Fiction writing
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It’s an unfortunate truth—if there are writing contests, there will be people who do not win them and most of the time those people will be you and me. So know going into it that, when it comes to writing contests, the odds are against you winning. Does that mean you shouldn’t enter? Not at…
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We had great participation yesterday. People shared fabulous stories about being edited and about what they hope to learn when they are edited. When you need editing services, I hope you’ll feel more confident in hiring an editor. I numbered the people who commented and then went to Random.org and generated a random number: 3.…
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“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” — Ray Bradbury, recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Renowned author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and…
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I know it’s only February, but in my office that’s when I start thinking about Spring Cleaning. Why so early? Because I hate the process, even though it is vital to the smooth operation of my freelance editing business. If I don’t start early to think and plan for it, procrastination will win the day.…
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I have failed many times. Still do. In fact, I may be in the middle of one of the biggest failures of my life. And what am I facing? A lack of belief that I can succeed. What I’m doing I believe (today anyway) is what God has called me to do. But it doesn’t…
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Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, is one of my favorite books. An exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat perfectly illustrates the importance of goal setting. Alice asks: “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” The cat replies, “That depends a good deal on where you want to…
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For Christmas, I love making sugar cookies with cookie cutters. It’s fun to slather colored powdered-sugar frosting for that extra layer of sweetness over those recognizable holiday shapes. Even though frosted differently, those cookies all look the same. There’s not a lot of difference between my cookies and the ones my kids create. And they…
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I’m somewhat of a revision monkey. I love sculpting words! Which likely explains why I prefer editing to writing. So, I’m revising—again—and that means I’m reading through James Scott Bell’s excellent Revision & Self-editing—again. This is not a commercial, this is a strongly held opinion: If you don’t own this book you may not be…
Writing On The Fine Line 