That Sounds Familiar: Cut Often-Used Words in Your Writing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It takes a lot of work to write well, and sometimes we go for what's easiest instead of what's original. 

During the drafting stage of a manuscript, some phrases and combinations of words tend to roll off our fingers and into our stories because they're easy. These phrases aren’t clichés, per se, but they’ve been used so often by enough writers that they carry the same feeling as a cliché when readers read them.

• Beamed a smile
• Cacophony of sound
• Shrugged a shoulder
• Hair flowed down her back
• Any kind of glow from any kind of light
• Releasing a breath you didn't realize you were holding

They also tend to sound “right” to us, and that's the problem. 

We automatically use them without thinking, and that robs us of the chance to write something unique to our voice and style.

What's the Best Way to Tell (and Write) a Story?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Storytelling is more than just well-written prose.

No matter what anyone tells you, there is no "right way to write." It’s a process that varies from writer to writer and even book to book. What works for one writer doesn't always work for another, and might even squash their ability to write at all.

Which really stinks if you’re just starting out and looking for the right path to take, or you’ve been struggling to develop your storytelling style and nothing seems to fit you. 

It's a pain for all of us, really, because even if we do have a process that works for us, there’s always that one story idea that doesn’t fit with how we usually write.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, take heart that you are not alone.

Nope, Not Buying It: How Do We Maintain Believability in Our Writing?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

You don't want your readers to think, "Yeah, right, that'll never happen."

My brother-in-law is a nurse, and he can't watch medical TV shows. It annoys the snot of out him how wrong so many of the details are. My husband is the same way with anything computer related, and I notice the screw-ups in publishing and graphic design. Odds are you have your own area of expertise, and you notice when a show, movie, or book gets it wrong.

The number of authors who goofed by putting a safety on a Glock is pretty high. And readers catch those goofs. 

All stories in all genres get bonked on the head when they lack credibility. Readers don’t believe a character would act a certain way, or they doubt a situation would ever happen, they find details that are flat-out wrong, or they call BS about how something is handled. 

Once you blow your credibility with a reader, it’s really hard to earn back their trust. 

Expect the Unexpected: Creating Plot Twists

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Readers pay attention when they don't know what's coming next.

When someone asks, "What's a story with a great plot twist?" your mind probably conjures one of the classics. Soylent Green. The Sixth Sense. Fight Club. The Lottery. Even Newhart. 

You no doubt have your favorites. Stories that shifted and turned and blew your mind.  

A great plot twist is a wonderful thing, be it in the books you write or the ones you read. Readers revel in that unexpected event or revelation that changes everything they thought they knew and takes the story to a whole new level. They delight in the surprises that make them think, "wow, that was awesome. I never saw that coming." (And then they tell all their friends). 

Trouble is, knowing you want a plot twist is a lot easier than coming up with a good one. 

There's no formula for devising a great twist, because every plot is different and any number of things can work in a novel.

My trick for twisting my plot is pretty simple:

Moving Forward Into 2025

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A new year, and new opportunities and hopes on the horizon.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I wish you all the best and hope your 2025 is starting off well. Fingers crossed it doesn’t go totally off the rails.

2024 was an interesting year for me. It didn’t go as planned (it never does, right?), but I had several accomplishments and positive momentum with my writing and career. I always review my previous New Year’s post when I write these, and noticed I never did one for 2023 (I’ve skipped a few the past couple of years), so it was interesting to see my list of hopes for 2023.

And, um, yeah, two years later, I didn’t do any of them.

The fact that I laughed about this shows I’ve grown in those two years, and I’m no longer putting the crazy pressure on myself to “Do it all!” like I used to. That’s a win in my book.

5 Edits to Strengthen Your Writing, Right Now

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Making some simple word edits can turn a flat scene into one that sings.

Back when I was first learning how to write, I loved discovering a great writing tip--the ones I could immediately apply to my work and see actual improvement were the best. I got especially excited over lists of words or specific examples, because I could search and find the weak areas right away. Which is probably why I like to do a lot of lists and examples now in my own articles.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with a "weak word," they do tend to hang around trouble areas--just like those red flag words with show, don't tell. They're good places to start when something feels off in your work or you're getting negative feedback and aren't sure why. 

If you're looking for easy ways to improve your writing, here are great words to search for to identify potentially weak areas.

Let's a take a peek at a few of the more common troublemakers that often pull readers out of a story.

5 Ways to Fight Your End-of-Year Writer’s Fatigue

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The end of the year can be exhausting, but you can beat it.

December is both a fun and a rough month. The holidays and festivities keep everyone busy and smiling, but that constant string of tasks and events wears on a person—especially us writers. It can be hard to write when all our energy is going to prepping, handling, and enjoying the holidays.

It’s also the end of a potentially long year of “I need to hit X goal.” You wanted to revise that novel, write that novel, publish that ebook, go on that book tour, revamp your website, and so on and so on…. 

This is the last few weeks to complete those goal(s) and the pressure is on. However, the motivation to actually do it is likely waning or missing.

The end of the year makes you want to push hard to finish all the things you wanted to do that year—even if there's no way you can possibly do it.  

What Are Your Characters Thankful For?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

 
It's not all about the bad stuff.

 
I'm the first person to heap trouble and pain upon my characters (bwahaha), but even I know there's a limit to how much you can dump on a poor soul before they just give up. And we need our characters—especially our protagonists—to keep going when things are at their worst.

When we create our story people, we typically focus more on their problems, flaws, and the things that make them unhappy, because that’s where the best conflicts and plotting opportunities come from. But it’s also important to consider what will make our characters willing to go through all those horrible things we throw in their paths.

Which is totally what they care about and what's important in their lives.

Bob and Weave: How to Mix Character Actions and Internal Thoughts

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The smoother the flow between action and thought, the stronger the scene will be.

Although some scenes (and some writers) naturally find the perfect balance between action and internal thought, other scenes take work to get that balance right. Tip it too far in either direction, and the writing can come across as too slow (too much in a character's head) or too flat (all description, no character).

There's no rule or ratio for this, since a writer's voice grows from how they string words together. If we all wrote the exact same way, all books would sound alike. And who wants that?

A strong action/thought combination is when the character's actions flow smoothly with their thoughts and work in tandem to tell the story. 

The genre will affect that balance, such as a more thoughtful novel typically tips more to the internal thought side, while a thriller usually leans toward the action.

What “Mama” Can Teach Us About Tension & Suspense

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Want a bestselling novel? Grab your readers and don't let them go until the end.

Once in a while, a story comes along that blows me away. It might be a novel, a movie, a game, or a TV show, but how it’s written or structured illustrates an aspect of storytelling that expands my writer’s mind.

The film, Mama, by Andrés and Barbara Muschietti is one such story.

If you haven’t seen it, the basic premise is this: Two young girls abandoned in the woods are rescued by a tormented spirit who decides to raise them as her own. When the girls are found five years later, things get…complicated.

Although classified as horror, this film is really more psychological suspense in the “peek through your fingers while on the edge of your seat” way. It will utterly creep you out, but also make you laugh so hard you can’t breathe. And it makes you care—deeply.