Sending an editor really clean copy is a big plus. In the old days, clean copy meant it didn’t have any smudges or coffee splashes or penciled corrections. Now it means your manuscript has words spelled correctly, capital letters and punctuation used properly, paragraphing is appropriate, and apostrophes are in the right places. One editor I sent articles to regularly said my copy was the cleanest of any he received. If my memory is not too fuzzy, he changed a … Read More »

I have been assisting with editing the stories for the upcoming Amelia Island Writers’ Anthology. It will have a more creative name, but suffice to say we are thrilled our little book about encounters with nature on our beautiful island is coming together. Sometime in the next year we will all be very excited to hold it in our hands and share our stories of neighborhood peacocks, island cats, green anoles, pelicans brown and white, gators, and more. In the … Read More »

A novel (with the possible exception of some experimental form) chronicles the unrolling of fictional events over time. But unlike the real world, where we have to live each instant as it comes, like it or not, the time within our story is not relentless clockwork. It’s rather more like an accordion: it expands and contracts as we, the author, need it to, the better to propel the plot and keep the reader engaged. Imagine if we had to read … Read More »

If there’s one thing to be said about passive stories, it’s that they’re boooooring. The reader is either asleep or has moved on to something else. The narrative reads like a summary of what happened—the version you’d tell someone on the phone—not one where the reader is immersed and feels like they’re experiencing the events themselves. It’s a common problem for writers and one that takes practice to address. Here is a story written in passive style: We made cupcakes … Read More »

Writers often confront similar problems with their stories during the revision process. It can be frustrating to think your manuscript is too messy to fix or has more problems than other writers’ work. Fear not! Many authors confront the same challenges as they revise. Remember, any issue is fixable—some just take more time than others to set straight. So to help save you some time on your journey, here are five common revision problems and ideas for how to fix … Read More »

All I have to do is get the story out, the editor will fix the rest, right? Too many times I’ve run across writers who think they don’t need to worry about what they consider “the small stuff” because someone else will take care of it. It’s like the editor is a magical fairy sprinkling pixie dust on your story and poof! It’s the perfect book. If you are one of those people, you might want to sit down before … Read More »