The first thing to learn about prologues is that you probably don't need one. Prologues are these tempting things that appear sophisticated but are usually unnecessary, unhelpful, or both. It is so easy to write a bad prologue that we first need to cover how to not...
Alright, this week’s post is going to blend my profession in story craft with my one of my absolute favourite hobbies: tabletop role-playing. Yes, I am a language nerd, story nerd, and a Dungeons and Dragons nerd. I've already discussed how to use role-playing...
It is so important that you find the right editor for your book. The question is, how? What kind of editor should you look for? Where should you look? How do you know if she’ll be a good fit for your manuscript? Here, I’ll break down the key things you need to know...
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. Pablo Picasso You may be one of those unfortunate souls that has had the rule “never use passive voice” crammed down your throat by some well-meaning but hard-line English teacher. Even if you have...
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.Pablo Picasso If you are a bookish person like me, you are probably already familiar with the definition of the word literally. In fact, there is a good chance that you are one of those people who...
I’m going to assume that you already understand the beauty and value of books and reading (this is a blog all about writing and editing fiction, after all). Right now, we need some books to help distract us, and maybe even give us some hope. Here are my...
There’s a feature in Word that allows you to apply neat, uniform formatting to your entire document in the click of a button. It’s called the styles feature. It’s a tool that can seem daunting to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s very simple and...
As a fiction editor who works directly with authors, I’m very aware of two conflicting priorities. On the one hand, professional editing takes a lot of training and a lot of work. I want to be paid a fair amount. On the other hand, I know a lot of authors are...
One of the best ways to make your book un-put-down-able is to incorporate suspense throughout your story. But building suspense is an art and, like any art, it can be a challenging skill to master. Here, I’ll go over two key principles and several specific tools to...