‘Questions to Ask Book Editors’ contains some great information if you are new to writing and/or to the publishing world. Publishing options for your book Are you seeking an objective viewpoint about your publishing options? It is – sorry to say but a fact nonetheless – extremely challenging (but not impossible) for a mainstream publisher …
Is it a struggle for you knowing how to punctuate dialogue? How to punctuate dialogue correctly eludes a lot of writers. Yet once you know the rules, it is straightforward. Quotation marks, speech marks and quotes Quotation marks are also referred to as ‘speech marks’ or ‘quotes’. I’ll use the term ‘quotation marks’ here so …
Do you know, is your book character-driven or plot-driven? The first question should be, what does character-driven and plot-driven mean?! Plot-driven In a plot-driven story, the action is the focus of the writing, not the character. The character tends to be static; there is little character development. Plot-driven stories are often genres like horror, action, …
A Book Review I had never heard of The Incorrigible Optimists Club or the Algerian-born writer Jean-Michel Guenassia. I came across it in the library when I was selecting books for my Christmas holiday reading. The original is written in French and I read the English translation by Euan Cameron. It is quite untrue that …
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, …
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 …
Whenever I’m approaching the end of a book edit, most of my clients begin thinking about the next step. So, what are the options for publishing your book? All that hard work… That precious manuscript of yours that took you months, maybe years, to write, has now been professionally edited. You’re ready to look into …
“ 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 …
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 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 …
