Editing – Stories Rule Press

The Power of Knowing Your Character’s Arc (Before You Start Writing)

5 November 2025 / Mark Posey

Writing a story without understanding your main character’s arc is like driving cross-country blindfolded — you might arrive somewhere, but odds are it won’t be where you meant to go. Every protagonist travels an emotional and psychological path, changing (or refusing to change) because of the story’s events. When you understand that inner journey — and how it collides with the outer, plot-driven one — every scene gains purpose, every choice deepens meaning, and your rewrite count drops dramatically. Know your hero’s lie, the truth they need to learn, and what the story will throw at them to force that transformation. Everything else flows from there.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Pay an Editor (Instead of Doing It Yourself)

13 August 2025 / Mark Posey

Let’s get one thing out of the way: you can technically edit your own work. Just like you can technically give yourself a root canal with a mirror, a bottle of bourbon, and a pair of pliers.

But should you?

Here are five good reasons to hire an editor instead of going solo.

One Simple Trick to Make Your Dialogue Instantly Stronger

30 July 2025 / Mark Posey

Struggling with clunky conversations or over-the-top dialogue tags? Clean, compelling dialogue doesn’t just sound real — it works hard to reveal character, build tension, and move your story forward. Here’s how to write dialogue that earns its place on the page.

Turn Off Editing and Spelling While You Type. And Why.

19 April 2025 / Tracy Cooper-Posey

So, shiny new laptop in hand, I reinstalled all my software. And, of course, Microsoft Word came back with all its default bells and whistles cheerfully intact—including the dreaded live spelling and grammar check. Outlook, OneNote, the rest of the MS Office gang… same story.

Online editing tools weren’t far behind, either. And if you’ve got a grammar extension active while you’re writing in a browser, you’ll get treated to an assault of blue double-underscores that scream “BAD GRAMMAR!” like a judgy primary school teacher.