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Cheryl Burman
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Category: Writing tips

Resist the urge to explain: four ‘explanations’

May 4, 2022 cheryl Leave a comment

‘Resist the urge to explain’ is a mantra drummed into us writers. Okay, another rule – but what does it…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: backstory, character emotions, characterisation in novels, editing, imformation dumps in writing, show not tell, story endings

Characters readers love to spend time with

April 2, 2022 cheryl Leave a comment
holding hands

April 2022 newsletter writer’s corner I’m thrilled when people let me know I’ve written characters readers love to spend time…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: authors, character depth, character emotions, editing, writing characters

Make verbs work harder to strengthen your writing

March 5, 2022 cheryl 2 Comments

How can we make verbs work harder for us? Writers are often told: ‘get rid of was’, and ‘ban -ing…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: active voice, adverbs, passive voice, past tense, verbs, words ending in -ly

Six Do’s and Four Don’ts in writing book blurbs

February 10, 2022 cheryl Leave a comment
open book

Writing book blurbs is hard. Ask any author pitching to agents on the traditional publishing route, and 99% will tell…

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Posted in: Marketing, self publishing, Writing tips Filed under: back cover blurbs, book blurbs, book description

By the Letter newsletter for readers and writers

December 10, 2021 cheryl 2 Comments
decorative

My By the Letter newsletter includes short stories, author interviews, book reviews, writing tips … and what I’ve been up…

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Posted in: For the readers among us, News, Writing tips Filed under: author interviews, book reviews, newsletter, novel progress, short stories

The what, when and how of character backstory

December 8, 2021 cheryl Leave a comment

Backstory is critical to a reader’s understanding of our characters. But there are ways to do it without bogging the…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: characters, editing

Six scene essentials

November 10, 2021 cheryl Leave a comment
cloudy skies

The WHY, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHAT and HOW of scenes In editing my current WIP, I found I had snippets…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: change in scenes, character change, editing, Keepers, newsletter, point of view, scene beginnings, scene endings, scenes

Four stages of novel editing to make your book shine

September 10, 2021 cheryl 2 Comments
person writing

The draft is done. Yay! Now it’s time for editing. When I read that someone’s manuscript is with their editor,…

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Posted in: self publishing, Writing tips Filed under: copy editing, developmental editing, editing, line editing, proofreading, structural editing

Beta readers – what are they and why do you need them?

September 3, 2021 cheryl Leave a comment
beta readers

I’d never heard of beta readers when I (poorly) published my first books, a fantasy trilogy. If I had, I…

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Posted in: For the readers among us, self publishing, Writing tips Filed under: beta readers, editing, novel draft

Using Deep Point of View to immerse your reader

August 13, 2021 cheryl 4 Comments

This post appeared in my August 2021 newsletter’s writers’ corner. For regular tips, and much much more, take a risk…

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Posted in: Writing tips Filed under: author intervention, character voice, editing, immersive reader experience, voice

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  • About the author
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Blog posts for readers & writers
  • Guardians of the Forest
  • Historical Fiction
  • Bits of writing
  • Reviews of what I’m reading
  • Author guest spots
  • Sammy’s Walks
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