Category Archives: Taking out fluff

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: An Editor’s Take on Criticism

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Donna Maloy, Author

The Wakeup Call Many new authors, shiny new publishing contract in hand, think all the hard work is over. And then they get the first editorial letter. The one that’s a dozen pages long. The one that starts “I really … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Editing, Editorial Criticism, Revising, Taking out fluff | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Kill all the darling, puffy babies!

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

In his 1914 Cambridge lecture “On the Art of Writing,” Arthur Quiller-Couch said,      “If you here require a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: ‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Taking out fluff | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Use [Only] the Right Words

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

Marilyn Brigham has a popular workshop she’s presented at writers’ conferences. It’s called, The Editor’s Eye: Powerful Word Choice & Sentence Structure. Repetition and Clutter are two of her main topics. Liz Pelletier has put together an intensive novel editing … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Taking out fluff, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments