The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Writing Skills

What to do when your motivation takes a vacation

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Sometimes it takes all the willpower I can muster to put my butt in the chair and write.

By day I’m a freelance editor/writer and by night an editor for CrossRiver Media. I’m single and my children are grown, but I still have all the household chores to do.

Work, eat, sleep. Work, eat, sleep. My motivation wants to hop a train to Denver, and leave me behind to the comfort of the couch and a mind-numbing DVD.

Because I’m self-employed, I can give in to this lack of motivation for a day. I justify it by telling myself I deserve a day off. But then a day becomes two and sometimes three.

Do you ever have days like that? Weeks maybe where you lack the motivation to work toward your dreams?

I’m guest posting today at BirdFaceWendy.com. Join me there for the rest of this post.

How to Use Track Changes in MS Word

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As a writer, I use Scrivener to create my documents—even my blog posts. As an editor, my primary tool is MS Word and Track Changes. While I’ve never asked other editors what they use, I’d venture they use track changes, too.

That makes it critical for writers to understand what track changes are and how to use them.

So today, I’m offering a video from Lynda.com as a quick tutorial.

Should I Use Real Places in my Story?

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For those of you who missed last month’s Facebook live Ask the Editor video, I’m sharing it here today.

Never mind that I couldn’t seem to say my name that day–the hazards of live video. 🙂  The question is “Should I use real restaurants, stores, and places in my story?”  [Read more…] about Should I Use Real Places in my Story?

Do I need to master grammar to be a better writer?

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shattered glass from a car wreckThere are hundreds, probably thousands, of books on the market that deal with the craft of writing—learning plot, character development, story arc, and such. But sadly missing from the list is grammar.

I know it’s a school subject many people hated. Do they still make kids learn how to diagram a sentence? Maybe diagramming a sentence is what turned us off.

But lately I’ve been stuck on grammar. So much so that I’m rereading one of my college text books. As an editor I need to know the rules, otherwise how [Read more…] about Do I need to master grammar to be a better writer?

7 Cheat Sheets to Cut Editing Costs – Coming Soon

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7 Cheat Sheets to Cut Editing Costs front coverI’ve been hard at work lately, developing a booklet just for you.

Yes, I notice your reluctance to hire a freelance editor. I understand that hesitation. You don’t know whom to hire; you don’t know if you’ll get scammed; you don’t know how to evaluate the editing you get back. No doubt, though, residing at #1 is How much is it going to cost?

So I’ve put together what I call 7 Cheats Sheets to Cut Editing Costs to help you reduce your editing costs. My critique group is clamoring for the final product because [Read more…] about 7 Cheat Sheets to Cut Editing Costs – Coming Soon

How to Format Numbers, Dates, and Times in Your Manuscript

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clock and notebook formatting timeBecause my kids graduated from school long ago, I no longer know what’s taught in English class—aside from the “cursive writing” controversy. I only know I see a wide variety of grammar and format errors in the manuscripts I edit and proofread.

Many writers incorrectly format numbers, dates, and times, so I thought I’d give you some basic guidelines today. [Read more…] about How to Format Numbers, Dates, and Times in Your Manuscript

A New Perspective on the Cost of Freelance Editors

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a pile of $50 bills, editing costs“I can’t afford to hire a professional editor,” you say.

But you can’t afford not to hire one. The quality—or lack thereof—of your story directly impacts your ability to land a traditional publishing contract. If you publish indie, it impacts your sales. And who doesn’t want lots of sales?

I don’t say this just because I’m an editor. Even I send my own work to a writer friend to edit. That’s because it’s hard for us see the mistakes in our own writing.

That’s why I encourage you to hire an editor.

We all know professional editing costs can add up, but I often get the impression that writers expect it to start at $5000 and go up from there. Even $1000 is a lot when that same amount pays the mortgage for a month or two.

Let’s take a look at the industry standard fees given in Writer’s Market 2017. [Read more…] about A New Perspective on the Cost of Freelance Editors

Should I Use Italics or Quotation Marks? A Style Guide to Formatting Titles

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Chicago Manual of Style book cover
When I went to high school, teachers taught us to underline book titles. With the advent of all things digital, that changed. In fact a lot got changed.

What I’m talking about is the stylized treatment of text.

In the world of publishing, there are two style books that pull most of the weight. In the book world, The Chicago Manual of Style is the primary style guide (first published in 1906!). This book contains over 1000 pages and instructs how to [Read more…] about Should I Use Italics or Quotation Marks? A Style Guide to Formatting Titles