Yes, you can start a sentence with "and" or "but"

Posted on October 22, 2020 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Editor Louise Harnby says it’s more than okay to begin a sentence with “and” or “but,” no matter what your...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby

Should you delete these expletives?

Posted on October 10, 2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

When you see the word “expletive,” you probably expect something profane. But in the world of grammar, an expletive is...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Louise Harnby, Writing advice

Louise Harnby's 10 easy ways to clean up your writing

Posted on June 3, 2020 at 3:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We and professional editor Louise Harnby would never suggest that technology is just as good as a human proofreader. However,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby, Technology

Editor: There's no rule on whether to use contractions

Posted on April 13, 2020 at 3:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

There isn’t a hard-and-fast rule on whether to use contractions in your dialogue. However, there is plenty of guidance available,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby

Louise Harnby: When to ditch "before" and "after"

Posted on April 8, 2020 at 3:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Editor Louise Harnby is full of small tips that can make a huge positive effect on your writing. We loved...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby, Writing advice

Louise Harnby: Watch out for head-hopping

Posted on March 6, 2020 at 10:30 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

So many misunderstandings could possibly be averted if, in real life, we were able to hop into other people’s heads....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Editing, Louise Harnby

Louise Harnby: How to write suspenseful chapter endings

Posted on March 3, 2020 at 3:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

In an ideal world, your book is the one that keeps a reader up well past their bedtime because each...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Final lines and chapters, Louise Harnby, Writing advice

Louise Harnby: Are you layering your story too deeply?

Posted on February 9, 2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

When your story is told through third-person limited point-of-view, consider looking at how many layers the reader must dive through....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby, Plot / narrative

Should your characters act, or plan to act?

Posted on February 5, 2020 at 12:30 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Authors are reminded that the reader must be in the head of their viewpoint character. But editor Louise Harnby has...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Editing, Louise Harnby

Refresh your memory on proper quotation mark usage

Posted on November 13, 2019 at 10:04 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You know how to use quote marks, right? Sure, but maybe not as well as you think. Editor and proofreader...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Louise Harnby