Most writers routinely don’t observe my next two writing tips for authors–adding detail and avoiding qualifiers.
Writing Tip # 5: No matter how nervous you are about going out on a limb, if you’ve done your research then state your position as fact. Qualifiers (such as I think, I feel, I believe, it seems to me) just weaken your argument.
Qualified: We feel that this is the time to buy.
Strong: This is the time to buy.
Qualified: I believe that my family’s story typifies the immigrant experience.
Strong: My family’s story typifies the immigrant experience.
Writing Tip #6: This is one my my favorite writing tips for authors. Go big on detail and texture when writing a story—whether short or long, fiction or non-fiction. I regularly tell my writing coach clients that you want your reader to feel like a bug on the wall witnessing the experience you’re chronicling, so write in terms of all five senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, taste. Assume that our bug has the ability to read thoughts and pinpoint feelings, and include those as well.
So that’s what all that growling is about!