Editing Tips

I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart; I am, I am, I am. —Sylvia Plath

INTERVIEW: Joel Brigham Says Every Book Is a Journey For Him

Jun 255 min read

INTERVIEW: Joel Brigham Says Every Book Is a Journey For Him

Christina Boyd interviews Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial), a freelance editor and an agented kidlit author of YA and MG books.

1 comment

Edit Tip: What is Going On in Their Head?

Christina Boyd

Apr 281 min read

Edit Tip: What is Going On in Their Head?

Quick Editing Tip about INTERIORITY by Christina Boyd: Keeping Austen’s characters recognizable to the reader is vital to make the story…

2 comments

EDIT TIP: Let’s Talk About Some Punctuation

Christina Boyd

Oct 16, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: Let’s Talk About Some Punctuation

EDIT TIP: The em dash. I love ’em. It’s often used instead of commas, parenthesis, and colons to offset or add emphasis. But…

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Christina Boyd

Sep 25, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: Don’t Be Cliche

Avoid using cliches. First drafts are full of them. You know what I mean: World turned upside down Released a breath didn’t realize…

1 comment

Christina Boyd

Jun 24, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: Subject And Verb Must Agree

EDIT TIP: In this crazy world where everyone seems to delight in argument, I’m here to remind you that your subject and verb must agree.

2 comments

Christina Boyd

May 23, 20233 min read

INTERVIEW: Bryn Donovan Plots First

Bryn Donovan first became known to me when I bought her Master Lists for Writers: Thesaurus, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More.

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Christina Boyd

May 11, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: The Dreaded Homophones

The Dreaded Homophone: I keep a running list of homophones that make me blush when I catch my mistake. I am continually adding more to check

2 comments

Christina Boyd

Mar 21, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: To Cut or Not to Cut

For the last year I’ve been revising my novel. Revise, revise, revise. Since I originally typed “finis,” I’ve cut over 15,000 words.

4 comments

EDIT TIP: Passive Voice Versus Active Voice

Christina Boyd

Feb 21, 20231 min read

EDIT TIP: Passive Voice Versus Active Voice

Self-editing tip: To change a sentence from passive to active voice, determine who is performing the action and change…

8 comments

EDIT TIP: Head-Hopping Gives Readers Whiplash

Christina Boyd

Jan 17, 20232 min read

EDIT TIP: Head-Hopping Gives Readers Whiplash

Head Hopping Gives Readers Whiplash: Who is telling the story? Moving from one point of view to the other is referred to as head-hopping.

10 comments

Review: REBEL WITH A CLAUSE by Ellen Jovin

Christina Boyd

Jan 17, 20232 min read

Review: REBEL WITH A CLAUSE by Ellen Jovin

ABOUT THE BOOK: An unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian. When...

2 comments