Semicolons (Part 1)
Ah, the semicolon. More than a comma, less than a full stop, and the source of far more fear and confusion than its flamboyant cousin, the em dash. In fact, most people I know tend to quietly avoid it and hope it’ll go away.
However, the semicolon can add clarity and nuance to your writing, and I hope that by the end of this two-part mini-series I’ll have convinced you to give it a try.
5 Tips to Save Money on a Copyedit
There’s a reason editors and proofreaders exist: it’s REALLY hard to check through your own work for errors or confusing wording. After all, you know what you meant to write, so your brain will happily agree that it’s all grammatically perfect and makes total sense. Not helpful, brain. And yes, a professional editor like me will pick up on errors and clunky phrasing, but we generally charge per hour rather than per page, so the cleaner your manuscript, the quicker it will take to edit, and the cheaper it will therefore be.
“Darling, your participles are dangling!”
Some elements of English SPAG are hard-and-fast rules; others are more to do with nuance. Today’s topic, by contrast, is about unintentional silliness. Yes, we’re talking about you, dangling participles.
Write Like a Herbivore
When I trained as an NLP coach one of the first things I learned about was the difference between ‘foveal’ and ‘peripheral’ vision. And you’ll excuse the pun if I say it gave me a whole new outlook on my creative and working processes.
Avoiding the ‘Second Draft Slump’
You’ve done it! You’ve just typed ‘The End’ on your final page, taken a photo of the word count and sent it gleefully to all your friends.
Congratulations! Finishing your first draft (especially if it’s your first ever first draft) is one of the best feelings in the world, and you’ve earned every ounce of that joy that’s bubbling up inside you right now.
And the best thing of all? Now you’ve committed your story to the page, then the editing process can begin! (Of course I would say that, being an editor and all…)
But before you even set red pen to paper, here are three tips to help you start the process with the right mindset and avoid the rather common phenomenon that I call ‘the Second Draft Slump’.