December 16th, 2020
Scene Coherence … from the Reader’s Perspective
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Barbara Linn Probst | Writing Craft
by Barbara Linn Probst
The deeper I go into the craft of writing, the more I keep returning to the importance of thinking like a reader. So much of the “advice” seems to be about what we, as writers, ought to be doing.… Read the post
October 21st, 2020
Dead and Un-dead Darlings
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Barbara Linn Probst | Writing Craft
by Barbara Linn Probst
Kill those darlings.
We all know the cliché (actually, it was Faulkner, not Stephen King, who coined the phrase) and, accepting its wisdom, do our best to kill those beloveds no matter how much it hurts. Sentences, paragraphs, whole scenes get deleted, leaving a cleaner and stronger narrative.… Read the post
August 19th, 2020
Read Like A Writer, Write Like A Reader
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Barbara Linn Probst | Writing Craft
By Barbara Linn Probst
Before I turned to fiction, I was a hybrid of academic and therapist. There was a truism in clinical practice that having been in therapy made you a better therapist—a complicated question, impossible to prove, although we always encouraged students to experience therapy themselves before attempting to offer it to others.… Read the post
July 15th, 2020
Editing For Theme: Search-and-Employ
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Barbara Linn Probst | Writing Craft
By Barbara Linn Probst
The characters are fresh, the scenes are full of tension, and the story has come to a satisfying resolution. One step remains before you declare: Done. It’s that final check. You click on the little magnifying glass in the top right-hand corner of the page and search for over-used words.… Read the post
January 21st, 2019
What to Do While You Wait: Working with Your Book, Instead of On It
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Barbara Linn Probst | Writing Craft
You’ve made your manuscript as good as you possibly can—for now. Everyone has advised you to take a break, let the book rest, so you can return to it with fresh eyes. Perhaps you’ve sent it off to a beta reader or developmental editor, hoping they’ll see the flaws and holes that you can’t and will show you how to bring your story to the next level.… Read the post
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