Kia ora, I don’t know about you, but I am hanging out for the Christmas break. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve had a great year editing a lot of fantastic manuscripts for wonderful authors, but summer is here and the beach is calling. Wherever you are in the world, whether you celebrate Christmas orContinue reading “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”
Tag Archives: publishing
Busting myths that travel & adventure writers have about editing
Too many new writers let common myths about editing hold them back from working with the very people who can kick their writing up a notch. I’m taking about editors like me. I’m not here to just check your spelling and grammar, and I’m never going to tell you that you’re a bad writer. I’mContinue reading “Busting myths that travel & adventure writers have about editing”
Are you a writer?
Kia ora, A writer I worked with earlier in the year got in touch recently with an update. He’d just finished self publishing his first book – the book we worked on together. “I guess I’m a writer now!” he said. I shared his joy, of course! Getting that first book out is huge. ButContinue reading “Are you a writer?”
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.
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 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”
Deborah Shaw Adventure Editing 