Deborah

Pull your writing out of the toddler zone

Kia ora, Have you ever got stuck talking to a toddler who’s telling you all about their trip to the playground and that they got to feed the ducks, and then they got chased by the ducks, and then they stood in duck poo, and then they found a stick, and then, and then, andContinue reading “Pull your writing out of the toddler zone”

Avoid boring travel narratives: six ways to bring your readers along for the ride

When you’re writing for readers who aren’t your mum or best friend, you want to avoid sounding like all you’ve done is gone from a to b to c. That’s a sure-fire way to turn off readers.

The best way to avoid that “I went here, then I went there” trap is to pepper in details that will make readers care.

Grief is strange

Kia ora, Grief is strange. I’ve had two pets from different sides of the family die in the last few weeks. Both deaths have hit me in different ways. The cat was my grandma’s. When Grandma died, the cat moved in with Mum. The cat dying felt like the proper goodbye to Grandma, so allContinue reading “Grief is strange”

Goals (and an important chicken update)

Kia ora, Good news! My sick chook is sick no more! She got that egg out! It was one of those eggs with the weird, rubbery shell. Now her comb is back to its healthy red and she’s pecking and scratching the ground with gusto. Not to induce panic on this sunny morning, but it’sContinue reading “Goals (and an important chicken update)”

What editors do behind the scenes

A writer admitted this to me after we’d worked together on her manuscript: she didn’t really want to work with an editor, but her writing mentor told her to, so she did. She thought editors were human spellcheckers and I’d just go through and fix her grammar. She didn’t know what editing is, what itContinue reading “What editors do behind the scenes”

Chickens and trust

Kia ora, I’ve had a special guest in my office this week: a chicken in a box. She’s egg bound and making unsettling gurgles. But I’ve followed the advice (have you ever given a chicken a bath and massaged olive oil on her cloaca?) and I’m keeping her out of the galeforce wind and rainContinue reading “Chickens and trust”

What to expect from an edit

No matter the type of edit you’ve had – manuscript assessment, developmental edit, or copy edit – when you receive your manuscript back from your editor, you’ll still have work ahead of you. This doesn’t mean that your writing is bad or that you’ve somehow failed as a writer. This is exactly how the editing process is supposed to work.

What book editing looks like behind the scenes

Kia ora, Last week I talked about a client who was initially hesitant to work with an editor because they didn’t really get what editing is and didn’t know what it would involve. (Here’s last week’s email if you missed it.) This week I’m going to show you my process of editing a manuscript. IContinue reading “What book editing looks like behind the scenes”

Why writers don’t work with book editors

Kia ora, Why have my chickens decided that the best place to lay their eggs is under a soggy, droopy fern and not inside the hen house where the nest boxes are filled with fresh, dry saw dust? They are delightful beasties but I do question their decisions sometimes. But onto the topic at hand:Continue reading “Why writers don’t work with book editors”

Writing routines and changing clocks

Kia ora, The clocks changed here in Aotearoa over the weekend, so my sleep schedule is now out of whack with the cats’ breakfast schedule. On Tuesday morning, one of them got fed up with waiting so she sourced her own rabbit and proceeded to eat it in the bedroom. Thank you. That wet crunchingContinue reading “Writing routines and changing clocks”