clairecherryedits

Is it phase or faze?

It didn’t phase me. ❌It didn’t faze me. ✔️ F-A-Z-E is the spelling you want. Isn’t it interesting how we always use it in the negative. People always say they weren’t fazed. They rarely say they were. We seem to prefer discombobulated for this scenario. Maybe because it’s such a silly word. It takes theContinue reading “Is it phase or faze?”

Some musings on names, pronunciation and Mastodon.

I’m Claire. With an ‘I’ and an ‘E’. And I’m ‘Cronshaw’, like the fruit…?!? 🤔🤔 I should explain. In 2009, after almost three decades of being a Cherry 🍒, I got married. I chose to take my husband’s name, just because I wanted to. 😍 Anyway, I was so much in the habit of usingContinue reading “Some musings on names, pronunciation and Mastodon.”

New service: manuscript assessments.

Early last month, I wrote a post about signing a contract with a client to do my first manuscript assessment. Anyway, it went well! I’m really pleased with this testimonial. Honestly, even though it was my first one, I didn’t find it a difficult task. It took me a while, yes, as I was overthinkingContinue reading “New service: manuscript assessments.”

Write it once. Sell it forever. Books are assets. Start creating yours today.

👋 Hey, you. Creative person in your 30s. You know you’ve been thinking about writing a book… But, you’re in your 30s… You’d better get serious now. And throwing yourself into a made-up world of moonlit romances does not seem all that serious. And that family member keeps asking if you’ve started saving for yourContinue reading “Write it once. Sell it forever. Books are assets. Start creating yours today.”

Mistakes Were Made. Use this zombie hack to identify the passive voice.

Do you know this zombie hack? 🧟‍♂️🔪🧟‍♀️🔪🧟🔪 I don’t know when tips became hacks… Or whether this one should be a trick. Let’s go with zombie hack. That sounds seasonal… 🎃 Speaking of seasonal, Britain has a new Prime Minister. Wow, that jibe veers into political commentary. That’s not like me at all. So I’llContinue reading “Mistakes Were Made. Use this zombie hack to identify the passive voice.”

If a book doesn’t have a pacy plot, can it still be good?

What books live in your mind library and why? I’ve just finished Things Fall Apart. Wow. I don’t have a detailed review to share with you as it’s one that’ll take a while to process. What I can say about it is that I reckon it’ll live in my mind library on the same shelvesContinue reading “If a book doesn’t have a pacy plot, can it still be good?”

What’s the best book to read if you want to write a novel?

This is a wonderful book. I love the examples given. The texts she chooses to exemplify structural elements span a wide range of genres. And she happens to have chosen loads I’ve read too so that made it extra engaging. I tried for a while to plot out my own ideas against the structure given.Continue reading “What’s the best book to read if you want to write a novel?”

Is it Halloween or Hallowe’en?

👻The schools have just broken up for half term. No doubt you’ve got the kiddos booked in somewhere for spooky activities over the holidays. So it’s not to early to say this, is it? 🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Or should that be Happy Hallowe’en? 🎃 happy halloween? Or happy hallowe’en? Or some other variation? It looksContinue reading “Is it Halloween or Hallowe’en?”

What words and phrases do you find pleasing?

Some words and phrases are just pleasing. “Belt and braces.” This is the idiom my computer repair guy used last week when he came to fix my WiFi issues. I now have two ways of connecting and, if one’s slow, the other will kick in. “Cut and shut.” This phrase came to mind when myContinue reading “What words and phrases do you find pleasing?”

Is it it’s or its?

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀. I don’t mind admitting it took me far longer than it should have to learn this rule. I don’t remember anyone ever saying it to me as bluntly as this. ‘It’ (apostrophe) ‘s’ is only ever short for ‘it is’. And it confused me because it seemsContinue reading “Is it it’s or its?”