Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

writing tips

Editing Tips from Writing Class

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your book writing coachI’m in the midst of editing manuscripts and providing feedback for participants in my Bring Your Book to Life Program and it’s thrilling to witness the variety, the wisdom and the diversity of voices!

I thought I’d share a editing tips that are coming up consistently and that might help you with your writing.

1. Write to a Specific Person: imagine a specific person in mind when you write. You might even picture this person in your mind. They can be real or imagined. Your writing will automatically become more engaging and conversational when you do this. When you write to a mass of people, often the writing possesses less vitality and creates a distance between you and your reader. My pet peeve: Don’t write “many of you” when addressing your readers. Readers imagine your voice in their head and connect in a one to one relationship. Reading “many of you” takes them right out of that intimate connection.

2. Use Active Verbs; Avoid Passive Ones: Don’t worry about this in a first draft, but in your initial edit, you’ll find that if you take out 90% of the passive voice (verbs like is, was, has, had, are, etc.)  the active verbs (listen, jump, shift, rest) provide more energy to your writing.

3. Show, Show, Show: I know you’ve heard this one before, but if you want your writing to come to life for your readers, employ the different senses, use stories and anecdotes, even statistics, used well, can paint a picture and show rather than tell.

Another editing tip? Perform one or more rounds of editing by reading aloud; you’ll catch different issues from reading in your head. I’m keeping it short today–go forth and write–or edit!

Ayad Akhtar Shares Advice for Writers at URI Ocean State Summer Writing Conference

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author writer ayad akhtar

What a treat to attend the University of Rhode Island’s Ocean State Summer Writing Conference as both participant and panelist this past week! Dr. Mary Cappello’s moving introduction of the first keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright and Novelist Ayad Akhtar, included a twenty-year-old piece of homework she had saved from when Ayad had been her student at URI.

She’d been moved by the depth of his work diagramming a poem–in far more depth than the assignment had called for.  Akhtar’s advice for writers included:

– Write Every Day: Find a word count to live by. Akhtar pointed out that Victor Hugo had his servant push an armoire in front of his bedroom door so he couldn’t leave his writing desk.

– Write Toward the Unknown: It’s always struck me as well that we do our best writing when we discover something new ourselves and don’t just stick comfortably with what we already known.  In Akhtar’s words, “Write about it in a way that there is a question you have not answered.” He also suggested to, “find what your perspective is and move towards the opposite. Along the way you’ll discover something.”

– Show Your Work: Use discernment in deciding who to show it to, so you’ll get useful feedback. “Find trusted readers.”

american dervish book

– Persevere: Akhtar shared the vicissitudes of his career  and the commitment it took to persevere when faced with the earlier limitations of his writing. After all, it takes time to write at a Pulitzer Prize level–and some of that early writing may not be so hot. Keep writing.

Akhtar’s reading from American Dervish inspired me to buy a signed copy, which I’m very much looking forward to reading this weekend. Perhaps I’ll hear the author’s voice in my head as I read.

 

 

Lessons Learned in 2012

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This post is inspired by Rusty Shelton’s Lessons Learned in 2012. I learn awesome lessons from my clients every day–lessons about staying with one’s vision, surrounding oneself with supportive people, trusting the muse, the importance of writing daily.

Serving as a bridge between the person and their creative muse, I constantly witness people stepping into their greatness—letting go of old beliefs and ways of being that don’t serve them and expanding into a more evolved vision and adopting new habits. I learn way more than I can put in one blog post. So, I’m limiting this post to some clients who published books recently.

