Gather ‘round, my dears, as I tell you a tale of the time I came scarily close to accepting a job with a notorious vanity publisher. *cue horror music* I know, I know. If you’re a fellow writer, you must be appalled, and with good reason. I swear I didn’t understand at the time exactly…
Tag: editing
Incentivizing Pesky Writing Goals
Is it just me, or did summer in the northern hemisphere fly by? One moment, it’s June and I’m posting about my new tattoos, and the next, we’re into September. I planned to be MIA from my website for a couple of months, and I like to think you noticed my absence. No need to…
How to Pick Your Next WIP
I’m done. Finished. Finito. It’s a wrap on “final” edits to my middle grade novel. I’m now a query critique-and-revision cycle away from sending it back out to agent slush piles. I can’t do much more to get this book noticed, represented and published, so short of edits requested by an acquiring editor, I’m calling…
Fearing the Unopened Email
As of last night, I have an email sitting in my inbox that I’m afraid to open. I fear it will be disappointing news, so it’s easier to skip past it for now. I’ll have to open it eventually, and there’s a small chance it could be positive news, but my mind doesn’t work like…
Top 3 Tips for How To Give, Ask for, and Take Critiques
I’ve been an active member of my local writing critique group since March 2014. They helped restart my writing engine after I’d stored it away for too many years. They encouraged me to keep working on projects I thought should be shelved. They highlighted places in my work where I’ve been sloppy and suggested ways…
Dear Important Minor POV Character
Dear Important Minor POV Character, It has come to my attention that, despite the epic fantasy genre of my latest work, it is not advisable to have more point-of-view characters than George R. R. Martin has dead ones. In an effort to bring my POV character count down to a more respectable and manageable number,…
Be Creative, Not Obnoxious
Writing rules are my friend. They are also my enemy. So in slightly outdated slang speak, that makes them my frenemy. Like spiders. I understand they serve an important purpose, and the large majority of them are benign. But that doesn’t mean I want them cozying up to me, crawling in my mouth while I…
D.M. Domosea 