Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Find out more about me or my services
Popular Posts
Recent posts…
Why Hire an Editor
Here are five bottom-line reasons you should hire a human editor and not rely on a grammar checker, especially one with AI. Fiction writing is not AI’s strong suit. AI loves patterns and it will find repetitions of ideas, and words or phrases perfectly acceptable. Yes, you can program an AI grammar checker to let…
Keep readingA Discussion of POV
Presentation alert: January 17, at 2:00 pm Eastern I will be speaking to the members of OPUS Literary Alliance. OPUS members will receive the link to the Zoom meeting. It also will be recorded for OPUS members to view online later. OPUS’s mission is to enhance the visibility and preserve the legacy of lesbian, women…
Keep readingSetting is a matter of point of view
One of the top reasons for why someone reads, according to most reader surveys is, to escape. Escapism is not only found in the fantastical, the things that wouldn’t happen in the reader’s every day life. Escapism is also found in the places stories take their readers. I’ve talked before about “talking heads” dialogue, not…
Keep readingWhen showing becomes too much
Yes, you really can go too far with “show, don’t tell.” When the narrative is too dense, readers will stop reading. Mostly because too much show causes reader overwhelm and they often lose the plot or point of what you are trying to show. Too much showing Tips to Avoid Showing Too Much If it’s…
Keep readingPronouns
Editing Availability update: My earliest availability is January and February 2026. A short project or two might fit in October, but that’s something I have to decide on a case-by-case basis. So if you’re looking and want to get a quote or sample edit, contact me for a 30-minute Zoom discussion here. Now for this…
Keep readingWriting through noise
It’s noisy out there. I don’t mean noise in the literal sense. Though there is a lot of that, too. The noise I’m referring to is our own brains spiraling thoughts of concern about our world, natural and man-made disasters, injustice and so much else. As a creative, you’re probably very sensitive to the things…
Keep readingAdding Layers
“Ogres have layers.” ~ Shrek Story characters should have layers. Some details are revealed only in gut-wrenching moments with another character as they let their walls down, and others are never revealed to other characters, but drive motivation throughout the story. You will probably not get all layers into your first/zero draft. Here’s how to…
Keep readingSelf-Editing Part 2
Last month, I began to discuss how you can approach editing your own story with four tasks. Today’s discuss will pick up where that left off. You addressed what you saw as issues with the story’s structure. You now have to start turning your manuscript into something that readers expect when they read in this…
Keep reading4 Self-Editing Tasks
You have completed the first draft of your story. If you’re working toward publication, you probably know this was just step 1. (My post on From Draft to Done can help you understand the process.) Today’s topic comes to you courtesy of writer-me, who finished the first draft of her novel last week during writing…
Keep readingIrreplaceable Characters
What made me think about this column is the surfeit of remakes that regularly roll through movies and TV executive offices. And are occasionally exercised in fandoms. I had to put my foot down in a recent discussion that there was no way to remake one particular 1980s TV show because it was so utterly…
Keep readingSomething went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
LZ Edits | Editing Services 