Whether you’re a planner or a pantser, it’s important to both ask and answer those hard questions about your newly completed novel (or even that one you’re dusting off). Does it make sense? Where might a reader get lost? Why?… Read More ›
editing help
Editing Tip #115 – Tidying This and “That” for the Big Day
No, I’m not talking about doing your dusting before friends and family come over for the holidays; I’m talking about this one particular little word “that” 95% of the time can be eliminated from your sentences. It’s true. We just… Read More ›
Editing Tip #114 – Avoid This Redundancy “In Order To” Keep Your Prose Healthy
There are a plethora of ways we authors add extra words, phrases, and sentences that aren’t necessary to the context of our writing. Take my title for today – the first three words after the numbered editing tip say enough…. Read More ›
The Guide to Clear and Concise Writing
Originally posted on AnitaLovett.com:
As National Novel Writing Month ends, the beginning of the holiday season strikes. The time of the year has come where you embark on reading stories about obnoxious gingerbread men, elves that watch naughty children,…
Editing Tip #113 – The Vocab Controversy
Don’t trust someone who claims there’s only one right way to do something. This kind of fatalistic advice (do this or die) will only hurt you in the long run. My ire on the topic (oooo, look, I used a… Read More ›
Editing Tip #112 – Making a Stronger Impact with Phraseology
It’s not uncommon to hear about reducing the number of passive sentences in your work, or trimming the fat (extra words) for simplicity of thought and clarity of intent. But what crosses your mind when an editor highlights a perfectly… Read More ›
Editing Tip #111 – Don’t Be Afraid to Try Something New
Without even realizing it, at every stage of our writing careers (from first learning the ropes to having several books published) we get used to crafting our stories a certain way. In the early stages we take courses, attend workshops… Read More ›
Editing Tip #110 – Knowing What Format You’re Writing in is Half the Battle
Many new writers know of the two main categories of writing: Novels and Short Stories. Occasionally emerging writers are also familiar with the term Novella but this is where things start to get ‘sticky’. Certain genres do well as novellas… Read More ›
Editing Tip #109 – Hiring an Editor Doesn’t Mean Losing Your Voice
Have you ever thought (when you were first starting out) that if you hired a professional editor to do a substantive/content edit or a line/stylistic edit that suddenly your narrative voice was a risk of disappearing? That the manuscript you… Read More ›
Editing Tip #108 – When to Trust an Editor’s Advice
I have run across this a few times now in past three years – a new client will come my way (usually because they’ve learned my new-client prices are crazy low), they will have gone through an editor or two… Read More ›
infinite-pathways.org 