Category: Editing
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Dialogue Punctuation Demystified
As an editor, I find that most writers understand how to write dialogue, but they often struggle with how to punctuate and format. This is particularly true when it comes to a few obscure dialogue conventions. When I pull those out of my editor’s toolkit, many authors are convinced I’ve made a mistake. I promise…
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Understanding Active and Passive Voice
Narrative voice in literature can refer to the narrator or author’s emotions, attitude (e.g., formal or informal), tone (e.g., serious, lighthearted, witty, depressed), and point of view. Voice also helps establish the mood of a piece of writing. Grammatical voice refers to the relationship between the subject and the action in a sentence. Though they…
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Why Self-Editing is So Hard
I spend my days editing other authors’ work, and let me tell you, as much as I enjoy it, it’s not easy. But what’s even harder is editing your own work. I mean, I can do a dozen passes through my own work, applying the same techniques I do to other authors’ work, and still…
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The Art of the Paragraph Break
Why it matters more than you think Knowing when to break a paragraph in fiction writing can be confusing. In my editing practice, I often split up longer paragraphs and combine shorter ones to improve flow. As an author, I’ve only recently begun to experiment with smaller, more frequent breaks to help punctuate my narrative.…
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The Importance of Beta Readers
Getting feedback on whatever you write is crucial for helping identify areas in need of improvement and giving you a sense of whether or not your story resonates with your target audience.