I used to overwrite in insane amounts. Unfortunately, I wrote seven novels before I discovered this, and now I’m working my way through, cutting them all down to size. So in honor of cutting my fourth novel by a third,…
Blog Archives
Apostrophes–End the Abuse!
Perhaps it’s just that misery loves company. But I’m going to share some basic apostrophe rules anyway. 🙂 Apostrophes are most commonly used in contractions. I am becomes I’m: I’m running as fast as I can. They are becomes they’re:…
How to Use Semicolons
I’ll pick up the challenge. This is how to use semicolons if you’re not typing an emoticon. First, you need to understand independent clauses. An independent clause is a complete sentence–subject, verb, (and most often) object. Simple independent clauses are…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, conjuction, contrasting ideas, independent clauses, semicolons
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
The Familiar Ground of Self-Doubt
You don’t have to be a writer to relate to doubt. It’s one of the reasons I like this photo. Imagine what the guy/gal went through who pushed this project through. You want to build a what? Why would you…
Trying to Pick and Choose
I’ve spent the past year trying to learn what to do to become a real, no-kidding professional writer. I started with learning about queries. They were like the gateway drug to this whole process. My first query took forever. Okay,…
Backstory Is Not Story
That might work in a cartoon, but you just can’t start your story with backstory. It seems like such a pity. The easiest solution is to start at the beginning and when we get to the end, stop. And y’know,…
Tagged with: backstory, beta readers, Cathleen Townsend, character, description, exposition, name soup
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Editing for Passive Voice
Passive voice is pervasive and often unwise. This post will involve a quick grammar lesson, but I’ll keep it short. Promise. Most sentences of any length involve a subject and an object. The subject does the acting; the object is…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, object, passive voice, present participle, subject
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
The Latest, Greatest, Shiny Idea
Mostly, writers love plot bunnies. They show up, wriggling their metaphoric noses and we’re delighted. We can’t sleep until we get started. This is going to be the best story idea yet. And then at some point, six or twelve…
Kill Your Darlings
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” Stephen King, On Writing. This particular quote seems to have passed into common usage. It’s a phrase often heard when a writer…
Tagged with: beta readers, Cathleen Townsend, critique, developing plot and characters, feedback, kill your darlings
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Interview with Meradeth Houston
Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her: She’s a Northern California girl, now braving the cold winters in Montana. When she’s not writing,…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, characters, Meradeth Houston, setting, Travelers, upcoming works, world-building
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Cathleen Townsend 