Monthly Archives: March 2012

A new tool/toy – Wordle

Posted on March 30, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Who knew about Wordle? I didn’t! Thanks to Sarah Negovitch’s blog post Please Stop Using that Word, I’ve found a brand new toy    tool –  Wordle Here’s how it works – You load your document, and Wordle creates Word Cloud “art” … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

5 Warning Signs that you are telling, not showing in your writing

Posted on March 26, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

5 Ways you may be telling your readers, instead of showing  1. Are you writing in passive voice? Identify passive voice in your writing by looking for “to be” + past participle. Also look for sentences that end with “by…” phrases (Example: … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

5 Proofreading Strategies Every Writer Should Know

Posted on March 21, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Catch your own mistakes Need some help in the proofreading department? Having another set of eyes is great. Sometimes that isn’t an option, though. 1. End to beginning Read from the bottom of the article or essay to the top – … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

WARNING: The author doesn’t want you to read her book

Posted on March 18, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Readers need not apply Not every reader, that is. Unless your novel is a public service announcement, then it is probably true that NOT everyone should read it. Why? You don’t write for everybody. Do you? There are many reasons … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Kill the darlings… practicing what I preach

Posted on March 14, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Scratch out Previously, I wrote about editing out the adverbs and making your writing tighter, more effective. So, do I practice what I preach? I try. I am knee deep in editing and revising the first 1500 words of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How to Take Charge of Your Adverbs

Posted on March 12, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Cut the Junk! As writers, we love our words, don’t we? Sometimes we are so attached to them that we think we can’t kill cut them. We may not ever have words as good as those again… Ridiculous We are story tellers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How to Be Great at Public Speaking (even when you are a nervous wreck)

Posted on March 9, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

Afraid of Public Speaking? Why? We fear ridicule. We think that everyone will point and laugh. We think we will forget what we are going to say. We think we will look down and realize that we forgot to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Don’t Do These 5 Things When You Use Twitter

Posted on March 6, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

I’m not a Twitter expert. I don’t have a gazillion followers. But, here are some things that I’ve noticed from people who are successful at using this form of Social Media and some of the characteristics and habits of people … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

6 Excellent Resources for Researching William Faulkner

Posted on March 4, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

 6 Excellent Resources for Researching William Faulkner His biography, lineage, writing life & time in Hollywood: WFofW William Faulkner Anecdotes & Trivia  Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech “The Banquet Speech“, Stockholm, December 10, 1950 – the legendary Faulkner quote “There is … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Josephine on Goodreads

Posted on March 1, 2012 by melindamcguirewrites

3 signed paperback copies are available to win in a giveaway on Goodreads from March 1 – March 31, 2012. Hope you will hop on over to Goodreads and sign up! Book Giveaway – Josephine: Red Dirt & Whiskey and… … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments