Chanelle Bessette

I am launching a new Substack newsletter for writers called "Writing is the Way." If you have always wanted to be a writer but don't know where to start, this is for you. If you are a seasoned writer with decades of experience, this is for you, too. "Writing is the Way" is a place where anyone with a story within them can find advice and inspiration. First post will be up tomorrow morning. Please subscribe to get notified every time I post. #writers #writing #newsletter #motivation #forwriters #amwriting #storytellers #poets #bloggers #writingtips #joinme

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Check out my blog post all about "ing" words. I LOVE "ing" words and use them all the time...then, I found out they are bad! https://wix.to/RRSAr2q #newblogpost https://wix.to/7VeZQI6

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Now I know. You know? "The difference between copy editing and proofreading lies in which components of a written work each role focuses on. In copy editing, the copy is tidied up for conciseness and polished so that the information is delivered to the reader clearly. Proofreading, however, is the last opportunity to catch errors and correct inconsistencies relating to how the page looks." https://lnkd.in/gzzsQJqW

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If you’re an aspiring writer—someone who, deep down, wants to write but isn’t—you may be carrying around a ball-and-chain belief that the culture has foisted on you… That writing is a frivolous luxury that you can only do after all the “important” things have been taken care of. The sad news is, though… All those so-called important things will ALWAYS be there. And honestly, your desire to write… Until you stop thinking your impulse to write is a frivolous luxury and start believing it’s a necessity, you’ll continue to minimize your impulse to write and you’ll sideline your writing indefinitely. And I don’t want that to happen. Get my FREE "Alchemy of Writing—First Steps to Conjure and Nurture Your Writing Practice" - https://lnkd.in/gvi_cQDj LINK TO REGISTER FOR THE ALCHEMY OF WRITING MEMBERSHIP GROUP—https://lnkd.in/gnWxSuv2 Website: https://lnkd.in/g9hJmZQv Blog: https://lnkd.in/g-6KuTkG Instagram: https://lnkd.in/g7RdwiUs LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gmrcbT-S Pinterest: https://lnkd.in/gDzyt8hu #writing #fiction #fictionwriting #writingfiction #shortstory #shortstories #short story #short stories #alchemy #alchemyofwriting #writinghelp #writingtip #writingtips #inspiration

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A great test to see if your copy is too formal is the "comma Mary” test. The test comes from Bruce DeSilva, a thriller author and former journalist. The test: put ", Mary" at the end of a statement. Then read it aloud. If it doesn't sound right—namely, too formal—turn the word-choice dial toward less specialized, more conversational until it feels right. Example: “Undergoing regular cancer screenings is the expert-recommended approach to discovering cancer early enough to optimize treatment options and improve health outcomes, Mary." or "Regular cancer screenings help find cancer early, which is why experts recommend them. Treatment works best then and can help patients live longer, Mary." Which one are you most likely to say to a person? Now, it's no silver bullet; you'll want to go deeper and look at your writing decisions—sentence length along with word choice and order. But the "comma Mary" test is a great tool to judge your copy's readability. And to make changes toward making it more human—if that's what it needs, Mary. Alexandra Howson and I talked shop about voice last year. #writing #storytelling #medicalwriting

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A great test to see if your copy is too formal is the "comma Mary” test. The test comes from Bruce DeSilva, a thriller author and former journalist. The test: put ", Mary" at the end of a statement. Then read it aloud. If it doesn't sound right—namely, too formal—turn the word-choice dial toward less specialized, more conversational until it feels right. Example: “Undergoing regular cancer screenings is the expert-recommended approach to discovering cancer early enough to optimize treatment options and improve health outcomes, Mary." or "Regular cancer screenings help find cancer early, which is why experts recommend them. Treatment works best then and can help patients live longer, Mary." Which one are you most likely to say to a person? Now, it's no silver bullet; you'll want to go deeper and look at your writing decisions—sentence length along with word choice and order. But the "comma Mary" test is a great tool to judge your copy's readability. And to make changes toward making it more human—if that's what it needs, Mary. My friend Alexandra and I talked shop about voice last year. #writing #storytelling #healthcare

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Take a big step forward in embracing accessibility and inclusion best practices by making your PDFs accessible using this actionable 8-step guide!

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Low-Cost Feedback for Nonfiction Book Proposal, and Proposal Pitching If you are, or know of, a nonfiction writer who can't afford typical book proposal developmental editing/review feedback, or guidance on pitching a completed proposal, I'm looking for two practicum clients by July as I formalize book coach certification through Author Accelerator. For the proposal review, one writer will receive written guidance and a template to structure and finish the proposal with, as well as my written and oral developmental feedback--including review of your first two book chapters, or 20 pages. I'd also do a wrap-up Zoom call on main points covered in my feedback, and would charge $300 for this all. For the NF pitching practicum, another writer with a completed proposal would get early direction on developing a query letter to agents, a list of 10 agents I'd develop for outreach, and a general plan for agent pitching. Plus you'd receive guides to help develop the query letter and on choosing best-fit agents, and a Zoom call to go over the 10 agents and general pitch plan. The Author Accelerator training is extensive, and certification requirements, rigorous. I previously put in hundreds of hours prior to being certified in coaching memoir and fiction using similar practicums, and the three clients involved found it very helpful.

