Category: Editing


Four Rules of Using AI

Filed under: Editing, Worldbuilding, Research — 1 Comment
October 2, 2026

I am a big proponent of using AI to help speed up the grunt work of, well, any task; but this blog is about writing, so we’re going to talk about AI in writing. Specifically, I want to talk about four guiding principles that will help you use AI as an author with more effectiveness and without losing your voice.

But, since I am also a big proponent of establishing definitions, let’s look at what we’re actually talking about. What is AI, and what is an LLM?

Defining AI

This is an issue because there’s what’s actually AI, and there’s what’s marketed as AI. When AI began to be perceived as a magic button for customer involvement and investment, a lot of things we’ve already accepted as normal technology got redefined as “AI” so it could sound new and amazing. That includes simple things like Photoshop tools or Word’s grammar check.

That’s led to confusion with the way the Butlarian Jihad hunts down AI-using heretics. (If you don’t recognize the term, it’s from the Dune setting and references a movement to ban AI. It’s becoming the standard way to refer to the rabidly anti-AI crowd today.) When everything is AI, it’s really easy to justify cancelling someone for using it in a way that the Butlerians don’t like, or when they just don’t like the user. But that also means that it’s incredibly hard to escape AI, because these days everything is AI — or at least marketed as such.

So defining AI in a way that matters to normal people is important. Of course, most normal people would fall asleep just listening to a real definition of AI and LLMs. Allow me to demonstrate.

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Interview with Steve Diamond

Filed under: Editing, Motivation — 1 Comment
March 29, 2024

This blog gives my perspective as an editor, but for once I had the chance to get someone else’s perspective. This week, I was able to ask Steve Diamond, author of Residue and Parasite (among others I haven’t yet reviewed) about his writing career, the nature of horror, and some advice on rewrites.

For those who don’t know him as the popular writing podcast the WriterDojo, Steve Diamond is an accountant, a former professional reviewer and bookseller, publisher of special editions, brisket connoisseur, and sworn enemy of the eldritch selachimorphs that have lurked in the depths of the oceans for millions of years. In fact, he goes into the latter in the excellent early episode of the above-mentioned podcast, Season One, Episode Twelve, “Horror” — an episode quite relevant to today’s post! If you’ve never listened to it, go ahead. This post will still be here when you get back.

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Novel Ninja: How would you describe yourself as an author?

Steve Diamond: Man, that’s a tough one. I think I try to be an entertainer. I’m not that guy that agonizes over every sentence. I don’t think I’ll ever be the guy that people call “literary,” and that’s fine by me. My only goal is to entertain… to have loftier goals than that feels hyper selfish and prideful to me.

Now after the entertainment factor, I’d say I’m rather mercenary. I’ll write whatever I’m paid to write. Maybe that’s straight-up Lovecraftian fiction, a Winnie the Pooh story (thanks public domain!), giant robots, or even a spy-thriller. I’ll write whatever I’m asked (and paid) to write. The great thing about this method is that I get to write all sorts of different things, and that keeps my stories fresh. It also helps me practice, which I think shows in my fiction.

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Writing Maxim #1: Writing is an Art, Not a Science

Filed under: Commentary, Editing, Motivation — 1 Comment
May 9, 2023

Over the years, I’ve found myself repeating a few phrases over and over to authors of all levels, including clients, students, and lecture attendees. I eventually started calling them my maxims, and it’s high time I laid them out on my own site. After all, much of the reason for my blog updates is to give me a handy place to put stuff I already repeat a lot, so I can just link people to the post and save time in the future.

Today, it’s Writing is an art, not a science. Kind of obvious, since we call it a creative art rather than a scientific field, but it’s good to really think about what that means — especially authors worried about learning how to “do it right” or violating some kind of rule.

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Don’t Fear the Rewrite

Filed under: Editing — 1 Comment
April 14, 2023

Writing a book can be a lot of work. I’ve talked before about how even a complete amateur can get through a first draft in as little as three months with just a couple hours of work per day, but chances are you were thinking, plotting, planning, and obsessing over that manuscript for months, and probably years, before you ever wrote down the first chapter. That’s a lot of investment, and it’s not uncommon for a first book to take years to write when you’re just starting out (or are named George R. R. Martin, but that’s another story).

When you put that much of your heart and soul into a project, tearing it all down to do it again is daunting. “Will it actually improve?” “Is this the best I can do?” “Why redo it from scratch when the story is complete?” “Can’t I just, y’know, edit it a bit?” “What if I spend more time doing it right the first time?” “If it needs rewriting, doesn’t that mean it sucks and I’m a terrible writer?”

The answer to those questions, in order, are: yes; no; because it’s not actually from scratch; no author is that perfect; then you’re actually wasting time and effort; and stop telling yourself that.

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Whose Approval Matters to You?

Filed under: Editing, Industry, Publishing — 2 Comments
September 28, 2015

Last night, I was speaking with an unpublished author who confided a very common fear: that self-publishing isn’t really publishing, because as a newcomer she wants that stamp of approval that comes with a publisher’s imprint.

