There’s a scene in Footloose that had me thinking of writing fundamentals. It was fitting given that lately I’ve been driven to review my own work with a sharper eye. John Lithgow’s character Reverend Shaw Moore is typing away at a sermon before a conversation with Lori Singer (Ariel Moore). Towards the end of the scene […]
Deadlines push you towards conclusion. Concluding will push you towards conclusion. Sounds very philosophical, doesn’t it? Many of you reading this are probably like me with writing and editing. We want to obsess over everything. There is a maddening drive to perfect it all as best as we can before hitting send. Before walking away. Before calling […]
The editing process is underway. Revising is revisiting. Looking at the page and screen, you are looking to ensure that the end result of the work is satisfactory. Be it to you, or your clients if working an assignment. The questions I ask myself in the editing process while going through any spelling or grammar […]
The page or screen has something on it. The blank space is filled with something. It may be completed, or a work in progress. Editing by definition is evaluation. The process begins with looking over what you have. It’s a look over as to how and if what is written could be improved. Freelancers know […]
Several people have been exceptionally kind and complimentary in many of my “shop-talk” posts. A colleague with several decades of experience as a trial lawyer recently suggested that I could teach a writing class. Incidentally, it was the words of a late Manitoba Judge who explained that in speaking to people you might be able […]
You want to sound like you are speaking. You want to write as if you are speaking directly to the reader in front of you. Words organized properly on the page and screen are meant to be read aloud if one so chooses. The editing process offers the challenge of hearing how those words sound […]
Editing Revising For me it may very well be one of the most enjoyable things about writing. For much of what I have worked on over the years, I’ve insisted on working the majority of any edits on my own. Mainly due to my own stubborn attitude and drive to make everything the best it […]
Reading is a refresher to writing. Reading is learning structure and style. In a sense, reading can feel like a relaxing kind of work. Of the many books I have read over the last few years, most have been autobiographies about musicians whose artistic output I have enjoyed immensely. In most of these kinds of […]
Most in this business will tell you that a completed work should get a pass before an editor before it becomes published product. In most instances I would definitely agree. A second and even third set of eyes can bring words to life in a way that the original author may not otherwise see. Still, […]
Recently, I had the privilege to talk further about Planned UnParenthood and the writing business in general by answering a few questions from Laura Carroll. Laura is a Writer, Editor and the Author of several books. Most recently, “The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Minds From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create […]
Dann Alexander 