Is there a Professional Qualification for Editors? In Australia since 2008, yes, there is a professional qualification for editors. The name of the qualification is ‘Accredited Editor’. What does it mean to be an Accredited Editor? Editors who have passed the accreditation exam and become certified may use the pronominal ‘AE’ – e.g. Gail Tagarro, […]
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES and other words
3rd January 2019 by Leave a Comment
While Charles Darwin gave us the theory of evolution in his ground-breaking work On the Origin of Species, the subject of this blog is etymology: the origin of words and how their meanings have changed over time. This blog is not intended as an academic treatise on etymology. It does not give every single meaning […]
How Can I Publish My Book … what are my options
13th December 2018 by Leave a Comment
All that hard work… Whenever I’m approaching the end of a book edit, most of my clients begin asking me the question, ‘How can I publish my book?’ So … that precious manuscript of yours that took you months, maybe years, to write, has now been professionally edited, and you’re ready for the next step. […]
Evoke Reader Emotion with Compelling Characters
5th September 2018 by Leave a Comment
Thesaurus Today, I’ve just added another thesaurus to my reference book collection, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. By learning how to evoke reader emotion with compelling characters, I’m planning to improve my writing as well as help my clients with theirs. For most of my adult life, Roget’s International Thesaurus […]
Writer Coaching to Develop your Writing
24th November 2016 by Leave a Comment
“Writer coaching empowers you with the tools and knowledge to write your book and evolve as a writer.” If you want to write a book but… you just can’t get started, or you’ve almost finished writing the book but you’ve come up against dreaded writer’s block, or you’ve finished writing the book but it doesn’t […]
Help me Tell my Story
17th March 2016 by 2 Comments
“ I’ve got a story in me that’s important to tell. I want to write a story but I don’t know how to start. Help me tell my story ” Does this sound like you? I’ve spoken with many people who have an important book inside them. Some people in their 70s, 80s and 90s […]
Commonly Confused English Words
17th January 2016 by Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since we’ve posted an English grammar blog, so here is another on commonly confused English words. We also recommend you read the previous grammar blogs, Cool Writing Tips, Commonly Confused Word Pairs, and Desert or Dessert? More Commonly Confused Word Pairs. When revising the draft of your book, it helps to […]
Show Don’t Tell and Point of View
5th March 2015 by 7 Comments
Show Don’t Tell and Point of View I often come across these two issues – ‘show don’t tell’ and ‘point of view’ – in fiction writers’ technique, when helping these writers develop their writing and when editing their manuscripts. Two Common Errors in Fiction Writing We often see the terms show don’t tell and point […]
How to Get Your Book Published
27th September 2014 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve been wondering how to get your book published, first-time writers will find in this article down-to-earth, practical advice and suggestions to help them overcome the publishing hurdle. How to Get Your Book Published: Top Tip Finish your Book First Publishers and editors don’t have time to hear about great ideas. They need […]
The Writer-Editor Relationship
28th July 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Writer-Editor Relationship: a Case Study I am currently working with a first-time writer, Robyn (not her real name), as mentor and developmental editor on her fiction manuscript in the ‘chick lit’ genre. I thought it would be helpful for other writers to read about the writer-editor relationship in this context. Mini appraisal We began with […]