Editing Manuscripts to Make Them Sing

Editing Manuscripts to Make Them Sing

Ready to edit your books from NaNoWriMo or just one you’ve had in a drawer for a while? Here are some terrific ideas from The Write Practice blog.

FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies

Here’s an interview with a top literary agent about the first five pages of your novel. Amy Boggs is currently open to queries. See her preferences on the Donald Maass Literary Agency site. (Also, be sure to read The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. It’s amazing!)

FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies.

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Dialogue: Skip Three Problems That Make Readers Pass on Your Story

From The Write Practice blog, here are some great notes about what works in dialogue and what doesn’t. Click on the link below.

Three Rumors About Dialogue.

Those Pesky Adverbs: How They are Killing Your Writing

Make your writing come alive. Dump most of the modifiers. Here’s a post to tell you why and how.

How to Cut Adverbs From Your Writing | WritersDigest.com.

Language Skills Handbook – Grammar & Usage

Here’s a great resource to help you clean up your manuscript.

Language Skills Handbook – Grammar & Usage.

A Collection of Resources for Writers, Including Grammar and Usage

Here’s a great collection of links to help you answer sticky technical questions in a flash.

Tom Clanin languague grammar.

Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition New and Retired Rules

If you are revising a book or article, get to know this important professional resource.

Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition New and Retired Rules – The Subversive Copy Editor.

Use Find and Replace to Clean Up Your Prose

Improve your writing style with the Find tool in your word processing program. Set it to look for each of these words. Examine the sentences and eliminate any extra baggage. The difference will amaze you.

Four Words That are Killing Your Prose.

Writing Dialogue

Here, on Kristen Lamb’s amazing blog for writers, is part three in a series on improving your dialogue skills. Check it out!

Les Edgerton & Two Tips to Take Your Dialogue to a WHOLE New Level–Part 3 | Kristen Lamb’s Blog.

Annals of Arcane Punctuation: The Ellipsis

If you are going to use those three little dots (yes, always three), do it correctly. Click on the link to find out how.

How To Use an Ellipsis… Correctly.