You’ll need: your library, the all-powerful key to the ancient catacombs of wonder that is your library (viz., your library card), the internet When I was a little girl, I did this a lot: [Placeholder for photo of a strange man standing on the edge of a jacuzzi tub holding a beer. We hope to […]
Joyous relief, dear friends! Today’s post is the very soul of brevity — and no exercises, to boot. ~~~ ~The Most Essential Thing In Copy Editing~ For heaven’s sake, turn on the editing marks when you’re editing. It makes things approximately eleventy trillion times easier. ~~~ ~Italics, Bold and CAPSLOCK~ Did you know that typing […]
Stuff You Need: the chapter from your manuscript in standard English that you prepared in previous posts, a computer capable of viewing pdf files. Please note that the rules of grammar I cover here don’t necessarily apply to AAVE or other dialects of English that aren’t considered “standard”! The process is the same, though. So by now we are […]
Before you start working, go back to last week’s post and prepare your workspace in the same exact way. You’re going to have to make this a routine. Pretty pretty please? Or at least do something else to block out the world for half-an-hour. It’ll help you focus and be chilled. Good things! ~~~ In […]
So this is you. Hello, you! I want you to mechanically follow my instructions. If nothing else it’ll prevent you from getting brain damage. Please note: Every single time I say “chapter” in this webinar, I’m referring to either a) one chapter of a completed first draft of a novel or b) a short story from your novel-length portfolio […]
I hear a lot of talk about how the first draft is something you should just get down as fast as you can — a sort of verbal vomitus allowed to dribble out unchecked. Lots of professionals tell you to do this. “Just get it finished,” they say. “You’ll be able to fix it later.” […]
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for looking. This post was actually written in October of 2012, which is when I decided to split my “How to Edit Fiction” webinar into two. I made this decision because I was never designed to be chirrupy and popular. My earlier posts in the webinar are attempts to teach […]
August 28, 2011 by Alice M.
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