by Lora Doncea If you are asked to be a judge for a writing contest, take time to consider the opportunity seriously. It requires much more than just editing the piece or giving your impression. You need to carefully score the writer on several key areas, each one appraising a specific skill set. Key points…
by Karin Beery Let’s be honest—unless it’s vital to a plot, most people don’t want to read about a character’s bowel movements, mouthy kids, or hangnails. Often authors include mundane details to make their characters seem more realistic, but that realism doesn’t always come across well in books. Today we’re going to quickly look at…
by Sue A. Fairchild As part of my editing business, I do content and line editing, but also proofreading and interior design. I have a keen eye for small errors and inconsistencies that others may miss—it’s probably my graphic design background and my obsessive-compulsive nature. Frequently, I think, “How did someone miss this?” Because I’ve…
by Iola Goulton In my last two posts, I’ve covered: Commas with conjunctions. The Oxford comma. Comma after “so.” Today I’m looking at commas with coordinate adjectives i.e. adjectives of the same type. Many of us were taught in school that we put commas between all adjectives. As a result, I often see sentences like…
by Lora Doncea Frustration seems like an inevitable part of life, doesn’t it? I used to think so. Eventually I learned I could eliminate most of my frustration and stay peaceful. As editors and proofreaders, we are required to be extremely precise in our work. However, our biggest strength can also be our biggest weakness…
by Jenne Although I was interested in software that could improve my editing, I was skeptical when I first heard about PerfectIt. How would software help me as an editor? I regularly use my online subscriptions to reference materials, but I didn’t think I needed another line item on my editing checklist. Ironically, I downloaded…
by Lora Doncea Here is an intriguing fact. The human brain is instantly stimulated when we read action verbs—more than any other words. We unconsciously react to “jumped” and “ran” more than verbs such as “went” or “pondered.” We respond even less to nouns. Too many non-visual words can slow our reading and comprehension. Here…
In my work as an editor of Christian nonfiction, I encounter many clients who are or have been pastors. While some pastors have a natural ability to transition from public speaking to writing, many struggle to do so. Sometimes pastors adapt a sermon series that their congregation has found meaningful, working it into a book…
by Iola Goulton The comma is one punctuation mark which even editors don’t agree on. In my last post, I introduced two basic rules of commas, and looked at how we use a comma in a compound sentence. Today we’re discussing the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma) and other problem commas. What’s…
It takes a team to produce a well written and well edited book! And because the Christian Editor Connection wants to honor the teams behind such books, we are proud to host our fourth annual Excellence in Editing Award. This award celebrates books released in 2018 that were superbly written, well edited, and published by…
