When you read the dialogue exchange in the screenshot, do you find so many instances of “said” intrusive? I do. And in audiobook form, repetitive dialogue tags are REALLY intrusive. You’ve probably read or been told that “said” is a perfectly good dialogue tag and a much better choice than littering dialogue with vivid tags, like “he exclaimed,” “he whined,” “she yelled,” “she quipped.” That’s true. “Said” is a better choice because it doesn’t call attention to itself as the

Greetings from The San Francisco Writers Conference where hundreds of authors and authors-to-be are milling about. 🍾✍🏽 Lots of memoirists here, and yesterday during a panel, I thought of a practical exercise to help memoir writers learn to put their natural speaking voices on the page. 🍸 Try this: Pretend you and your best friend are sitting on a very comfortable couch, and you’re well into a martini. (Even if you don’t drink alcohol, you can probably imagine how this can

I’m often asked, “Do people really buy memoirs written by people they haven’t heard of?” and “Why would strangers be interested in my personal stories?” These are the kinds of questions that plague aspiring memoirists. Yes, absolutely—people buy the memoirs of people they know nothing about, and yes, your personal stories have the potential to be very compelling to readers. One of the greatest lessons an aspiring memoirist can learn is: ⭐️ At its heart, your memoir should be

Learn How to Focus your Novel or Memoir with a Thematic Statement, your Story’s "So What"