You might be surprised to learn that “seasoned” writers will still, on occasion, get this highly vague editing note: Add More Depth. This might refer to a character, a setting, a scene, and yes—even backstory (when appropriate). The following 6… Read More ›
narrative
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 #85 – Avoiding the Repetition of Exposition
We’ve all done it, something intrinsic to our story happens and different groups of people need to know about it; so, for the sake of the story we find ourselves repeating information the reader already knows – just to get… Read More ›
Editing Tip #77 – Structuring Your Book
You place the words “The End” on your manuscript and you’re ready to begin self-editing. Besides setting your work aside for a while to gain some distance from it (and hopefully a fresh perspective), it’s time to analyze the bones… Read More ›
Editing Tip #15
Don’t be Afraid to Fragment, Part 3 – A look at creative sentence structures. One of the first rules we’re taught in school is to build a ‘proper’ sentence, because fragments are bad. When you’re writing literary prose this is… Read More ›