For Writers: When Help Is Hard to Take
A writer should feel elated and grateful for help, but it’s not always that easy.
Writer, Editor, Helper
(The Subversive Copy Editor)
Writer, Editor, Helper
(The Subversive Copy Editor)
Category Fiction Writing and Editing
You Wrote a Play, But Now What? Advice from Dramatist Will Dunne
Will Dunne is a playwright, scriptwriter, and teacher whose plays have received many international, national, and local honors. I got to know him when I copyedited his book, The Dramatic Writer’s Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build…
“Beautiful Piece”: An Interview with Joseph G. Peterson
My long-time colleague Joseph G. Peterson is also a novelist whose first book, Beautiful Piece, was published last year by Northern Illinois University Press in their Switchgrass imprint. The book is a stunner, pulling the reader straight into the troubled…
Double Punctuation :: A Start
The logic behind many punctuation rules is difficult to discern—for the excellent reason that there isn’t any.
Writing Tics: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t
Years ago, I was nearly driven mad by a writer who repeated the same wonky sentence structure relentlessly. It went something like this: The subject has A, B, and its C is D. Or The subject is similar to A,…
Does Length Matter? In Defense of the Long Word
Writing and editing coaches love to hammer on using short words.
“Creative” Copyediting Redux—Don’t Be Afraid
There was a certain amount of push back to my statement the other day that good copyeditors are “creative.”
An Interview with “Prime Number” Editor Clifford Garstang
Today, I’d like to welcome Clifford Garstang, editor of the soon-to-debut online literary magazine Prime Number published by Press 53. Cliff is the author of In an Uncharted Country, a novel in stories published last year by Press 53, and…
Advice for Writers: Preparing Your E-Manuscript
When I complained recently about having to clean up writers’ electronic messes before getting down to copyediting, one aspiring writer asked for more specific advice. If you don't mind a somewhat longer post than usual, read on.
Getting Along with Colleagues Tip #2: Think Before You Send
Last week I handled something badly at work, and I’m still beating myself up about it.