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Hi new friends! Thanks for joining conversation here, typically re:
-survivor care & abuse in churches
-critical analysis of “biblical” family life teaching & high control religion
-advocacy for children
-OCD/scrupulosity
-storytelling Scripture
#amquerying #amwriting ⬇️🧵
-survivor care & abuse in churches
-critical analysis of “biblical” family life teaching & high control religion
-advocacy for children
-OCD/scrupulosity
-storytelling Scripture
#amquerying #amwriting ⬇️🧵
#amquerying my novel THE DAUGHTER:
SPEAK+#shinyhappypeople: Stay-at-home-daughter Hope grapples w/religious OCD, forbidden ministry ambitions, & web of abuse cultivated by her Christian dominionist community as she fights to find the self she was always taught to put to death.
SPEAK+#shinyhappypeople: Stay-at-home-daughter Hope grapples w/religious OCD, forbidden ministry ambitions, & web of abuse cultivated by her Christian dominionist community as she fights to find the self she was always taught to put to death.
#amwriting:
-#greatparentingrescue-esque non-fiction book critically analyzing theological/sociological influences on "biblical" family life/parenting ideology.
-MG fantasy: Hobbitish hedgehogs & ornery feline steeds save fairyland from moths that steal all the animals' tears.
-#greatparentingrescue-esque non-fiction book critically analyzing theological/sociological influences on "biblical" family life/parenting ideology.
-MG fantasy: Hobbitish hedgehogs & ornery feline steeds save fairyland from moths that steal all the animals' tears.
You may have an incredible plot, great characters, & interesting scenes, but if your writing doesn’t hold up on a sentence level, it’s unlikely you’ll retain readers.
Here are 5 sentence-level mistakes I’ve seen new & seasoned writers make — & how to fix them (an #amwriting 🧵):
Here are 5 sentence-level mistakes I’ve seen new & seasoned writers make — & how to fix them (an #amwriting 🧵):
1. Redundant phrasing. Using extraneous words or phrases can make your writing clunky & hard to read.
Simplify your sentences. Make sure each word is necessary & serves a purpose. If you can take a word out w/out changing the meaning of the sentence, cut it.
Simplify your sentences. Make sure each word is necessary & serves a purpose. If you can take a word out w/out changing the meaning of the sentence, cut it.
2. Heavy-handed foreshadowing. Phrasing like “little did she know…” may SEEM like it builds suspense, but it actually tells the reader that something is about to happen & reduces the impact when it does. Let the reader experience the surprise when it comes.
I'm going to break some hearts today. Your query letter is probably too long. How long SHOULD it be? Let's look into why shorter is better, and why. 🧵
1/?
#AmQuerying #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #RevPit
1/?
#AmQuerying #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #RevPit
Before I give you a tangible word count goal for your query letter, a few words about diction: Writing MORE doesn't mean you're writing BETTER. We novelists are, by trade, wordy people, and sometimes trimming things down to their essence is the hard part.
2/?
2/?
Diction is the process of carefully choosing words, which means keeping only those words that BEST communicate your ideas and stories. I've seen a lot of queries written by folks who were told to keep it "under one page," but then filled up that page to the damn brim.
3/?
3/?
First up, while reading through my lovely editor’s letter, I have been making notes on *her* notes as I go.
This week, I also wrote out my own broad-scale to-do list, to summarise for myself the main changes I need to make.
Again, some bits are still a bit fuzzy in my head…
2/
This week, I also wrote out my own broad-scale to-do list, to summarise for myself the main changes I need to make.
Again, some bits are still a bit fuzzy in my head…
2/
…But I feel clear enough at this stage to dive into the MS itself.
STEP ONE: SAVE AS NEW WORD DOC.
(Heaven help those of you who edit your original manuscripts 😱😱😱)
ps For the record, “Draft 2” really means draft about 5 🤣
3/
STEP ONE: SAVE AS NEW WORD DOC.
