Easy wins for your writing

Kia ora,

Yesterday I sent out the final part in my three-part series on words that weaken your writing. Check out all three:

• Why “decide” weakens your writing (and how to fix it)
• Why “thing” weakens your writing (and how to fix it)
• One phrase that weakens your writing: “it was”

These are just some of the words and phrases I watch out for when I edit travel and adventure stories. On their own, “decide”, “thing”, and “it was” are fairly tame, but over the course of a few hundred pages, their dullness adds up.

When I spot ones that aren’t working, I’ll offer suggestions for phrasing that will strengthen the scene and deepen reader immersion.

Fortunately, they’re an easy fix (usually!). And they’re easy to spot when you’re doing your own rounds of self-editing and revising.

So, search through your latest draft and find those vague words like “decide”, “thing”, and “it was”, and replace them with stronger wording. Your readers will thank you.

Happy writing,

Deborah

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📚 What I’m reading

Last week I said I was struggling to get more reading time in. Well, that evening I made a cup of rooibos tea, plonked myself in front of the fire, and finished The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed, by John Vaillant.

Then I started Northbound: Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa, by Naomi Arnold and raced through it in five days. It’s a gorgeous book – highly recommend! Naomi will be speaking at the Mountain Film & Book Festival in Wanaka in June too.

Now I’m reading High Risk – Climbing to Extinction, by Brian Hall. Loving it so far.

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📅 Availability

Currently booking manuscripts from mid June. 

If you’re thinking of getting your manuscript edited, reply to this email. I can give you a free sample edit, and we can jump on a video call to chat about the editing process too.

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✍️ Ways to work with me

Apply for a free sample edit​

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