PItch Madness is right around the corner, friends! And I'm going to be one of the slush readers this year! Better bring your A-games! As you probably know, the entry materials for Pitch Madness include a 35-word (max) pitch and the first 250 words of your finished manuscript. I would suggest you craft your pitches early … Continue reading Pitch Madness Special
Tag: editing
Sculpting Words
"It's amazing what deleting a few sentences can do. I feel like I'm sculpting." -Kimberly VanderHorst Have you ever looked closely at a sculpture? The more you carve into it -- to a point -- the more detail and clarity you get in the sculpture. Isn't it remarkable how we can do the same with … Continue reading Sculpting Words
Team HTBM Homework – Desire and Decisions
"I feel like an idiot for not having this darn story figured out. It's like . . . I don't even know what the story IS anymore." Have you ever gotten so deep in edits and plot twists and pretty words that you feel like this? Fear not, it happens to a lot of writers. … Continue reading Team HTBM Homework – Desire and Decisions
Redundancy + Cutting
Cutting words is one of my favorite parts of line editing. Cutting redundant words was one of my favorite lessons to teach back when I was working at (and running) a tutoring center. Many people have asked me how I could have cut so many words -- in both my own work and in other … Continue reading Redundancy + Cutting
Bleeding Ink, Inc 