2022 in review
It’s been a very busy year with some fabulous books. Read about how my business has grown, what I’ve learned along the way, and what I’ve got planned for 2023.
8 Blogs Every Writer Should Read
I’ve gathered 8 of my favorite blogs about writing and editing together for your convenience.
What Art Restoration Taught Me About Ethical Editing
On his YouTube channel, Baumgartner Restoration, Julian Baumgartner talks us through the process of restoring damaged paintings. I was struck once again by how many parallels there are between art restoration and book editing.
Smart Quotes: It’s in the Details
If a book has a mixture of smart and straight apostrophes, it’s quite likely that some shortcuts have been taken in its production. This post will help you to see why these inconsistencies matter, how to find them, and most importantly, how to fix them.
How to subvert tropes
Meeting and exceeding readers’ expectations Tropes are devices that storytellers use again and again, because they work. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel if you’re writing with intention and have a fresh take. To the reader, tropes are the lingo of the genre, and they feel familiar, comfortable, and easy to understand. They can […]
How to clean up an edited file
You’ve received your manuscript from your trusty editor in all its tracked glory. There are lines and colors and bubbles everywhere. Now what? Editors mark up different things in different ways. It can be a bit overwhelming to work through them all. In this blog, I’ll show you how to use the Review ribbon to […]
How to annoy your readers
I hate guides for writers that issue commandments, like Stephen King’s famous “thou shalt not adverb” (not a direct quote), or “take out any use of ‘that’ that you can find,” or “passive voice should never be used.” Language is flexible, durable, and infinitely variable. Use it as you will. This post is all about […]
How to Become an Editor
It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that six months ago, I was a teacher, and now I’m doing my dream job: editing fiction. The Japanese have a word for it: ikigai. As an international teacher, I was well paid, good at it, and we can’t deny the world needs teachers. But I […]
Ask Big Questions to Write Good Science Fiction
Reading time: 11 minutes Science fiction is one of the most flexible and diverse genres in fiction, and that’s why I love it. From post-apocalyptic dystopias to sentient trees with fish inside them, science fiction gives writers and readers the ability to set their own rules for the universe. It allows science fiction authors to […]
Make them suffer: Developing characters under pressure
Try John Yorke’s idea of mini crises to build tension in scenes and create a better connection between your reader and and your protagonist.