. It’s a word with connotations, all of them bad. “I can’t stand your attitude” is the prelude to a barrage of personal failings that start and end with nothing good. This seems strange, because at first glance, “attitude” seems like a neutral word. But let’s examine the definitions that Merriam-Webster posts for it. Aha.… Continue reading The Pep-Squad Police and YOUR Attitude
Writers, put down those red pens, because I have bad news for you. We’ve all seen the lists of words to weed from your prose, phrases editors hate, little pet peeves that get on other writers’ nerves, and even those of a few readers. If you are a dutiful and Good™ writer, you went through… Continue reading Writing Is the Least Important Part of Your Book
“More showing, less telling” is the battle cry of the the beta reader. But what does it actually mean? First of all, let’s start by saying that showing and telling are both okay techniques when used properly. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either. What’s wrong is using them exclusively. A book entirely told is boring.… Continue reading Show vs. Tell: The Definitive Run-Down
All of us, at one time or another, wish to take earlier versions of ourselves firmly by the shoulder and administer the death grip. “No, self, don’t do that, do this, and while I’m at it, for god’s sake get rid of those shoes, they’re doing you no favor.” In this case, I’m speaking of… Continue reading It’s Not Acting, It’s Cooperating
Comic Sans looks kind, soft, a little like a child’s handwriting. It seems so friendly you just can’t resist it!
Resist. Please.
Our editing tale is ending, as in our final week we talk about how to know when you are done. Week one was dedicated to getting started, week two address the biggest issues, while week three picked up smaller yet persistent problems to be on the watch for. And now you’ve done all that and you’re… Continue reading Edit Until You Can’t
Welcome back to my series on how to edit your manuscript! This is where I suggest how to edit your manuscript in preparation for either self-publishing or querying. Remember, there’s no one way to edit. If you’re already doing something that I’m not mentioning, or you do something differently, why not suggest it in the… Continue reading Perfect Editing Is A Lie
There’s a lot of advice out there on how to hire editors; I suggest you read it. But for what it’s worth, let me throw mine out there. Last week, we talked about why you should hire a copy-editor (and I am very pro-copy-editor.) They do stuff you can’t, they polish your manuscript to a… Continue reading How To Hire A Copy-Editor
I’m writing this post at the request of a couple Twitter friends. They say they hear all the time that self-publishing authors need professional copy-editors, but they don’t know why, because no one who hires one ever seems to say, after the fact, exactly why it was so important. Pray allow me to remedy that… Continue reading Why You Need a Copy-Editor
The writing community has this weird little thought process that goes like this: “If you think your writing is good, that means that you just don’t understand how bad it is.”
Guess what, world? I love my writing–and I don’t think it sucks at all.
Under-Paid, Over-Enthused 