marktheeditor

Effective Quoting: Boost Your Writing Credibility

Much great writing is born of frustration. In this case, my frustration as an editor stemmed from a recurring issue in several recent manuscripts: the inclusion of unattributed or questionable quotations that sent me down wild-goose-chase tangents, trying to trace their origins. These weren’t cases of plagiarism, just well-meaning writers (often subject-matter experts with limitedContinue reading “Effective Quoting: Boost Your Writing Credibility”

The Dangers of Using Popular Quotes Unverified

In the first installment of this series, I told the stories of three dodgy quotations I’ve encountered in some of my own editing adventures. In this follow-up post, I’d like to explain more about exactly why those three quotes are problematic and address one of the best ways to avoid such problems in your ownContinue reading “The Dangers of Using Popular Quotes Unverified”

Unmasking Phantom Quotes: A Guide for Writers and Editors

Part One: A Tale of Phantom Quotes As an editor, I specialize in nonfiction. I work with many clients who possess great expertise in their fields but who wouldn’t claim to be trained writers, so I tend to spend a lot of time verifying and documenting quotations. Here are just three that I’ve encountered inContinue reading “Unmasking Phantom Quotes: A Guide for Writers and Editors”

Deciding Between ‘Awoken’ and ‘Awakened’: An Editor’s Dilemma

Here’s a question: What, as editors, do we do when faced with two technically “correct” choices in a manuscript? What swings the decision in favor of one option or the other? I ran into an interesting conundrum this past week that raised this question for me, and sent me down a bit of a rabbitContinue reading “Deciding Between ‘Awoken’ and ‘Awakened’: An Editor’s Dilemma”

Rethinking William Wallace with a Medieval Poet

I’ve long had an interest in medieval Scottish literature and culture. For a number of years, before I hung out my shingle as an editor, a big part of my job was to be a scholar of the same. For that reason, anniversaries of landmark events in Scottish history tend to catch my attention, likeContinue reading “Rethinking William Wallace with a Medieval Poet”

On Reading “Classic” Novels

[Note: Having spent the last number of posts concentrating on the tools and hardware we use for writing, I decided to switch gears for a while and talk a bit about matters of reading for a few posts.] I’ve always thought that, as an editor, one of the most important things I can bring toContinue reading “On Reading “Classic” Novels”

The RetroWriter: Using A Vintage Computer for Distraction-Free Writing

[Note: This will be the last of a short series of posts centered on hardware for writing. A new series, starting soon, will take up more direct writing- and editing-centered concerns.] In the last installment of this blog, I outlined my creation of a portable digital device for distraction-free (or at least distraction-minimized) writing, utilizingContinue reading “The RetroWriter: Using A Vintage Computer for Distraction-Free Writing”

Introducing the Writebox: Creating A Distraction-Free Writing Device from an Older Laptop

This blog post discusses creating a distraction-minimizing writing device, with a focus on ex nihilo composition. The author advocates for a dedicated machine to concentrate on creating content and describes repurposing an old laptop into a composition-focused writing device. The device’s requirements and modifications, as well as an alternative Windows option, are detailed.

Affordable Alternatives to a Dedicated “Smart Typewriter”

Perhaps because so much of my social media is connected to the writing and editing community these days, I tend to get a lot of advertising about writing-oriented products, from gadgets to software to notebooks and pencils. A lot of that advertising lately has come from a company called Astrohaus, which makes a series ofContinue reading “Affordable Alternatives to a Dedicated “Smart Typewriter””

On Writing Tools and Rituals, Part Two: Considering the Digital

It’s worth saying again: your most important writing tool is your bum. Get that derriere in a chair and focus on words and ideas, whether you’re using the latest thing in computer technology or a chewed-up pencil on an old grocery sack (don’t forget that Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his seminal Letter from BirminghamContinue reading “On Writing Tools and Rituals, Part Two: Considering the Digital”