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Episode Whatever of How to Work with Your Editor
I love when writers push back on my suggestions and questions. That’s when I know they have grasped the truth of their own story. They know what their characters would do or not do. They know how much their reader needs. When you know something is not working, say so to your editor. “I don’t think…
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Sustainable writing practice
I spoke with a coaching client who wants to rebuild his writing practice. He’s in his early forties and hasn’t written much since his university days. His memory of writing in his twenties was that he tended to go to “dark places” and that it was hard to come back from them. His exploration of…
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How to tell the truth
Truth-telling starts with you, in the moment. The novelist Carol Shields advised, “After writing, ask yourself, ‘Is this what I really mean?’” There’s an adage in writing: first thought best thought. Is it possible to over-edit your work, to edit the truth out of it? Sometimes. The first draft can contain a messiness that is…
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Don’t delete your manuscript
Sometimes your manuscript is just not working. You might feel like deleting your file and beginning from scratch. Don’t. Your manuscript already has a lot working in it, but you might not know how to find it. Here are some alternatives to scrapping your draft and starting over. Take a break from your manuscript. Go…
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Writer-reader relationship
Editors wear a lot of hats. Depending on our skill set, we can be known as developmental editors, writing coaches, substantive editors, copy editors, and proofreaders (plus cheerleaders and occasionally therapists). But our primary role is guardian of the reader-writer relationship. The editor helps the writer establish trust with the reader. Once the reader trusts…
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Dear Editors: co-creation
Dear Editors, I’ve been working on my first book for about four years. Tracking Giants: Big Trees, Tiny Triumphs, and Misadventures in the Forest is coming from Greystone Books in spring 2023. It’s a travel memoir of learning to search for big trees in my home province of British Columbia, Canada. My editor sent the…
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Now booking coaching clients for July
I had a Publishing Plan coaching call with this writer who was feeling overwhelmed by their book idea and frustrated by their lack of “progress.” Here’s what they said about our session: “In our first hour of coaching, Amanda got right to the heart of the key issue that was holding me back, devised a…
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What to do when your intro just isn’t working
In the coming weeks, I’ll share tips for self-editing. To start us off, here are two ideas to consider when your introduction isn’t working. 1/ In medias res: In medias res means “in the middle of things.” An action scene or a scene that sparks curiosity can quickly pull the reader into the narrative. In…
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Support abortion rights
Typically on Friday, I post something that inspires me. This Friday Fave is a random assortment, but usually it’s a writer, a song, a book. Today, it’s these organizations that support abortion rights. I’m donating money to two of them. I live in Canada, but this SCOTUS decision transcends borders and genders. It’s about a right to choose. It’s…