Category «Revision/Editing»

From the Heart of a Copy Editor, by Sheila Glasbey

When I was writing and self-publishing my ‘mistakes’ e-books, I was particularly conscious of the fact that I could be making many bloopers myself. Like most writers, I have blind spots. I also have my own linguistic tics and quirks, no doubt many of which some might reasonably consider ‘wrong’. I was a writer, writing about …

You’re loving your work (Mistake #92)

The Writer Magazine tweeted a darned good word of wisdom courtesy of writer Sarah Einstein in April, and here it is. Good revision cannot occur until you fall out of love with a piece. Time and distance are essential. The second I read it I knew it was a winner. To fall out of love …

Rerererereading (Mistake #88)

I’ve just spent a productive month or so revising one of my books for a new edition, due out later this year. I wrote the book four years ago, and a lot has changed in the field (coeliac disease – ie a severe form of gluten intolerance) in that time, which has involved a lot …

Impatience (Mistake #68)

I see a lot of student papers which come to me a day early. By that I mean that the writer should not have sent it to me when he sent it – but slept on it instead. The article-writing process – from the first glimmer of the idea, all the way through to submitting …

Writing-related Googling (Part I) (Mistake #63)

Because if you indulge in it, and one of the results takes you to the writing blog of a tutor who favours reading his Google Analytics stats ahead of addressing his looming deadlines, you run the risk of your search term being appropriated, occasionally for lightly comic purposes, and presented to readers in Writing-related Googling …

Only talented writers sell (Mistake #50)

There are a lot of perfectly competent but otherwise fairly unremarkable writers earning a decent living from words. There are a few poor writers getting by as well. If you’re scratching your head, unconvinced, thinking that you rarely see average or poor writing in print, I have to declare a possible unfair advantage over you …

Waiting for inspiration (Mistake #39)

I’m guilty of this. I’ll know it’s time for another mistake-writers-make, but I’ll dither about which one to cover. There are dozens in my ideas file, so you’d think it would be easy. But no, that one’s not quite right yet, that one’s a bit advanced, I’m saving that one for the 100th… there’s always …