Five Tips for Revising and Editing
Tip 1: use Word’s ‘Find’ feature (or ‘Advanced Find’ in Word 2010) to highlight words you use too often. Plug in the word, click on ‘Reading Highlight’ and then skim through your ms to get a stark visual overview of often the word appears. An abundance of fluoro yellow...
Being Edited
After reading Keith Stevenson’s thoughtful piece on the importance of editing, I began thinking about this process from the point of view of a writer. That is, I wanted to share some thoughts with you not on the subject of editing, but on the subject of being edited. This...
GREAT SF AND FANTASY CLICHÉS
If you ever find yourself thinking “Geez, why hasn’t anyone thought of that before?” the answer is: they probably have. And, more to the point, they’ve written a story about it that appeared in Super SF Stories Bumper Xmas Edition 1938. So, if you’re new to the genre –...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 32
Tim Pegler As my childhood memories become foggier and less reliable, there are several book moments that stand out from the murk. The moment I discovered Herge’s The Red Sea Sharks (a graphic novel in a small rural library!) was like tripping over a gold nugget. The thrall induced...
I, You, He or She – Some Thoughts on Point of View
In 2003, I wrote the first draft of what was to become Blaze of Glory, the first book in my Laws of Magic series. As I was writing, I was perplexed by how difficult it was. It’s not that I expect writing a 100,000 word novel to be easy...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 30
Claire Corbett The book that haunted my childhood was Elidor by British writer Alan Garner. An icy, grief-stricken story overshadowed by the twilight feel of Celtic myth, it was a short sharp shock after the cosiness of the Narnia tales I knew and loved. Elidor was the first book...
Dystopias – Why So Popular?
Why Dystopias? I have two suggestions to explain the current popularity of dystopias/post-apocalyptic fiction, especially for teenagers. I understand that dystopic fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction are not necessarily the same thing, but they’re often conflated and I’ll settle for the combination term in this discussion. Firstly, I’ll offer the...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 29
Jack Heath I have adored so many novels that I regularly change my mind about which is my favourite. On some days I will tell you that it’s Scarecrow, by Matthew Reilly. On others it might be Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or Dan Well’s I Am Not A Serial Killer,...
Towards Inventing a New Genre
I don’t have to be hit over the head with a trade paperback – or anything else – to understand that it might be a little late to get onboard the Paranormal Romance bandwagon. And I don’t have to be Tased multiple times while trying to explain my stand...
Writers Write: My Favourite Book 28
Michael Wagner Dibs in Search of Self, Virginia M Axline I can’t think of any higher praise for a book than to tell you that this one made me sick! Actually sick. But in a good way … sort of. I was so deeply moved by this true story...