A Wordsmith’s Guide to Writing Authentic DialogueThe Wordsmith's Guides

Written by Elizabeth M. Hurst A Really Useful Resource ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Published by     Independently Published 30 Jun. 2026 Genre Nonfiction, Writers' Guides Pages 175 ASIN B0GQQ28D5C

#20BOS26 Reading Challenge Book #8

The Wordsmith's Guide to Planning the Perfect Plot (The Wordsmith's Guides)

Written by Elizabeth M. Hurst ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Published by     Independently Published 2 Sept. 2025 Genre Writing Reference Pages 153 ASIN B0FD9MQ991

2025 Blog Tour #29

My new journal

I was given this very beautiful journal back in January.

Thinking it was too nice to use for everyday notes, I put it away safely, and waited for the right occasion to present itself.

This week, I was rummaging for something else I'd set aside 'for the right occasion', and rediscovered this magnificent gift.

I still think it is too good to use. My appalling handwriting scratched across its pages, will not enhance it; only spoil it. The temptation to carefully repackage it, and put it back in its place of safety until a suitable time to use it arose, was strong.

Yet, I do have a suitable purpose for it.

I had a suitable purpose when it was given to me. I was just frightened of marring its beauty by scrawling my notes on its pristine, vellum pages.

How ridiculous is the notion, that I should keep this exquisite notebook hidden away in a cupboard, pending the advent of a suitable occasion to use it?

Logically, I know this 'suitable occasion' will never present itself, because I will always find a reason not to spoil the notebook's clean pages, and will undoubtedly tuck it away again.

So today is a momentous occasion for me. I have the notebook on my desk, ready to use to record my observations, thoughts, feelings and the interesting stories that people tell me, all of which might be drawn upon for my writing.

I just have to get over the first hurdle, which is to open the book out fully, and run the heel of my hand along the spine to flatten it!

Honestly, the feeling of panic that is rising within me, you'd think I was going to take a pair of scissors to it rather than a pen!

Another story!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a clear plan for writing another story. I knew what I wanted to happen, but the whole thing hinges on being able to do something in secret, yet leave no trace. I didn't think that what I wanted to do was so tricky!

After a bit of help from Jenna, and some research of my own, I have a possible solution, although not exactly the one I was looking for.

The dreaded writers' block has descended upon me now. I can't keep to my original story-line using this solution, and my reluctance to change it is preventing me from writing. Perhaps more research is required...

Reading the Proof

Having read through the proof I was shocked to find so many errors as it looked perfect on screen. The formatting errors stand out better in the printed medium than on screen and I've managed to confuse the rules for writing numbers in fiction. Sometimes I have written 'he took 2 tablets' and at others I have used 'he took two tablets'. I have done a bit of research and discovered that generally, numbers 0-100 are spelled out and anything over 100 is written in numerals. But there are of course exceptions...

Today has been spent reading the printed version and making corrections, which I'm happy to report is now done. The next step is to redesign the book cover to include my new logo.

I am learning a lot about writing and self-publishing and I have to say that it's been very interesting and enjoyable. And of course, I am another step closer to calling myself an author and publisher!

The 3rd Draft

2 weeks ago I was faced with rewriting my ending following helpful feedback from one of my reviewers. I have since heard from 4 more; one did not think there was a hook in the first couple of chapters so has not read any further; two thought it worked well as it was; and the fourth said the writing was of the same quality as published authors on her bookshelf.

So it looks like the story appeals to some. What do I need to do to make it better?

I was told that I had a plausibility issue in the first draft, and it was suggested that I frighten a character into having a heart attack rather than using my chosen method to bring it about. The only way I felt I could do this was for one character to threaten the other in such a vile manner that it would cause a heart attack. I dreamed up a way of doing this and happily wrote it down, tying it up with the existing story-line quite nicely.

The following day, as I was reading it back, I decided that the threat I had used would cause me to react quite differently, so I scrapped the second version and rewrote the whole thing.

I then tried to work on another piece of advice received, but did not think I could write something interesting and entertaining about the characters' feelings for an inanimate object... so I brought the object to life, gave 'her' a gender and a voice. I think it works well and that the third draft is the best to date. One reviewer, so far, thinks V3 works well. Let's see what the others think.

Oh! I bumped into another friend online today, who has also agreed to review it.

So, now to work on the book layout, while I wait for a few more of my wonderful team of unpaid readers to tell me if this version works better than the last. It should do... there's an additional murder to add to the tally!

 

A kick up the proverbial

We all need a bit of a push sometimes, to get on and do something, and last week I met up with Cathy Shuter who reignited my enthusiasm to write.

Cathy has published several books herself, and I wanted her to sign a couple of copies of "Oh Ollie",  which I bought to give as Christmas presents this year - yes I am organised!  I also wanted to know about her experience of writing and publishing and told her that I was also writing. Within a few minutes, Cathy had me believing in myself, motivated me to get on with my novel and consider self-publishing.

