Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4 | Page 16

7. Consider saving the description of
your protagonist for a time when life
doesn’t depend on his or her speed. His
“bright face of youth” doesn’t meet that
test. Is there a way to work the major de-
scription into this narrative using smaller
bites or to arrange to have it come before
or after the chase?
8. Though I love to include some sen-
sory detail, be careful not to overdo that,
especially in an action-moment. The writ-
er of the action scene I was critiquing had
the protagonist leaning against a strut for
a moment’s rest. The strut’s sensory role
in this passage should probably be the
emotional reassurance it offered, not how
it felt to the touch. Further, this kind of
thing might best be left to your reader
who will draw that conclusion anyway.
9. At the risk of being repetitious, the
sense of danger shouldn’t be interrupted
unless it is necessary for understanding.
Sometimes that isn’t speed (like a chase).
Sometimes it is. Regardless, you—the au-
thor—want to keep the momentum going
for the reader.
http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
the author of the multi award-winning series of
HowToDoItFrugally books for writers including USA Book News’ winner for The Frugal Book
Promoter . An instructor for UCLA Extension's renowned Writers Program for nearly a decade,
she believes in entering (and winning!) contests and anthologies as an excellent way to sepa-
rate our writing from the hundreds of thousands of books that get published each year. Two of
her favorite awards are Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment given by members of
the California Legislature and Women Who Make Life Happen, given by the Pasadena Weekly
newspaper. She is also an award-winning poet and novelist and she loves passing along the
tricks of the trade she learned from marketing those so-called hard-to-promote genres. Learn
more and find tons of free resources on her website at https://HowToDoItFrugally.com or on
her Amazon profile page:
https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile . While you’re there, won’t you click on the follow but-
ton and make sure your Amazon profile page is up-to-date.
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
P AGE 11
W INTER 2019