Are you sometimes unsure whether you should use ‘that’ or ‘which’ in a sentence? If so, join the throng; or maybe you’ve never really thought about it. Fair enough. In many cases, both words are equally correct. However, you can keep this in mind: ‘that’ introduces essential (restrictive or defining relative) clauses, and ‘which’ introduces non-essential (non-restrictive or non-defining relative) […]
What are those rabbits doing in the border of that medieval prayer book? Is that a snail jousting with a dog? Why is a naked man riding a many-legged ‘dragon’ in the lower margin? No, your eyes are not deceiving you. This profusion of humans, animals, fantastical plants and grotesques painted in the margins of thirteenth and early fourteenth-century Europe […]
The aim of the first sentence of any written work is to motivate the reader to read on; it can be decisive and declare the theme or argument of the main body of writing, or it can be a teaser. So whether you’re writing a novel, an essay, or just an email, your aim is to arrest the reader’s attention […]
The habitual practice of writing in a notebook, a diary or a journal will refine your writing. A journal can include jottings of daily observations, lists of words and punctuation that interest or bother you, inspirational sentences you’ve read, ideas to develop, critical editing of current writing, and so on. Literary icon, Virginia Woolf, born in 1882, began writing a […]
This series focuses on the fine-tuning of your writing after the content has been nailed. You could call it the editing and proofreading process; I prefer to call it the finishing touches that turn your writing into a work of art: pleasing to the eye in its form, erudite in its selection of key words with ideas that flow logically, […]
I would like to thank my editor, Denise Taylor, for her invaluable feedback and support throughout the writing process. I have appreciated her comments and engagement with this project. Denise, with her impeccable work and incisive editorial remarks, significantly improved the manuscript as a whole.
Associate Professor Olivera Simić, Griffith University Law School
Denise’s assessment was thorough, considered and she highlighted several important shortcomings in the plot and character development. ‘Red Can Origami’ became a much stronger manuscript for her input!
Madelaine Dickie
Denise was invaluable in getting my novel from a rough 3rd draft to publication ready. I especially liked her capacity to develop a collaborative working relationship so that all the work of editing, polishing, re-writing was held in the spirit of my writing journey.
Denise has well-honed writing skills, of course, but as well she has this unusual capacity to support and encourage. She really tuned in to my direction as a writer which was enormously helpful in moving my novel forward. Beyond the fine-tuning of my last draft, Denise then gave some timely coaching to help me negotiate the new realities of publishing. How great it was to have access to such a well-grounded and experienced mentor! Highly recommended.
Thupten Lekshe
Dear Denise, Many thanks for the way you have prepared and presented my memoir. I could not imagine at the start that it would turn out looking the way you have presented what now seems a very interesting life; in fact, I might live it again. Thank you and congratulations.
Percy Rogers