Word for Words Blog for Writers from Adele Annesi

Negation goes a step beyond just enough.
Savvy writers know how to give just enough details, just enough interaction, in a scene to reveal something of the characters and what the scene means to the overall story. Negation goes a step further. It calls attention to what the people in that scene chose not to say, not to do. Rather than satisfy the reader’s curiosity,...

The new year is often a time for writers to reflect on the year before and what we accomplished. Yet, we sometimes dread looking back because we didn’t achieve all we hoped or planned. Still, we’ve had successes, planned and unplanned, and probably more than we realize. This guide to looking back can help writers note and evaluate their achievements, and replicate them (and m...

After six years, I returned to Italy in October. The trip gave me time with family and a break from the routine. It also provided something Bob Dylan noted in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One—experience. And from experience comes inspiration.

Like my dad, whose lifelong love affair with Italy was partly the subject of What She Takes Away, my first novel,...

At some point most of us benefit from a writing coach. Mine is Pete Nelson, author of the novel I Thought You Were Dead. One point Pete often makes about developing a novel is this. The king died and then the queen died is a statement. The king died and then the queen died of grief is a story. Here, escalation happens in the reason for the queen’s death.

George S...