by Margot Carmichael Lester | Jun 6, 2023 | Writing/How to Write
If you want to give your writing more impact and energy, pay attention to verbs. Sure, sure, the active verbs (the ones that describe what's happening and how). But don't sleep on the state-of-being verbs. What? Yeah, I don't remember learning about them in English...
by Margot Carmichael Lester | Apr 18, 2023 | Work Samples from Margot Lester & The Word Factory Team, Writing/How to Write
I got my start in journalism on Chapel Hill High's paper, The Proconian. (I even took third place in a statewide opinion writing contest!) And here I am, a zillion years later still slinging sentences. So it's no surprise I'm bullish on scholastic journalism and do...
by Margot Carmichael Lester | Mar 28, 2023 | Content & Content Operations
A lot of us rely on outside editors and proofreaders. And while I know it sound self-serving because we offer some of those services here at The Word Factory, the honest truth is that it's a great idea. *We* even do it. Why you need an outside editor or proofer It's...
by Pete Andersen | Nov 15, 2022 | Writing/How to Write
There's a lot of advice out there for folks who want to write their personal histories or memoirs. A lot of it is crap. That's why Margot asked Peter Andersen to set the record straight. "Among his many talents, Pete is a gifted memoir whisperer," she explains. "When...
by Margot Carmichael Lester | Nov 3, 2022 | What-Not
If you're doing NaNoWriMo -- or otherwise producing a work of fiction -- and want some professional support, I can't help you, but my friend Duncan Murrell can. I don't write fiction. OK -- a few years ago I wrote a short story that got published, but it almost killed...
