Ever find yourself in a state of creative stagnancy? In a state where all you do is stare at a blank screen/canvas and nothing comes out of you besides a salt-and-vinegar-chips-flavoured burp? If you've never had the pleasure of experiencing that dark hole (literally—cause the blank canvas can certainly drain you dry), you're lucky. I've …
Showdown: Writer vs Editor
Some days, that's my reaction. I'm angrily, frustratedly, despairingly screaming in my head (or sometimes at the loquat tree in the backyard)—NEVER AGAIN!!! Some days, some editors drive me up the wall with edits that have nothing to do with the writing or the story, but everything to do with personal preference. And then there are …
Of reverse sexism and moving backwards
A (not so) long, long time ago, I was proofreading the final copy of a magazine (I won’t name it, for obvious reasons) as a favour, and I was happily going about my business until one of the articles (purportedly written by a self-professed “feminist”) made me want to cover my face with my hands …
Writing for different purposes
Being a good writer in a particular genre, on a particular medium, does not necessarily mean that we're able to transpose that same writing ability and apply it to different media. To put it in no-nonsense terms... different media require different styles of writing! While writing an academic/research paper more often than not requires rather long …
What do writers need from editors?
So I recently had a conversation with another writer friend of mine, and we went into a rant-like discussion about what writers really need from editors. Because trust me, though the two have to work very closely with each other, there's a lot—a lot—of tension, especially when it comes to creative differences. So I've come up …
What are editors?
My first ever video (bear with me!), talking about what we editors are! (Hint: we are not grammar nazis!)
Geraldine Stallard 