Category: editing
-
From Draft to Published
•
“Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing.” Nicholas Sparks It’s alive! It’s alive! Well, sort of. I feel like a proud mad scientist, having stitched together my creation, given it its first breath of life. But it’s not ready for the world…
-
March Madness in Bookland
•
‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ said Alice. ‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the cat. ‘We’re all mad here.’ Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll Do you also feel as if we’ve all tumbled down a rabbit-hole into a strange world where nothing makes sense? When I…
-
The salty path of veracity
•
Tis the season for publishing debacles, apparently. Just a few weeks ago the story broke that a list of great books for summer reading, published by major newspapers, contained books that didn’t actually exist. The writer had used AI to do the research, and it had made things up. This…
-
It’s a matter of opinion
•
The most intimidating thing about producing a piece of art, whether it’s a novel, a painting, a script, a movie or whatever, is putting it out there for people to look at. Even though that’s the end goal – to share your vision – the act of letting others see…
-
Dreaming big
•
Yesterday was National When Pigs Fly Day. It’s a day to take joy in silliness, but more importantly, it’s a celebration of possibilities. I love this description from one of the many online day calendars: “It reminds us that anything is possible if we are brave enough to take risks…
-
Let’s eat Grandma vs Let’s eat, Grandma
•
The final proofread/edit of a novel. It’s the thing writers dread. We start with hope, that our text will be perfect, and clean and delightful – and then we come across the dreaded typo, or a phrase that contradicts a previous one, that just glare at us off a page.…
-
News items for budding authors
•
A couple of news items this week: July Camp NaNoWriMo is starting soon One of NaNoWriMo’s (National Novel Writing Month) less formal events. As they describe it, “…you’ll have plenty of fun honing your writing skills alongside thousands of other participants cheering you on. During Camp NaNoWriMo, you can map out…
-
Cut/Snip/Tweak
•
I’ve always admired great editing in films, when the timing, pace and impact of a scene create something truly memorable. There’s so much that goes into a scene, whether it’s on a screen or a page. Even though the director or novelist have something planned out to take the plot…