The Professional Writer Podcast

Tighten Your Writing: Dump ‘Illegal’ Words

You’ve drafted a blog post, magazine article, non-fiction book, or novel. Now it’s time to weed out the “illegal” words – vague, filler words that clutter your story. Here’s an exercise to help you cut the wordiness from your piece: Choose an “illegal” word or phrase from the following list: very really rather just simply […]

53 – Editing With a ‘Reader First’ Mindset, with Samantha Hanni

When you’re writing a book, it’s just you, banging out beautiful words. When you finish the draft, your next step is to invite others to help prepare your manuscript for publication.

In part 2 of my conversation with freelance editor, Samantha Hanni, we discuss three ways authors can bring the ‘reader first’ mindset into the editing process: (1) stay humble about your message, (2) stay humble about your edits, and (3) communicate with your editor.