for the past couple of years. In my efforts to be accurate and remain true to my topic, I have found myself reviewing ancient writings of different theologians of days past for historical input. One such writer, Theodoret of Cyrus, lived from 393 - 460 A.D. My project is summed up here and here . Imagine his writings still being read today, over 1,500 years later! The power of the written word should not be underestimated. The Bible, much of it written long before this man's writings, is still the most-read book in all of history. What you write today matters. It matters to today's audience and will matter in the audience of generations to come. So, write. Write often. Write well. Just write. ~Tricia

Maybe, just maybe, you need to fail more as a writer. I read this blog post today, 9 Famous Authors Rejected by Publishers , and realized that all the great ones fail, and they usually fail more than once. Read for yourself and find out the astonishing number of times C.S. Lewis was rejected before he was published. I dare you to keep failing again and again. Fail your way to sure success. You're in good company ~Tricia

Do you learn something as a writer every single day? I try to. I subscribe to a number of writing blogs as well as writing websites and try to learn from these other authors every day as part of my overall business plan. Today, I found this article, 5 Mistakes I've Made in Writing by Frank Viola to be very helpful as well as familiar. I've taught these things in my writing workshops and seminars. Read the article and learn what Frank Viola, and I, have learned from decades of being writers. Happy Writing. ~Tricia

I'm on a vacation of sorts. I'm in GA with one of my daughters. She's about to have a baby, it's #2 for her, and I came down to help. But, I've been here a week and no baby yet. I have another week till I need to go home, so I'm hoping baby makes an appearance today or tomorrow so that I get some quality time with the new wee one. In the meantime, I'm not posting much since I'm spending my days with my daughter and her little girl, an active and delightful 2-year-old. But, I'm still writing! I've made written notes and made plans for future projects as I take a break from my normal routine. Also, I wrote a successful pitch this past week for an idea I've had floating around in my head for a few months. It was a successful pitch because it got enough attention where I sent it to garner a direct, personal response, which prompted a meeting. My first response was an automated response. My second, because I sent a second pitch to get their ...