Blog Archives
Writer’s Tip: Color Code Your Sentences
To make sure that you have a well balanced dialogue scene: color code your sentences.
Color code your sentences by highlighting and then right clicking on your mouse, then select your color:
Yellow for the dialogue
Blue for dialogue tags
Pink for internal thought
And purple for action tags
Color coding can allow you to see if you have an overbalance of say the internal thought verses dialogue. If the color is evenly distributed then you have the right balance.
Janice~
Mini Lesson: Words to use instead of Like
I haven’t posted one of these in a while and I just found an old note of mine about using Like.
Do you use Like too often when describing things?
by Janice Seagraves
If you’re like me you probably use Like too often than you like to admit when you describe things in your writing. It’s important not to over use the same words of phrases in your writing.
Why?
Because using the same words or phrases can sound like lazy writing, and we don’t want our writing to sound lazy. We want our writing to sound dynamic and active.
Example: He was round and puffy like a marshmallow.
Better: He was round and puffy and resembled a marshmallow.
Here are a few words that you can use instead of like:
Almost
As if
Seemed to sense
Akin to
Such as
Similar to
Approximating
Resembling
In the vein of
Mini Lesson: Past Tense Review
Mini Lesson: Past Tense Review
By Janice Seagraves
I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do some tenses review. Why do we need past tense? Because most books are written in past tense.
Anything with an –ed at the end is past tense, like Stopped is past tense of stop.
However, there are other words to look out for, that don’t follow that rule.
Led is past tense of lead.
Gone is past tense of go or going.
Sung is past tense of sing.
Hidden is the past tense of hide.
Caught is the past tense of catch
Bought is the past tense of buy
Came is the past tense of come
Crept is the past tense of creep
Dealt is the past tense of deal.
Fed is past tense of feed
Felt is the past tense of feel
Fitted is past tense of fit
Hung is past tense of Hang
Had is past tense of has
Had is also the past tense of Have
Heard is the past tense of hear
Found is past tense of Find
Held is past tense of Hold
Kept is past tense of Keep
Laid is past tense of lay
Lost is past tense of lose
Make is past tense of made
Mean is past tense of meant
Meet is past tense of met
There’s more of course, but I don’t want to overwhelm you.
Here are some more tenses to watch out for:
be was been
Bear bore born
Become became become
Bite bit bitten
Bend bent bent
Bleed bled bled
Burn burned burnt
Choose chose chosen
Dive dove dived
Draw drew drawn
Dream dreamed dreamt
Drink drank drunk
Drive drove driven
Fall fell fallen
Fly flew flown
Freeze froze frozen
Get got given
Know knew known
Leap leapt leaped
Learn learned learnt
Leave left
Lie lay lain
Write writing written wrote
Then, now and maybe later.
And I’ll end this with: future perfect verbs are formed by adding –ing to the verb.
