I am a fan of Angela Hunt’s books on writing. They are practical, clever ways of understanding how fiction works and how to speed up writing.
Angela and I met once through our mutual friend Robin Lee Hatcher. It was one of those chance meetings in the hotel hallways at a writers’ convention. After Angela walked away, Robin informed that I’d just met the most prolific writer she knew. She explained that Angela focuses on how to increase word count and quick ways to improve writing. She then shared an Angela tip using the Word program to flag my overuse of certain words* and I’ve been paying attention to Angela ever since. She is smart, smart, smart.
Good news! Angela has just released a new e-book THE FICTION WRITER’S BOOK OF CHECKLISTS billed as a “gentle reminders to help your work be the best it can be. “ Her other books on writing are available in all several e-formats and print. I actually prefer the print because I find it easier to riffle through real pages vs. virtual pages when I use a book as a workbook.
Check them out for yourself. Her site is www.angelahuntbooks.com She has a good section titled “How a Writing Journey Begins” that de-mystifies the process. Again, very practical.
- You do it through autocorrect. Flag words you tend to overuse by making them automatically capitalize. They’ll jump out at you. (Of course, once I didn’t catch them all and the editor was scratching her head over my strange formatting.)
