A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. – William Strunk, Jr., The more words you use in your writing, the more effort it will take to read. Good prose shows respect for…
Category Archives: Editing
Finding the Right Critique Group
As office manager of Willamette Writers, a non-profit writers group, I often get calls asking about critique groups. I advise people to think of them as coming in four types: Support Light Critique Heavy Critique & Wise Readers Support groups generally offer encouragement in writing or marketing, and little or no critique. Some support groups…
How Online Critiquing Can Help Your Writing
By its very nature, the Internet attracts writers-both good and bad. The result is a thriving on-line community dedicated to the art and craft of writing. One way to participate in this community is to become involved in a critique group. Such groups function much like traditional writer’s groups, with two main goals: To help…
Why Every Writer Needs an Editor
Every writer needs an editor. No exceptions! Just for starters, there are several stages of your writing in which you might need an editor to help: • Clarify your concept • Plan and organize your material • Think globally about how the parts fit together • Read for content, consistency, and style • Craft a…
Proofread Everything—and then Proofread Again
Proofreading is incredibly important. Not only do typos and grammatical errors in your writing make you look uneducated or just lazy, but they are also a distraction to the reader. Good authors or anyone publishing anything, whether it’s a book, pamphlet, website, or blog, need to have their work proofread, both by themselves and also…
How to Avoid Wordiness
The mark of a good writer is the ability to say what needs to be said in as few words as possible. Getting straight to the point, without trying to impress or confuse the reader, is the best way to communicate. Deleting unnecessary, wordy, implied, and repetitive phrases can lead to effective sentences. Every writer…
If You Want to Be an Editor
Good editing is integral to the success of a book. A good editor can do wonders even with the worst of manuscripts, and authors who find good editors are grateful and will spread the word about the editors’ skills. However, editing is not solely about fixing grammar errors or even suggesting places where a manuscript…
Hire a Copy Editor
The copy edit is clean up work. Once the manuscript is complete you become more concerned with punctuation, grammar and style. Now is the time to make your information more readable. There is nothing wrong with unpolished writing, but there is no excuse for not having it cleaned up by an editor. Hire a wordsmith,…
POD Publishing and Editing Your Book
Self-published books are often frowned upon because of poor editing. While some authors try to save money by not having their books professionally edited, other authors find they have hired incompetent editors or print-on-demand publishers who produce a flawed product. Authors need to know what to expect before they agree to any editing. Where do…
Five Proofreading Tips You Cannot Afford to Ignore
While it is the content of your writing that will draw readers to your work, it is the quality of your writing that will keep them coming back. In order to gain success as a writer, you must ensure that every piece that you publish is accurate in terms of grammar, spelling, formatting and style….
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