I’ve decided that this needs to be my new motto. It’s related to “show, don’t tell,” but it’s a specific variety of the problem. A common problem I see in manuscripts (many, many manuscripts, not necessarily ones I’m working on now) is a “tell” later in the manuscript that ought to be developed more as … Read more
I recently updated my Critiques page. The more general question of when or if a writer needs a freelance editor feels like the overarching reasons for the changes that I made, so I thought I’d address them in a post. Bear in mind that this mostly addresses the editing of full manuscripts; submission packet critiques … Read more
Cynthia Leitich Smith’s interview of me is up over at her LJ (and all the various mirrors of it). Thanks to Cynthia for the chance to tell her all about what I’m up to lately. Go check it out, and then if you don’t read her regularly, browse around. She interviews a lot of interesting … Read more
I’m working on building a page of books that I recommend and that I’ve edited (which of course I also recommend!). So far, the page only has books that I’ve edited. I really love Indiebound‘s easy linking system–you look up the book, enter your affiliate number on the book’s page, and voila! A link (with … Read more
My sister was once an ad designer, and she has been helping me out in the last couple of weeks to design an ad for my critique services, which I’ll be placing in SCBWI newsletters. Check it out–pretty! You’re always welcome to pass on the word that I do critiques to writers you know who … Read more
As I’ve been trying to come up with a name for a particular character in my book–one who comes from a very particular culture considered to be low-class and uneducated–I’ve been pondering on the politics of naming our characters, and how that ties into our own personal experience with people from particular SESs. It makes … Read more
James Owen just pointed me in the direction of his post from a few days ago, A Career as a Novelist–In Layman’s Terms, a metaphor which those of you who are still in the throes of writing your first book will sympathize with–and those of you with published books will probably have experience with in the way James … Read more
My cousin just shared a link with me that I had to pass on–a professor who has been collecting the worst of the worst sentences from his students. • “The person was an innocent by standard, who just happened to be the victim of your friend’s careless responsibility.” • “Society has moved toward cereal killers.” … Read more
It’s days like this that I miss living in Chicago, where they dye the river green in celebration. (Also, notice the white clock tower on the far left in the background? That’s one tower of the Wrigley Building, which I used to work in. It’s like stepping back in time in that building. But last … Read more
I’ve had conversations with a few friends outside the publishing industry lately who tell me that they think self publishing is the way to go for their fiction. They’ve got a lot of reasons for it, but the one that stands out is that they think they can make more money by self-publishing, because writers … Read more
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