Friday, September 4, 2009

Friday Round-Up - #65

As much as we'd like to think all our words are lean, there's fat hiding in our manuscripts. Check out this post by Kathy Ide, at Pixnpens, for editing tips.

Need a simple website? Check out Emily Akin's tips on how to set one up.

Get out the old scrub brush, and get rid of those cliches! This site has a free demo. If you find it useful, let us know. The program can be purchased for a relatively small fee.

Have a great weekend!

16 comments:

Jessica Nelson said...

Cliches. They're the bane of my existence. (told you, lol)

I hope you and your mom had a relaxing time away. :-)

Jody Hedlund said...

Great links, Susan! I like the picture of scrubbing our manuscripts! Sometimes we need to scrub hard!

Donna M. Kohlstrom said...

Love the pics and post!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Jess -

I have to watch out for cliched stories, as well as the one liners. A stale illustration signals an unoriginal manuscript or talk.

Thanks. We had a great time.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Jody -

LOL! I guess I have my kitchen floor on the brain. It requires a scrub brush.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Donna -

Thanks! I hope there's something you can use.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

My old creative writing professor used to say: "avoid cliches like the plague." Ha!

Have a great weekend!

Candee Fick said...

Cliches like to lurk in first drafts and need a good scrubbing to reveal the creativity they hide. Is this why they call it "polishing" a manuscript?

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Kristen -

LOL! Easier said than done - oops! There I go again. I'll bet we could think of a dozen cliches without pausing for ten seconds.

Blessings,
Susan

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Candee -

A first draft is like a pot covered in caked on food and grease. It takes a lot of scrubbing for it to shine. Cliches are one of the spots covering the hidden beauty of the pan.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Thanks for the links, Susan. I can use help in all these areas.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Eileen -

Great! I'm so glad these links are helping you.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Terri Tiffany said...

I am guilty of cliches too :(( Have a good weekend!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Terri -

At the Philly conference, one of the cliches they highlighted: "She tucked a strand of blonde hair..."

I guess everyone uses this to show if their character is blonde, a redhead or whatever.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Becky Lange said...

Hi Susan,

Thanks for the reminder to "trim" our writing. I have a penchant for elaborating a bit too much :). Thanks also for your encouraging comment on my last blog post.

God bless!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Becky -

You're welcome.

I'm glad the link helped you. We writers tend to go a bit crazy with all the words at our disposal. :)

Blessings,
Susan