Avatar photoJessi Rita Hoffman

Jessi Rita Hoffman is a developmental book editor (content editor) who specializes in helping first-time authors. She can be reached through her website at www.JessiRitaHoffman.com or found on Twitter.
Children’s Dialogue: They Don’t Talk Like Adults
Image: young girl wearing an adult-sized suit, sitting at an office desk and holding a telephone receiver.
Children aren’t miniature grownups. When writing a story with a child character, take time to really listen to how kids ...
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/ Guest Post, Writing Advice
Do You Torture Your Metaphors? The Problem of Self-Conscious Writing
Image: fish on a plate, covered in white sauce topped with confetti
Unless a metaphor spontaneously suggests itself from your creative, subconscious mind, it’s probably forced and phony-sounding—and far from “literary” ...
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/ Guest Post, Writing Advice
7 Common Mistakes in First-Time Memoir
Image: car off road and stuck in mud
Readers come to a memoir in hopes it will shed light on their own life experiences. Stay on the right ...
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/ Getting Published, Guest Post
Hedge Words and Inflation Words: Prune Them From Your Writing
prune unnecessary words
I’d like to highlight two common writing flaws that clutter the manuscripts of many aspiring authors. I call these culprits ...
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/ Guest Post, Writing Advice
How to Write a Great (and Not Schmaltzy) Love Scene
writing a love scene
For a love scene to move readers, it must embody the principle of restraint—in dialogue, in description, and in the ...
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/ editing, fiction, fiction craft, fiction writing, Guest Post, Writing Advice
2 Stammer Verbs to Avoid in Your Fiction
A pink pencil with pink lead has a broken tip. By Hernán Piñera via Flickr.
Editor Jessi Rita Hoffman warns against the use of "stammer verbs," words that cause an unnecessary halt in the scene ...
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/ fiction craft, fiction writing, Guest Post, novel editing, novel writing, verbs, writing advice, Writing Advice
Writing Your Book’s Back-Cover Copy
Magnifying glass by Todd Chandler via Flickr
Editor Jessi Rita Hoffman explains how to craft professional and compelling back-cover copy for your book ...
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/ back cover, back-cover copy, ebooks, fiction, Guest Post, Marketing & Promotion, nonfiction books, self-publishing, writing advice