She also kindly offered to help me by reviewing my work and show me how to set up an account to self-publish; which reminds me, I must send her a link to read the story so far.

My daughter has, to date, not had time to read it, but I am hopeful that she will be able to soon, as she has a week's holiday coming up and usually tears through a couple of books while she is away.

Another source of encouragement: In conversation with a cousin recently, I learned that he enjoys writing short stories and he gave me one of his to read. It was really very good and I asked him to read my story and critique it. I saw him yesterday and was delighted that he had made time to read it. He said he thought the story line was good, and encouraged me to carry on with it. He talked me through the plot of his latest story, as far as he has got, but says he has now hit a brick wall. I told him that I had my plot mapped out but I am being influenced by people and things around me as to how I write my story. As an example, a conversation about my parents' wedding led to a description of the bridesmaids' attire. The hats, I was told, were 'Dutch caps'. That caused a bit of hilarity and it was confirmed that that was also the name of a contraceptive device. The phrase opened up a train of thought which helped me write a particular character and bring her to her untimely end. JC, something or someone will provide the inspiration you need to break down that brick wall.

And Finally...

This morning, despite my broadband doing the Hokey Cokey, I have set up an account with CreateSpace - which was as easy as Cathy said it would be - in readiness for when I finish my novel. Now to crack on and finish it...

 

Chapter 13 and beyond

Well, I have finished Chapter 13. The subplot seems plausible and I think I can tie it up with the main story. It's been sitting in draft-form for a couple of weeks and I now need to go through and check the timeline, grammar and punctuation. Other mundane stuff has come up these last few weeks and prevented me from finalising this chapter and moving on, but hopefully this week will see me do just that.

I've also  had trouble this last week with my broadband connection and spent a lot of time trying to sort that out with the help of the provider. As far as I'm concerned, it is still not right and the connection is dropping every few minutes, but they tell me that there is nothing wrong with it.

I've signed up to Fibre which should come on in the next fortnight, and I am hoping that will provide a better experience. It's odd that it's just happened and really annoying that I cannot stay connected for more than 10 minutes at a time. It cannot be the number of users as I've been the only one using it since 4.30am today and it is still not stable.

To further complicate my life, I have a new computer running Windows 10 and the transition from Vista to Windows 10 has left me a little frustrated. No, I lie... not a little...a lot.  I think I've got everything I need installed now, and my online storage is syncing (or not, depending on the broadband connection), so I'm more or less ready to go now. Fingers crossed this week will see Chapter 13 completed and Chapter 14 started...

Chapter 13...

Last week I re-read my story to put me in the mindset to re-work chapter 13. It was a good thing I did. I picked up a couple of minor typing mistakes. Not big problems really. However, reading through chapter 12, I discovered I'd told readers that the boy was 14 years old, two years before his eighteenth birthday. I'd similarly messed up the girls ages. I know how that happened. I'd amended the story-line in one paragraph but had not followed through in a later one which also talked about their ages.

The problem I was having with Chapter 13 may have been resolved. I scrapped the first draft, although I did use some of the original ideas in the second draft. This time though, I moved away from the idea that it was the man's business dealings that was his downfall and came up with a more suitable, I think, solution.

I'm still writing it, but I'm more confident that this idea will take the story in the direction it needs to go - to tie up with the present day events discussed in chapters 1 and 2.

Also last week, my husband made some time to go through my work and checked the grammar and punctuation. To my surprise, there were not as many suggested corrections as I'd expected. I've now sent the first 12 chapters to my eldest daughter asking for her opinion on the story rather than grammar and punctuation checking. I hope she will come back with constructive criticism about where the story is weak and needs rewriting and which bits she thinks work well.

Feedback Wanted

The writing seems to have gone pretty well so far. I have got 12 chapters on paper, but I'm still struggling with the next one. It’s unlucky chapter 13 that’s causing me grief! I have written it, but it is not going where I need it to go; so I’ve scrapped it and started again.

Finding an Idea

I never expected to write the story I'm writing. I thought that, as I enjoy reading romantic novels, I would write something in that genre. Sometimes I watch a romantic film and feel I could write a better ending; so I was very surprised to find my story littered with dead bodies. Hardly stuff of romance.

How I Got Started on My Novel

Last year, a friend asked me to show her how to set up and run a blog. Although this was something I had not done before, I worked out the basics of using WordPress and got her started. Now, Sherlock that I am, I deduced that she might enjoy writing and found an online writing course which we both enrolled on it.

Postcards Home

Now our family holidays have never exactly 'gone to plan' and rather than send something which reads - wish you were here - instead of me! - I report events in a light-hearted, 'it would only happen to us' kind of way.