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Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
Has your fiction or nonfiction manuscript already been edited? Or you've received extensive feedback and have made revisions? I'll do a detailed proofread for word choice, grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, stylistic consistency, repetitions, indents, spaces, formatting, headings, subheadings, and more.
Besides being an award-winning author and independent publisher, I'm a -
Blog post... and anyone else who could use some ideas to on how to use October to get ready for National Novel Writing Month in November
by Jodie Renner, editor & author
November is National Novel Writing Month. Many writers use this as an impetus to start a new novel or make significant headway on their writing, or even do a first draft of 50,000 words. If that seems daunting, you can make your goal for NaNoWriMo 30,000 words. That’s 1000 new words per da -
Blog postSUBSTANTIVE/STRUCTURAL EDITING SERVICE
for NONFICTION WRITERS
by Jodie Renner, editor & author
Are you an expert on or passionate about a topic and want to share your knowledge about it in a book? And add to your resume and make some money at the same time?
Maybe you’ve made a good start but reached a roadblock with your project. Now's the time to find some professional help with rewriting, revising, and restructuring your book so it will -
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Blog postHow to Snag the Best Freelance Editor for Your Writing Projectby Jodie Renner With so many authors self-publishing these days, the best freelance editors are in high demand. So if you’re looking for a knowledgeable, experienced professional editor to help you make your manuscript the best it can be – and improve your overall writing skills in the process – be sure to take some care with how you seek out and approach them.
Due to the high volume of requests, sought-after fr -
Blog postLooking for a Freelance Editor for Your Novel?
Here's what to include when you first contact them. In-demand freelance editors, like agents, are very busy people. A well-respected editor will receive a lot of submissions for editing, more than they can take on, so it's important to send them everything they need when you first contact them, rather than just introducing yourself.
Be sure to check out their website first and see what they specialize in editing and what -
Blog postToday I was interviewed by Kay DiBianca over at her excellent blog, The Craft of Writing. We talk about some of the advice in my Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Stories, FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, including revising and editing your own work, viewpoint, showing instead of telling, writing with "attitude", working with an editor, and submitting your story to writing contests.
Here's the beginning of the Q&A session, with a link at the end to the whole interview.< -
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Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
You run into a friend and mention you’re writing a novel. “What’s it about?” they ask.
You stammer, “Well, it’s about this guy… Actually, and his sidekick too. She’s a woman. They don’t really get along all that well… at least, not at the beginning. He’s former FBI agent and she used to be a cop. Did I tell you they’re private detectives? Anyway, they get this weird case… Hey, where are you going? I was just getting to th -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
The dialogue in your fiction is critical. It can make or break a story.
When evaluating a novel or short story, dialogue is one of the first things agents and contest judges look at. And clunky dialogue is also an instant turnoff for readers.
It's critical to make your fictional conversations sound natural and authentic, like those people would actually speak, instead of in complete, grammatically correct sentences, but -
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Blog postDialogue Nuts & Bolts
by Jodie Renner, editor & author
In another article, Amp up That Dialogue!, I discuss various techniques for writing dialogue that will come alive on the page. Drop over there for some advice on making your dialogue less stilted and more natural-sounding. Also, check out another post of mine, Some Dialogue Don’ts.
This article just provides a reference for the correct punctuation and capital -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
Strategies for Turning Impersonal Info Dumps into Compelling Copy
As a freelance fiction editor, I find that military personnel, professionals, academics, police officers, journalists, and others who are used to imparting factual information in objective, detached, bias-free ways often need a lot of coaching in loosening up their language and adding opinions, attitude, and emotions to create a captivating story -
Blog postInsurrection by Tom Combs
0 Best-selling thriller author Tom Combs is about to release his fourth Drake Cody suspense-thriller. Here's the just-released description of the novel and interview of Tom in the June 2021 online magazine of the prestigious International Thriller Writers Organization, THE BIG THRILL (thebigthrill.org).
An explosion is triggered and a cloud of hydrofluoric acid envelops a popular Minnesota senator addressing a crowd at a demonstration not -
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Blog postI'm over at The Kill Zone blog today, where I was a regular contributor (every second Monday) for three years. Here's the beginning of my post there today, with a link at the end to the rest of the tips.
Tips for Deepening the POV in Your Fiction by Jodie Renner, editor & author
Most of today’s popular fiction is written in first-person POV (I) or third-person limited point of view (he, she), both of which show us the story mainly from inside the character’s he -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
Whether you’re writing a blog post, a magazine article, a short story, an assignment, a novel, or a nonfiction book, it’s important to go over your work several times to make sure it’s polished and flows well. No matter what your you’re writing, you’re your credibility will be eroded if readers find mispelled misspelled words, misused words, missing or duplicate words, o -
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Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
How do you think your unpublished novel or short story would rate in a writing contest? Do you think it's ready to send to a literary agent? And how will your readers react to it, once it's published? Will it get a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down?
