Repetition annoys us. It’s part of human nature. Have you ever been in the room with a pen clicker. Click, click, click, click, click – are you getting annoyed yet? The first few clicks hardly penetrate our ears, but the longer it goes on, the louder it seems. Soon we find ourselves fighting the urge to snatch it out of their hand and fling t [...]
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Editing 101 – Weeding out Redundancie...
Repetition annoys us. It’s part of human nature. Have you ever been in the room with a pen clicker. Click, click, click, click, click – are you getting annoyed yet? The first few clicks hardly penetrate our ears, but the longer it goes on, the louder it seems. Soon we find ourselves fighting the urge to snatch it out of their hand and fling t [...]
News and Announcements
Everyone is invited
Coming to CAG Monday, May 16, 7 PM
An Author’s Crazy Journey.
Jenny L. Cote
Author Jenny Cote will be speaking at CAG in May. Read more about this gifted speaker and writer by visiting her website at: www.epicorderoftheseven.com, or read her bio on this site by clicking here.
Congratulations!
Kudos to Christi Whitn [...]
Improving Your Connections
It’s often said that writing is a lonely endeavor. That may be true during the actual process, but it takes a community to complete the work. No longer can an author pen a good story and expect others to run with it. He needs to bring the writing up to a publishable standard, and ensure the plot is consistent, clear, and concise. He then need [...]
Tools for writers–take Credit Card pu...
Okay, this isn’t exactly a tool ONLY for writers, but it’s a great tool nonetheless. It’s called Square, and provides a payment method not normally available at book signings and conferences.
Have you ever been to a conference or listened to a speaker, liked his information and wanted to buy his book, but didn’t have the cash? Or worse, as y [...]
Polishing your gems – 5 editing strat...
Use a questionnaire
When finishing my manuscript, I asked eight people to read it. I didn’t send it to writers, but to those who would only look at the work from a reader’s perspective. Instead of asking for critiques or general feedback, I gave them a brief questionnaire:
1. Did the beginning of the story capture your attention?
2. Di [...]
Polishing your gems – 5 editing strat...
2. Finding Mistakes
Our ideas may indeed be inspired, but our writing is not. I have never seen a manuscript that doesn’t need critiquing and editing. This seems to be more of a struggle in the Christian writing community than the secular.
When a Christian feels that divine guidance has led him or her to write a manuscript, it’s easy to fall [...]
Polishing your gems – 5 editing strat...
Once you finish writing your manuscript, the work of self-editing begins. Through this process you catch the obvious mistakes so critiquing time isn’t wasted on the little things. A critique partner or an editor should only see your work after it’s polished as far as you can take it. With very few exceptions, the author cannot change h [...]
Writing Without Fear
We all feel that twinge of apprehension when we think about presenting our writing to others. Is it good enough? Who am I to tell you what to think or do? Will others think my work is stupid?
Writing is a private venture. We are safe and protected while we express our thoughts and ideas through words in the privacy of our little space. Howeve [...]
What if a publisher demands to ‘sexy ...
An editor of a major publishing house liked my writer friend’s story and said he would contract it if she would make the story more ‘sexy’. I communicate with many writers, and often I’ll see someone post that he is sexying up his novel to meet the publisher’s standard. It’s a common demand to add sex scenes to a book. I know authors wh [...]
Cindy’s CAG Spotlight – M...
This month’s spotlight is Margaret Brownley. She has published more than 20 books writing for Harlequin, St.Martin’s Press and Penguin. Her books have been published in 15 languages. She also co-wrote a storyline for a CBS daytime soap. She’s currently writing about “love and laughter” in the old West for Thomas Nelson. Listen to her in [...]
