☺️☺️ Just to be sappy a moment… I love seeing writers improve over time. I am lucky enough to work with some authors whose creative wells seem bottomless. They are always writing. There are always more stories to tell. And I get to read them. And when you’ve seen someone’s early stories, then later ones,Continue reading “POV: Improve your writing by doing more of it.”
Tag Archives: editing
Will an editor judge me for my poor grammar?
When an author is worried an editor will consider their writing to be poor due to grammatical mistakes, my message is: don’t stress. We are not here to judge. In England, when 15/16-year-olds do their English exam and are asked to write a story, a whopping 40% of their mark for that story comes fromContinue reading “Will an editor judge me for my poor grammar?”
POV: You do your best proofreading when you’ve committed your work to its most permanent form. Confessions.
🎻 What’s that music you’d hear on those Radio 2 confessions? Bring it to mind to accompany this post. 💭 A memory popped into my head this morning. And that memory involves an occasion where an error I introduced into a text went to print. ❗ Before you all scratch me from your proofreading Rolodex, know this: I wasContinue reading “POV: You do your best proofreading when you’ve committed your work to its most permanent form. Confessions.”
Come in. The water’s fine. How working with an editor can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
I reckon signing up with an editor must be like looking at the sea and deciding whether you want to dive in. It could be amazing. It might be awful. I shared with you recently that the next six — now eight! — months are looking really decent for me work-wise. All fiction. Perfect. AllContinue reading “Come in. The water’s fine. How working with an editor can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”
How 2022 was the year that changed everything. My editing journey.
It’s the end of the year and I’m going to be self-indulgent and reflect on the fact that this was the year that changed everything. Early in 2022, I had a financial story session with Mahmood Reza. We worked out that if I scaled up the editing work I’d been doing part-time, I would beContinue reading “How 2022 was the year that changed everything. My editing journey.”
The best non-fiction I’ve read this year: ‘Dialogue’ by Robert McKee
Ah, this was much harder to decide. But here’s my top NON-FICTION read of the year. (Though I’m not enamoured with your cover, Mr McKee.) I’ve also read McKee’s popular ‘Story’, but I found this one better. It’s less pretentious. More actionable. And thoroughly entertaining. It seems I love learning from non-fiction books with aContinue reading “The best non-fiction I’ve read this year: ‘Dialogue’ by Robert McKee”
Is it OK to end a sentence with a preposition?
Where are you from? 😅From where are you? 😬 People get themselves in knots trying to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Roy Peter Clark comes up with three magic words you can add to avoid this. So that you don’t have to face the horror 😱 of ‘from’ being the last word ofContinue reading “Is it OK to end a sentence with a preposition?”
Is it pole or poll?
Here’s a handy graphic to show the difference.
Is it lay or lie?
🛑 Stop the press. At some point I shared my advice on the lie/lay confusable. I thought I did a fairly decent job explaining the difference. BUT! Proper dues to Roy Peter Clark who offers this tip: 💡 Use the vowel sound to remind you. Lay as in place. And Lie as in recline. That’llContinue reading “Is it lay or lie?”
Is it farmers’ market or farmers market? Assassins’ guild or assassins guild?
What does a farmers market have in common with an assassins guild? Well, I consulted this MW article about the former’s apostrophe (or lack thereof) and wondered whether I could apply the principle to the latter…https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-there-an-apostrophe-in-farmers-market-punctuation-possessive “Style guides try to make a distinction between possessive phrases and those that are merely descriptive. Since a farmersContinue reading “Is it farmers’ market or farmers market? Assassins’ guild or assassins guild?”
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