In Today’s Journal * Chapter 5, Part 3: These Are Not Tag Line Verbs Again, picking up where we left off yesterday…. These Are Not Tag Line Verbs First, here’s a short list of verbs that indicate a form of utterance. To “hear” these in tag lines, insert He or She in front of each verb as you read them: Announced, answered, asked, called, called out, exclaimed, implored, mumbled, murmured, muttered, quipped, remarked, responded, said, screamed, stammered, stated, uttered, and yelled. Again, these are all transitive verbs, so for the tag line to make sense it must be attached to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter 5, Part 2 Picking up where we left off yesterday, Tag lines do not stand on their own. The tag line—which consists only of the character’s name or the appropriate pronoun (he or she) and a verb that indicates a form of utterance—is neither a complete sentence nor an independent clause. Any verb that indicates a form of utterance is a transitive verb, which means it has to act on an object in order to make sense. In the case of a tag line, the object is the line of dialogue. So in other words, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * Chapter 5, Part 1 Chapter 5: Abusing Tag Lines and Brief Descriptive Narratives First, to avoid any confusion, when I say “tag lines” that’s what some writers call “dialogue tags.” And when I say “brief descriptive narratives” that’s what some writers call “action beats.” Both tag lines and brief descriptive narratives serve a particular purpose, and both are adjacent to one or more lines of dialogue spoken by a single character. But tag lines and brief descriptive narratives are not the same thing. Attributes: The Tag Line… exists only to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter 4, Part 2 * Of Interest Chapter 4, Part 2 Human Parts Do Not Have Human Traits (continued) Here’s one of my favorite examples of giving human traits to human parts. This one’s a little different: The baron’s eyes raked across everyone at the table. No, they didn’t. Eyes can’t do that. You can’t fix this one by simply writing, “The baron raked his eyes across everyone at the table.” Maybe try something like this: The baron scanned the table, or The baron looked (glared, etc.) at those seated at the table, or even The … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter 4: Human Parts Do Not Have Human Traits Chapter 4: Human Parts Do Not Have Human Traits I said early on that becoming aware of the problems and mistakes I’ve listed in this book will improve your writing. Once most writers become aware of the problems in this particular chapter, they will easily spot and correct them. In fact, you’ll almost trip over them as you’re writing. As a result, these problems will almost magically disappear from your work. Human Parts Do Not Have Human Traits Several years ago, I received an email from a … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Taking a Breather Today * FYI * The Braying Jackass: A Bit of Fun * Of Interest The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories: Erin Donoho “An Un-Boring Woman” 2800 historical coming-of-age Balázs Jámbor “Memory Cube” 4400 fantasy, psychological Vanessa V. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter 3, Part 3 * Of Interest Misplaced Modifiers When you’ve written something that’s meant to be humorous and the reader cracks up laughing, that’s wonderful. But if he busts a gut smack in the middle of a tense scene while reading your murder mystery, high-stakes thriller, or other more somber work, not so much. Misplaced modifiers are almost always humorous. They will bring a smile, if not a chuckle or an outright belly laugh, to your reader. Just as most of us can’t help laughing when a buddy slips and falls in mud, most readers … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A Brief Interlude * Of Interest A Brief Interlude Like all human beings I have personality flaws. My worst flaw is entertaining unbidden thoughts. And the worst of those occurs whenever I hear any version of “The reader will know what I mean” from a writer. When that happens, an image leaps into my mind. The Braying Jackass The image is of an imaginary, heinous, gargoyle-looking creature with a dullness about the eyes. Its slathering jaws hang slack, its blistered tongue protrudes, and its upper and lower teeth are exposed in a pretentious, self-righteous grin. It … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter 3: Misplaced Modifiers—At Least They’re Funny Chapter 3: Misplaced Modifiers—At Least They’re Funny Wow. I used to really be cynical. These days, I’m more stoic. Still, I feel a responsibility to pass along what I’ve learned about writing over the past 60-plus years. My target is the fiction writer who is serious about learning the craft, and my hope is that my advice will land on the ears of those who want to hear it. To that end, I thought an article I posted on my author website several years ago would serve as a … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Chapter Two, Part 2 * Of Interest Chapter Two, Part 2 State-of-Being Verbs When addressing this particular topic, faux instructors will tell you point-blank to avoid the state-of-being verbs. In almost every case, they say you should avoid them “to avoid writing passive constructions.” Some of those faux-instructors will even tell you outright that using a gerund or past-progressive tense verb creates passive voice or a passive construction. It doesn’t. They probably believe it does because the past-progressive form is composed of a gerund preceded by “were,” a state-of-being verb. But as you’ll see in a … Read more