As I’ve been scrolling through posts in the many writing groups I frequent I’ve been seeing a LOT of purple prose. Purple prose is the enemy of pacing, and it must be eradicated from your writing habits if you are going to become a better writer than you are now. Purple prose is also known...Read More

I want to preface this by saying I’m not a bigwig editor who’s been doing this for thirty years and makes a million dollars a contract. I am a pretty small time editor who has more bills than money, and I’ve been in the industry for about five years now. Of course, I’ve been writing...Read More

There are several schools of thought regarding point of view characters. However, in order to discuss them I’m first going to define what I mean when I say “point of view character” since there are many definitions floating about aimlessly. To me a point of view character is the character that is currently center stage....Read More

Gus Sanchez is the author of the blog anthology “Out Where the Buses Don’t Run.” He is currently at work on his first novel. A native New Yorker, he now lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and daughter. You can find him online at www.outwherethebusesdontrun.com Some time ago, I was at a local writer’s...Read More

Joshua Grant is a technical editor who primarily works on nonfiction. You can find his blog at www.radicalrevisions.wordpress.com His email is jc.grant22@gmail.com. Check out his blog for great tips and tricks and stories about his own writing and editing journey! At a recent family get-together, I tried to explain to my sister what I do:...Read More

Thank you and welcome to Kimberly Klemm ( http://www.kimberlymckenzie.com )!   I have worked in the Technical Writing industry for eight plus years as both a contributing writer and a Senior editor.  The relationship between writers and editors can be likened unto a romance, a terminal illness, and a business partnership.  Writers and editors can...Read More

In my time in the writing world I have encountered multiple horror stories. And I am hoping that sharing some of them with you will help you avoid these pitfalls in the future. As you may have gathered I am militant in my march against people that are selling their services for massive prices without...Read More

My recent move to freelance editing and my upcoming marriage have left me with little time for writing, I’m afraid. But nonetheless I want to comment on a trend I’ve noticed in several writing groups I participate in. The answer is pretty simple, in all honesty. You need an editor because your writing isn’t going...Read More

A lot of writing courses, workshops, and degree programs will teach you that “cliché” is the mother of all dirty words. It’s worse than “adverb”, “voice”, and “agents” all put together and slathered in a sauce made from the tools of the publishing elite. I’ve taken writing courses and will be (as soon as I...Read More

Voice is something that I’ve heard a lot of controversy about in the writing world. It’s something that differentiates you from everyone else: how you speak, how you write, your characters, your world, your ideas. What it isn’t is grammatically related. When I’m editing a manuscript one of the most frequent complaints I hear is...Read More