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AI and the Human Element
With Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT increasing their reach into the writing and editing space, the relevant question becomes, “How important is the human element?” Worth noting are the disclaimers expressed even by the purveyors of the new technology. The ubiquitous Grammarly, for example, stresses that the program…
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Make Friends with Track Changes
Do you dread receiving markup from an editor or critique partner who uses Word’s Track Changes? Do you find it intrusive, or obscure? Afraid you might miss seeing that tiny change of a comma to a period? Have no fear, Track Changes can be painless. Learn the basics and you’ll…
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How to Evaluate Your Own Writing
A deep motive for making literature or art of any sort is the desire to defeat the formlessness of the world and cheer oneself up by constructing forms out of what might otherwise seem a mass of senseless rubble. —Iris Murdoch The most difficult task of a writer is to…
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Pills for Publishing Headaches
An elderly client of mine has just written what she feels is going to be a successful book, helped along by a developmental edit. Now she’s ready to publish… but where, how? She says the result of printing her first book with Amazon was unsatisfactory. When I outlined the higher…
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To Edit or (How Much) to Edit?
I’m halfway through reading an inspiring ebook called Write. Publish. Repeat. The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success. In the section on editing and self-editing, the authors Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant), lay out their practical advice which will prove useful to most self-published authors: We suggest you employ the…
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Self-Publishing Scams and the Hybrid Alternative
At a recent gathering of my regional writer’s association, I found a common concern: How to assess the integrity of self-publishing companies? Is there a viable alternative to paying their high fees, in the thousands of dollars? The attraction is there. The digital revolution has, on the one hand, made…
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Samuel Beckett on Unwriting English
It is indeed becoming more and more difficult, even senseless, for me to write an official English. And more and more my own language appears to me like a veil that must be torn apart in order to get at the things, or the Nothingness, behind it. Grammar and Style–to…
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A Simple Guide to Self-Publishing—free download
Have you heard about the opportunities to publish your own book easily and cheaply – even for free – using today’s digital platforms like Amazon and Smashwords? Do you want to know what it takes to get your book into ebook format, or ready for print-on-demand? Are you confused about…
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Travel Photos are a Cop-out
by Nowick Gray Okay, maybe that title is a bit strong. You’re enchanted with the exotic city you’ve discovered, or the awesome landscape. You pull out your trusty digital camera or cellphone and click—you’ve captured it. Another click or two, and you’ve shared your experience with friends far and wide…
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Technique is King
“The first draft reveals the art, revision reveals the artist.” – Michael Lee It is said, in relation to the Internet, that “Content is King.” The maxim is true offline as well as online. We listen to a master of the shakuhachi flute and are struck with the pure poignancy…