Archive - Writer, Editor, Helper

Maddie's Ghost is now available at NetGalley

Through March 31

Mar 3 •

September 2023

From copyeditor to full-time writer

Sep 13, 2023 •

February 2023

Is a Comma Needed to Introduce Dialogue?

Q. Would you add a comma before the quotation marks in the following sentences? Ellie finally admitted, “They look different from before.” Kat set the…

Feb 2, 2023 •

January 2023

Does Your Novel Need a Copyeditor before Submission?

In the writers’ groups where I hang out online, these queries are evergreen: How do I know if I need a copyeditor before I submit my work to an agent or…

Jan 3, 2023 •

December 2022

Should Your Novel Have Chapter Numbers or Chapter Titles?

Earlier this year, Fiction+ considered whether a novel should have a table of contents. Although it might seem to be a matter of personal preference…

Dec 1, 2022 •

November 2022

When Your Novel Quotes a Real Source

Careless quoting is a writing crime. Fiction or nonfiction, a writer must be scrupulous in quoting words precisely and crediting their source. Most…

Nov 3, 2022 •

October 2022

“Erg, no kidding?”

Interjections in Creative Writing

Oct 3, 2022 •

September 2022

Exclamation Points in Creative Writing

Exclamation points are controversial. Writers can’t be blamed if they’re confused! Exclamation has always announced straightforward shouting, alarm…

Sep 2, 2022 •

August 2022

Is the Subjunctive Mood Right for Fiction?

Although some believe that the subjunctive mood in English is dying, many of us use it all the time, whether we know it or not. And that means the…

Aug 2, 2022 •

July 2022

When to Capitalize after a Colon

I don’t like to dither over style choices. At the beginning of a sentence, it’s routine to start the next word with a capital letter. But when I type a…

Jul 2, 2022 •

May 2022

Does Your Novel Need a Table of Contents?

From our own reading, most of us know that some paperback and hardcover novels have a table of contents page in the front and some don’t. Lurking…

May 12, 2022 •

March 2022

Abbreviations in Fiction

A great many common abbreviations* behave perfectly well in any fiction or nonfiction context, including dialogue, when the general guidelines in CMOS…

Mar 22, 2022 •

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