by Margie Lawson

Considering all the elements of writing, dialogue tags are like clothespins. When you’re hanging clothes on a line, they have an important job to do. But no one truly values them. Clothespins become rough and faded and cracked, but we keep using them.… Read the post

By Margie Lawson

Want to write four or more books per year?

You can still use many of my deep editing techniques!

Writing one book a year?

You can use more of my deep editing techniques!

Deep Editing

In this blog post I’ll share three of the 3749 deep edit goodies I teach writers to use.… Read the post

by Margie Lawson

You’ve probably rewritten your first sentence and first paragraph more times than any other lines in your WIP. And still, it’s possible they could carry more emotion. It’s possible they could carry more power.

Which is why you’re here!… Read the post

by Margie Lawson

What's behind a laugh?

When people laugh, we almost always pick up what’s behind their laughter. We pick up nuances that add interest and depth and power.

We can usually tell if they think something is crazy-funny.

We can usually tell if they’re laughing at themselves.… Read the post

by Margie Lawson

Have you ever researched writing rules? Wowzee! There are hundreds of them. If you tried to follow them all you’d be paralyzed.

But some are so make-you-and-your-writing-stronger smart, they’re worth sharing.

I’ve pulled together writing rules from several authors:  Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, Maya Angelou, Jack London, Elmore Leonard, and Neil Gaiman. … Read the post