Open to new projects!
I visited this blog the other day, probably to get the link to my article “12 Words to (Almost Always) Cut” (which today I’d title something more like “12 Words to (Almost Always) Replace” or “12 Words to Watch Out For,” though with the latter I’d lose the cheeky use of two of those twelve words in parentheses). And to my surprise, dismay, chagrin, and other emotions, I saw the last time I’d posted an update was to tell everyone in...
Read MoreJoin me at the Clubhouse! (Plus, Rate & Scheduling Updates)
To celebrate the release of her hilarious and heartwarming women’s fiction novel (plus WWII survival story) StumpStrong, my client Nicki Pascarella is hosting a series of “Bookclub” talks on Clubhouse. I’ll be joining her the evening of August 12 to talk about “Preparing Your Manuscript for Editing”: how to get the most from working with an editor like me. Preparing for the Clubhouse chat has got me thinking about what elements have led to the best editing...
Read MoreBefore Editing: A Recommended Reading List
Part of being an editor is noticing patterns—the motion of a character arc, the raveling of a resolution, or the fact that the past five paragraphs have all started with the same word. Here’s another pattern: I’ve been recommending certain articles and books to almost every client I work with, year after year. So why not share them here once and for all? These 12 short articles and 6 books delve into the writing techniques I comment on most frequently. Many of them formed the core of my own...
Read More12 Words to (Almost Always) Cut
Strong stories are not necessarily short. They don’t need to be Hemingway-esque masterpieces of bare prose (even Hemingway didn’t always write that way). And it would be hypocritical to argue for only short sentences or short paragraphs when I have to make a conscious effort to write either. But in a strong story, every word counts. And no word is misplaced or ill-chosen. The vocabulary is vivid and usually varied, plus precise (though alliteration is optional). Words do not...
Read MoreCommon edits to improve your writing
A lot of editing and rewriting involves relatively minor mechanical and technical changes. A lot. Not that I’m complaining; making these simple changes is a routine part of my work, and if nothing else it keeps me steadily employed. Many of them are changes I make to my own writing on a second draft! However, I thought it’d be helpful to share my “greatest hits”: the advice I give most often, and make use of most often when revising my own work. If you can apply this...
Read MoreLiving With Imposter Syndrome–Guest Post Live on Fictionvale!
The first mercy of impostor syndrome, in my experience at least, is that it isn’t constant. Instead it attacks at intervals, at moments of either my deepest despair or highest success. Of course success attracts this psychological beastie’s attention: in the grips of impostor syndrome, my jerky brain is happy to dismiss any achievement as a fluke or a fraud. I’ve either tricked people into thinking I can write, or they’ve reviewed my manuscript favorably from pity for someone so pathetically...
Read MoreAll the Grammar Knowledge You Need for NaNo
National Novel Writing Month is not the time to become a grammar expert. The entire idea of this challenge is to stop worrying and write, that is, to churn out 1600+ words of prose each day, prose whose main glory is that it exists, not that it is perfect. Stopping to study capitalizing, punctuation, and sentence structure can only be a distraction, and probably a dispiriting one. That said, NaNoWriMo is also not a great time to be slowed down by worrying whether you’ve punctuated this...
Read MoreEditing Gift Cards!
They’re here! I’ve printed off this lovely bunch because I’m offering 10,000 words of line-by-line editing as an auction item at the Plowshare Center of Waukesha’s Fashionably Fair Trade fundraiser this September. But gift certificates are also available for any wordcount and any occasion–and can be delivered electronically as well as in hard copy. I can even custom design the gift card for you to print out or email them. If you’re lost on gift...
Read MoreWhere You Can Get the Starter Guide for Professional Writers
I’m happy to announce that The Starter Guide for Professional Writers is now available at most online retailers! The Starter Guide for Professional Writers contains everything to know so that you can begin earning money for your writing. Ten chapters address every stage of writing, revising, releasing, and promoting your first (or second, or third) published story, including what you need to: Defeat writer’s block and finish your story Revise to make the strongest manuscript...
Read MoreThe Starter Guide for Professional Writers is Complete! Completely Complete!
After a grueling morning formatting session, I am pleased to announce that the Starter Guide for Professional Writers has been submitted to CreateSpace for approval and will be going to the Kindle Store, Smashwords, and Omnilit within the next few days. I’m mostly exhausted, but also pretty pleased. Because of a number of illustrations among the text, I have to do the ebook formatting very carefully–wish me luck! But the print files are as clean as I can make them, and no errors...
Read MoreAbout Therese
Therese Arkenberg's first short story was accepted for publication on January 2, 2008, and her second acceptance came a few hours later. Since then they haven't always been in such a rush, yet her work appears in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Analog, Daily Science Fiction, and the anthology Sword & Sorceress XXIV. Aqua Vitae, her science fiction novella, was released by WolfSinger Publications in December 2011.
She works as a freelance editor and writer in Wisconsin, where she returned after a brief but unforgettable time in Washington, D.C. When she isn't reading, writing, or editing (it's true!) she serves on the board of the Plowshare Center of Waukesha, which works for social, economic, and environmental justice.