A blog full of writing tips and useful info for editors too!
Time for an in-depth conversation with an indie fiction specialist! The publishing landscape can be confusing – especially for first-time authors. Today’s guest, the indie fiction specialist Claire Cronshaw, seeks to change all that by answering some of the questions indie authors often ask. She specialises in SFF, romance, and women’s fiction and – as …
This blog post covers: What first-person POV is The advantages and disadvantages of using a first-person POV The two main types of first-person POV – embedded and retrospective Common problems and how to fix them The use of first-person POV in ethnography First-person POVs have become increasingly popular in various fiction genres over the past …
Is a comma before ‘as’ ever mandatory? Takeaway: A comma before ‘as’ hints at a break, which suggests ‘as’ is being used in the sense of ‘because’ A comma before ‘as’ to mean ‘because’ is not mandatory but can be helpful for clarity BUT: some editors argue that the comma before ‘as’ changes the meaning …
This post covers: Why joining a fiction critique circle can be scary The importance of mindset How critique can help you improve How to tackle the critique process You’ve written your short story or novel, and now you want feedback. You’re fairly new to all this and are unsure of your strengths and weaknesses as …
This post covers: Where the phrase line editing may have come from The difference between line editing and copyediting The difference between line editing and heavy copyediting What fiction line editing involves So, what is line editing exactly? It has something to do with lines or sentences, right? Yes, but other kinds of edits involve …
This post covers: Definitions of prescriptivism and prescriptivists Types of prescriptive language use Prescriptivism in Croatia Prescriptivism in English-language editing Conscious and inclusive language In today’s blog post I’ll cover different kinds of prescriptive language use. Let’s start by asking: What are prescriptivists? First, there is no firm consensus among linguists on this, so the …
This blog post on fiction dialogue covers: Basic and intermediate problems with fiction dialogue How to avoid clunky dialogue Showing vs. telling in fiction dialogue Action beats and narrative beats But before we explore the world of fiction dialogue… Meet Jamie Jamie (she/he/they) journeys around the universe of words. Words, the basic building block of …
This post discusses: certain common situations when italics are used issues in using italics for non-English words in fiction common reasons why cultural anthropologists italicise non-English words Editing and language change One of the most exciting things about working as an editor is observing language change firsthand. Language and society are closely linked. And many …
The UK tax year just ended (on 5 April). The Narrative Craft will be three years old on 1 May, so it seemed like a good time to get some insight. In this blog post, I’ll cover what clients and services I’ve dropped, how my business has changed, and what (and who) made the last …
Census time! This week I came unstuck when filling in the Scottish census. “What do you feel is your national identity?” I don’t feel any national connection with Englishness, Scottishness, Britishness, or otherwise. If pushed, I’d probably describe myself as a New Scot as this seems inclusive and relatively fluid. These questions are really complex …