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The Nod and Smile Editing Passes

A reasonably common piece of advice is to be careful not to overuse the words nod and smile. Beats are a lovely alternative to dialogue tags, but we can’t go to the obvious wells too often. I knew this. I’d

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Weasel Words, Filters, and Other Candidates For Cutting

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,

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