Dictation can capture the natural rhythm and momentum of storytelling—but spoken language doesn’t always translate cleanly to the page. Here’s why dictated manuscripts need a different editorial approach, and how careful editing preserves the author’s voice while shaping it into clear, compelling prose.
Some weeks, the stories don’t stall — they simply make room for other word-work. Editing, shaping, refining someone else’s manuscript is still time spent inside the craft. And when you finally return to your own blank page, you bring sharper instincts with you.
After you’ve been editing fiction for a while, patterns emerge — not in the stories, but in the expectations writers bring to the process. Editing isn’t about fixing broken books or policing commas. It’s about helping a manuscript work the way the author intended: with clarity, emotional logic, and structural strength. Here are five things editors quietly wish every writer understood before the red pen ever comes out.
People have a general sense of what authors do, but that sense is… impressionistic. Which leads to some wonderfully confident assumptions about money, inspiration, and what happens after a book is published. In the spirit of public service, here are five of the most persistent misconceptions about authors—and what the job actually looks like from the inside.
In Ningaloo Nights, the stunning Australian outback isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character all on its own: beautiful, remote, and deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing. When beta readers questioned whether I’d exaggerated the dangers, I had to assure them—every survival detail in the book is true. Growing up around Ningaloo taught me that nature doesn’t pull punches. But oh, the beauty is worth every ounce of caution.
A novel isn’t a pile of words—it’s a chain of well-built scenes. This post breaks down the five parts of a powerful scene (from Inciting Incident to Resolution) and why scene craft is the difference between a draft and a publishable book.
Writing fiction should make you feel something. If you’re not laughing, crying, or at least smirking at your own words, your readers won’t either. Emotional resonance starts with the writer. From cardboard characters to scenes that don’t belong, here are five reasons your story might be falling flat—and what to do about it.
One of the perks of writing thrillers is getting to torture characters. Jacobine makes me work harder—she’s deadly, clever, and never blinks. Billings, though, is convinced he’s in control…until the floor drops. Who’s more fun to torment: the nun with a gun, or the cocky spook?
Juggling multiple pen names, a production pipeline, and the occasional bout of procrastination takes more than just caffeine and stubbornness—though those help. In this post, I break down exactly how I manage my writing and publishing schedule, from rotating pen names to keeping six+ books in postproduction at once. I also explain why I never write more than one book at a time and how I use a 300-step checklist to keep my head (mostly) attached.
After my fourth serious trial, I’m calling it: for me, dictation is dead—at least for now. The modest bump in words per hour just doesn’t outweigh the tech friction, location lock-in, and editing overhead. If dictation plus clean-up time gets you more net words than typing, go for it. But if you’re already a clean, fast typist, the numbers might tell you to stick with your keyboard.
