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ENGLISH VS. ENGLISH-MAJOR-ESE
A common reaction when someone slips into English-major-ese One of my favorite college professors essentially introduced herself on the...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 30, 20202 min read
"YOU KEEP USING THAT WORD. . . ."
Yesterday, someone asked me how I differentiate between some of the services I offer. (You know who you are—thanks!) I've updated my...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 27, 20202 min read
HOW DOES TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING WORK, ANYWAY?
After yesterday's post, it occurred to me that a lot of new authors probably don't know what happens to a manuscript once they send it to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 24, 20206 min read
PERFECTING PERSPECTIVE
You may have heard about the two students in Georgia who posted a racist video on TikTok (NOT. COOL.) and got expelled from school...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 22, 20203 min read
ADVERBS, BEGONE!
When I was in college, the campus newspaper had a weekly section called the Police Beat. It featured tiny blurbs (no more than three...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 21, 20203 min read
ARE YOU WRITING FOR AN EIGHTH GRADER?
In my editing capstone class in college, I learned about something called popularization. Essentially, it means taking a highly technical...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 15, 20203 min read
BLEEDING IS OVERRATED
I won't tell you how late I was up last night working on a crochet pattern for my Etsy shop. (If you'd like to check it out, here's a...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 7, 20202 min read
CHARACTER QUIRKS ARE ONE THING, BUT ...
Those of you who know me personally also know that I love Studio C. It's a family-friendly sketch-comedy show available on BYUtv and...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Mar 20, 20203 min read
THANKS A LOT, LATIN
Don't get me wrong. Latin matters. Where would we be if we couldn't get a bonus in our paychecks, try on an extra-large when a large...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Mar 9, 20203 min read
WHY DOES EDITING COST SO DOGGONE MUCH?
To answer the question in the title, I'd say that at least 90 percent of the time, a manuscript needs (much) more work than its author...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Mar 5, 20202 min read
HAPPY NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY!
Okay, technically there are no grammar mistakes here, but this made me laugh. Source About a year before I began my editing minor in...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Mar 4, 20202 min read
5 TIPS FOR CITATIONS
Before I became a full-time freelancer, I spent most of my career in traditional publishing. One of my first jobs was as an editorial...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Feb 13, 20202 min read
YARN DISASTER --> NEW FRIEND --> EDITING
If you know me well, you know that I love to crochet. I've tried learning to knit, too, but perhaps it was a bad idea to have my first...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Feb 11, 20203 min read
TURNING IFFY FEEDBACK INTO POSITIVE CHANGES
A few years ago, I picked up a new hobby: crocheting. I'd wanted to learn for a while. Then I seriously injured my foot and ended up...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jan 30, 20202 min read
DEMO DAY
As I write this, I'm listening to a real-life episode of Fixer Upper going on in my basement. Two guys are down there demolishing my...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jan 29, 20202 min read
4 EASY TIPS TO MAKE YOUR PROSE CLEARER
Nonfiction. It's so important, yet so many people are terrified of it. Considering the way much of it is written, I can't blame them. I...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jan 7, 20203 min read
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