From Drs. Carrie Barron and Alton Barron, authors of The Creativity Cure (Charles Scribners Sons) I learned how to launch a book with a party that reflects the book perfectly. I also learned from reading The Creativity Cure that Creativity can be as important to our well-being as the food we eat and that movement and stillness are both critical to creativity.

percolate bookFrom Elizabeth Hamilton Guarino, author of Percolate: Let Your Best Self Filter Through, I learned that it takes a village to support an author—she was brilliant at bringing in her team for feedback and just signed a book contract with Hay House for Percolate.
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a love child bookFrom Ellen O’Neill, author Ellen Who? I learned the power of putting your message out there. Ellen fearlessly wrote about her own experience as a secret love child in her blog and the Huffington Post and appeared on Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew and the Discovery Channel.

dreas dream bookFrom Susan Rizzo Vincent, author of Dreas’ Dream: An Unfinished Dance, and Martha Rhodes, author of 3,000 Pulses, I learned that you can make something beautiful and helpful to others out of life’s most tragic experiences.
From Juan O’Callahan, author of Wellness for Super Seniors, I learned the exercises and diet to be and stay healthy at any age.

Dr. Tim Warren, author of Lessons from Everest, provides a continual example of what’s possible when you set your mind to any goal—even those that seem unattainable.

book coverHolly Hutcher Shamir and Terri Stark, authors of The Quantum Olympics showed me how we can all increase our performance and give a quantum Olympic performance in our lives.

Pat Hastings, author of Simply a Woman of Faith, reminded me the importance of trusting in our dreams even when something else is showing up in the moment.

self worth bookBelinda Fuchs Rosenblum, author of Self-Worth to Net-Worth shows how to have your book working for you well before you publish

Linda Joy, author/editor of A Juicy, Joyful Life and Embracing Your Authentic Self, continues to teach me about nurturing relationships, as well as planning ahead.

Deb Scott, author of The Sky is Green and the Grass is Blue: Turning Your Upside Down World Right Side Up, is a continuous example of positivity.

Kaye Michelle, author of Return of the Heroine mirrored back to me the importance of intuition—and trusting it.

Stacy Corrigan, author of Manifest Your Man proved how easy it is to get endorsements from celebrity authors when you write a great book. She also is a living endorsement of being crystal clear about vision, prioritizing and delegating.

Anne Burnett, author of Step Ahead of Autism, offers an inspiring example of commitment and creativity in both publishing and parenting. She taught me the importance of taking time to observe before acting.
feel good spaces bookSherry Burton Ways, author of Feel Good Spaces showed me that a book doesn’t have to be long to have impact.

Janet Crain, author of If You Want an Eggroll Get Out of the Pizzeria, reminds me to bring humor into a situation.

midlife woman's journalBonnie Leonard, author of Reinvent Your Life Write Now, is a fine example of someone who practices what she preaches. She is brilliant at creating a life that’s stimulating, contributing to others, fun, relaxed and—dare I say—balanced.

It’s hard to limit this list–every book has taught me something–whether or not it’s in print yet. And each consultation, each visit with a writer and his or her muse, is sacred and wonderful. So, if your name isn’t in this post, know that your process, your book and your wisdom–you– have touched me deeply as well.

Trouble Writing? Take a Hot Bath

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creative photo of fountain
Photo by David Donohue

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I love to take writers to “meet your muse.” I lead people through a visualization that gets them in touch with their creative source and their deeper knowing for answers about writing a book.

In a book concept consultation today as part of my Bring Your Book to Life Program, a client asked how she might get into the zone consistently to write. Rather than tell her how, I suggested we ask her muse and led her into a meditation similar to the meet your muse visualization you can find here.

writing in the zone
Here I am writing in the zone and-yes-by the sea. My muse is happy. Photo by Erica Collins.

Her muse told her to take a hot bath.

We both thought it funny until we thought about it–water–the second chakra, which governs creativity. Water helps flow, as does warmth.

Writing isn’t just about sitting at a computer and typing. There’s a preparation of the body, mind and soul we can do before we write that makes our writing experience inspired, transcendent and productive.

Your muse is wise, too. Next time, before you sit down to write, ask your muse how you can get into the zone for writing and have it flow with ease and instant inspiration.  See where your muse leads you. And share your insights here. What does your muse want you to do before writing?

