Browsing Category

Editing

The Picky Pen
Considering Word Choice

Previously, we talked about the need to vary sentence structure to keep your writing from sounding repetitive. In that…
October 22, 2024
The Picky Pen
Use of Transition Words or Phrases

Do all of your sentences sound similar, or are you having difficulty transitioning from one scene to the next?…
August 22, 2024
Proofed and Polished
This Post Is Better

Have you ever decided to buy a certain product because the packaging assures you that it’s better? I didn’t…
November 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Sentence Fragments Missing Something.

What does the title of this article say? Reread it. Did your brain fill in the missing word automatically…
October 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Common Mistakes I See When Proofreading: Vocabulary, Part 3

Let’s talk about contractions. I mentioned them last month in the context of using apostrophes correctly. Some words that…
September 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Do You Know The Apostrophe Basics?

In elementary school, I distinctly remember doing numerous worksheets on the possessive -s. There would be a list of…
August 22, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Self-Help Resources for Proofreading

Before you send off your precious manuscript to your editor, you probably want to make sure that it’s as…
July 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
A Quintessential Quick Guide to Quotation Marks to Quell Your Quotation Qualms

Recently, I edited a PhD dissertation for a literature major which mostly meant that I had to wade through…
April 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Why Can’t We Just Agree? Subject-Verb Agreement

When I was teaching English Learners in high school, we spent A LOT of time studying subject-verb agreement. I…
March 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Short and Sweet: Avoiding Run-on Sentences

Each author has their own unique voice. Likely, you’ve spent a lot of time developing the tone and style…
February 10, 2021
The Picky Pen
How to Edit Characters

As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story, I hope you’re able to see…
January 22, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Who Are We Talking About? Using Pronouns and Antecedents

Keeping Your Sentences Clear Example #1 “They had such a great time at the amusement park. First, my aunt…
January 10, 2021
Proofed and Polished
Cat Got Your Tongue? Tricky Idiomatic Expressions That Get Us Bent Out of Shape

Let’s Cut Ourselves Some Slack Adding a little flair to your writing with idioms can be confusing, but hang…
December 10, 2020
Proofed and Polished
Common Mistakes I See When Proofreading: Vocabulary, Part 2

To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate… How do you feel about hyphens? Do you use them a lot? Never?…
November 10, 2020
Proofed and Polished
Common Mistakes I See When Proofreading: Vocabulary, Part 1

Vocabulary Mistakes I’ve been proofreading a pretty wide variety of material lately—master’s dissertations, personal letters to family, freshman film…
October 10, 2020
Proofed and Polished
Proofed and Polished: Tips on self-proofing for a flawless product

A Scenario… Finally! You sit back in your chair and breathe a sigh of relief. The project is done,…
September 10, 2020
The Picky Pen
How to Edit Setting

As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story, I hope you’re able to see…
May 24, 2020
The Picky Pen
How to Edit Scenes

As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story, I hope you’re able to see…
April 22, 2020
The Picky Pen
How to Edit Point of View

As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story, I hope you’re able to see…
March 22, 2020
The Picky Pen
How to Edit the Plot

As we continue this editing series how we can develop a great story by having all the layers in…
February 22, 2020
The Picky Pen
How to Find the Felt Need

This is the first post in my editing series in 2020 for how to develop a great story by…
January 22, 2020
The Picky Pen
Punctuation Series: How to Edit Commas with Clauses

In light of the holiday season, here’s a final fun topic in our Punctuation Series: editing commas within independent…
December 22, 2019
The Picky Pen
Punctuation Series: How to Edit Foreign Quotation Marks

Have you ever tried to read a book in a foreign language? Perhaps some of you have. I’ve tried…
November 22, 2019
The Picky Pen
Punctuation Series: How to Edit Slashes

We’re toward the end of our self-editing blog post punctuation series, but it certainly is not the end of…
October 22, 2019
The Picky Pen
Punctuation Series: How to Edit Parentheses

Here we are, nearly at the end of our year-long punctuation/grammar series. I hope you’ve learned a lot and…
September 22, 2019