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Three novels and six shorter works have hopefully given me a little insight into writing; things that work for me and things that don’t.  So, as if you hadn’t already read a bundle of suggestions, here’s mine:

He had wrinkles on his face. They were there because he had worked hard in the mines.


The miner’s face was deeply etched with years of toil and sweat.

With the latter sentence, you get that da-da da-da da-da da-da kind of cadence, much smoother and more pleasing than the “just the facts, Ma’am,” approach.

Finally, if you want to write that novel, pick a time-no excuses-and start.  Stay with it, even when you don’t feel like it.  The first novel is the most difficult because everything is so new.  Develop a system that works for you.  And don’t be as concerned with what your audience will think and feel, as much as what your characters say to you.

Whether you continue on to writing other works, there is nothing like the pride of finishing that first novel.  A sense of, “I DID IT!”





