Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Better ways to say

During draft, we are allowed to do anything, write our stories in whatever way we want, how ever they come natural, without paying attention at anything other than putting words down. Which means when it’s time to edit that first draft we will have used several words that are bland, repetitive, and are cliché. We’re supposed to weed those words out and make our work shine. For those of us that such a task doesn’t come easy, and have to spend a long time searching for that one perfect word in a their thesaurus (you all have one, right?), the link and the image I provide may be of some help.

First, this post will help you with some overused adjectives. At least the ones you absolutely need to keep in your MS.

You may also find this image helpful.

(image originally taken from http://imgur.com/UHjZ4Ra)

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 4 Comments

Inspirational prompt 28

Tom blew smoke from the edge of his mouth and eyed me askance through the haze. “Back again? You going for a record or something? How did it happen this time? No, wait. Lemme guess. Bullet, right? Angry husband.”
I sat on the chair facing him – more like collapsed, to be precise. ‘Re-establishment,’ as I liked to call the procedure back then, was – and still is – a pain in the ass. Drained all my strength for a whole day. I barely had enough energy in me to reach out and snatch his cigarette. “Nah. Not how I died this time, man.”

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Foreshadowing

We all want to use it effectively, we all think we use it effectively, but do we? Here‘s a helpful article about foreshadowing and how to use it. There’s a very helpful infographic at the end of the article that you can print and keep it somewhere handy.

Original post from Now Novel

As for me, I’ve used it to a new short story I’ve been struggling to draft for a couple of weeks now (unsuccessfully so far). Number 2 and pairs in general, play an important role in the story, so every few paragraphs I’ve made sure to mention that number. Hopefully, at the end of the story (if I ever manage to finish it), the reader will have an “Aha!” moment.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Tools for writers

A while back, Publication Coach posted a list of some no-cost tools for us writers, so I figured I shared it with you in case you didn’t read it. You can find the original article here.

The suggestions range from time management apps (and most of us have suffer in that area) to tech tools, but also editing tools to make your life easier and improve your writing. I’ve tried some of the suggested tools myself in the past and found them quite interesting and helpful.

In addition, you can also try Grammarly and ProWritingAid, though the latter works best if you use the paid version.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 27

The surface of the small puddle of water rippled and a quarter of an inch high tsunami raced to its edges. A deep resonance barely touched the soles of my shoes, sent vibrations up my shin. It was a clear day, not a speck of cloud on the horizon, and people came out to feel the sun on their faces, hands brought over squinting eyes as shields. Those dressed heavier now shed the extra layers. Perfection. Except the fact it was December and a blizzard was raging five minutes ago.

Stacey looked up, thin perspiration coating her forehead. She pointed to a dark and shifting mass on the sky. “What’s wrong with the birds?”