writing tips Archives - Sandra Gerth

Interview on how to write great beginnings (Rebel Author Podcast)

Recently, I’ve been invited to chat with Sacha Black from the Rebel Author Podcast.

We talked about how to write great beginnings for your story, and we covered important points such as the most common mistakes authors make with beginnings; what you need to establish in the first act and the first chapter;
how to handle prologues, flashbacks, and flash-forwards; how to hook readers; and how to know when you have the right beginning.

Unusual writing advice: Show and tell

You have probably heard the writing advice to “show, don’t tell.”

Most of the time, it’s good advice because showing keeps readers actively involved in the story, but showing isn’t always better than telling.

This blog post explains three situations in which you might want to TELL instead of SHOW.

What to Do After Finishing the First Draft of Your Novel

I know once you finish your novel and type “the end,” you are probably either sick of the story and just want it off your desk or you are eager to get it into the hands of your editor and, eventually, your readers. But after finishing your first draft, that’s …

How to Structure Paragraphs in Your Novel

Today, I’d like to talk about something few writers ever seem to think about: paragraphs. Most authors start new paragraphs completely by instinct instead of making conscious choices, and that usually wastes a lot of potential and can even lead to confusing readers. Often, authors don’t seem to know where …

How to avoid or fix repetitive sentence and paragraph structure in your writing

You have heard the old saying “variety is the spice of life,” right? That’s definitely true for writing! If your prose is full of repetitions, your readers will quickly become bored. So your task during the revision process is to go over your manuscript and keep an eye out for …

The 50 most common grammar and spelling mistakes and how to avoid them

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of submitted manuscripts with so many grammar and spelling mistakes that could have been avoided with a thorough spellcheck and careful proofreading. Of course, delivering a good story is still the most important thing when it comes to writing fiction, but typos, grammar mistakes, and …

10 red flags for telling in your writing

We have all heard the advice to show, don’t tell in our writing. But how do you know you’re telling? 10 red flags that indicate telling 1) Conclusions If you give your readers conclusions, you are telling. To show, provide them with enough action, body language, and dialogue so they …

How to avoid overused body language in your writing

Human communication is mostly nonverbal, so it makes sense to use plenty of body language, gestures, and facial expressions in our writing. Showing your characters’ emotions through their body language is also a wonderful way to avoid telling (More about showing vs. telling here). Instead of saying she was nervous, …

How to find and cut overused, repeated, and filler words from your writing

There are three kinds of words to keep an eye on during the revision process: filler words, overused words, and words that are repeated too close together. Cutting out each of them will tighten your prose and make it more polished. What are filler words, and why are they …

The 3 different types of editing

In my last blog post, I explained why every writer needs an editor. But actually, you might need even more than one editor. There are different types of editing, and they are all very different skill sets, so it’s rare that one person can do all types of editing—and do …