Editing

Get Thee To An Editor! 7 Reasons You Need One

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When I want to feel good about my writing, I show it to my husband. “Wow,” he’ll say. “This is beautiful. Really compelling.” “Were there any parts that confused you?” I’ll ask, but I’m already smiling, relieved to be almost off the hook. “What should I change?” “Hmmm,” he’ll say, hedging. “Maybe here, I didn’t

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Excerpt Critique: “If: An Allegory”

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Please welcome today’s aspiring author, Jonathan Byrd, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt, then please leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece,

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In the Beginning: How to Draw in Your Reader

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Today’s post is written by regular contributor Susan Bearman. A story either leaps off the page or it doesn’t. Beatriz Badikian-Gartler once told our writing group that “Titles are a kind of promise you make to the reader.” Certainly, titles are important, but I think her point applies even more to the beginning of your

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Excerpt Critique: “Follow Me,” YA Suspense

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Please welcome today’s anonymous aspiring author, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt, then please leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece, please contact

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What’s In A Name? Writing the Right Title

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Today’s post is written by regular contributor Sarah Baughman. Is anybody else out there a terrible titler? Naming pieces of writing is one of the hardest parts of the process for me. To give you an idea of just how hard, I offer this confession: in college I wrote a swath of poems as various

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Excerpt Critique: “World Apart,” Science Fiction

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Please welcome today’s aspiring author, Cody Connor, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt, then please leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece,

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