Sarah Richards's Blog
July 24, 2022
The three books that improved my writing
Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" changed my writing (and maybe my life). I call it a hornbook for all writers. I applied its principles to my writing while working for my community college newspaper for several semesters. Elements helped me with conciseness (though I would still try to sneak in the Oxford comma because I believe such always adds clarity and balance).
Stephen King's "On Writing," King says to "Kill your darlings"; I say you have to kill your characters (meaning the alphabet kind). "On Writing" also helped me chuck 99% of my adverbs because nothing beats "s/he said" or "s/he asked." You want dialogue tags to be invisible.
"Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print" by Renni Browne and Dave King made me a better creative writer—I went from telling a story to showing one through scenes and dialogue. By applying the principles in this book to my novels and short stories, my characters came alive.
I credit these three books and my experience as a student reporter in helping me get work as a professional editor.
Stephen King's "On Writing," King says to "Kill your darlings"; I say you have to kill your characters (meaning the alphabet kind). "On Writing" also helped me chuck 99% of my adverbs because nothing beats "s/he said" or "s/he asked." You want dialogue tags to be invisible.
"Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print" by Renni Browne and Dave King made me a better creative writer—I went from telling a story to showing one through scenes and dialogue. By applying the principles in this book to my novels and short stories, my characters came alive.
I credit these three books and my experience as a student reporter in helping me get work as a professional editor.
June 17, 2022
Free short story about the brother of Abel
So, I've just published a short story on Amazon (in addition to a novella) for a writing contest. If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, it's free; it's also free for the next five days (as part of a promotion). Here is the synopsis for "Out of Eden": How did Cain meet his wife? Where was the Land of Nod? Did Cain ever find grace? "Out of Eden" is a *shaggy god story that answers these questions while leading one to question what might have been. *A shaggy god story is a science fiction story that attempts to explain biblical concepts with science fiction tropes. https://www.amazon.com/Out-Eden-Sarah...
The Next Chapter
I'm excited to progress to the next chapter of my writing life. Having blogged for almost a decade, I'm ready to move on to other projects. sarahleastories.com will still be around, but I won't be devoting any exclusive time to it. Blogging has been excellent practice for writing short. Now, it's time to curate all those poems and essays and compile them into several books/restructure them into publishable pieces. Working full-time, homeschooling, and ensuring my precious family time, I no longer have the time or energy to devote to blogging—time that would be better spent writing for a shortlist of magazines and self-publishing on Amazon. I decided several months ago that Instagram would be my new blog. It's free (WordPress is free but to have the URL without the .wordpress.com isn't), and Instagram's format is so much brighter. I'd also like to finish my creative writing degree, which I'll only be able to do during the summer semesters. I don't just write now but invent board games, design jigsaw puzzles, create early childhood education teaching materials, and so forth. I've considered starting a podcast, but that's another project for another day. I have too many unfinished projects, writing and otherwise, calling for my attention (begging to be completed). I have too many goals I want to help my eldest daughter reach, too many recipes I've yet to try, too many field trips I haven't yet planned... The poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver comes to mind: Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life? My answer? More than I possibly have time for, but that doesn't mean I won't try.
June 10, 2022
This Writer's Life
Whether you’re editing someone’s autobiography, as I’m doing now, or you’re editing someone’s scholarship or college admissions essay, those words mean something to someone, be it the words themselves or what the client hopes those words will get them. This is why you should treat each writing/editing job, no matter what it is, as the most important job you are working on (even more important than your own writing because editing someone’s work is a sacred trust; they are paying you, after all). When people say I’m expensive, I tell them this is how I approach any job I undertake. When I charge someone, I consider my time, skills, access to resources, the education it took to be qualified to do the job, and my years of experience and expertise. When you hire someone to do a job, you are not just hiring them for their time; you are hiring them for what they know and can do and what you don’t know and can’t do (which is I don’t do my own contracting work). Know your worth and respect other people’s.
I recently received a referral from someone local who was looking for someone to edit her autobiography. The book would not be for publication but simply something she wanted to leave as a legacy, which doesn’t mean someone isn’t serious about their project. I mean, after all, if you’re leaving something to your family, wouldn’t you want it to be the best it could be?
I’m not an aspiring writer or editor; I am published and have won several awards for writing, and I edit for a living. I have two Associate degrees and am working on my Bachelor’s degree in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing.