(Heaven help those of you who edit your original manuscripts 😱😱😱)
ps For the record, “Draft 2” really means draft about 5 🤣
3/
My morning will consist of reading a modified AP style guide with a sleeping baby strapped to my chest.
This was not exactly the ten-year plan, but it's pretty good.
This was not exactly the ten-year plan, but it's pretty good.
Nevermind. I hate this. Quotation marks?! QUOTATION MARKS?! What barbarism is this?!
Can anyone (@APStylebook? anyone else #AmEditing ?) explain the why on this to me? I can try to accustom myself to the absolute heresy of "Pride and Prejudice" or "Hero With a Thousand Faces" if I have a proper reason...
Folks, I've been running across this issue in a lot of edits recently so I'm going to touch on a grammar thing that "everybody already knows" because I can 100% guarantee not everyone does. Also, sometimes a refresher course is nice.
Let's talk about DIALOGUE TAGS.
#amediting
Let's talk about DIALOGUE TAGS.
#amediting
DIALOGUE TAGS include a "speaker verb" so, "Et tu, brute," Julius Caesar *said*.
ACTION BEATS are something a character does. "I need to call my guardian angel." Jane *picked up the phone.*
A DIALOGUE TAG is generally preceded by a comma.
ACTION BEATS are preceded by a period.
ACTION BEATS are something a character does. "I need to call my guardian angel." Jane *picked up the phone.*
A DIALOGUE TAG is generally preceded by a comma.
ACTION BEATS are preceded by a period.
If the dialogue tag precedes the line of dialogue, use a comma before the opening quotation mark.
Example: He smiled at the hellhound and said, "What a good boy."
Example: He smiled at the hellhound and said, "What a good boy."
As an editor who's also a writer, I know how overwhelming it can be to receive edits. If you're not sure where to start, here's a method that works for me (it's what I'm doing now!). 🧵 #AmEditing #WritingTips
1. Start with the easy yeses. You agree and it's a quick fix? Do it.
1. Start with the easy yeses. You agree and it's a quick fix? Do it.
2. Move on to the easy nos. Reject changes/delete comments where you know 100% that the suggestion isn't the right fit. Tread carefully here—don't make rash decisions in the emotional first moments after reading through edits. Take time to simmer and process. 2/
3. Continue to the complicated yeses. These are the ideas that you like, but that will take more time to ponder, or more complicated rewrites to incorporate.
4. Finish up with the complicated nos. Revisit any criticism you were unsure about and see how you feel about it now. 3/
4. Finish up with the complicated nos. Revisit any criticism you were unsure about and see how you feel about it now. 3/
As @thedreadmachine's Kickstarter campaign for Mixtape: 1986 progresses, I thought it might be fun to provide some insight into why I voted for each of the 16 stories that made it into the final table of contents.
#editing #publishing #amediting #anthology
#editing #publishing #amediting #anthology
(Before I continue this thread, the campaign: kickstarter.com/projects/thedr…)
1. @Joduckwo's story "One of Those Nice Guys" subverted my expectations by the end of page 1, packing in detail and immediate intrigue that kept me guessing. The ending is tight, which I appreciate after reading so many promising stories that fall apart by the last page.
How to find literary agents to query (a string):
I was just talking about this in my writing group and thought I'd share with the #writingcommunity #amquerying #amwriting #amediting crowd:
1. Search Twitter for #mswl + (something in your book/comp)
ex: #mswl ya soulmates
I was just talking about this in my writing group and thought I'd share with the #writingcommunity #amquerying #amwriting #amediting crowd:
1. Search Twitter for #mswl + (something in your book/comp)
ex: #mswl ya soulmates
2. Search manuscriptwishlist.com for facets of your book, but also comps, including movies, TV shows, and bestsellers you would comp your book to if they weren't so famous (your query comps should be recent, but use the others to find agents!)
3. Get a PublishersMarketplace ($25/m) subscription, then:
-go to the top dealmakers in your genre (agents & agencies) & check out their sites to see if they're a good fit
-If you find an editor who might be a good fit (on MSWL), look up who's selling to that editor.
