Plan your audience

Listen to this blog in Spotify This is the fourth of four posts (there will be a bonus next Tuesday) that I am sharing in the lead up to National Novel Writing Month (aka “NaNoWriMo”). Each Tuesday, I will have another few thoughts to share on how to get the most useful story out ofContinue reading “Plan your audience”

Plan your characters

Listen to this blog on Spotify This is the third of four posts I am sharing in the lead up to National Novel Writing Month (aka “NaNoWriMo”). Each Tuesday, I will have another few thoughts to share on how to get the most useful story out of your mad dash toward the pinnacle of 50,000Continue reading “Plan your characters”

Plan your setting

Listen to this blog on Spotify This is the second of four posts I am sharing in the lead up to National Novel Writing Month (aka “NaNoWriMo”). Each Tuesday, I will have another few thoughts to share on how to get the most useful story out of your mad dash toward the pinnacle of 50,000Continue reading “Plan your setting”

Plot Your Story

Listen to this blog on Spotify This is the first of four posts I am sharing in the lead up to National Novel Writing Month (aka “NaNoWriMo”). Each Tuesday, I will have another few thoughts to share on how to get the most useful story out of your mad dash toward the pinnacle of 50,000Continue reading “Plot Your Story”

Throw away the crutches

Copy editing (and line editing – I do both together) are organized around making sure your story is streamlined and contains the best word choices to suit the characters, the tone or tension of the situations, and the setting or time period. The application of grammar rules is balanced with the author’s style and theContinue reading “Throw away the crutches”

When to type “The End”

(by the way, it’s not actually good manuscript formatting to type “The End” at the end of your manuscript. Yeah. Really.) “How do I end my book?” “Is this a good ending?” “Should I use an epilogue?” I’ve heard these in my writing group numerous times. I’ve heard this from developmental editing clients. And yes,Continue reading “When to type “The End””

Writing with Others

Reference: This is a post about writers workshops and writing groups, and is my take (and expansion) on ideas presented by academicwritingsuccess.com. Disclosure: I am an editor. I also definitely have a teaching approaching when working with clients. It’s a new year and, if you are like many writers, some of your resolutions revolve aroundContinue reading “Writing with Others”

Editing Yourself

I generally recommend only that you edit yourself after a very long break – and stick to broad concepts. Unless you have already internalized the grammar rules – or are willing to look them up when you’re not absolutely sure (professional editors do this all the time) – it is next to IMPOSSIBLE to copyContinue reading “Editing Yourself”

What’s word (count) go to do with it?

Stacey Carroll has a great post about word counts and where they fit in short stories, novellas, novels, and even the different genres. Go read it. I won’t repeat it here. What I want to talk about is answers to the questions “how many words make a scene?” This question about word counts really shouldContinue reading “What’s word (count) go to do with it?”