Gretchen's Scribbles: I fixed a hole

I fixed a "hole" in my manuscript. It was a problem that had bothered me for a long time. In the last week, I've written 5,154 words (gotta love "word count," YES!) correcting that issue. After so much time editing (since August), it refreshed me to write again - that is what I truly love!

My self-imposed deadline to send out my manuscript to ten readers was the end of January. I know that I've crept into February, but I'm very close...hopefully by the end of next week I'll have copies printed and ready to hand out or send. One unsolvable riddle that I have is, how do you find five people that you don't know (and who will be ruthless) to read it? I have one person who doesn't know me too well and another who hasn't seen me in thirteen years and we've only recently talked a little...hopefully they'll feel free to say what they think (although this part both exhilarates and scares me), but I do need the honesty...

Gretchen's Scribbles: When You're Reading Too Much Advice

Awhile ago (at least a year and a half) I read that the word "said" was outdated and no longer used in writing. So, I went through my manuscript (however long it was) and replaced that word with action ("beats") and some horrific tags like "..." He grimaced.

So, this week I read in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King....that the word "said" is the best thing to use (to clarify who is speaking as needed). Some beats are good. However tags such as "He grimaced." are the worst thing and the sign of a novice. (Disclaimer: It will not be their fault if my book is bad)

Makes sense, but "Ugh!" So, gonna have to look at that dialogue again...

(2nd Disclaimer: This post has not been edited)