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,...
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...
I've been working on the edits for my novel. Slowly going through, moving a mass of words around. Putting all that thinking into action. And you know what? It feels pretty good. Now that I've actually started, I'm remembering that I was the person who wrote the book...
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...
I'm thrilled to announce that I've established a new online writing group called Write With Allison Tait. For over a decade now, I've been sharing my journey as a writer, my tips and tricks, my highs and lows, my inspiration and, especially, information for over a...
Graeme Simsion is not only the author of The Novel Project, a new writing craft book, and a bunch of international bestselling books, he's also a very generous soul. When Valerie Khoo and I began our So You Want To Be A Writer podcast all those years ago, Graeme was...
Is there anything better than a new writing book to inspire, motivate, inform and entertain? I've written before about my favourite books about writing – heck, I've even written a book about being a writer myself – but I'm always happy to discover a new one, and...
