In my role as editor, I am still correcting the misuse of lie/lay; that/which; and who/whom. I understand that most readers won’t pick up the errors. However, if you’re aiming to impress a potential publisher, or you’re writing an academic paper, learning how to correctly use these words is important. So, I’ve resurrected three articles that I wrote 10+ years […]
Verbs are the engine of sentences but they are often not used to provide maximum impact. When editing or reviewing, I often ask writers of both fiction and non-fiction: ‘Do you think critically about your choice of every verb and the way it’s used in every sentence?’ The majority of answers are something like: ‘sometimes’ or ‘I don’t give them […]
A fictional character doesn’t have to be a human or an animal—a dark foreboding forest with a tangle of undergrowth can act as an antagonist, or a force of nature, such as a cyclone that bears down on a town, or an insidious pandemic. On the other hand, there may be a place where a character can go to that […]
Words are powerful and can ‘paint’ a picture, particularly words used in poetry that resonate and stay with us. Favourite passages in novels are often read and reread to relive that feeling and scene, or that memory of the first time they were read. Visual art stimulates an immediate sensation through sight and is not tied to language. A work […]
I read a lot of historical fiction and I have my favourite authors of the genre: Peter Carey, Geraldine Brooks, Tracy Chevalier, Barbara Kingsolver, Hilary Mantel, Kate Grenville and Markus Zusak. I have also been blown away by so many emerging historical fiction authors whose unpublished novels are sent to me for assessments. I love being able to immerse myself […]
Superfluous words are the enemy of good writing. I often come across writing that includes adjectives and adverbs that are either wrongly chosen to ‘qualify’ another word or are lazy choices (written without thinking whether they are necessary or appropriate). One of the best ways to avoid these inconsequential (lazy) qualifiers is to read back every sentence you write and […]
Through the swift application of paint, the French Impressionist artists aimed to capture the atmosphere of a place at a specific time of day. When I read the first few paragraphs of a novel, or an unpublished manuscript set in a fictional place that is sent to me for assessment, I want to be captivated by a sense of place. […]
Choosing the intimate first-person point of view to write a scholarly book or a fictional narrative is challenging. Point of view (POV) is the perspective from which an author writes a story or presents information. There are three points of view (viewpoints) — the first-person POV (I, we), the second person (you, your), and the third person (he, she, they). […]
Whether you’re writing a crime narrative, Young Adult novel or an academic textbook, the ultimate aim is to create sentences that flow effortlessly so your reader is constantly engaged with the content/narrative. This memento mori still life painting by the seventeenth-century Dutch artist Pieter Claesz is a potent reminder that life is short, but our finest work/s will endure. So, […]
To hyphenate or not to hyphenate? That is the question . . . Joining words with hyphens is becoming less frequent as many are now being fused as they become more well known, such as proofreader and girlfriend. However, when two words together modify another word, they are often hyphenated. For example, in the phrase ‘large-scale installation’, the words ‘large’ […]
I would like to thank my editor, Denise Taylor, for her invaluable feedback and support throughout the writing process. I have appreciated her comments and engagement with this project. Denise, with her impeccable work and incisive editorial remarks, significantly improved the manuscript as a whole.
Professor Olivera Simić, Griffith University Law School
Denise’s assessment was thorough, considered and she highlighted several important shortcomings in the plot and character development. ‘Red Can Origami’ became a much stronger manuscript for her input!
Madelaine Dickie
Denise was invaluable in getting my novel from a rough 3rd draft to publication ready. I especially liked her capacity to develop a collaborative working relationship so that all the work of editing, polishing, re-writing was held in the spirit of my writing journey.
Denise has well-honed writing skills, of course, but as well she has this unusual capacity to support and encourage. She really tuned in to my direction as a writer which was enormously helpful in moving my novel forward. Beyond the fine-tuning of my last draft, Denise then gave some timely coaching to help me negotiate the new realities of publishing. How great it was to have access to such a well-grounded and experienced mentor! Highly recommended.
Thupten Lekshe
Dear Denise, Many thanks for the way you have prepared and presented my memoir. I could not imagine at the start that it would turn out looking the way you have presented what now seems a very interesting life; in fact, I might live it again. Thank you and congratulations.
Percy Rogers