You’re judged by your spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
In their Facebook posts one week, several authors took issue with people they called grammar-shamers. They wanted to be judged by their online substance, not their delivery.
They’re missing the point.
If an error — of any kind — distracts a reader from your message, then you’ve failed to communicate clearly. Authors are judged … Continue reading
What impression do you want your photo to make?
I cringed at the “portrait photo” a colleague posted on Facebook. The selfie combined some of the least flattering aspects of this kind of photo. Taken from the person’s desk and looking up at the writer’s face, the image showed my friend with:
Don’t detour readers from your story.
The manuscript’s first sentence told me the novelist was in trouble. The rest of the paragraph confirmed that. The second paragraph was no better.
Fortunately, the author had sent me the genre novel for a critique. So I was able to show her where she had missed the opportunity of a story’s most important words. If potential readers aren’t … Continue reading