Member-only story
Use Kindle Highlights to Improve Your Writing
Highlights are a powerful tool in the palm of your hand
I am an avid reader and also a fast reader. This skill came in handy when I was in college and I could read through tests (back in the old days when they were on paper) quickly and had time to go back through and review my answers.
So reading fast was handy for that, but not so much for reading novels. I missed nuance and sometimes even plot points. Over the years, I have trained myself to slow down and frequently read a novel again, especially those by my favorite authors, like Tana French and Michael Connelly.
So, I decided to do some further analysis to see if I could spot some patterns. I got the idea from Kristen Tate in her Blue Garret newsletters. Going about analyzing a story using a systematic approach and Kindle highlighting not only appealed to my list-making, left-brain mind, but it is also eminently useful.
In LJ Ross’s novels, I use highlights to identify standard elements: actions, thoughts, descriptions, and flashbacks/backstories. What could I learn from this prolific writer, I wondered. I chose “Dark Skies-A DCI Ryan Mystery” (not an affiliate link) which I’d mentioned in a previous article, book no. 7 in the series. Then, I used the Kindle highlighting and notes feature to analyze…
