The Danger of Starting Sentences with Participial Phrases
What’s so dangerous about . . . whatever those things are? What is a participle? It’s a verb or a noun that…
The Forest for the Trees: How to Cure Overwriting
Welcome to our new, exciting course for the year! Four editors are going to delve into The 12 Fatal Flaws…
My “Writer’s Weight Loss” Plan
Okay, it probably sounds as if I’ve taken a left turn at Albuquerque (as Bugs Bunny was wont to say)…
Is Your Modifier Misplaced?
Let’s start the new year by taking a look at misplaced modifiers. A modifier is . . . well, what it sounds…
A Novel Is Not A Sum Total of Its Parts
This is our last post wrapping up the year’s course on The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction. I hope…
The Long Journey to the Perfect Short Story
Today’s guest post is by Jen Scott, associate editor at Firewords Quarterly: One of the most rewarding parts of my job…
Let’s Be in Agreement
I think we can all agree that subjects and verbs need to agree with one another. A singular subject takes…
Building Your Novel with a Holistic Approach
We’ve spent a whole year looking at the twelve pillars of novel construction, and I hope you’ve gained a lot…
Don’t Fear the Reaper: Why Writers Need Editors
Today’s guest post is from editor and author Blake Atwood: What’s the first thing you do after writing the final…