Author: Michelle

A to Z Blogging Challenge: K is for Knots, crinkles and plot holes

A to Z Blogging Challenge: K is for Knots, crinkles and plot holes

Posted by | Apr 14, 2018 | ,

K is for Knots, crinkles and plot holes I had to get a little creative choosing my subject for today, K is such a difficult letter to find a topic to write about, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at some of what I do as a developmental editor and offer suggestions on how to avoid some common pitfalls surrounding plots and inconsistencies. What does a developmental editor do? Developmental editing is one of the earliest stages that a writer might wish to engage a professional editor. Some authors will hire a developmental editor with...

Read More
A to Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Journals and notebooks

A to Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Journals and notebooks

Posted by | Apr 13, 2018 | ,

J is for Journals and notebooks Sometimes it is hard to find inspiration to write a story or know how to tackle a particular scene, which is where journals and notebooks come into play. Every writer should have (at least) one. It doesn’t need to be a paper notebook, you might like to capture your thoughts on your phone’s camera or notepad function, or in a blog of your own, perhaps even Pinterest if images are part of your creative process. Your writer’s notebook(s) comes in many forms. Whichever yours takes, it will be a continual work-in-progress – a one-stop...

Read More
A to Z Blogging Challenge: I is for Imagery

A to Z Blogging Challenge: I is for Imagery

Posted by | Apr 13, 2018 | ,

I is for Imagery I don’t know about you, but when I’m reading a book, I love to ‘see’ the world I’m being immersed into. My genres of choice are – surprise, surprise – science fiction or fantasy. Both of these genres require a substantial amount of worldbuilding, but it isn’t just the landscapes or spaceships I want to see. I want to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell what the characters do, and I want to feel their pain and share their joy. I may only be a casual observer to a story, but the books I enjoy...

Read More
A to Z Blogging Challenge: H is for Head-hopping

A to Z Blogging Challenge: H is for Head-hopping

Posted by | Apr 12, 2018 | ,

H is for Head-hopping Head-hopping is the ‘art’ of jumping out of one character’s head (perspective) and into another, usually under the guise of allowing the reader the ‘full-on’ experience. I’ve heard many a writer say they want their reader to know what’s going through a secondary character’s head (if only for a moment). ‘How will they [reader] understand what’s going on?’ is the common argument. The problem with head-hopping is that it is seriously… seriously irritating, and jarring. Imagine writing a wonderful, tension-filled scene. The reader is deep in your main character’s pov (point of view) and then suddenly...

Read More
A-Z Blogging Challenge: G is for GDPR

A-Z Blogging Challenge: G is for GDPR

Posted by | Apr 11, 2018 | ,

G is for GDPR While this is a break from the subject of creative writing, the General Data Protection Regulation is coming into effect next month and will affect how I conduct my business. It’s been spoken about for the last couple of years – I found out about it last week (so cue a bit of panicking from me). It does affect anyone within the EU who holds another person’s personal data – editors and authors included – so I see no harm in including this as part of the A to Z challenge. I spent most of yesterday...

Read More

Subscribe to Blog via Email

By entering your email address you are agreeing to receive notifcations (via email) of newly published content to this website.

Join 2,391 other subscribers.

Writing Improvement Software

Recommended webhosting

Preeditors and Editors best of poll (2016)

Placed 2nd.

“Michelle Dunbar is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”