Stop! Before You Use Find and Replace . . .

Stop! Before You Use Find and Replace . . .

Don’t hit “replace all” when using find and replace unless you’ve given thorough consideration to what you may replace by accident. The word you’re replacing may be contained within other words or be used in instances you haven’t thought about, leading to a...
Writing Horror: How it Differs by Age Group

Writing Horror: How it Differs by Age Group

I may not be one for horror, but in honor of Halloween, let’s talk about this dark genre. Horror invites readers to confront their own fears and, often, what in (or about) the world makes them uncomfortable. Ideally, it won’t just scare; it will also get the reader to...
Understanding Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes

Understanding Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes

A lot of folks struggle with the difference between the hyphen (-), the slightly longer en dash (–), and the even longer em dash (—). And they can be confusing! Here’s a very quick overview: Hyphen (-) A hyphen is used to create a compound (cake-loving woman) or when...
Finding Comps

Finding Comps

When looking for comps, stop seeking exact matches and look instead for books that relate to your audience, themes, plot, style and voice, characters, and the general structure of the journey or tale you’re telling. Let’s back up: What’s a comp? Comparable or...
What NOT to Expect from a Developmental Edit

What NOT to Expect from a Developmental Edit

Understanding the different levels of editing can be confusing—sometimes they come with different names, sometimes things can get mushed together. But at it’s core, developmental editing is a type of creative problem-solving that takes a hard look at the big picture...
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