Guest Bloggers

Call the Authorities!

Guest Blogger Elaine Silver: How to show your expertise in your writing. Think about any book that you have read that really grabbed you. Take some time to read parts of that book again with the idea in mind of writerly authority.  Once you start looking for it, you will be dazzled at the facility with which the author commands the story. You can write like that too. Let’s examine the word authority. What feeling do you get reading the word “authority?” Do you feel rebellious, like you don’t want to listen to someone else? Do you feel like you want to immediately say “no” to a request? If you answered yes to these questions, then you think of authority as something that subjugates you. Or conversely, when you think of authority, do you feel secure knowing that someone else knows more than you do about something? Do you envision…

Guest Bloggers

Let’s Ban ‘Of Course’ by Guest Blogger Elaine Silver

Guest Blogger Elaine Silver writes about why writers should reconsider using “of course.” With growing concern I am noticing sentences in my clients’ books that begin with the words “Of course.” These sentences sound like this: “Of course, I was devastated that I had to move.” Or, “Of course, I knew I shouldn’t look but I did.” Or “Of course, he was overjoyed to see her again.” As a developmental editor, it is my job to serve as the eyes and heart of the author’s future readers and to make sure that those readers get the most bang for their reading buck. So, loudly and emphatically (and with a lot of hand gesturing) I let these authors know that each time they use the words “of course” they are essentially cheating the reader out of a full exploration of the experience of the book’s character (this goes for fiction as…