The short answer: as long as it needs to be. While this is a vague answer, understanding word counts can make the difference between readers finishing your book or abandoning it half way through. Let’s discuss why your word count matters, look at some examples, and look at ways to reduce your word count whenContinue reading “How long should your book be? A word count guide for travel and adventure writers”
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Out vs in: 2025 edition
Kia ora, You know what I’m going to say: Happy New Year! I hope you had a good break over Christmas. My break was a bit chaotic 😅 Lots of house projects, garden work, a couple of walks, and a bike ride that sent me over the handlebars. I survived, and somehow want to doContinue reading “Out vs in: 2025 edition”
How to write scientific names for animals, plants, and fungi
As an adventure writer, you probably don’t often use scientific naming in your stories, but occasionally you might want to use the scientific name of a creature that you come across during your travels.
Here is how those names are formatted.
How to avoid overloading your descriptions
It’s tempting to load your adventure scenes with detail-rich descriptions that capture what you experienced in the moment. But too much detail can overwhelm a scene and slow the pace.
How to reduce the number of ‘I’s in your writing
I went here, I saw this, I did that. Too many ‘I’s can make your narrative all about you, which makes for a dull narrative akin to a report from Julius Caesar: I came, I saw, I conquered.
How to use verbs to boost your descriptions
Verbs convey action, but some verbs can have the opposite effect: they can flatten your writing and drain all the energy from a scene.
Improve your writing by removing filter words
Removing filter words from your writing is an easy way to deepen your narrative and engage your readers.
When do you capitalise “mum” and “dad”?
“Mum” can be used as a title or as a common noun. When it’s used as a title, it’s capitalised. When it’s used as a common noun, it’s lower case.
How to write (great) sex scenes
Picture the scene: your characters have been pining over each other for months and they’ve finally had their first kiss. They’re ready for more. They want to, no, need to have sex, right now.
How to use apostrophes
In this article I will show you how to use apostrophes to indicate missing letters and possession, and how they are used with years, time, Māori words, and abbreviations.
Deborah Shaw Adventure Editing 