Catch them with your first words.
Don’t be like the writer whose article I recently rejected.
While his brief account reported the event’s facts, he failed to take into account his prospective readers. So he neglected to provide at the start of the article any material to prompt people to want to read it.
I edit the magazine for a specialty organization. While its … Continue reading
A few goofs can make readers doubt.
The review gave a glowing recommendation, underscoring the meticulous research behind The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies.
The author’s note speaks of using the subject’s “letters and papers, declassified U.S. and British government files, Freedom of Information Act requests, and my own interviews.”
The book devotes three … Continue reading
Don’t try this in your initial draft.
Forget tight writing and let your book’s first draft flow. Then practice tight editing. As Strunk & White advise in The Elements of Style, retain only those words that earn their keep. No freeloaders.
In the process you’ll find many candidates for deletion.