The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Writing Skills

4 Life Principles I Learned as a Marine – Part 2

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blog title imageToday continues my 4-part series on principles I learned as a Marine that can be applied to our lives and to our work as writers. Click Teamwork to read part 1.

Marines have the well-earned the reputation of being the toughest fighting force of the US. Hard work, not laziness, laid the foundation.

Boot camp was grueling. Day after day we drilled, ran, and marched for hours under the unforgiving summer heat of Parris Island, South Carolina. Would my muscles ever stop aching?

I realized the full extent of the physical change I had undergone at boot camp only after I came home on leave (that’s military speak for vacation) after boot camp graduation. The daily physical demands of training had [Read more…] about 4 Life Principles I Learned as a Marine – Part 2

4 Life Principles I Learned as a US Marine

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blog image titleI’m celebrating a birthday today—the 240th birthday of the US Marine Corps. Yes, the Marine Corps really is one year older than the United States. Today is also an anniversary of sorts for me. On Nov. 10, 1977, I was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

I never realized how much I learned about life by being a Marine until one day when [Read more…] about 4 Life Principles I Learned as a US Marine

One Stop For Writers: An Online Library Unlike Any Other

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Every once in a while, something comes along that changes things for the better.

We all know just how much sweat, courage, and persistence it takes to write a book and then release it into the world. So having the right tools at our fingertips is wonderful.

Today I’m pointing you toward a new website I hope will help writers brainstorm stronger characters, craft deeper, more compelling plots, and teach us how to be more effective with our description so we draw readers in. [Read more…] about One Stop For Writers: An Online Library Unlike Any Other

How to Use Readability Statistics to Improve Your Manuscript

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As writers, we all know how important it is to make our story as strong as possible. We also know that we each have our specific weaknesses in writing.

Maybe for you that weakness is grammar, or spelling, or passive voice.

Maybe you are too wordy.

Today, I’m going to show you how to use MS Word’s readability statistics to help clean up those kinds of errors.  [Read more…] about How to Use Readability Statistics to Improve Your Manuscript

How to Write a Book Proposal: Advice from 3 Experts

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Book proposal acceptedDo you want to get published? Then learning how to write a book proposal that captures the editor is essential.

I’m not an expert on book proposals, but here are three people who are and their advice on writing book proposals.

Michael Hyatt is a best selling author and [Read more…] about How to Write a Book Proposal: Advice from 3 Experts

Those Pesky Dialogue Tags

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dialog 2Oh those pesky dialogue tags.

Said.

Asked.

Replied.

Responded.

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there on what to use.

What’s a writer to do?

In the multitude of manuscripts I read, I see writers employ such things as “Sally smiled” or “Gerald laughed.” In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when the writer uses it as a substitute for “she said” and suddenly the character is constantly smiling or laughing.

Generally, a reader needs to have an identifier every 4-5 lines of dialogue in order to stay on track with who is speaking. So a tag isn’t required every time someone speaks (but I’ve seen writers do just that).

Let’s look at an alternative to the dialogue tag. [Read more…] about Those Pesky Dialogue Tags

Why Write for Periodicals?

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Last week I posted the submission guidelines to 6 magazines. I do this on a regular basis. Why? Because writing for periodicals is one of the best ways to hone your writing skills.

Today’s guest, multi-published author Ava Pennington, has a great deal of expertise in this area and is here today to discuss 6 reasons why you should write for periodicals.

Why Write for Periodicals?

By Ava Pennington [Read more…] about Why Write for Periodicals?

When Effect Comes Before Cause

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two men fightingWhile reading a book, have you ever found yourself saying There’s something wrong with that sentence, but I can’t quite figure out what?

Do you stop to figure out what’s wrong or just keep reading? I’m guilty of doing both, depending on the circumstances of the moment. Of course, if I’m editing a manuscript, I stop to figure it out.

Today, let’s take a look at what might be the problem. [Read more…] about When Effect Comes Before Cause