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Key Skills for a High-quality Nonfiction Editor and Writer

November 15, 2015 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Barbara McNichol

Students taking a professional editing course at Kennesaw State University recently contacted me and asked the question below. As I responded to them, I thought both wnonfiction editingriters and editors would find this list helpful.

What are the most important skills someone needs to be a high-quality nonfiction editor?

These essential skills come to mind:

  • Patience to concentrate on one tedious project for countless hours (ADD people rarely do well with this)
  • Knowledge of English language and grammar rules – sounds basic but the basics are often missing among writers (that’s why we have editors)
  • Curiosity to question accuracy of word use and willingness look up answers (e.g., dictionary.com, my Word Trippers)
  • A proven process to ensure projects are handled thoroughly (in my case, 3 reviews of every manuscript)
  • Focus on what might be missing from the piece in terms of logic, examples, clarifications
  • Ability to whack wordiness (e.g., tighten the writing, get rid of extraneous words, finding redundancies, keep sentences short, etc.) If writers did this in their own reviews, the editor would focus on value-added aspects such as flow and creativity.
  • Respectful, explanatory tone rather than demanding tone (e.g., beware of using “must” and “should”)
  • Power of using active voice rather than passive voice – rewrite where practical
  • Sense of orderliness and flow so there’s a logical thread running through the piece
  • Smooth transitions between paragraphs
  • Use of figures of speech, metaphors, similes, etc.
  • High level of skill in Word, including formatting and setting up automated Table of Contents

The bonus? Authors who revise their own writing using these skills can save time and money in the editing process before ever getting an editor involved.

What is your experience editing your own writing? What techniques work best for you?

Filed Under: Editors and Authors Tagged With: active voice passive voice, igures of speech, Kennesaw State University, metaphors, nonfiction editor, nonfiction writer, professional business book editor, professional editing course, similes, Whack Wordiness, Word Trippers

Fun Figures of Speech

February 14, 2013 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Barbara McNichol

Never did I dream I’d gain material for communicating writing tips on the the tennis court. But while at tennis on a recent Thursday morning, a buddy passed along a sheet of “punny” sentences that made us all laugh.

My favorites:

  • Broken pencils are pointless.
  • A  cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are
    sketchy.
  • I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it
    down.
  • What do  you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary.
    A thesaurus.

Speaking of “punniness,” this BBC article discusses the pun’s dubious
reputation as the lowest form of humor. It points to signs like Fish & Sip (a seafood and coffee joint) and EYEdiology (an optician’s shop) as examples.

Now, I’m not advocating using lots of silly puns in your writing.
But I suggest that playing with them can spark your creativity
for all the serious writing you’re doing.

I do recommend using other figures of speech—similes, metaphors,
alliteration, and more—to add power to your pen. So I’ve created a free
four-page handout filled with Fun Figures of Speech to enhance your
writing skills, and if you’ll email me with Fun Figures of Speech in
the subject line
, I’ll email you the PDF.

Share your favorite figures of speech through examples here.

Filed Under: Writing Tips Tagged With: figures of speech, funny writing, metaphors, nonfiction book editing, similes, strenthening your writing

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