#editortips for 08.30.12

@smoulderingsea: Callus(n): hardened skin. Callused(adj): having calluses. Callous(adj): cruel, cold, harsh. Stop mixing them up, por favor. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Writing "he asked Jenny to get the door" has less immediacy/depth than writing "'Hey, Jenny, would you get the door?' he asked." #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Trust your own voice. It'll steer you right where advice, rules, and even beta readers/crit partners fail you. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Deadlines don't care if you're in the mood to write, or about your emotional crisis over your writing. It's a job. Do it. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Show characters' love for each other with something other than flattery and schmooby convos. That's just words. Make it real. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Don't start sentences with "It" in 3rd POV without first defining what "It" is. "It really annoyed Mark when..."=no. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Make sure your love scenes aren't just repeating the same thing ad nauseam. Each one needs a little new spice. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Try to ground every scene with some detail of the setting to avoid disconnecting readers from immersion in the story. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Make sure you know what colloquialisms mean before you use them. "Throwing a rod" isn't what it sounds like. ~eyes @KL_Grady~ #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If someone tells you you're using a word incorrectly, check the dictionary before saying "Nuhuh!" and making an ass of yourself. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Don't let fear stop you from sitting down and just writing. Your own doubt will kill more stories than any rejection. #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...well, right now, Netflix, as I'm pretty caught up in Fringe.