Here's a list of MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION CRITERIA to guide you, point by point, before submitting your story to a contest, editor, or agent (or publishing it yourself).
I was recently asked to read -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, freelance fiction editor& craft-of-writing author Whether you plan to publish your novel yourself, query agents, or pitch it directly to publishers, it’s highly recommended (essential, really) to get your manuscript edited by a respected freelance fiction editor who reads and edits your genre.
Can’t afford it, you say? Realistically, if you want your novel to get accepted, sell well, and get lots of 5-star reviews, you can’t afford not to. All successful auth -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
Have you chosen the right word/spelling for the meaning you want to convey? When two (or three) words sound the same, it's easy to inadvertently choose the wrong one.
If you sometimes get a “brain blip” about the spelling of homonyms / homophones, bookmark this chart to help you with 90+ of the most commonly confused, misused, or misspelled sound-alikes in English.
The list, with deliberately simplified definition -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author In your WIP, are you inadvertently tossing in a word here and there that jolts the readers out of your story or gives an incongruous impression?
Once you’ve completed a first or second draft of your story (or your muse is taking a break), now’s the time to go back and reread each scene carefully. Does every word you’ve chosen contribute to creating the overall tone and mood you’re going for in that scene? Or are some -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
Is it “knockout” or “knock-out” or “knock out”? “lockdown” or “lock-down” or “lock down”?
makeup, make up, or make-up? lineup or line-up or line up? workout or work out or work-out? set up or set-up or setup? (Hint: Most of the above can be correct, depending on whether it's used as a noun, adjective, or verb. And yes, there is a pattern.)
Is it -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
(Excerpted from Fire up Your Fiction - An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Stories, by Jodie Renner)
Want to write a bestselling novel? To bring your characters and scenes to life in a way that readers can relate to, it’s critical to choose just the right nuance of meaning to fit the character, action and situation. Say you’ve got a character walking. How are they moving? There’s a huge difference between -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
After you’ve finished the first draft of your popular fiction novel or short story – or even if you’re only a third or halfway into it but have some nagging doubts about the viability of various aspects of the story – take a short break. Put your manuscript aside for a week or three and concentrate on other things. Then come back to it with a bit of distance, as a reader.
Here's a step-by-step guide to looking fo -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author Have you considered submitting a short story to a writing contest, anthology, or magazine? Below are some of the common criteria used by publications and contests when evaluating short story submissions.
Editors, publishers, and judges are swamped with submissions and understandably don’t have time to give detailed advice for improvement to all the authors whose stories they turn down. Here’s a checklist a friend re -
Blog postTwelve dos and don'ts for a riveting opening to your story
by Jodie Renner, editor & author
The opening paragraphs and first page of your novel or short story are absolutely critical. How you craft your opening will make the difference between a potential reader starting your book, then putting it down (or rejecting it online) and seeking another one, or, their interest and curiosity piqued, eagerly turning the page to read on.
Gone are the days -
Blog postConcrete Tips for Adding Tension, Suspense, & Intrigue to Any StoryI'm over at The Kill Zone blog today with this post: by Jodie Renner, editor & author
Are you in the process of writing a novel? Maybe a thriller or other popular fiction that you hope will grab readers and really sell? Besides a great character and a fascinating plot, you’ll also need some tried-and-true fiction-writing techniques to take your story up a level or three. -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author Want to write popular fiction that captivates your readers and sells well, with great reviews? It's all about fiction-writing techniques that will enthrall the reader, rather than turning them off.
Entice your readers, don’t bore them.
Imagine you’ve just met someone for the first time, and after saying hello, they corral you and go into a long monologue about their childhood, upbringing, education, careers, relationships, plans, e -
Blog postby Jodie Renner, editor & author
"SHOW, DON’T TELL" -- This phrase has been repeated to the point where you might feel it's hackneyed and you can dismiss it--NOT! No matter how many times you've heard it, this concept is still critical to creating fresh fiction that captivates readers and garners great reviews. It's also one of the most difficult concepts for new fiction writers to grasp, along with deep point of view. (The two concepts are inextricably entwi
Titles By Jodie Renner
Childhood Regained: Student Edition, Grades 6 to 8
Sep 14, 2016
by
Steve Hooley,
Jodie Renner,
Barbara A. Hawley,
Sanjay Deshmukh,
Caroline Sciriha,
Kym McNabney,
Lori Duffy Foster,
Tom Combs
$1.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
Childhood Regained: Canadian Teachers' Guide
Sep 11, 2016
by
Jodie Renner
$1.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
