Tag Archives: editing

How Long is a Piece of String?

Posted on June 30, 2020 by

Chopping and Changing – Revisions, Cuts and Additions. How long should your story or novel be? A piece (story, novel or poem) should be as long as it needs to be – but that’s not always as long as you, … Continue reading →

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House Arrest

Posted on March 24, 2020 by

Due to Covid 19 we’ve pulled up the drawbridge and dug a shark infested moat around Bedford Towers. No, we’re not sick, but I’m diabetic and my other half has suddenly become classified as elderly. How scary is that? Our … Continue reading →

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Reading Writing and Rewriting

Posted on March 10, 2020 by

I was a voracious reader as a child, working my way steadily through the stock of my local public library children’s department. My literature of choice was anything with horses or ponies in it. Some of the books in my … Continue reading →

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Bladdered or Shitfaced? The gentle art of word choice and the bogglement of page-proofing.

Posted on July 25, 2017 by

No, I’m neither bladdered not shitfaced – that’s one of my characters. I’m sober as the proverbial judge, and doing page proofs. Five hundred and thirty four pages of closely printed text – almost one hundred and seventy thousand words. … Continue reading →

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The Yin and Yang of Writing Advice

Posted on December 13, 2016 by

Writing advice is great – when it works for you. When it doesn’t, find another way of doing things. “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” —W. Somerset Maugham: “Follow no rule … Continue reading →

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Editing Anthologies – A Guest Post by Joshua Palmatier

Posted on September 9, 2016 by

I’m often asked what it’s like to edit anthologies.  What’s the process, why do I do it, etc.?  The answer to why I do it is easy:  because it’s fun! Patricia Bray and I started editing anthologies for DAW Books … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Editing

Posted on August 25, 2016 by

I thought I’d toss out some thoughts on the editing process – or rather my editing process because every writer has their own way of dealing with edits, and if it works, then it’s the right way. No two writers … Continue reading →

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Re-reading my own book: Winterwood.

Posted on May 25, 2015 by

Having delivered Crossways, due for publication in August, I’ve stepped sideways straight into the edits for Winterwood, my third book – and a very different one from the first two space operas. Set in an alternate 1800 with magic, Winterwood … Continue reading →

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Crossways – the Process

Posted on May 5, 2015 by

It’s page-proof time. The last opportunity to catch any typos and last minute (small) alterations in the text of Crossways before it’s sent to print. I have nearly two weeks to check 173,000 words of text. From the writer’s point … Continue reading →

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Editing and Time Travel

Posted on July 17, 2014 by

Editing one book while writing the first draft of the sequel is as close as I will ever come to time travel. My first book, Empire of Dust, is due out from DAW on November 4th and while waiting for … Continue reading →

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How long is a novel?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by

As aspiring novellists we always receive conflicting pieces of advice. ‘A book should be as long as it needs to be,’ is always a good one, but it’s also generally sound advice that, ‘first time novellists should aim for a … Continue reading →

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Scrivening

Posted on March 22, 2014 by

Jaine Fenn’s blog about Scrivener over at http://www.jainefenn.com/2014/03/scrive/ has prompted me to do a blog post about editing with Scrivener. I love Scrivener with a deep love. Karen Traviss recommended it at the beginning of last year and I thought … Continue reading →

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Editor Talk

Posted on September 26, 2013 by

A long chat with my editor on the phone yesterday to glean the changes she would like to Novel Number One – currently called Empire of Dust, but that’s likely to change. It’s mostly adding more worldbuilding information, dripfeeding in … Continue reading →

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