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Anna was in the library, where her father and her had spent so much time over the years. Everyone had always said that they were so much alike in both temperament and personality. She had even inherited her father’s love and skill of games, such as chest and cards. They would spend hours on time at night trying to outwit the other’s strategy or just debating politics. Some days they would enjoy the silence of a horseback ride through the countryside. She sighed as she thought of how much she missed her father.

Anna snapped out of her daydream when her brother, the Duke of Charlesmere walked into the room to find her. Standing up she went to greet her brother, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m so glad to see you had a safe trip Will. Where is Julia?”

“It was an exhausting trip for Julia. She went upstairs to lay down, but she should be down for supper after she’s rested.” The Duke of Charlesmere said to his sister, and then he changed the subject. “Anna, I need to discuss something with you.”

When the Duke and his wife returned home earlier he told her about his contract with Duke Nottaway. He had hoped that she would be in full agreement with him but she wasn’t. In fact she had been completely distressed over his announcement and so quickly after the deaths of his parents.

(Check back tomorrow for part 6 of Chapter 1…)

A helpful tool many writers use is reading. There is no better way to learn-to-write than by reading as many styles and types of books as possible. As discussed in an earlier tip, books are written in different voices. It is a great idea to read a book or more in each viewpoint or voice to find a style that appeals to your artist side.

Invest in a few some good fictions, romance novels, mysteries, true stories, comedies, self-help, and other books that will help you begin to read-to-learn your writing style. What you will find in each of the stories you picked out (if by different authors) is they have very different writing styles and delivery of their story line to their audience. This makes for an excellent learning tool to see different ways stories can flow and still be affective, helping you learn to develop your own writing style.

As you read, take notes on what you liked and disliked about the style of the writing, and be mindful of these points later on when doing your own writing.

He was actually wondering if he was crazy because he was starting to think this could be a suitable solution, since he needed that darn land for the water and hay if he was to enlarge his cattle and horse production in England. There was nothing that said he had to marry her and treat her as a real wife, just a marriage of convenience was all, convenient for him at least. Nottaway smiled to himself.

“To start with our father never tried to marry Anna off to anyone. He let her make her own decisions when it came to marriage, which I believe to be a mistake now. Anna is under my control now and if I find a suitable marriage proposal for her, I will force her to marry for her own good. I don’t wish to see my sister end up an old spinster, living in a convent if something should happened to me.” Charlesmere muttered in a tightly controlled voice.
(Read on …)

Revisions are one of your best tools to clarify and edit the chapters in your book. In the book, Style - Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams, he states, “Experienced writers get something down on paper as fast as they can, just so they can revise it into something clearer; and if they are lucky in the process discover something new.”

In his book the main subject is not about writing as you would be lead to believe when you first purchase it be about rewriting. It is in rewriting that a book takes shape or form. A good skill to learn is to take a look at what you wrote the day before and begin to rewrite it into a clearer piece as soon as possible. Remember rewriting isn’t something you do one time then it’s a masterpiece. You will be constantly revising your piece until you get it into the shape you are looking to achieve.

“Nottaway, I’ve already told you she won’t sell the land. What more can I say? Anna and my father were very close, and no amount of money would ever induce her to part with the property he left her. Besides you’re acting as though I’m trying to march you off to war to be shot, when I’m only negotiating a marriage contract for my beautiful sister.”

He started laughing a deep throaty laugh. “Charlesmere, you haven’t changed one bit, you’re still a liar. Beautiful sister my foot! Remember I saw your sister once when she wasn’t more than six or seven years old. Your father was teaching her to ride a horse. When the two of them galloped in, she looked more like a little wild animal, with a tangled mess of red hair flying everywhere, not a beautiful young girl.”
(Read on …)