Posts tagged as:

nonfiction book editing

The Single Most Important Thing Authors Can Do Better

in Book Writing

by Barbara McNichol If you don’t want your editor spending copious amounts of time changing weak verbs into emotional or visual ones, what can you do? First, watch out for “is” words and their various cousins. Stay alert to phrases like “is happening” or “was being good”; change them to “happens” or “behaved.” Search out [...]

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One Word or Two? Common Words that Get Confused

in Grammar Tips

by Barbara McNichol When a colleague asked me to explain common one-word vs. two-word confusions as part of my Word Trippers, I came up with this list. Use it as a quick reference whenever you’re in doubt! Standby vs. stand by – Use two words when you refer to an action. “Stand by for the [...]

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What Readers Think When You’re Too “Into” Your Writing Process

in Book Writing

by Barbara McNichol F. Scott Fitzgerald has said you don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say. When an author is too “into” doing the writing itself, the “something to say” part can get lost. I recently edited a book that fell into this trap. The author [...]

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Writing Delays – How Badly Do You Want to Write?

in Writing Tips,Writing Workshops

by Dawn Goldberg (used with permission) No matter how much we want and love to write, unless we’re terribly disciplined or have deadlines (or an editor/agent looming over us), our default activity is not writing. In other words, if we have a spare minute, a break between activities, the rare gift of an unplanned hour, [...]

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Match Your Book Content with the Right Editor

in Book Writing

by Barbara McNichol Finding the right editor for your manuscript helps you feeling confident you’ve got a good match and comfortable that your editor understands what you want to accomplish. How do you start this match-making process? By first seeking a reputable editor who understands the type of book you have written. If your book [...]

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