In addition to presenting “Top Ten Things to Know About Getting Published Today” at the San Francisco Writers Conference, I had the opportunity to visit other sessions by top-notch presenters, such as Constance Hale, author of Sin and Syntax, whose “Principles to Take your Prose Up a Notch” was a succinct, witty and inspiring reminder that no prose should go unpolished. Compelling stories, she said, begin with compelling sentences. Consider “every sentence a mini-narrative.” So build your story on the strongest foundation with concrete nouns and active verbs. She offers more good stuff on her blog. Hale’s new book Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, will be out from W.W. Norton in the fall. In the meantime, watch for her posts in the "Draft" series of the New York Times Opinionator blog.-- Elfrieda Abbe, senior contributing editor at The Writer @literaryworker
very informative. Thank you, Addie May