Writing

I finished writing my first full-length novel a year ago. Since then I've toyed with Chapter One until I no longer recognize it. I've flittered between making it more romancey, more women's fiction or more suspense. Suspense is winning.

Then I took a self-edit course at www.savvyauthors.com by Angela James. Wow. I use the word "just" many, many times more than the average.

Other words to search and destroy are listed below:

and

just

that

very

totally

so

and then

really

These are garbage words. Be ruthless. Delete them immediately. Revise as needed.

Why are they garbage?

1. They rarely give added information.

2. They won't be missed when they are gone.

And if you hear of Angela James giving a course - take it! I am swimming in new information and loving it.