From Rick: Last time I gave you an editing challenge. This time I’ll prove the answers in two forms. One is the corrected version. The other is a file showing the actual changes to create that correction. Here are the
Read MoreFrom Rick: Last time I said I would try to come up with a little test of your editing skills. The sample below is from an upcoming novel called Searching For Sound by Dave Schulz, a friend I have been
Read MoreFrom Rick: Can you edit your own work? The answer is maybe. The real question should be whether you can edit your work adequately, with “adequate” being defined as a result that catches all but a handful of typographical errors
Read More==================== ANNOUNCEMENT: This weekend (Dec 31-Jan 1) The Mosaic (Kindle version) will be on sale for 99 cents, those two days only. You can click the cover at the right to link to it on Amazon. Chris Keaton and I
Read MoreI’m reading a YA vampire novel (with romance elements) right now that showed good initial promise. I had read a free prequel short story showed good promise for the novel itself. Unfortunately, it has a lot of problems. The story
Read MoreFrom Rick: Last time, I talked about how long it takes to write a novel. I’m sure some of you were surprised at how long that time span can be. In fact, most of the novels listed on the right
Read MoreFrom Rick: BASIC CONTRACTIONS: We’re told in some writing courses not to use contractions. Indeed, they really do not belong in formal writing, but when it comes to fiction, contractions are a natural part of the English language. We often
Read Moreby Rick Taubold and Kellee Kranendonk From Rick: For this week’s blog, I decided to build on another great article Kellee wrote for Silver Blade magazine. What I’m going to do is use Kellee’s article as a base, selectively choosing
Read MoreFrom Rick: We often hear the term “suspension of disbelief” applied to fiction, but what does that really mean? By its definition, fiction is not fact, and some writers think that gives them complete freedom to write whatever they want,
Read Moreguest post by Adam Fenner (reposted with permission from 13Thirty Books and with minor edits) I am going to open this up by saying that my grammar is poor—at best. I think in run-on sentences, and I rely heavily on
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