-go to the top dealmakers in your genre (agents & agencies) & check out their sites to see if they're a good fit
-If you find an editor who might be a good fit (on MSWL), look up who's selling to that editor.
What Chicago Manual of Style rule would you like to launch into the sun? Mine is this one about breaking URLs after periods, slashes, and hyphens. #AmEditing
I really doubt most people are going to see a period or slash and think that's the end of the URL when it obviously continues on the next line. Plus, who actually types in the URL? It's usually far easier to type the title of the article into Google and let it take you there.
But mostly I hate having to rebreak every single URL when I'm proofreading. I think the Chicago-style breaks are ugly and I don't think they actually help readers, so I feel like all I'm doing is annoying the designer and padding our billable hours.
Style question for my fellow editors: The Chicago Manual of Style says that "popular names of places, or epithets, are usually capitalized." One example is the Bay Area. But would you capitalize "area" in "San Francisco Bay Area"? #AmEditing
I guess I'm leaning toward no because "Bay Area" sounds like an epithet for a place and "San Francisco Bay Area" just sounds like a proper name followed by the generic noun "area."
The Salt Lake City area
The Washington, DC, area
The San Francisco Bay area
The Salt Lake City area
The Washington, DC, area
The San Francisco Bay area
Okay, folks, I'm going with the capital "Area." Thanks for the input!
A new dress code for these times of video meetings: business isolation. #AmEditing
Since I started working from home, I have reverted to my natural state of wearing T-shirts and jeans all the time, even when I have video meetings.
Editors gonna edit.
Copy editor confession: I can never remember the difference between "premier" and "premiere" and have to look them up every time. #AmEditing
Also, I think pairs of words that are only distinguished by a silent "e" on the end are dumb. What is this, French?
Plus, "palette" and "pallet" are etymologically the same word. There's literally no reason for both of them to exist. Might as well toss "palate" in there while we're at it.
2. Ted flexed his hands, balling them into fists as a crimson flush stormed up his neck. Nobody said that shit to him. Not since he'd made Billy Braiden regret his damn mouth in 8th Grade. This guy, he didn't know who the hell Ted was. But he was about to find out (19
Those were two different examples, both Deep POV, both with the same physical (visceral) show, but with two different triggers that completely changed the scene. To summarize, you need... (20
1. A character profile
2. Dig DEEP into your character's wound...the thing that contributes to their trauma/prevents them from dealing w/h trauma
3. Develop character Voice
4. Connect emotion to not only the character, bt what's happening in the scene.
5. Get in MC's head (21
2. Dig DEEP into your character's wound...the thing that contributes to their trauma/prevents them from dealing w/h trauma
3. Develop character Voice
4. Connect emotion to not only the character, bt what's happening in the scene.
5. Get in MC's head (21
A client just suggested changing "and even more problematically, social media algorithms often suggest . . ." to "and even more problematic, social media algorithms often suggest . . ."
What's the deal with this? An overextension of the "more important" rule?
#AmEditing
What's the deal with this? An overextension of the "more important" rule?
#AmEditing
I've never liked that "more important" rule, by the way. How do we know that the sentence adverb "more important" is always short for "what is more important"?
Should we apply the same logic to ALL sentence adverbs?
Should we apply the same logic to ALL sentence adverbs?
Surprising, nobody ever argues that "hopefully" is wrong not because sentences can't be hopeful but because it should it's actually short for "what is hopeful."
Hopeful, you can see how sound this logic is.
Hopeful, you can see how sound this logic is.
I'm editing an article on how local nurses have responded to the pandemic, and there's a recipe for banana muffins in the middle. I don't understand it. It might be the single weirdest thing I've seen in my editing career.
#AmEditing
#AmEditing
It's just a bunch of vignettes from different nurses about sewing masks or volunteering for other things, and then one is like "My friend asked for a banana bread recipe, so I made my own. Here it is!"
This actually makes a lot of sense. "Here's a recipe for banana muffins, but before you can get to it, here's a 3,000-word article about the events that led to the creation of the recipe."
