Writers Helping Writers^®

Editing Tips

Stoking Your Story’s Fire: Three Considerations for Revising Scene by Scene

February 10, 2022

Stoking Your Story’s Fire: Three Considerations for Revising Scene by Scene

February 10, 2022

By David G. Brown The Two Pillars of Storytelling After my first couple years as a fiction editor, I realized that all of my developmental feedback for clients fit into…

“Perfect to Me”: How Self-Editing Can Take Your Novel to the Next Stage

January 20, 2022

“Perfect to Me”: How Self-Editing Can Take Your Novel to the Next Stage

January 20, 2022

By Michelle Barker Part of the trick of hiring an editor is knowing when your manuscript is ready to hand over to them. There’s no point submitting a draft that…

Writers, Grab a Knife: How To Kill Your Darlings

January 11, 2022

Writers, Grab a Knife: How To Kill Your Darlings

January 11, 2022

Good writing involves rewriting. An essential part of rewriting is combing through the first draft and carving out material that isn’t essential. When we edit out nonessentials, we are killing…

When Are You Ready for Professional Editing?

December 9, 2021

When Are You Ready for Professional Editing?

December 9, 2021

Many writers equate preparing for a professional edit with revision. We’ll cover a few revision tasks in this article, but revision is only half the battle. Preparing your manuscript is…

3 Simple Tricks to Immerse Your Reader In Your Story

November 9, 2021

3 Simple Tricks to Immerse Your Reader In Your Story

November 9, 2021

As writers, fusing our protagonist with the reader creates the ultimate reading experience. Teacher and writer John Gardener referred to this as “the fictional dream.” It’s a state the reader…

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches

September 30, 2021

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches

September 30, 2021

It’s always exciting when fall comes around as it means a new season of the Resident Writing Coach program is about to start! We’ve had great fortune to have so…

Nods, Smiles, and Frowns: How Can We Avoid “Talking Heads”…and Cliches?

June 8, 2021

Nods, Smiles, and Frowns: How Can We Avoid “Talking Heads”…and Cliches?

June 8, 2021

Context is often an underappreciated element of our writing because when not done well, a context-filled passage can become a tell-not-show info dump. However, context is essential for most aspects…

Want a Stronger Manuscript? Read It Aloud

April 8, 2021

Want a Stronger Manuscript? Read It Aloud

April 8, 2021

Editing freaks a lot of people out. Drafting is creative and inspirational, and every writer LIVES for that moment when you get into the groove and the words just flow.…

10 Steps To Revise Your Nano Novel

December 15, 2020

10 Steps To Revise Your Nano Novel

December 15, 2020

So, you did Nanowrimo and you made it to 50K! Congratulations, but you still have work to do. That’s right, now you need to revise … But where to start??…

3 Ways to Differentiate Your Characters

May 30, 2020

3 Ways to Differentiate Your Characters

May 30, 2020

We’ve invited Resident Writing Coach Sacha Black to give us an extra dose of wisdom as she’s just released a new book that I think will help a lot of…