This malady seems to afflict mostly fiction, although it does crop up in nonfiction and academic writing as well, from time to time. Recently this allergy has become prevalent enough that it must be diagnosed and treated, just in case it proves to be contagious. Simply put, the “Had Allergy” manifests as a mysterious aversion […]
Academic Self-Editing: Quick Tips for Discussion Posts and Brief Essays
Most of my academic clients come to me for help with big things: a final paper, a thesis, a dissertation. But undergraduate and grad students, and even doctoral candidates, must deal with at least ten minor writing assignments for each big scary writing assignment that comes along. Those minor assignments (things like online discussion posts […]
Helpful Questions for Beta Readers
I had a great time at Life, The Universe, and Everything last weekend, my first time speaking at this conference! (My first time attending it at all, in fact!) I am very impressed. Definitely coming back next year as an attendee if they don’t want me to teach anything or participate on a panel. My […]
“Where do I find the formatting conventions for a manuscript, or a source file for publishing?”
This question came up recently—again!—so I thought I’d answer it here for posterity. TFor manuscript formatting (suitable when you’re preparing the document to be submitted to contests, to agents, to acquisitions agents and publishers) use standard manuscript format. William Shunn is a bit of a codger: no one uses Courier anymore (Classic Format). Use Times […]
What is a stylesheet? And do I have one?
If you signed a Letter of Agreement to become a Wordsmith client, we created a stylesheet for you! If you’re an academic client with Wordsmith Writing Coaches and we edited a longish bit of work for you, we might have a stylesheet for you, especially if your work had complicated formatting, or if your professor/advisor/journal […]
Plagiarism’s #MeToo Moment Has Arrived
With Nora Roberts’ revelation of Cristiane Serruya’s rampant plagiarism igniting a Twitter firestorm in the romance-genre publishing community, the #MeToo moment for plagiarized authors may have arrived. This time the Bad Guy of the story isn’t men taking sexual advantage of vulnerable women, it’s self-published plagiarist authors taking advantage of vulnerable established authors. How can […]