I’ve been an editor since 2011. I kicked off my career with nonfiction, especially academic essays and reports, before transitioning into fiction editing. I’ve also been taking my creative writing seriously since about 2018, when I started submitting short stories and poetry. As an agented author out on submission with two books as of August…
Category: Craft
Writing Advice for New Writers
Webinars are one of my favorite sources of great writing advice. From the hundred or so webinars I’ve taken notes on since 2021, some advice has never left me. When I start a new book, when I’m struggling with muddy middles, or when I’m groaning over revisions, these suggestions and insights have pulled me through….
How to Find Beta Readers (and Whether to Pay)
First off, what is beta reading? Not everybody thinks of this service the same way. For me, beta reading means outlining my impression of a story in a 3-4 page report. Characters (development and arcs), pacing, and the “big picture” are usually my three areas of focus. Sometimes called a “reader’s report” or “manuscript review,”…
How to Give Feedback on Creative Writing
Maybe it’s a cousin with his first short story. Your quiet aunt who finally finished her draft of a romance novel. Your college roommate with a manuscript about aliens. Whatever the case, giving feedback can be as intimidating as receiving it. After a decade-plus of practice giving and receiving feedback, I’ve found the following rules…
Writing My First Query Letter
Writing my first query letter has been transformative. I have lived the life of a phoenix. Taken my beak to shell. Swelled with the glory of flight. Burned into ashes. And then, in a chorus of mystical chemistry, I remade myself. Eh, in short, it was really effin’ hard. Here’s my personal path from zero…
How Do You Finish a Story?
How do you know a story is done? Or if not a “story,” a piece of writing—your flash fiction, your novella, your book. How do you know when it’s a ready, submission-worthy, finished piece? Reading the classics in high school, and even in college, I had this underlying assumption that every poem, every novel, was…