Never rely on spell-check.
My excuse is that the magazine’s news section is huge, 8,600 words, assembled from more than 100 contributions.
My error was that I rushed this project, putting too much faith in the spell-checker. Yes, the red squiggles in Word alerted me to ones spelled wrong. But no alarm sounded when a wrong, correctly spelled word was used.
English has dozen of words … Continue reading
For coaching on what to cut, watch a film’s special edition.
After I watched a special edition DVD Romancing the Stone, I made a point to see the bonus features. As I watched, I realized they offer insights for a novelist.
Great novels aren’t written, the saying goes. They’re rewritten.
This includes reviewing each scene’s purposes ― confirming it accomplishes such tasks as advancing the story … Continue reading
They notice when you write with care.
Last week I really enjoyed editing one article … to the extent that afterward, I even thanked the writer.
What made it so special? While I still needed to make some editorial changes, those were only matters of fine tuning.
The writer had done his job. He’d put himself in place of readers — and … Continue reading