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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

January 15, 2014

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.

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

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

January 2, 2014

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.

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

December 19, 2013

“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?

Printed pages fly out of a computer monitor

What is plot? Pinning down fiction’s elusive structure

December 5, 2013

Recently, I was evaluating a fiction manuscript in which the really compelling part of the story didn’t begin until 200 pages in, halfway through the manuscript. The foregoing pages read like a journal of the protagonist’s everyday life up until the point of the inciting incident, which in this case happened to be a murder for which he was charged. While I wrote up suggestions for structural changes that would have that dramatic event occur much earlier in the story, I thought about how my self-publishing authors are often uncertain about how to structure a story, going at it blindly or by instinct.

Commas demystified! The top 10 uses for commas—made simple

November 21, 2013

Commas are the most frequently used—and misused—form of punctuation. Annually, I receive dozens of requests for editing, and one of the biggest concerns for authors is their comma usage. They may not be aware of dozens of larger issues in their writing, but they are almost universally uncertain and worried about their comma placement. Commas are used to indicate pauses and to separate elements in a sentence.

A man dangles from a stack of books with an open door at the top

Accidental comedy in grammar—dangling and misplaced modifiers

November 7, 2013

The inspiration for this blog post came a from a juice box. I was standing at the fridge one morning a few weeks ago, getting a drink of Sun-Rype juice—a well-known brand where I live—when I read the following on the side of the box: “Nestled in the heart of British Columbia, Canada lays a lush green valley of orchards renowned for sun-ripened fruit.” Oh dear. Canada lays a lush green valley? Canada is nestled in the heart of British Columbia? Don’t we Canadians have a better reputation than that to uphold?