Writing Magic: Secrets to Compelling Writing

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writing coach Lisa Tener
Your Writing Coach

Once upon a time, a coach I know referred a client to me and–after reading a chapter–I almost told her I didn’t think I could help him. Lucky for both of us, I withheld judgement and agreed to edit one chapter.

When he sent me his second chapter, it blew me away.  I laughed, I cried and I thanked my lucky stars I hadn’t turned him away.  But what could explain the phenomenal leap in the quality of writing? I could only ask…

“I studied your feedback from chapter one and applied it. When I say I studied it, I mean I really studied it.”

So, what did Adam do exactly to go from something completely unpublishable to a blow-your-editor-away chapter? He put into action several tips, but the two main writing “secrets” he employed are not exactly secrets.

1).  He made the writing come alive by showing, not telling and 2). He replaced most passive verbs with active ones.

writing coach
Active verbs engage readers and enliven your writing.

Let’s talk about the second rule first. Instead of using “is,” “was,” “had,” “has,” etc., see if you can find a way to use a verb that has more energy. Passive verbs put readers to sleep and active verbs engage readers and enliven the writing.

Example:  The chapter was boring. vs. The chapter bored me.

More energy in the second example, right? Easy fix, too.

Now, rule 1, which offers many more applications and subtleties. I’ll just offer a few examples of Show vs. tell.

If the reader has to fill in too many details, you’re telling. If you’re not providing input into one or more of the six (yes, six) senses, you’re telling. If you’re spoon feeding the reader a conclusion (oldest children are often bossy) rather than allowing the reader to draw that conclusion by illustrating with an example (me telling my sister she wasn’t allowed to be Mister Nobody in our pretend family), you’re telling, as well.

Paint a picture with your words.

How do you move from telling to showing? Whether you’re writing a how-to book with anecdotes, a memoir or fiction, you can use this checklist below to get started.

  1. What can I show the reader to create a complete experience?
  2.  How can I employ two or more senses in my description?
  3. What is one unusual detail I remember about this experience, something that is not ordinary or clichéd?
  4. How can I get more specific?
  5. What’s an example from my own work or life, or the lives of my clients/customers/patients/friends/family that illustrates the point I want to make?
  6. How can I help the reader draw the conclusion?
  7. Where can I enhance the experience with dialogue?
Get specific about the details--especially quirky ones

Ready to dive into the details?

  1. If you’re asking yourself, “What can I show the reader to create a complete experience?” your revision might delete the section telling the reader that you had lots of rules for how to pick a new hire, replacing it with sharing your rules and what you looked for. Don’t gloss over the details—give them to us.
  2. If you’re looking to employ your senses, you can ask yourself, “What did I (or the person you’re writing about) see? Hear? Smell? Taste? How might that have felt in my/his/her body? “
  3. How to hit upon an unusual detail? Bring yourself back to picturing the situation (or if you’re writing fiction, put yourself in the scene). Notice everything around you. What sticks out as different? A funny phrase the person says (“I’m tickled.”)? The way the person drapes their scarf? An awkward and unbalanced gait?
  4. Here’s an example of “How Can I Get More Specific?” Adam described his car as a mess—papers and empty beer bottles strewn about the car. First I asked, “Where were these items?” It turned out that the papers were in the front seat and the beer bottles were in the back seat, on the floor and in the trunk. As we got even more specific, we uncovered that the papers were fertility treatment instructions and lace patterns. The beer bottles were Heinekens in the back of the car and Bud Lights in the trunk. At the start of the writing, the car was a clichéd mess. After polishing the paragraph, the reader could picture the author’s hummer in all its disheveled detail. When you do this exercise on your own, give a specific detail and then see how you can get even more specific. Try this until you run out of specificity.
Join me for a writing class this weekend at All That Matters

If you’d like more tools for polishing your writing and making it compelling, join me for Writing Magic Saturday, January 7 at 10:30 am at All That Matters Yoga and Conference Center in Wakefield, RI. We’ll learn the rules and put them into action. When you compare your writing from the beginning of class to the end, you’ll be amazed at the leap in style and impact!

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