SRS Wednesday Whip Tip: Bruce Coville

Yes! You read correctly...BRUCE COVILLE!

Today Cuppa Jolie welcomes the amazing Bruce Coville to offer the first Wednesday Whip Tip.

Leave it to a talent and fantastic guy like Bruce to pass on a tip during a very busy time for him. And don't miss the Wednesday Whip Tip from author and readergirlz diva, Lorie Ann Grover, over at Holly's blog.

Bruce Coville is the author of nearly 100 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, and the wildly popular UNICORN CHRONICLES series. He has been, at various times, a teacher, a toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. He is also the founder of FULL CAST AUDIO, an audiobook publishing company devoted to producing full cast, unabridged recordings of material for family listening.


So, in few words, the guy ROCKS. And if you've never heard him speak...you must!

Here's a few words, straight from Bruce, on revision!

I have a list of words that I overuse in early drafts, and that generally add little of use to the text. "Just" is one, "that" is another. "Started to [verb]" and "began to [verb]" (okay, those are phrases, not words) are also there, as generally you can just go with the verb. At some point I just do a word search (in which case I would delete the just I just used!) on these words and phrases and evaluate each for elimination. No single one of these changes makes a big difference, but the cumulative effect can be a tighter, cleaner text that reads more smoothly.

Thank you, Bruce!

Don't miss tomorrow for tips from Kirby Larson and Holly's editor, Catherine Onder!