The Significant Limitations of Chat GPT
Today, I signed up with Chat GPT at OpenAI.com. I wanted to learn about it and, if possible, use it to enhance my own work. I quickly discovered two things. Its ability to write with flawless grammar is astonishing. Every sentence … Continue reading
The Secret to a Great Opening Sentence in Your Novel
“Call me Ishmael.” Thus reads one of the most famous – and, by writers of fiction, envied – opening sentences in Western literature. It launches Moby-Dick, and those three words are memorable because they provide information about the protagonist. The … Continue reading
Top 5 Reasons Why Thomas Hauck Should Be Your Ghostwriter
Okay, it’s time for some shameless self-promotion! There are many reasons why you should hire a professional ghostwriter for your novel or non-fiction book, and many more reasons why that person should be me. But after much thought, to fit … Continue reading
I Will Fix Your Lousy AI-Generated Document!
It’s astonishing, but just in the past few months many of my valued clients have sent me files of text – some of them short books with as many as 20,000 words – asking that I edit them. I read … Continue reading
Artificial Intelligence Editing Services: The McDonald’s of Literature
Ah, the modern world! So many new technologies that make our lives easier! Some of the most interesting emerging services provide manuscript editing powered by artificial intelligence. A good example is ProWritingAid, which analyzes your text and not only flags … Continue reading
Avoid Repetition in Your Writing!
As an editor, on of the most common problems I see in the writing of my valued clients is needless repetition. This manifests itself in either of two ways: Repeating the same idea more than once, or repeating words that … Continue reading
The Importance of the Topic Sentence
Writing is a form of communication. Its structure is linear, like a path. That means the reader intakes the first word, remembers it, and then intakes the next word. As the reader progresses through the words, sentences, and paragraphs, the … Continue reading
Developmental Editing: It’s All About Baby Steps!
Clients will often send me a finished manuscript of 40,000 or 60,000 words, which, for various reasons, they’re not happy with. A non-fiction manuscript may be outdated, not well organized, incomplete in its arguments, or just plain boring. A novel … Continue reading
Love Those Oxford Commas!
Among grammarians and writers, the so-called Oxford comma has long been the subject of much debate. Some see it as superfluous, while others say it’s indispensable. The comma – Oxford or otherwise – and other punctuation marks have their genesis … Continue reading
Computerized “Beta Reader” Services – Beware!
In the publishing industry, a “beta reader” is a human being who reads your unpublished book and provides feedback, not unlike a book review. Beta readers are subjective, and can provide only their opinion, but they can be very useful … Continue reading