When I’m editing or proofreading, I’ll use a variety of tools and reference materials in order to get things right. Along with spelling, one of the biggest things to watch for is hyphenation, closing up or opening up of words.
Tag Archives: Writing
On LGBTQ+ editing: Characters
This is the first in a mini-series of posts looking LGBTQ+ fiction editing. By LGBTQ+ fiction, I mean any fiction that features LGBTQ+ characters. From erotica to science fiction, stopping off at romance, fantasy and historical. No genre should now be without LGBTQ+ representation.
Self-publishing skills: Writing with grit and determination
It’s said that everyone has a book in them. And that’s probably true. More than one, possibly. We dream, we imagine, we say “what if?” and play out lots of scenarios in our heads.
Fact in fiction
Just because the characters and the story have come from your imagination, there is still a place for fact in fiction. Getting that right is key – and is also just one of a number of things that your editor will be checking.
Emails, tweets, texts …
Emails, texts, tweets and status updates. They are everywhere in our lives and so, increasingly, they are finding their way into novels.
But exactly how do you show this emails, texts, tweets and the like in your own writing?
Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 2021
I’ve blogged before about some of the essential tools of the trade. And this is another vital book for any writer, editor or anybody else who regularly works with words.
Going italic for Italian
Let’s not get laissez-faire over this. There are rules! So, settle down with your café noir, if that’s your preference, and let’s discuss italics.
Don’t cause a distraction
Every time I walk into a branch of a, well-known, discount chain, I am distracted by the massive sign they have above one of the aisles. It tells me that I can buy “DVD’s” there.
For the love of books
Authors have a great skill in crafting worlds that we, as readers, slip into so easily. We invest in the characters: feel their emotions, want the best for them.
So why then, did I become an editor and not a writer?
Copycat writers
From Beatrix Potter to E. L. James, the world of self-publishing is as old as publishing itself.
And to make your venture into self-publishing as successful as possible, here are a few hints and tips that I have learnt from my experience of working with both traditional publishers and self-publishing authors.
Just Write Right 