#editortips for 07.20.12

@smoulderingsea: One of the worst things a writer can do is refuse to acknowledge story issues because they hurt your ego. Forget your ego. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: All it takes is one small, real, relatable characteristic to make a character so memorable they take your breath away. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Every character needs a weakness. A fatal flaw. More, that weakness should impact their story--their decisions, their failures. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: To: preposition. Go to the store. Too: Also, or adverb denoting excess. Too much. Me too. Two: number. I have two chainsaws. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: A/an: if before a word starting with a consonant, a. Starting with a vowel, an. Except vowels pronounced with consonant sounds. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If you write something for an agent's or editor's wishlist, saying "I wrote this just for you" doesn't guarantee acceptance. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Not sure how "alright" became popular, but it's two words. All. Right. Because all is right in the world when you use all right. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Neither nor. Either or. Can't remember which goes with which? Consonants with consonants (n/n), vowels with vowels (e/o). #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Also, neither/nor groups things. Neither he nor she liked it. Either/or presents options. Either he or she didn't like it. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If a character takes in setting at a glance, only describe as much as they could notice in a glance. Not every tiny detail. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: When editing, you'll come to hate your story. Don't let it bug you. When reading the polished book, you'll love it again. #editortips

About #editortips:
#editortips is a daily rash of tweets from an only partially crazy editor, chock full of random chocolatey morsels about writing, editing, and querying vaguely disguised as helpful pointers and/or really bad humor. I tweet as @smoulderingsea, and try to post with some consistency every weekday at 6PM CST. Weekends optional, depending on if I’m spending yet another Saturday night editing because my social life consists of Netflix and wondering about the elasticity of things I really shouldn't be wondering about.