Recently, a friend posted something that resonated with me.
So, know your client. First, if you detest phone calls, and your client is old school who prefers long chats on the phone (something I don’t have time for) rather than text or email, make that clear upfront. Unless you’re willing to communicate their way, please don’t take them on as a client.
I don’t know of a tactful way to ask someone if they’re computer literate, but if they’re typing their manuscript on WordPad and don’t know how to copy and paste, you don’t have the time to teach that unless you want to charge extra. (I have learned that I could make good money teaching people over sixty how to use a computer.) I spent about an hour-and-a-half over several phone calls (I was also rung up at eight-thirty in the morning and was called thrice in one day), trying to walk someone through the steps to sending me something via Google Docs, which was valuable time I needed to homeschool and work on my writing.
And, most importantly, the minute they mention you sound expensive, and they have to go to the ATM to get the money rather than having it ready (even after you quoted them a price; for me, it was a dollar per double-spaced page in Times New Roman and 12-point font), and they give you a printed, single-spaced printout, you want to shut that down and say in the nicest way possible that you probably aren’t the right person for them (rather than the other way around). Don’t negotiate. You are not selling a house, you are selling yourself. Know your worth.
I always give a sample, one-page edit to show what clients can expect. I would never ask someone to pay me otherwise. This is the third time I’ve done a one-page sample edit for someone, and they’ve fallen through. However, another client, who I met through Upwork, had never even seen my work, paid me what I asked for. I think this is why I’ve always bought a car from a lot rather than an individual, as individuals can be flaky, though our first car we purchased for five hundred dollars from an elderly couple, which lasted a couple of years. We saved a ton in car payments.
Remember that you don’t just have to sell yourself to a potential client, but they need to sell themselves to you.
I’m amazed at how many people are willing to pay four dollars for a cup of coffee but are unwilling to pay to have what is a labor of love (or should be) be the best it could be—something that will last for generations and hopefully be read and enjoyed by many rather than for ten minutes, enjoyed only by you.
I recently received a referral from someone local who was looking for someone to edit her autobiography. The book would not be for publication but simply something she wanted to leave as a legacy, which doesn’t mean someone isn’t serious about their project. I mean, after all, if you’re leaving something to your family, wouldn’t you want it to be the best it could be?
I’m not an aspiring writer or editor; I am published and have won several awards for writing, and I edit for a living. I have two Associate degrees and am working on my Bachelor’s degree in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing.
Recently, a friend posted something that resonated with me.
So, know your client. First, if you detest phone calls, and your client is old school who prefers long chats on the phone (something I don’t have time for) rather than text or email, make that clear upfront. Unless you’re willing to communicate their way, please don’t take them on as a client.
I don’t know of a tactful way to ask someone if they’re computer literate, but if they’re typing their manuscript on WordPad and don’t know how to copy and paste, you don’t have the time to teach that unless you want to charge extra. (I have learned that I could make good money teaching people over sixty how to use a computer.) I spent about an hour-and-a-half over several phone calls (I was also rung up at eight-thirty in the morning and was called thrice in one day), trying to walk someone through the steps to sending me something via Google Docs, which was valuable time I needed to homeschool and work on my writing.
And, most importantly, the minute they mention you sound expensive, and they have to go to the ATM to get the money rather than having it ready (even after you quoted them a price; for me, it was a dollar per double-spaced page in Times New Roman and 12-point font), and they give you a printed, single-spaced printout, you want to shut that down and say in the nicest way possible that you probably aren’t the right person for them (rather than the other way around). Don’t negotiate. You are not selling a house, you are selling yourself. Know your worth.
I always give a sample, one-page edit to show what clients can expect. I would never ask someone to pay me otherwise. This is the third time I’ve done a one-page sample edit for someone, and they’ve fallen through. However, another client, who I met through Upwork, had never even seen my work, paid me what I asked for. I think this is why I’ve always bought a car from a lot rather than an individual, as individuals can be flaky, though our first car we purchased for five hundred dollars from an elderly couple, which lasted a couple of years. We saved a ton in car payments.
Remember that you don’t just have to sell yourself to a potential client, but they need to sell themselves to you.
I’m amazed at how many people are willing to pay four dollars for a cup of coffee but are unwilling to pay to have what is a labor of love (or should be) be the best it could be—something that will last for generations and hopefully be read and enjoyed by many rather than for ten minutes, enjoyed only by you.