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#Writing may be a solitary endeavor, but that doesn't mean #writers should toil alone from start to finish. Communities like these provide support, education, and sometimes credibility. Browse this roundup and see if one or two groups might be a good fit for your needs. https://lnkd.in/gMfC7vAX #writetip #writingtip

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This is a good read. My take is: I like to include some kind of spelling and grammar check in my team's editing process. What does this extra set of mechanical eyes bring? Well, it's excellent for catching rogue curly quotes, unintended double spaces, repeated repeated words, and other hard-to-spot issues. It lets the human editors concentrate on the more interesting challenges of line editing, say. As humans, we do make mistakes, too! We can get too close to a text to see it with truly fresh eyes. Spell checkers don't have that issue. But they also don't have the context to understand when, in dialogue, a writer plays with "incorrect" language to shape different character voices, for example. Effective editing is a balancing act of objective correctness and subjective meaning, especially in fiction. Automated systems can help with the first (also not perfectly, I'll note), but with the second? Not so much. The tool doesn't build the house--the builder does.

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Yesterday I read "Tabula Rasa," John McPhee's latest for The New Yorker, an essay about editing, timely since I had just attended a Northwest Editors Guild meeting about copy editing and proofreading. McPhee discussed a mistake in his son-in-law's book, "Big Weather." There was mention of "the Gulf of New Mexico." McPhee said his son-in-law found the error "unaccountable. For a starter, I suggested that he look in his computer, if the original manuscript was still there. It was, and in that first paragraph was the Gulf of New Mexico. Remarkable, yes, but think where that paragraph had been. It had been read by a literary agent, an acquisitions editor, an editorial assistant, a copy editor, a professional proofreader, at least one publicity editor--and not one of these people had noticed the goddam Gulf of New Mexico." I can relate. In the early 2000s, I edited www.4kids.org, a weekly newspaper feature that appeared in the comics pages of 140 newspapers. 4kids was syndicated by Universal Press, the same people who bring you Doonesbury, FoxTrot, Calvin and Hobbes, Dear Abby, Roger Ebert, and so much more, as dedicated a group of editors as I've ever worked with. Every week, with my staff of college students, I mocked up an issue with three stories featuring websites for kids. They would read the articles and go to the new World Wide Web to learn about the subject on the website. We featured only non-commercial, educational sites. To start, we put placeholder titles into the template. For one issue, the titles were "Sharks," "Loki," and "Space." Then we wrote our articles and the content for the rest of the issue. The last thing we did was create catchy titles to appeal to kids. The titles had to be short, snappy, and fun, something like "Swimming with Sharks!" "The Power of Loki," "Lost in Space." It was 6-weeks between mock up, editing, and sending the issue to the printer and having it appear in newspapers. When that issue came out, the titles were "Sharks," "Loki," and "Space." I double-checked my records. Those were the approved titles, edited and signed off by Universal Press. The issue had been looked at by me, my assistant, 3 staff members, and 2 backup readers and the main editor at Universal Press, and staff at the printer. No less than 9 people deemed "Sharks," "Loki," and "Space" to be suitable titles for kids. This is editing, not brain surgery. Mistakes happen. Take a breath, and plan a vacation to the Gulf of New Mexico. 😉 Do you have editing horror stories? Drop them in the comments. = = = 🎸 I'm Lee G. Hornbrook, editor and writing coach, sole proprietor of The Writing Prof Editorial Services. 📚 Inspiring you to tell you story your way, with a little help. ✍ Writing process expert. 🆘 Just getting started? Stalled? Written yourself into a corner? I can help. 📅 Schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation today to discuss your writing project. #editing #devediting #copyediting #writing #freelanceediting

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Ready to crack the code on real earnings in the publishing world? Tune into "Beyond the Bookshelf: Unpacking the Real Money in Publishing," where we reveal the surprising truths behind author earnings. Forget about simply selling thousands of copies—learn how savvy authors leverage their books for bigger paydays through unexpected channels. Whether you're an aspiring writer or a seasoned scribe, this episode will open your eyes to the real goldmines in publishing. Get ready for some eye-opening insights that will change how you think about your next book's value! https://lnkd.in/gXMkM9Kk #ghostwriter #bookpublishing #bookwritingtips #bookwritinghelp

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In #journalism, blogging and other nonfiction writing, sources often don't get enough credit. It's easy to write "study found" and not mention any of the researchers behind the study, nor their institutions, nor the journals the results were published in. And while we don't want to overburden a story with citations, sources often deserve more credit than they get. Just ask any scientist who can't land a promotion or that next grant because she hasn't gotten much credit in the #media for her hard work. Beyond doing what's fair and right, good citations bolster the credibility of your #writing. So this week's Writer's Guide explains the nuts and bolts of proper citations in popular nonfiction writing, and how to strike a balance between thoroughness and readability.

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Our job as writers 🧡🧡🧡 Fresh newsletter hot off the Substack featuring Lisa Cooper Ellison, Hyeseung Song, Hannah Sward, and Steve Almond. I’ve been thinking about how writing helps us understand ourselves, process experience, experience, and especially in the case of memoir, can be a testament to how we have survived. To write is to build rich worlds within us and around us, pull them close like our most familiar blanket. The more we fortify them, they fortify us and yet, we can so easily get derailed when we start thinking about book sales and platform, productivity, and reviews. There’s nothing that shocks me out of my creative process quite like feeling I’m failing at that “measurable” analytics stuff. This piece continues at the link below. https://lnkd.in/grzcbZmp

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