Michael Ehret, WritingOnTheFineLine
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“There is but one art, to omit! Oh, if I knew how to omit I would ask no other knowledge.” Robert Louis Stevenson, 19th century author, best known for his novels Treasure Island and Kidnapped. You know my love for tight writing. I am convinced knowing what not to include is far more important than…
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Some people think of publishing as an “It’s who you know” industry. And it often works that way. But I believe it’s not “who you know” as much as “who you are.” You may think: “I’m no one. I’m not published. I’m still adding to my (growing) file of rejections.” “I’m no one. My first…
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Today’s In The Edit is a little different. Today I want to show you, by using a Deborah Raney example, ways that a good editor can help you make the most of the articles you write as you’re building your platform or your freelance business. But, I do want to caution you as well. While…
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“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King I have heard this said over and over by many different folks. Do you think it’s true? I do. The times in my life when I haven’t made the time to read,…
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I have this thing about time. My alarm is set for 5:41 a.m. (Sundays 7:53 a.m.). If recipe directions say bake for 25-30 minutes, I’ll pick 26, 27, 28, or 29—but not 25 or 30—minutes. When I warm my coffee in the microwave, I use one minute and two seconds. Never, ever, do I set…
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In these posts, with the author’s permission, I look at their work pre-editing and post-editing—and at what I did to improve the piece. The idea is to catch a glimpse into not only the editing process, but the relationship between editor and author. Today we have another 2011 Operation First Novel finalist, Clarice James, In…
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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ― Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, actress, and civil rights activist. (b. 1928) Oh so true. Some of the stories inside are happy, some sad; some decadent, some holy. But whether happy or sad each is on the inside fighting to get…
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I’m on vacation this week and re-running a couple of my favorite posts. Enjoy! Go to any writing conference or eavesdrop on any writer’s critique group (both great things for the practicing writer, by the way) and if you hang around long enough, the subject of passive writing will be discussed—and usually with the same…
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I’m on vacation this week and re-running a couple of my favorite posts. Today Southern Fried Fiction author Ane Mulligan visits In The Edit. Enjoy! In these posts, with the author’s permission, I look at their work pre-editing and post-editing—and at what I did to improve the piece. The idea is to catch a glimpse…
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You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist. –Isaac Asimov,…
Writing On The Fine Line 