Mr7 and I had a little chat the other day that clarified for me something that has been bothering me about editing fiction for a long time. He was upset because he'd been asked to create a 'crazy critter' out of leaves at school and his 'crazy critter' was,...
I am blessed to live in The Old Girl for many reasons, but one that I relish on a daily basis is the fact that she offers me so many different spaces in which to work. She has a rambling layout of high ceilings and sunny corners, rooms here and there, added on over...
If there's one thing that every writer - fiction, non-fiction, features, freelance, experienced, inexperienced - must learn to embrace, it's the editing process. Learning how to work with an editor. Learning how to edit your own work. It sounds straightforward. But...
This is what editing a novel looks like. Last week I put a photo of my novel manuscript up on Facebook. 540 neat, pristine pages, tidily arranged in a precise block of paper. "Just need to revise my revisions," I updated with glee. Today I give you the revised version...
Gardening is a surprising business. Even with all the instructions, conditions, fertiliser and prayers in the world, some plants simply never prosper. They decide they don't like your plot of land and simply turn their toes up at it. Others will thrive, despite a...
Does anyone ever really tell you about the pain of editing a book? I am working on the edits for my working mum book (out January 2012, did I tell you?). If anything could be described as painful, but necessary, edits are it. As are visits to the dentist, but that's...
As this blog approaches its 11th birthday, I can see a certain pattern in my posts. Each year at around this time, in response to reader enquiries, I write a 'how to achieve your writing goals this year'. I particularly liked this one, which is now five years old but...
There are a lot of writing tips washing about on the internet, in books, at conferences, in bars. Some of them are helpful writing tips, some not so much. In my role as co-host of the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, I not only give out helpful writing tips, I also...
With publications closing and book review sections of newspapers and magazines getting smaller and smaller, authors need to work very hard to find publicity opportunities for their books these days. Whether traditionally- or indie-published, authors must seek out new...
