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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
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FAST IS OVERRATED
Last week was the third anniversary of my Lisfranc injury. For most people, a broken bone is a six-to-eight-week experience from injury...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 5, 20202 min read
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"YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR FIRST STEP INTO A LARGER WORLD"
Happy Star Wars Day! In honor of the occasion, I'm listening to the soundtracks in the background as I write this email. 🔦 (Apparently...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 4, 20203 min read
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TOO EASY?
Happy May Day! However, please don't celebrate it by getting yourself into a mayday situation. 😉 Speaking of mayday situations, I did...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 1, 20202 min read
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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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THE WEIRD THINGS YOU HAVE TO GOOGLE
I live in the basement of my house. For the last few nights, I've been hearing some weird noises: scratching, rustling, small thumps,...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 29, 20202 min read
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"MAWWIAGE!" (AND OTHER VERBAL DIFFICULTIES)
My professional hero Blake Snyder gave me a rule that I've been having trouble implementing in my work: "In a good...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 28, 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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HOW WELL CAN YOU EXPECT YOUR BOOK TO SELL?
Last night, I was doing some research about how well sequel books sell compared to originals. There's a surprising lack of information...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 23, 20201 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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WHAT'S THE WORD?
Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/483433341224769205/ Embarrassing, right? Besides the misused...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 20, 20202 min read
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WHEN WHACKING CHARACTERS ON THE HEAD . . .
As you might have guessed by now, I may have done one or two silly things in my life. Thankfully, some of them have helped lead me to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 17, 20203 min read
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THE NOT-SO-USELESS SNOWSHOES
In college, I took an outdoor recreation class, which included a day of snowshoeing in the mountains near Provo, Utah. I had a ball and...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 16, 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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JUMPING THROUGH (MORE) HOOPS
As the weather has been getting warmer in Denver, I decided to buy a bike so I could check out the local trails and get some exercise...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 14, 20203 min read
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SCARS
Update: My surgical scars as of August 2020 (ignore the patterning from my sock 😁) The other day, my roommate "M" set up an Easter-egg...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 13, 20203 min read
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THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFULLY WRITING HUMOR
You know you're a nerd when you get to the point of analyzing humor. 😁 In my defense, Dr. "O" started it. He was my Introduction to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 10, 20203 min read
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THE THINGS WE FEEL COMPELLED TO SAY
I recently joined a Facebook group that was formed in response to an invitation from my church's president to fast on Good Friday for...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 9, 20203 min read
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