Things I have Changed

Probably, the name of this topic should be "Things I have Learned." Since beginning this journey of writing, I have learned so much about writing a book and I am sure there is more to learn.

I have been a avid reader my whole life. I remember my Aunt Bettie giving my sister and me books for Christmas. That started my love of reading. Aunt Bettie was also an avid reader. As I grew older, I found she had joined the Book of the Month Club and there were hundreds of books of hers that I could read. My favorite was the Perry Mason Series.

When you are a writer, you are very critical of other authors. I have lately studied the writings of several authors. When I read them, I compare what I have written. Of course, I see loads of mistakes. That's all right because I am growing by reading.

My chapters were so long in my manuscript. I have been revising them and making them shorter. It is much easier to read. I love the idea of doing that because it helps the flow of my book.

Seems my sentences always had "that, because, therefore." in them and they ran for miles. Now I have learned to make them shorter. Again the flow is better.

I've also learned about tags. At first, I thought every time a person talked, they had to have a tag. Now I know better. I can have a conversation with two people without so many tags. I do put tags in when I think someone will forget who is talking. I've seen that happen in so many books. I've had to go back and reread to see who is speaking.

There are other things that I can't remember right now. It is amazing how much I have learned in the last two years, in fact in the last three months.