Now, this author isn’t one of mine, and in fact isn’t even in my category, much less the SF&F genre. She’s a nonfiction author who has written a self-help/motivational book that, frankly, sounds interesting. (And I rarely say that about motivational books, since I find them to be . . . well, less than motivational. Literally the last good one I read was about eight years ago, and it was very atypical.) But this author’s fear is not only understandable, it’s very common.

It’s also part of a misconception. See, as a reader, you naturally look up to authors and their publishers (or, even if you don’t because they suck, you feel that they suck all the more because you’re not able to treat them with reverence). These are professionals. Their opinion has weight, and you would love to be their equal, or at least the rookie on the team. Their recognition is what proves you’ve succeeded.

Not true. Very, oh so very, not true.  Continue reading →

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Ant-Man the Novel Ninja Way

Filed under: Characters, Editing, Plots, Reviews, Superhero, Writing Tips — 1 Comment
July 20, 2015

ant-man-thor-poster-1In my review of Ant-Man, I mentioned how the movie couldn’t make up its mind as to whether it was a caper film or a superhero origin story. I laid out the reasons why those two types of stories are, if not incompatible, then at least problematic to mix together. I also mentioned I might do a post on how I might have adjusted the movie if, for some strange reason, they came asking for my advice.

So how would I have done the movie differently?

This is actually a more dangerous question than it might appear. I’m a prose editor. I’m a pretty good one. I’m also pretty good at analysis, developmental/structural rewriting, and closing plot holes. None of that means that I’m good at scriptwriting. Visual media is a very different ballgame. I know just enough about the differences to talk about them, and not enough to actually put them into practice. I’m a professional editor, but I’m an armchair amateur when it comes to script-doctoring. I know my limits and I’m not going to pretend that expertise in one form of fiction extends to another.

So, disclaimers aside, here’s my armchair amateur opinion about what I’d have done if I’d been asked to give a developmental edit (also called structural editing) on the film.

Spoiler Warning Continue reading →

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Be a Knowledge Junkie

Filed under: Editing, Plugs and Promotions, Resources, Writing Tips — 2 Comments
March 12, 2015

Some years back, I evaluated a manuscript for a publisher. It was a Civil War historical mystery novel, and the Civil War is not exactly my area of expertise. Yet I sent the chief editor seven pages of notes on the book’s historical inaccuracies and plot holes. The editor later told me that, while reading through those notes, she turned to someone else in the office and asked “Who is this guy, Sherlock Holmes?”

It remains one of the funniest moments of my editing career, because it really wasn’t that difficult to do. Almost all of the notes were things that were easy to research. The author had the days of the week wrong in reference to the Battle of Fort Sumter. The date of Easter for the same year was wrong by a month. Currency values were closer to 1980s instead of 1860s. The depiction of proper police methods felt more like Dragnet at times instead of a period when investigative police was a rare thing.

The one and only reason why what I did was unusual was that I’m a knowledge junkie. If I don’t know something, I still have a pretty good idea where to look it up. I have lists of experts to contact, on anything from astrophysics to horse care, from the history of international law to how to sew a dress. My browser’s bookmark bar is a mostly-organized collection of links leading to various topics that I collect, thinking they might be useful someday.

The comparison to Sherlock Holmes is true, but only in this respect: I observe, I collect, and I don’t like being bored. None of that is especially unusual. Anyone can do it.

And if you’re a writer, you should do it. That doesn’t mean that if you want to write a book, you have to become the Phantom of the Library, haunting the stacks and shunning the light of day. Rather, it means you should always keep an eye out for things that are useful. Scratch the surface of almost any topic, and you’ll find something that makes your writing-sense tingle.

Here are some tips to get yourself started.  Continue reading →

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Escapism and the Need for Structure

Filed under: Editing, Writing Tips — 1 Comment
February 11, 2015

Some years back, I implemented a new system for submissions. I never look at unsolicited manuscripts anymore; I simply get too many, even though no one (okay, few people) would confuse me for a publisher. I had to put in some form of winnowing process. Many freelancers and small presses require a nominal fee, since even a simple five-dollar payment encourages people to make certain their manuscript is in good order before “wasting” their money.

I wanted a different process, one where no one had to send me money if I wasn’t going to definitely give them value in return. I also wanted to encourage writers to clean up certain common mistakes that I kept seeing over and over. (And over, and over . . .) They all had to do with structure.  Continue reading →

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A Writer’s Analysis of the Enchanted Series

Filed under: Editing, Reviews, Writing Tips — Leave a comment
January 28, 2015

As I said in my review of Shanna Swendson’s Enchanted series, I wound up with a lot more to say that was really appropriate for a review. Like many of my posts, it’s a long one, clocking in at over three thousand words, but it’s aimed more at writers than all readers. And, I promise: spoiler free! (Well, except for the romance angle.)

So, without further ado, here’s my analysis of this new favorite series.  Continue reading →

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There Is No One Way to Write

Filed under: Editing, Writing Tips — 1 Comment
July 10, 2014

I have several writing axioms that I keep repeating to people. Even editors need editors; real life doesn’t need to make sense, fiction does; writing is an art, not a science.  Continue reading →

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