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OH, MY EARS (AND GENRE EXPECTATIONS)!
On Saturday, I decided to make some additions to my Christmas-music library. As I browsed, I saw a listing for this song, a version of...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Dec 14, 20202 min read
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BLOOD = KIND OF IMPORTANT
Over this past week, I've started donating plasma. Unlike when you donate blood, the machine takes out the blood, extracts the plasma...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Dec 10, 20203 min read
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SKILL IS (OFTEN) INVISIBLE
Yesterday, one of my LinkedIn contacts shared this picture: As much as I love actual Christmas trees, I love this idea, too. It's amazing...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Dec 3, 20202 min read
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"EASY," HMM?
Last night, I worked my first block of time for Grubhub. I was scared out of my wits that I'd mess something up, but the first three...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Dec 1, 20203 min read
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WATCH OUT FOR THE RIPPLE EFFECT
Seven-ish years ago, I worked for my church helping proofread the latest edition of our scriptures for publication. It was the first time...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Nov 23, 20202 min read
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LESS THAN 48 HOURS LEFT!
Remember this? But I'm realizing that even two graphics don't have enough room to explain all the ways this course benefits you: Gain the...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Nov 12, 20201 min read
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COURSE LAUNCH: MANUSCRIPT-CRITIQUE CERTIFICATION COURSE
This is becoming a launch week. While you're waiting for Indie Writing Wisdom (available December 1, links to come), check out my...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Nov 5, 20201 min read
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COVER REVEAL: INDIE WRITING WISDOM
I've been waiting to make this announcement until I got the go-ahead from the lead author. Introducing . . . If you can't tell, that's my...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Nov 2, 20201 min read
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WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME A PRICE?
I've been asked more than once, "How much would you charge me to edit X?" The short answer: There's no easy answer. This podcast does a...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Oct 13, 20201 min read
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HOW MUCH DOES EDITING COST, ANYWAY?
I'll let you in on a secret: Based on my own experiences, most people have no idea how much they should expect to pay for editing....
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Oct 6, 20202 min read
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THIS ONE'S FOR THE GOOFS
When I was about seventeen, I wrote a spoof of Treasure Island. The general idea was for it to be a short film, but that never happened....
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Sep 29, 20201 min read
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BREAKING CHARACTER (OR NOT)
This weekend, I was working on a pair of scenes in my WIP. In this part of the story, my protagonist's (Patricia) overprotective father...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Sep 28, 20202 min read
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DID YOU MISS ME?
It's been a whirlwind last week or so. I found myself having to move on about three days' notice, so you can imagine how much FUN that...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Sep 14, 20202 min read
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AVOIDING EYE-COLOR SWITCHES AND OTHER DIFFICULTIES
Have you ever read a piece in which the author dropped in an unfamiliar acronym without explaining what it stood for? Or have you ever...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Aug 13, 20202 min read
6 views
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DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?
The other day, someone posted this in one of the editors' Facebook groups I belong to: https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/12900993...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Aug 10, 20202 min read
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RUDE, AUTHORS!
A few years ago, when I was between winter semester and spring term and didn't have much else to do, I read the 39 Clues series....
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jul 28, 20202 min read
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DON'T BE A TOLKIEN
Longer ago than I'd like to specify, when I was fresh out of college, I interned at Deseret Book, one of Utah's major publishers. While I...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jul 23, 20202 min read
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HISTORY AS YOU'VE NEVER READ IT BEFORE
Let's face it: things look pretty bleak right now. So today, I thought I'd take a break from serious writing tips and share this...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jul 17, 20201 min read
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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
Last night, I was listening to Cupid's "Cupid Shuffle," and it got me thinking about dances in general. I grew up in Iowa, and my church...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 15, 20202 min read
10 views
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AUTOCRIT
Last night, I was looking over this ratings list of self-publishing services, which is curated by the Alliance of Independent Authors. I...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 6, 20202 min read
5 views
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