(I'd like to say that I'm writing this blog post for the benefit of readers, but really, I'm writing it for me.) These are the top three...

Limited vs. omniscient narration Third person narration is a literary style where the narrative is told from the perspective of a...

Formatting attributes of speech alongside action in fiction I've written about the basics of formatting dialogue here. This blog is a...

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a great opportunity for writers to challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in...

Style sheets are a mainstay of the traditional editing and publishing process. Yet many writers and authors don't know what they are or how they can be put to use. In this blog, I'll break down what types of information the style sheet records and ways that authors can use this information to support their writing endeavors. What a style sheet is An editorial style sheet is a record of all editorial decisions made in the editing and proofreading process. It ensures that an ed

A query letter is a formal letter that a writer sends to literary agents or publishers to introduce themselves and their work with the...

You’ve written your book and edited the heck out of it, and you don’t want to deal with it anymore. Sounds about right? But then you...

Book titles and subtitles feel pretty basic—every book has a title (at least), and I don’t think it’s controversial to say that your book...

Dive in with me as I explore the commonalities between successful books no matter how they were published, what genre they are, or...

(And why they have nothing to do with editing.) Whether you’re a writer or an editor, putting yourself and your writing in front of...

A grammar miniblog Most writers are familiar with the basics of formatting dialogue in fiction such as in the following examples: “I...

What every writer should know Confusion about intellectual property, copyright, and permissions abound in the self-publishing world. It...

Ask anyone and they’ll likely say that writing a book is a hard job. Ask a writer and they’ll likely say that starting to write a book is...

Writers have a lot to consider when they choose the narrative tense of their novel. Deciding on the right tense for your story has a direct impact on world-building, character development, and creating an immersive story. A well-written story pulls the reader in, avoiding clunky writing or language that keeps readers at just the right level of closeness and intimacy with the characters. Tenses: past, present, and future Nowadays, writers can write in just about any tense they