Simple Edit

Sometimes we come across a sentence structured like this:

There/It (subject)
was/were (verb)
someone/something (direct object)
who/which/that (relative pronoun)
did something (relative pronoun clause)

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

It was a face that only a mother could love.

This creates a slight wordiness and relegates the impact ideas to a dependent structural position in the sentence. Fix it by killing the flat subject/verb, cutting the relative pronoun, and rearranging the remaining words into a simple sentence.

An old woman lived in a shoe.

Only a mother could love that face.

You see how that works? It's not all-purpose, but it will yield a stronger sentence in the majority of cases.

Theresa

Openings Class

In the Openings workshop, we'll work on crafting impressive openings that capture the attention while setting up the story conflict and previewing your unique voice.

We'll discuss:
*Where to start the book
*Where to start the scene
*How to set up the story question
*How to introduce the characters
*How to showcase your voice on the first page
*The all-important first paragraph-- keeping it simple, yet profound

Plenty of exercises and individualized feedback!

Starts May 1, lasts two weeks. To sign up, click the Buy Now button on the left there.