Tag: editing
-
What to Do When Your Brain Just Won’t Write
According to coach and author Alexis Rockley, the lack of focus and creative blocks that many of us are experiencing during the coronavirus pandemic stem from the uncertainty arising from this situation. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, and our brains are overwhelmed. In this and other stressful situations, it can be hard…
-
The Reluctant Author’s Guide to Revisions
So, you’ve finished the first draft you were writing. Congratulations! It takes a lot of effort and discipline to get this far. Take time to acknowledge the work you put in, celebrate its completion, and take a break in order to give yourself some distance from the work. Maybe you’ve done this. Maybe that break…
-
New Year, New You? Think Baby Steps.
It’s that time again: time for New Year’s resolutions. January rolls around and you make plans for the year ahead. You envision your best self and create resolutions hoping to make that person real. Sometimes your goals pan out. If you’re anything like me, though, all too often the following year arrives and the idealized…
-
5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Editor
You’ve invested time, effort, and skill in a writing project that matters to you. You’ve taken your idea from inspiration to a complete draft, with all the hours that it’s entailed. Congratulations! Not everyone has the tenacity and productive habits to finish a project. It’s truly something to be proud of. As happy as you…
-
How to Switch Between Your Writing and Editing Hats
Writing and editing are complementary skills, two sides of the same coin. When you write, it’s helpful to develop your self-editing ability so that you can polish your prose (or poetry). Having done both writing and editing professionally, I’ve found that switching between the two isn’t always easy. In this blog post, I’ll take a…
-
What I Learned – and Wish I’d Learned – in Creative Writing Grad School
There are debates in the writing world about the value of studying creative writing, and whether it’s beneficial or detrimental for honing your writing skills. I spent two years in a graduate Creative Writing program. Having gone on to write and edit professionally, there are skills I’m glad to have learned in class and others…
-
Nine Roadblocks to Editing Your Writing (and What to Do About Them)
Anyone who writes knows the challenges of editing. You’ve gotten your ideas down in that “shitty first draft.” Now you must look at your work with fresh eyes, fixing messy sentences and filling in plot holes. It’s useful to get help from others, whether they’re peers or professionals, but ultimately we have to edit our…
You must be logged in to post a comment.