Services: Copy Editing
Whether your project is a full-length novel or short fiction, an essay or a work of non-fiction, I am happy to copy edit your work. Areas of focus: paragraph and sentence construction, consistency of style, language register and all grammatical errors, including punctuation, spelling, verb tense and so on. Often, writers want a combination of line edits and manuscript critique. While I charge differently for these two services, the fee is reduced when they are done simultaneously. Having said that, I usually don't recommend having a line edit and critique done at the same time. The reason is simple - if you are still in the revision stage, line edits may very well end up on the cutting-room floor. Best to wait until after you've finished the final rewrite.
Client Endorsement:
Herta is a generous and incisive editor . She read the ms of my novel and did a thorough line by line edit. She provided insight into the overall strengths and weaknesses, pointing out the rather slow start, showing me just where she became engaged in the novel, so that I was able to revise with her careful suggestions.
-Marian Wernicke (editor of Hurricane Review and author of numerous works)
Michael Crichton's Top 5 Writing Lessons:
1) Challenge your reader. Don't be afraid to tackle complex topics such as quantum physics. Readers love learning something new (as in your book!). Stirring their curiousity is just as important as grabbing them from the first page.
2) Surprise your reader. No one reading The Andromeda Strain could have guessed the ending. Unpredictability is key.
3) Keep the clock ticking. Timing, tension, momentum, pace - Chrichton set the bar. A pounding heart keeps readers reading.
4) Get your facts straight. Whether the details pertain to science, history, setting, etc., readers expect your research to be accurate.
5) Play fast and loose wtih the facts. Story trumps all. Chrichton's gift was making the impossible believable. Everyone knows dinosaurs can't be cloned from fossilized DNA, but if they could….
Adapted from text originally featured in Writer's Digest (March 2009)
Some books that may help with your writing are:
Turning Life into Fiction by Robin Hemley
Writing Down the Bones: freeing the writer within by Natalie Goldberg
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
On Writing by Stephen King
How Fiction Works by Oakley Hall
On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
On Writing Well by William Zinsser