Blog
Ywriter for developmental editing
After sharing my page yesterday on my working process I had a few inquiries from fellow editors about the software I use to dissect developmental edit a novel. The software in question is yWriter. It was written by Simon Haynes (Spacejock) who, in addition to...
Goodbye, 2016… Hello, 2017…
2016 had been a good year for my editing business and personal writing, on top of which I've joined a wad of new groups and made even more writing and editing friends, some of whom I've helped launch editing businesses, or given short writing critiques. So, my year in...
What to look for when assessing a freelance editor
I am not a published author myself - something I intend to rectify in the future - so the information in this post is based on things I've heard authors say about their experiences with freelance editors, my opinions after viewing their websites and posts, plus...
EFA: Book Mapping for Developmental Editing
Often, when I get a complex manuscript in (or one I'm struggling to get my head around) I take a giant step back and break it down into scenes, looking at the smaller parts of the puzzle, as opposed to the whole picture. So imagine my delight when I discovered it was...
So a thing happened… (Dragon Con 2016)
A while back one of my clients contacted me to say that his second book - Grave Measures - had been nominated for Dragon Con. I congratulated him, of course, lots of 'well done' and 'that's fab' and then carried on editing away on whichever book I was working on at...
How it all began…
A long time ago, (2013/14 to be precise), I was contacted by Hawkins Publishing Group, an independent publisher in America and asked if I would be interested in an intern position. While there, I participated in acquisitions as part of a team, reading submissions and...
Guru Purnima
This morning I received two separate messages from two individuals I have given advice to over recent weeks. Both contacted me to explain that Guru Purnima is a day when teachers, mentors, and elders are thanked. It is a day celebrated by Hindus and...
Half year update
I've been quiet on the blogging/social network side of things of recent, mostly because I've been so busy, but I thought I should take a step back to wave - *waves enthusiastically* - and let you all know I'm still here. This morning, I took a look at all the books...
Making things official
Yesterday I took the plunge to open a business account with my bank and had a lovely chat with the woman there in the process. She had never come across a book editor before and was fascinated. Until filling out my application, I didn't realise quite how close I was...
Coursera: The Craft of Plot – passed
Coursera's 'The craft of Plot' is one of five courses in the creative writing category. I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the basics and also to try and get back into the habit of doing a little writing myself. In order to earn this certificate, I had to...
The Craft of Plot (Coursera) Week Four Assignment
The final week of The Craft of Plot was all about the editing and revision process (my favourite subject strangely enough). I'm not going to detail this week's lesson as this is a topic I'd like to tackle in a post of its own (with a view to helping authors keep their...
A surprise package from Greece
I received a lovely surprise in the post the other day (which I'm a little late blogging about owing to the fact I'm up to my ears in editing and doing two Coursera course). Anyhow, a few weeks ago I was engaged to do a little editing on Illusional Reality, a new...
The Craft of Plot (Coursera) Week Three Assignment
Week three has certainly kept me out of mischief, I have a terrible habit of making short stories too 'big' for the word count and think I've done it again, but ho hum. It's done now (after two days, on and off, of working on it). So, week three was all about 'scene,'...
The Craft of Plot (Coursera) Week Two Assignment
Week two was all about story structure. It discussed Aristotle's three-act structure (that of a beginning, middle and end) and Horace's five-act structure, which was further explained as: A: Action B: Background D: Development C: Climax E: Ending[divider] My...
The Craft of Plot (Coursera) : Week one assignment
Week one of Coursera's 'The Craft of Plot' discussed the differences between story and plot, the structure of plot (exposition through to denouement) and then turned its attention to the Rising Action that is oh so important in preventing your character from getting...