Words Fly Up

Books and writing are the core of my life. I edit books, write books, and teach writing. I love this work, and will be happy to provide any editorial or writing service you need.

Why you need an Editor

Why You Need an Editor

Whether you’ve written a five-hundred-page novel or a one-page piece of flash fiction, a professional editor’s review of your work will make it better. With so many stories and books clamoring for attention, you need to present your very best work.

Ready to Take Flight

Why You Need an Editor

There is more to publishing a book than just writing the book. You have to craft a query letter if you want to find an agent or independent publisher; and if you are self-publishing, you will need to consider so much more.

Online, Not Off the Cuff

Why You Need an Editor

Blog posts may seem casual and easy to toss off, and websites may seem to be more about tag words and good graphics than the text. But good writing is never that simple, no matter how effortless it may seem.

Writing Resources

Writers create in solitude, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need outside inspiration and advice, and a supportive community. Here I try to provide some of the former, and offer links to help you find the latter.

My Blog

As a teacher, I love discussing all aspects of writing and how to become a better writer. As a reader, I love talking about books. And as I writer, I love posting in my blog about these topics and anything else that inspires me.

Testimonials

I worked as an editor for major publishing companies in New York from 1981-1998, and have been a freelance editor since 2003. Here is what some of my clients have to say about my services.

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– – – Latest Posts From the Blog – – –

Write What You Know

“Write what you know” is one of the more confounding pieces of writerly advice. It can, unfortunately, be interpreted as “write what you have experienced.” I say unfortunately because, for most of us, that would result in deadly dull fiction. I used to complain to my mother about having been raised in white-bread suburbia. Way […]

What If?

What If? is the title of a terrific book on writing by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. The book contains plenty of worthwhile advice and prompts, but I love the title alone: What If? Those two words can be the start of numerous inspiring prompts. To give you a real-life example, consider the song “Taxi” […]

Mostly Agree with Hemingway

While cruising the internet recently, I found this: http://www.openculture.com/2013/02/seven_tips_from_ernest_hemingway_on_how_to_write_fiction.html My thanks to Open Culture for putting together this list and explanations of Hemingway’s advice. I mostly agree with Hemingway. But hey, put ten writers in a room and you’ll get twenty different ideas of the best way to write. So, where do I agree and […]

Outline or Not

Creative writing has few hard and fast rules, and certainly there is no rule—or consensus—on whether to outline or not when you start a novel. (A nonfiction book is different.) Open any book on writing, attend any writers’ conference, talk to any successful novelist, and you’ll get a variety of answers. My answer to whether […]

Adventures in Research

An oft-repeated piece of advice for writers is “Write what you know.” That advice, strictly followed, could result in boring books. There might be a few experiences in my life, maybe a couple of people I’ve known, that can be fictionalized and sensationalized enough to warrant being the catalyst for a novel. By and large, […]

Carolyn Nichols–Editor, Mentor, Friend

Has fate ever brought a life-changing person into your life? A person you never expected, who over the course of several decades filled the roles of employer and mentor and friend? Fate did that for me. Her name was Carolyn Nichols. In the early ‘80s, diploma from my expensive Minnesota college in hand, I headed […]