Tricks to the Trade

Writing takes practice. Lots of practice. Recently, I was speaking with an editor friend and she told me her English professor once said, "To become a master at writing, you must write one million words first. Then you will be a master."

No truer words were ever spoken. Deb Coonts said to me that the first book is good, the second is better, and the third best of all for the same reason. Practice, practice, practice. Practice doesn't make perfect; it makes better and you're always improving.

I've learned a great deal in the last six months about writing because I've attended a workshop put on by the Las Vegas Writer's Group and a one-day conference put on by the Las Vegas Romance Writers. If you want to be a writer, I recommend going to a few conferences (as many as you can afford because they're not cheap). Both the workshop and the one-day conference were excellent because they taught me things I'd never known about writing.

For example: Do you know what GMC is? No, it's not a dying car manufacturer or a gas-guzzling SUV. It's an acronym for Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. This is something each of your characters has and you must know as the writer to make the story excellent. I knew this instinctively, but I didn't know the proper terms for these qualities. Knowing them has improved my writing by leaps and bounds.

Another example: Get rid of the word "that". Everywhere. Just use the "Find" feature in your writing program and hit "remove", either one by one or en masse. Trust me, your writing will improve significantly.

And editors prefer conjunctions. We don't say "do not", "could not", "will not", "had not", "have not", "I am". We say (and think) "don't", "couldn't", "won't", "hadn't", "haven't" and "I'm". Use this even in description.

The last thing everyone likes (not just editors) is something other than "he said", "she said", "they said". Said? What does that mean? There's no emotion in "said". For example: "Holy shit! Where the hell did that come from?!" she said.

Uh, said? Wouldn't it be better to use the word "shouted", or "screamed" or "shrieked" or "hollered"? Heck, even "exclaimed" gets the emotion across better. But it's not always easy to think of the right word. Thesauruses are great for that, but they don't always have them all together.

Years ago, I didn't like "he said", "she said" either, so I made my own list. It has grown and I've edited it over time (back then we didn't have a need for "Tweeted" or "texted"), but it's really useful when trying to convey more emotion than just the statements suggest. They are listed below for your use when writing.

Accused	Cursed	Ordered	Slurred
Acknowledged	Declared	Panted	Snapped
Acquiesced	Demanded	Persisted	Snarled
Added	Demurred	Pleaded	Sneered
Admitted	Disagreed	Pointed out	Snickered
Admonished	Disavowed	Pondered	Sobbed
Advised	Drawled	Preached	Soothed
Agreed	Emphasized	Prevaricated	Spat
Announced	Encouraged	Proclaimed	Spoke (up)
Annunciated	Exclaimed	Prodded	Sputtered
Answered	Exposulated	Promised	Squawked
Apologized	Fawned	Pronounced	Squeaked
Argued	Flattered	Protested	Stammered
Articulated	Gasped	Purred	Started
Asked	Gibbered	Queried	Stated
Assented	Grated	Questioned	Stuttered
Babbled	Greeted	Quoted	Suggested
Badgered	Groaned	Railed	Swore
Barked	Growled	Raged	Taunted
Began	Grumped	Rasped	Teased
Begged	Hissed	Raved	Texted
Belched	Hinted	Reasoned	Thanked
Bellowed	Hollered	Rebuked	Thought
Bleated	Howled	Recalled	Threatened
Blurted	Implied	Recited	Thundered
Boasted	Inferred	Recommended	Told
Boomed	Informed	Refuted	Transmitted
Breathed	Inquired	Remarked	Tweeted
Called	Insisted	Reminded	Typed
Cautioned	Instructed	Repeated	Urged
Challenged	Interjected	Replied	Uttered
Chanted	Interrupted	Reported	Vocalized
Cheered	Intoned	Requested	Voiced
Chided	Introduced	Responded	Voted
Choked	Jeered	Retorted	Wailed
Chortled	Joked	Returned	Warned
Commented	Lied	Roared	Went (on)
Complained	Mentioned	Rumbled	Wheedled
Complimented	Mimicked	Said	Wheezed
Conceded	Moaned	Sang	Whimpered
Confessed	Mouthed	Scoffed	Whined
Continued	Mumbled	Screamed	Whispered
Cooed	Murmured	Screeched	Wondered
Countered	Nagged	Shot (back)	Wrote
Corrected	Nattered	Shouted	Yelled
Cried (out)	Needled	Shrieked	Yelped
Crowed	Offered	Signaled	Yirred

So there you have it. Each word conveys a great deal more emotion than "said", although that word is also in the list (just in case you needed it). If you can think of any others, please let me know and I'll add it to the list for future reference. Good luck and happy writing! :)