Until recently I’d never heard of “ablaut reduplication”, but I have unknowingly been applying it my whole life…and so have you! Ablaut reduplication is when you repeat a word that has a similar sound or spelling. The following examples are from ProEdit: Chitchat Crisscross Dillydally Ding-dong Kitty cat Knickknack Mishmash Ping-pong Pitter-patter Riffraff Singsong Splish-splash…
Craft
Conference: lightbulb moments and awards
A couple of weeks ago I attended the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference. I had a ball. I caught up with friends, pitched my manuscript to agents, attended the fancy dress cocktail party (although this year I wussed on the costume and just wore a blingy tiara with my jeans for the tiara and…
A great story
Below is a talk Andrew Stanton (writer of Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo and Wall-E) gave on ‘Clues to a Great Story’. One of his theories really resonated with me – he calls it the unifying theory of 2+2. His explanation was that you don’t give the audience the answer, you let them…
Writing craft books
Like any writer I have a bunch of craft books on my bookshelf and kindle. Some I haven’t yet opened *blush*. Not that I bought them thinking they wouldn’t be useful and it’s not that I no longer want to read them. I do. It’s just that time taken reading a craft book could be…
Passive versus active voice
One of my red flags to watch for when I edit is passive voice. And I usually find a lot of them (they can be identified by words such as ‘was’ and ‘by’). Writing with a passive voice always seems to be how my drafts evolve. Then during my edits I need to find them…