Save The Cat! Writes a Novel. A great book about story structure. Have you read it?

🤩 I’ll tell you what I’m loving about Save the Cat! Writes a Novel so far: 📚 the examples. The novels which are referenced to back up the claims about story structure. There’s a really nice balance in the selection of texts across genres, styles, eras, audiences. It’s just a stroke of luck that IContinue reading “Save The Cat! Writes a Novel. A great book about story structure. Have you read it?”

Looking for a proofreader/editor who is experienced at working with indie authors? That’s me!

I’ve just been crunching some numbers. 📈 In 2021, I had: 1️⃣3️⃣ editing jobs. Of these: 8️⃣ were indie author clients 4️⃣ were business clients and 1️⃣ was an academic client. My word count for the year was 581,191. Not bad considering that’s been part-time. 94% of the words I proofread/edited belonged to indie authorContinue reading “Looking for a proofreader/editor who is experienced at working with indie authors? That’s me!”

What is Parkinson’s Law? Knowing this helps me to be a more efficient editor.

⏰ “It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Cyril Northcote Parkinson, The Economist,1955. I gave myself the morning off today and I’m really glad I did. It’s been a mad few weeks and yesterday evening when I hit send on this month’s main editingContinue reading “What is Parkinson’s Law? Knowing this helps me to be a more efficient editor.”

Cherry Edits: making in-roads with traditional publishers.

That’s the proofreading test done for the big ol’ publisher. 🤞 It’s just over two years since I finished P3, my third CIEP training course. And it was noticeable this weekend as I was finishing off the test sample how much more confident I felt than when I did the final course exercises at theContinue reading “Cherry Edits: making in-roads with traditional publishers.”

Is it to faze or to phase?

😳 To faze = the verb you’re looking for when someone is rattled. Often we use it to report that we weren’t flustered. 👍 I wasn’t fazed. ✅ And that’s correct. ❌ Step away from the use of ‘phased’ for this intended meaning. ❌ ‘I wasn’t phased’ is incorrect. 😳 Faze = (verb) to disconcert/discombobulateContinue reading “Is it to faze or to phase?”

Indie authors: I’m making in-roads with publishers and that will benefit you too.

One of the Big Five traditional publishers has asked me to do a proofreading test. If I’m successful, I will hopefully be added to their freelance pool. The sample is from a fiction manuscript.  It’s typeset and will need marking up with PDF tools. It’s ‘proper’ proofreading. As in, it does what it says onContinue reading “Indie authors: I’m making in-roads with publishers and that will benefit you too.”

How do you concentrate on more than one book at once?

❓’How do you stop yourself getting drawn into the novel and staying in the proofreading zone?’ I was asked this question on LinkedIn the other day when I said I was proofreading a thriller, and it got me thinking… I find it pretty straightforward to compartmentalise what I’m reading. I always have several books onContinue reading “How do you concentrate on more than one book at once?”

Do you need a space between the number and the symbol in percentages? That’s where the Chigago Manual of Style comes in handy!

My buddy for today’s work. To be a good proofreader and editor, you don’t need to know everything. You just need to know what to look up and where. Armed with this book, Google and editorial buddies, I can find the answers to life’s big questions like: 💯 Should there be a space between theContinue reading “Do you need a space between the number and the symbol in percentages? That’s where the Chigago Manual of Style comes in handy!”

I enjoy flexing my imagination at creative writing groups. Do you?

I attended Shap writing group again yesterday, this time on Zoom. My second time joining in and it was a lot of fun. There are some proper characters in the group. I mean that with affection. 😊 Like the first time I met them and one of them said he lives near the house whichContinue reading “I enjoy flexing my imagination at creative writing groups. Do you?”

Q. How do I get my book finished this year? A. Read this. ⬇️

📍 Why booking a slot with me will help you finish your novel. Have you decided 2022 is the year you’ll finish and publish your book? I can help you make that happen. — 🔊 I’m partway through listening to Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D’s book, Influence. A scenario he shares about a woman who wantedContinue reading “Q. How do I get my book finished this year? A. Read this. ⬇️”