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Category: About editing

A beach on a lagoon with palm trees in the foreground

Editing on a tropical vacation – be careful what you wish for

For a dozen years, one of my biggest career dreams has been to edit book manuscripts on a beach beneath sunny, tropical skies, palm trees, and palapas, maybe swinging in a hammock. Well, this winter I’ve had the opportunity to do just that. In mid-January, my husband and I left Canada’s harsh winter climate for a six-week tropical getaway to southern Mexico. He’s retired and the snowbird lifestyle appeals to him, and my work is portable, so our plans seemed ideal for me to combine some adventures in Mexico while still working part-time.

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A writer holds a crumpled piece of paper, with more crumpled paper on the desk

#$%&*!$ those bloody expletives!

Does an editor exist who doesn’t have a few pet peeves about the English language? I sometimes loftily like to think mine are better described as a passion for educating writers on how to improve their craft. But truthfully, they’re also eccentricities (and often mistakes) of the English language that annoy me—sometimes more, sometimes less. In this article I’ll focus on just one of mine: a certain type of expletive.

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A road sign with the words "Avoid plagiarism"

Caveat editor: beware the e-plagiarist

I’m proud of my website. Other than my work itself, it’s the best advertisement I have for my freelance editing business. My site is a reflection of my integrity, my work ethic, and my commitment to editorial quality: it’s a reflection of me. So you can imagine my reaction when, in late 2010, I discovered that some of my content was being passed off as that of five different editors in three different countries. This is a cautionary tale of how I first discovered that my website was being plagiarized, and what I did in response.

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A hand pointing and holding a sign that says "Editor for hire"

Your 4-point checklist for hiring a freelance editor

So you’ve finished your masterpiece. You’ve had it reviewed by peers, beta readers, a few trusted friends. You’ve revised and revised, written a second draft or even a third, polished some more, and at last you feel ready to release it to . . . no, no, not the world! What you need next is a freelance editor—and you clearly already know that because you’re reading this article. Every writer needs an editor. But it’s confusing and sometimes overwhelming out there in the world of editorial services, and perhaps you’re unsure of how to go about hiring a freelance editor. Following are four steps to help ensure you find the ideal editor for your manuscript.

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A woman holds a book and reaches her arms into the sky

Starting 2014 with a gratitude list: 15 reasons I love freelance editing

Wouldn’t it be appropriate to begin the new year on a positive note―with some gratitude? I thought so. After doing the same job for almost a dozen years, you might think I’d become bored with it, but the opposite it true. I love my work more than ever. To me, written language, along with music, is the most expressive of all the arts. No two authors have the same writing style, and the manuscripts I receive are marvelous in their variety. I’m often challenged, occasionally frustrated, and invariably astonished at the breadth and scope of the writing I edit. I’m never, ever bored.

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An open book with a beach scene

Why “show, don’t tell” is the big myth of fiction writing

“Show, don’t tell.” If you’re a fiction writer, you’ve probably been hearing that phrase since your first creative writing class. In a Google search, “show don’t tell” gets more results—billions—than any other aspect of writing I’ve searched for. And in many of these search results, telling gets a bad rap. But why is this? And what does “show, don’t tell” really mean anyway? As an author, aren’t you always telling a story? And, most importantly, how can both showing and telling be applied to improve your fiction writing?

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