Category Archives: Editorial

While every writer has a blind spot, run-on sentences are squarely in my field-of-vision. They drive me crazy. While the length of a sentence may flag it for further inspection, a run-on is any sentence where independent clauses meet incorrectly. Here’s a short article that describes the most common errors. I’ll add a fourth way [...]

There are plenty of resources out there for helping you mind your Ps and Qs as a writer. One of my favorites is Grammar Girl’s podcast. (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/). A daily podcast that’s generally under 5 minutes, Grammar Girl will give you a grammar reminder (or maybe a new lesson!) every day. You can listen to it [...]

It’s important to know what you don’t know. When it comes to writing, we all have our blind spots. I’m prone to sentences that are too long and to homonym confusion. You may be aware of your blind spots. You might be oblivious. Either way, they are a reminder that we need those tortured souls [...]

This is an editorial tip that has improved my writing and caused my wife to look at me like I was crazy. Paul Hawley suggests reading a passage or even a whole draft out loud. Why? The ear — anybody’s ear — is dependable to catch repetitions, awkwardness, nonparallel series, etc., even homonyms, and to [...]

A couple of editors from the BelieversPress team chipped in some editorial pet peeves to go along with Thursday’s post: One of my pet peeves is: When an author doesn’t trust the process and doesn’t trust that editors are there for their benefit, working with them to bring about a polished, marketable product. When authors [...]

Ahh, the editorial process. Depending on where you are in the editorial process, it is either the most wonderful thing to ever happen to you or the worst idea your publisher has ever had. Writers have long had mixed feelings about editors. For example, Bill Nye once said “There are just two people entitled to [...]

The BelieversPress blog features Q & A sessions with the experts we work with, answering questions that you’ve asked. Have a question? Click the link in the sidebar to submit it! Charles Humphreys asked How much does humor come into play in writing a nonfiction semi-autobiography? a) Be natural. Humor comes into play exactly to [...]

I’m reading one of those stark books (like Kite Runner) where the author writes pretty darned nekkid. What I mean by that is spare, harsh, in-your-face prose, the kind that evokes emotion and curiosity. The book? A recommendation by Mark Bertrand called The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Hear some of his prose: “For [...]

The BelieversPress blog features Q & A sessions with the experts we work with, answering questions that you’ve asked. Have a question? Click the link in the sidebar to submit it! You asked: I feel the urge to give a lot of backstory in the early chapters of my book. How can I keep readers [...]

Like a successful advertisement, the nonfiction proposal should highlight your “product” in such as way as to leave a lasting impression on the reader.