My department makes an exception to the Chicago style rule that a middle initial should be followed by a period even if it doesn't stand for anything, and that's annoying enough even at the best of times.
But it's extra annoying when you encounter a name for the first time and see that the middle initial doesn't have a period. How are you supposed to prove that someone only has a middle initial and not a middle name? #AmEditing
The school's website doesn't list any middle names for faculty members. Our university's online directory uses middle initials with no periods for everyone. Am I supposed to go to the county clerk's office and find hiss birth certificate just to find out if he needs a period?
I keep looking at this sentence and thinking, "Should I really trim it down that much?" But then I can't figure out what any of the other words are really adding.
Ah, silly me.
Let's try that again.
"partner together in a coordinated and collaborative effort" → "proactively partner together in a coordinated, collaborative, and synergistic effort in order to achieve more than either could alone"
Let's try that again.
"partner together in a coordinated and collaborative effort" → "proactively partner together in a coordinated, collaborative, and synergistic effort in order to achieve more than either could alone"
Does anyone else hate the word "faculty" to mean "faculty member(s)," or is it just that I've seen it about three dozen times in the last several articles I've edited and have gotten sick of it? #AmEditing
It seems especially weird when it's preceded by a number and otherwise treated like a count noun (except for the fact that it's not inflected for plural), as in "Three faculty received awards at the fall conference."
Editing question of the day: If you came across a sentence like "she enjoys attending sporting events, photography, and traveling to new places," would you change "photography" to a gerund to make it parallel? If so, how would you change it? #AmEditing
More context: I'm reviewing edits on a piece, and someone suggested changing "photography" to "doing photography." While I appreciate the desire to make everything more perfectly parallel, I don't think that's an improvement here.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I like the idea of putting "photography" first and not worrying about making them all gerunds.
Here's your infrequent reminder that "Ms." and "Miss" are not the same thing. You can't just put "Mr.," "Mrs.," and "Ms." as the only options on a form. #AmEditing
Okay, so technically, the form also had fields for "Dr." and "Other," with the option to specify. So I suppose you could fill in literally anything you wanted there, whether it's "Mx." or "Prof." or "The Rt. Hon. Rev. Dr."
And yes, I know it's stupid that women are still expected to specify their marital status while men aren't, but this form is going to a rather conservative audience that would probably get mad if we *didn't* give women that option.
Editing annoyance of the day: The Department of Exercise Sciences at BYU offers a bachelor's degree in exercise science and graduate degrees in exercise sciences.
#AmEditing
#AmEditing
That's according to the university catalog, anyway. It's inconsistent on the website of the College of Life Sciences, which lists an undergrad major in exercise science, an MS in exercise science, and a PhD in exercise sciences.
But then the department's page agrees with the catalog in calling both of the grad programs exercises sciences, while the undergrad is still just exercise science.
Working remotely has really made it clear that not a single one of my coworkers knows how to properly use the comment features in Acrobat. #AmEditing
We ALWAYS do proofreads on paper, so this new all-electronic workflow is obviously an adjustment. I'm used to marking up PDFs, but I think doing some training as a group would have been a good idea.
Lots of sticky notes, but also crossing out text and then making comments about how to change it rather than just typing in the change, like crossing out a misspelled word and then saying "Merriam-Webster prefers the spelling _____."
Hi, #NCPH2020! Join us tomorrow (Wed.) at 3:30pm est for the NCPH Publications Task Force Listening Session. #TPHJournal @ucpress #PublicHistory #TwitterStorians #AmEditing #AmWriting
What do you want from NCPH publications like The Public Historian & History@Work? What are we doing right? How might our platforms better reflect changes in the field, & better meet your needs? #NCPH2020! #TPHJournal @ucpress #PublicHistory #TwitterStorians #AmEditing #AmWriting
Bring your ideas to the NCPH Publications Task Force special listening session and join the ongoing conversation about the future of NCPH publications. #NCPH2020! #TPHJournal @ucpress #PublicHistory #TwitterStorians #AmEditing #AmWriting
