Posts by Neil
I'm assuming that you're talking about doing citations in the style of Kate Turabian's book *A Manual for Writers. (If that's not the case, than this answer may be incorrect.) The Table of Conten...
Rather than focusing on generating names - a process that's usually somewhat arbitrary - perhaps examine the purpose of these names in your story. There's a school of thought that goes like this: ...
There seem to be two general approaches to this: One person writes the work, and the other starts revising it heavily. There might be significant problems that the second author needs to address...
This could be a problem with discipline on your part. Nobody can help you follow through on commitments except yourself, but perhaps the problem is that you don't have a commitment of any sort. M...
The priority of a writer is to get stuff written and in a shape where it can be read by others. (Assumedly, submitted, sold, to agents/editors, etc.) Your goal is to get stuff written. (Whether qua...
Without context, this question can only be answered in the most general ways, but even though I'm not a tech writer or tech editor, I've researched the issue a bit. I hope this will be helpful. Any...
Asking for a ruling on a point of style like this is generally pretty futile in English. There is no central authority. However, style manuals or internal style sheets can provide guidance, even th...
Do parentheses inhibit clarity? They do and they don't, it's all down to individual use. When used well and skillfully, parentheses fulfill a function that no other punctuation or construction can ...
Critiquing specific text is important, but you can always improve the writing. If the book has structural problems, weak characters, or sections that don't mesh with each other, then these larger i...
I need to revise a screenplay in Final Draft, and I'm finding that the revision features in the program are poor. Are there any ways to introduce revision features in to Final Draft, similar to Tra...
People generally speak with "um" and "huh" peppered throughout their speech. Their meaning can be defined in a general sense, but that meaning may not always be consistent, and some of their meanin...
I'd like to learn the APA style guide, so that, in addition to the fiction and general non-fiction I work on currently, I can start accepting academic editing jobs. However, I know very little abou...
After reading the entire piece (from the link you posted), I'd say the story feels like it's all cut of the same material, so you don't have anything to worry about in terms of most of the dialog b...
When in doubt, ask yourself: "Would my readers care if they didn't know about this change? Would they think I was trying to deceive them by not pointing it out?" If the answer to either of these is...
A book discussing copyrighted and trademarked works can unquestionably be done. It has been done, many times; search on Amazon for unauthorized guide to and you'll see books on everything from Buff...
Estimates of how long work like this will take are always guesswork. One can make some excellent guesses when one is experienced, but even then, it's advisable for one to take several factors into ...
Your worry is a valid one; the reader could be frustrated by this. However, this is something that can be taken care of in later drafts. You may need to shore things up a little to clarify the myst...
I was blogging about opening lines the other day, and looking for examples. I came across the opening to American Gods, and realized that it's neither flashy nor something that will grab the reader...
If everything you write is sounding like overused tropes and clichés, it may be that you're simply showing your influences. And when you see your writing, all you're seeing are those influences. He...
Is the purpose of doing this for your friend to see their words "in print", or for them to see that someone considers them good? (i.e., you.) Or perhaps it's something else entirely. Whichever opt...
Is there any reason that an editor should know how to use Scrivener? I generally see manuscripts after they're out of draft but before proofreading. (I'm an editor.) However, I see a lot of talk ...
The answer is for you to do what the universoty or your department requires. There is no universal answer to this. For academic writing in English, one would likely be using the APA Style Guide o...
You'll want a copyeditor who specializes in academic writing, if possible one that specializes in journals. Please also note that, when the writer's first language isn't English, some journals re...
Let me see if I've got this right: You've got two characters who are telling you what to do (or what not to do). And you think that's a problem? Writing believable characters who want to write th...
You have several choices, and which one you use depends on the length of the document to be written, the subject matter, and your personal preferences. All sections here are examples of the techniq...
