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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
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"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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
9 views
0 comments
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