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Five Reasons Why You Should Not Outline Your Novel, Short Story or Non-Fiction Manuscript
As I noted in my previous post—which laid out five arguments for why you should outline your novel, short story or non-fiction project—I’m a big fan of outlining for the same reason I enjoy planning anything in life. I like to have a clear sense of where I’m going before I embark on the journey. […]
Three-Dimensional Characters
As an experienced fiction editor, I think I can safely say that most writers struggle with creating believable, well-rounded characters. As a writer, I know I do. Even in a short story, you want the main characters to be realistic and believable-no matter how escapist your literature is, or how avant-garde or fantastical. While reading […]
Finding Balance Between Prose and Dialogue | Reader Feedback
How do you find the right balance of prose and dialogue in your novel? How much of either is “too much”? Writing is a balancing act. So much in life goes unsaid, and so much of what’s unsaid is important. Like most feats of balance, it helps to know what happens when we go to […]
Indexing: Construct a Topic Tree
Indexing is not for the faint of heart. It requires superb mental organizational skills, and an ability to discern the big picture while sorting out the minutiae. Without proper organization, you might go mad. Especially with academic books, organizing topics can be a...
So You Want To Be A Children’s Book Author — The Basics Experienced Writers Wish They’d Known
After years of editing, teaching writing, working with writers, and learning about the industry as a writer/illustrator, I have a created a list of things I believe new children’s book writers need to know. I also asked some published author and illustrator friends to tell me what they wish they’d known when they began. Following […]
Weaving in Back Story | Staying Disciplined as a Writer
Successfully weave a character’s back story through my novel? I don’t want to include too much of their history too soon and kill the story’s momentum. A well-rounded character, just like any real person, will grow in complexity over time. Within the finite structure of a fictional story, it’s a writer’s job to guide the […]
10 Tips to Get Your Revision Ready
1) Give your brain the time and space it needs to think clearly. Unless there’s a looming deadline, there’s no reason to rush. We’re often in such a hurry to get to the final draft, that we don’t allow ourselves the time to listen for what the work needs. If you require a quiet […]
APA Editing — You have questions. We have answers.
Students ask us questions regarding the APA editing process. Here are some answers to help you know with certainty that choosing an APA editor from this network is the right decision.
How Does A Developmental Editor Work With A Writer?
For a writer seeking to find an agent and/or publisher, working with a developmental editor before submission is an invaluable advantage. Once a writer has gone through the process of writing and rewriting, then fine-tuning numerous times, it’s often difficult to see what else needs to be done to make his or her book stand […]
Grammar’s Role in Dialogue – Finding a Critique Partner
Do grammatical rules apply when writing dialogue? Are accents and slang fair game? The grammar you use in your dialogue should match the grammar the character would use while speaking. You can use grammatical style as a tool for character development. Characters rarely require dialogue with perfect grammar, because few people speak that way. Even […]
When You Can’t Afford an Editor for Your Academic Writing
Writers reach out to editors when they realize that their eye for errors has limitations. When writers have been working on a document for days, weeks, or even a year or more, they can become so close to the words that they don’t see the flaws that can be so glaring to a reader. Professional […]
How to Write a Book
Yes, I’m going to explain how to write a book in 750 words. After writing more than seventy books myself, I feel I can boil down the book-writing process to several simple tips. Note that I said book-writing process. Before attempting to write a book longer than Goodnight Moon, a person should understand and be […]
When to Start a New Paragraph in Fiction
The Book Synopsis, in Brief
One of the crucial elements of any book query package is the synopsis: a very condensed version of the story, presented in just a few pages. This holds true whether the book is fiction or nonfiction, but publishers and potential agents most definitely want to see synopses for novel submissions. When I first started in […]
Why Editing Takes Longer Than Reading
Editing a book involves much more than just reading it for typos. Learn what editing a book entails.
