I was surfing the web and stumbled upon a useful article by author Judy Cullins called 5 Non-Fiction Book Writing Mistakes and Solution.

The first thing that caught my attention was the sentence “the biggest mistake emerging authors make is that they ‘tell’ rather than ‘engage’ their readers. Yes, I have to admit that I am guilty of that when it comes to writing the first draft of my novels. As much as I would love to say that everything I write starts out correctly, I cannot. (Going off subject for a moment, even a word as simple as cannot is confusing for some folks. Sorry, but I had to throw that in real quick). Now back to what I was discussing.

Another strong point that a new author should know is passive sentences should be avoided like the plague because it slows the story down to the pace of a turtle. The last thing you want is to bore the reader to tears. Keep in mind that a happy reader will return, so you want your stories to hold their attention. Also, the use of pompous language and phrases are unnecessary. My opinion has always been “simple is best”, and that’s just the guidance given in the article by Judy.

And, saving the best for last is “authors should aim at 10^th grade level writing because it makes for easier reading to their buyers. This one I had not heard of before; although, I have to admit that I’ve read a few things that have stated the wording should be aimed at a higher, impressive level. Nevertheless, I have always followed the 10^th grade writing level. So to sum things up, the article provides many helpful tips and practical examples for new authors to reference.

Enjoy your weekend,

R. Lynn

Website:  www.rlynnarchie.com