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When passive voice is permissible
Writers and editors often pass on things they’ve learned — usually at the knee of some mentor they highly respect — in the form of seemingly inviolable rules: As it was said to me, I say to you, Thou...
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Behold the power of the outline
At a chamber fellowship meeting, I was once asked to share my top editing tip. Didn’t have to think long about it: outline. Snowflake can identify your chapter breaks based on scene length. I resisted...
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Non-rule: Don’t use ‘start’ or ‘begin’
Fiction writers often tell this lie to one another: “Don’t use words like started or began.” I’ve even heard it referred to as “the start rule.” They don’t realize they’re lying, of course. But this...
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When it’s okay to spell okay ‘OK’
Writers and editors may be the only people who get into arguments about spelling. In fact, I think it could easily be said that if you’re inclined to argue about how things ought to be spelled, you’re...
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How does one train to be a fiction editor?
Photo by Jan Verbist When I guest blogged at Random Writing Rants the other day, a commenter asked about how one gets trained as a fiction editor. Here’s an expanded version of my answer. I belong to...
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Four kinds of publishing jobs
Photo by Ratnesh Bhatt Over on LinkedIn, Lou Adler posted an article about getting the right people in the right kind of job. Based on his history of creating job descriptions for employers, he...
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What ‘Publishing 3.0′ is and why it matters
Over at TechCrunch, author James Altucher has written an excellent article about the process of self-publishing his book Choose Yourself. Every entrepreneur should self-publish a book, because...
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Q&A: developmental and substantive editing
© JJAVA • Fotolia.com Q: What’s the difference between developmental editing and substantive editing? A: That depends on whom you ask. Seriously, even editors can’t agree amongst ourselves what’s what,...
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Simplify dialogue tags
The way writers tag dialog is often evidence of how experienced they are. New writers frequently make dialog tags more complicated than they need to me. The classic example is the flagrant use of “said...
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Beware analysis paralysis when editing
When you look at it all at once, the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist can be daunting. And as writers, we tend to waver between thinking we’re literary geniuses and thinking we’re hack poseurs no...
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Know when to stop editing
We’ve made our way through the whole Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. Now there are two vastly different errors writers can fall into. The first is thinking you’re done. If you are working on...
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Q&A: When to hire an editor
Q: I took your Elements of Fiction seminar and read the blog posts and I’ve gone through the checklist. Now what? How do I know when to hire an editor or writing coach? Illustration © JJAVA •...
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Where to Find Professional Editors
As I said last time, if you’re self-publishing, you need a professional editor. But where do you get one? There is no licensing standard for editors. Anyone with a fondness for reading and a bent for...
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Editing Your Book with Track Changes
When you work with an editor on your book, you will probably use the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word. This can be a little daunting if you’ve never used it before, especially when you get a...
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