Have you ever read a novel where the story felt flat? Probably you’ve read plenty, and if you’re like me, you didn’t even finish the book. While there are many things that can contribute to this problem, this series is going to look at 3 of them: desire, stakes, and change.
Something I noticed recently in a book I was reading was the use of the word then when it should have been than. And suddenly I started noticing that problem in several other places (this is known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon). I always take this as a cue about what to cover on my blog.
“The royal order of adjectives? You’ve got to be kidding,” you say. But no, I’m not. Until recently, I’d never heard the phrase before either, but I did know that there is an order to adjectives. The royal order of adjectives is credited to Professor Charles Darling. So what does it do, exactly? It defines…
As an editor and book designer, I work with a variety of file formats. Many of us, myself included until recently, are mostly clueless as to the defining aspects of most file formats. Because I believe the more we know the more efficient we can be, I thought I’d give a brief rundown here so…
(Updated May 2026) With all the manuscripts I edit I’ve learned many writers don’t know the standard formatting for a book manuscript or how to create a proper indent to their paragraphs. Many seem to rely on the default settings in MS Word, which uses a sans serif font, single spacing, and 8pt between paragraphs…
Even though I read authors in my favorite genre, now and then I go to the library to find books by unfamiliar authors in genres I don’t usually read. After all, how would new authors ever make it to the best seller list? I’ve discovered some wonderful authors this way. And in all honesty, I…
Are you unknowingly putting limits on yourself? Let me rephrase that. How often are you saying “I can’t”? Believe it or not, I fight a constant battle with the belief that I can’t read a book or watch a video during regular 8-to-5 work hours. Doesn’t matter that the book or video is educational and…
You might think I wrote this post simply to gain more editing work. That is not my intent. When CreateSpace came on the scene decades ago, making it easier to publish a book independently, the market was flooded with books that hadn’t seen a speck of red from an editor’s pen. And any reader could…