List of books and upcoming books

Paragraph length

People asked me tips on writing and while most of this book covers many tips, here is one that I find helpful and that's paragraph length. While most writers write long paragraphs, I don't.

Why?  Because I find long paragraphs hard to comprehend and frankly, quite boring. By the time I reach the end of one long paragraph, I'm ready for a nap or lost interest. While some writers find that suitable, I don't.

As writers, it's our job to keep the story moving, not ramble on in a paragraph giving every little detail. Details are essential, but not to the point of boring the reader. This writing becomes wordy and unnecessary. Why do I care about the shade of blue someone is wearing or how many buttons the shirt has on it?  It's a shirt, move on. Do you know how many shades of blue are out there? 

Most stories depend on word count, not paragraph length. If you put more than five sentences in a paragraph, you're entering an essay territory. If I want to write an essay I would go back to school. I already graduated high school and college. Shocker, I know.

People want to become the next King or Rowling, holding if they write like them, they will. No, they have a particular style of writing. Do not copy their style, then you become unoriginal. Create your style and let people decide if they enjoy it.

I write based on my style of writing that I learned through the years. Now, I will date myself. I've been writing on and off for thirty years. I will let you figure out the math since I start writing at twelve.

Writing started as a hobby to kill boredom on summer vacation, but I found it enjoyable and fell in love with it. Life tends to curtail dreams until one day your husband challenges you to publish. Yeah, my husband is still regretting that decision.

I see people's comments and while some are helpful, some not so much. If you don't enjoy reading a book, you have the option to move onto the next book like a movie or song. I picked up many books and put back because the book didn't catch my interest. Even Twilight took me four chapters to continue reading. I almost stopped reading it.

When I read, I look at the length of paragraphs. If I see one long-ass paragraph, I stop reading because I find myself re-reading the same lines. I blame my comprehension issue on that. I need to visualize what I read and that's how I write. I visualize a story like a movie or TV show. Imagine the Grays having a TV show, oh lord.

Now as for editing, I don't go back and edit any story until the story is complete. That gives me a chance to sit down and read through the story, adding or removing content. Writers will edit before they post a chapter. In school, they taught us to right the entire story, then go back and edit. It's the same with books. Trust me, I go back and wonder why I put a word in a place that shouldn't be there.

The best advice I can pass onto people is don't worry about the style of other writers or errors. Errors get fixed in editing and find your style because that's the beauty of writing. You're creating art, now go create your work.  One day, you will become someone's favorite author.