My mother-in-law, Frances Lloyd Wright, whom my daughters called “Mimi”, taught me how to write a saleable story. I had written a great deal, including several chapters of a book and had had a few things published, but I had never sold a story. Frances went over the book with me chapter by chapter and showed me what was wrong with it. It was a hard, even painful “school”, but Frances taught me to how to write, and I will always be grateful to her for that gift. After we were finished, the book was really no good any more. It was neither my book nor Frances’ book, so I gave up the project, but I never gave up the desire to be a writer.

Pat and Christopher Lloyd

A week or two after we were finished going through all the chapters of that book, I noticed an article on the front page of the Sunday View Section of the Los Angeles Times called “Why This 21-Year-Old Woman Hates Men”. The article annoyed me, so I sat down that very afternoon and wrote a reply called “Why This 41-Year-Old Woman Loves Men.” In it I followed all the tips and hints for good, professional writing that Frances Wright had taught me. The next day, Monday morning, I mailed my article to the Editor of the View Section of the Sunday Times. The editor of the telephoned me on Wednesday and said they wanted to publish my article the following Sunday. They published my story on the front page of the View Section the following Sunday morning and sent me a $100.00 check. I still have a photocopy of that check. That was my first professional sale. Since then, I have never stopped writing for publication.

Here are the tips Frances taught me:

1. Begin by turning out a chapter or an article several pages long. Type it up and then lay it aside for a week or so, or at least for a few days, so you can return to it with a fresh mind. When you come back to it you will notice changes you want to make, paragraphs that need to be moved, for example. You can do all that later. Try first to go through the following steps:
2. Take out all unnecessary words, these are words that can be taken out of a sentence without destroying its meaning, words and phrases such as “fortunately”, “and so forth”, “however”, “if you will”, “strange to say”, “incidentally”, and “additionally.”  (I once had an editor hired by Chronicle Books who kept putting in the word “additionally.” It infuriated me but I couldn’t do anything about it.)  But to begin with, take out all unnecessary words and your work will immediately sound more professional.
3. Take out the word “very”. Frances said “When you say something is ‘very’ warm, cold, or whatever it doesn’t make your statement stronger, it makes it weaker.” The only good way to use the word “very” is when it means  “specific” (Examples: “that very day”, “that very place,” “that very hour,” or “at that very moment.”)
4. Take out the word “interesting”. If something is interesting, said Frances, you need to make it interesting. It’s boring to tell the reader that it is interesting.
5. Take out all words that are redundant. Say things once and say them well, and then you won’t need to say them twice. If you keep repeating the same thought in different ways it sounds as if you don’t have anything to say.
6. Take out all exclamation points. Exclamation points can be used in written conversation and in personal letters but they do not belong in books.
7. Cross out every cliché and replace it with words of your own that say the same thing. This will inject sparkle, originality and humor into your writing. Mimi said that she knew an editor who threw manuscripts in the ash can at the first sign of a cliché. (Examples of clichés are “flat as a pancake”, “a gloomy day”, “it’s a small world”, “razor sharp”, “black as ink”,  or “strong as an ox”.  For example: “flat as a pancake” might become “flat as a tennis court.” No one says that so thus it’s not a cliché.)
8. Take out every adjective and replace it with a colorful verb: Immediately your writing will become active and lively. Later on when you get good at this you can use adjectives again but writing sprinkled with adjectives is not good writing. It’s often called “purple prose.” (Another cliché.) Here is an example of amateur writing filled with adjectives and how to change it to active professional writing: AMATEUR SENTENCE: “At that moment, a rather dramatic, happy and enthusiastic, tall, thin girl with a sweet, smiling face, and long, shiny, blond hair entered the sunlit room.” MORE PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: “A girl bounded into the room, stopping for a moment, like a sapling in the sunlight that flooded through the window and spun her long hair into gold.”
9. Instead of describing your characters with adjectives let them show the reader what they are like by their actions. EXAMPLE: Instead of saying “He was tall and strong”, say “His stocky frame almost filled the doorway as with one hand he swung a bucket of kindling into the house and in his other hand toted  a heavy log as effortlessly as if it had been a matchstick.”

Above are all the tips Mimi taught me, and they were enormously helpful. By using them assiduously, I soon developed my own style. Here are a few more tips I learned through the years:

1. Read your finished story aloud to yourself and see how it sounds. (Actually Frances told me to do that, but I add this:) Sentences should be rhythmical—some long, some short, like a poem. Words should be musical, colorful, and intriguing, not dull and ordinary. There are many wonderful words, also, that are short and succinct. It’s the way one uses words that makes reading and writing enjoyable. Put words together in an artistic way and your reader will be intrigued to continue reading.
2. Change all passive sentences into active ones: (Passive sentences are when something is done to the subject instead of the subject doing the act.) For example: Here are two PASSIVE SENTENCES: “The letter was sent.” “The car was washed.” And here are two ACTIVE SENTENCES: “She sent the letter” “He washed the car.”
3. Organize chapters by subject. Organize the paragraphs within the chapter. It can help to make an outline or table of contents. If you can write one good chapter you can write a whole book.
4. Mimi said to me “You can’t become a writer until you have something to say.” Know what you are trying to say and then you will be able to say it. She would ask me “what are you trying to say here?”
5. “First tell the reader what you are going to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you have told them.” This is an old rule that was taught in journalism classes. It makes for clear expository writing. It is how I wrote all my magazine articles and also how I organize my talks.
6. Readers are not interested in your emotions; they don’t want to know how you feel. They are interested in the story the writer has to tell.
7. It’s unnecessary to say: “I think” (this or that) or “it’s my belief that” …or “it’s my opinion that…” You are the one writing the book. Everything you write in that book is what you think so you don’t need to say so.
8. Writing is like baking: FIRST MAKE A BIG BATCH OF DOUGH, THEN LATER SHAPE IT INTO LOAVES!  Few writers are geniuses able to toss off finished work in the first draft. It’s the editing process that makes for good writing.
9. As with all rules there are exceptions and all writers will find exceptions to the above rules. Start out by following the rules and later you can change them.