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The Editor’s Pass Is Here
The Editor’s Pass is a complete family of workbooks that guide writers through the revision or self-editing process. It’s the macro-to-micro methodology that professional editors use every day, written for writers.
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Catherine Forrest
May 256 min read


Why Perfectionism Is the Enemy of Good Writing (And What to Do Instead)
Perfectionism doesn't make your writing better — it stops you from finishing. Here's what 21 years in publishing taught me about quality, errors, and knowing when to call it done.
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Catherine Forrest
5 hours ago10 min read


How to Crush Writer's Block With Four Little Words
Stuck in the middle of your draft and can't move forward? This one writer's block trick will get you unstuck and back to writing in minutes.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago7 min read


4 Steps to Finish Your Writing Project on a Deadline
Can't seem to finish what you start? Here's a 4-step system for setting a writing deadline that actually works — and breaking your project down until it's done.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago9 min read


Proofreading for Authors: How to Proof Your Book Like a Pro
From PDF markup to EPUB errors: a complete proofreading guide for authors working with a pro or flying solo. Know what to catch before your book publishes.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago10 min read


The First Step to Getting Published That Most Writers Skip
Before query letters, agents, or book covers: every writer needs to complete their first draft before they can pursue getting published.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago9 min read


4 Tips for Finishing Your First Draft (Even If You Think You Can’t)
Stop staring at the blank page. Here's a 4-step process for writing your first draft from idea to manuscript—without intimidating yourself out of starting.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago10 min read


4 Steps to Tackle Your Novel’s First Revision
Finished your first draft? Here's how to tackle your first revision efficiently—when to start, what to look for, and how to plan your attack.
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Catherine Forrest
6 hours ago10 min read


7 Tips for Making a To-Do List That Actually Works for Writers
A to-do list sounds simple — but most writers make theirs in ways that set them up to fail. Here are 7 tips for building a to-do list that creates momentum, handles distractions, and actually gets things done: from the three-section structure to immovable items, color categories, gimme tasks, rewards, and the overflow list.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 48 min read


Why You Should Stop Trying to Get Good at Writing (and Just Write Badly Instead)
The first step to doing anything well — including writing — is being absolutely terrible at it. A professional editor makes the case for writing badly, consistently, without worrying about quality, and explains why comparing your work to published books is like comparing rhubarb to rhubarb pie.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 46 min read


Comparison Is the Thief of Confidence: 3 Unfair Writing Comparisons to Stop Making (and 2 That Actually Help)
Writers make three common comparisons that quietly destroy their confidence — comparing their drafts to published books, to peers in their writing group, and to writers at a similar age or stage. Here's why those comparisons are unfair, and two useful comparisons you can make instead.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 46 min read


From Idea to Draft: A Step-by-Step Process for Getting Your Story on the Page
You have the idea. Now what? This step-by-step process helps writers get their story out of their head and onto the page — using journalism's 5 Ws, inverted pyramid structure, five-act story structure, and a gap-filling exercise to build a solid plot before you draft.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 45 min read


How to Write More Concisely: 3 Editing Techniques for Tighter Prose
oncise writing isn't always better — but knowing how to cut is a skill every writer needs. A professional editor shares three practical editing techniques for tightening your prose: finding words that can be replaced by one, cutting nothingburgers, and a sentence-by-sentence brevity exercise.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 45 min read


How to Write Flash Fiction: 5 Principles for Telling a Whole Story in 1,000 Words
Flash fiction tells a complete story in 1,000 words or fewer — and it's one of the most publishable forms of short fiction. Learn five principles for writing great flash: starting from an image, showing without telling, using reader inference, making characters carry the story, and embracing ambiguity.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 46 min read


Writing With ADHD: 5 Strategies That Actually Work (Medication or Not)
Writing with ADHD is hard — focus, executive function, and procrastination work against you at every turn. Here are five strategies a professional editor with ADHD uses to start writing and keep writing, with or without medication.
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Catherine Forrest
Sep 410 min read


How to Read Your Own Writing: 3 Self-Editing Strategies That Actually Work
Reading your own writing with a critical eye is one of the hardest things a writer has to do. These three self-editing strategies — scene-by-scene synopsis, backward reading, and reading aloud — help you create the distance you need to find what's not working at every level, from plot to prose.
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Catherine Forrest
Aug 277 min read


How to Create an Author Website: A Beginner's Guide for Writers
An author website helps readers find you, showcases your bibliography, and gives journalists and event organizers a place to pull your bio and press photo. Here's how to build one from scratch — what pages to create, what to put on them, and which platforms make it easy even if you're not a web designer.
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Catherine Forrest
Aug 277 min read


Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas? 3 Goldmines Worth Mining Every Day
Every writer gets asked where their ideas come from. Here are three reliable sources fiction writers can return to again and again: dreams (even fragments), strategic creative borrowing, and the iteration game — a thought exercise that turns any existing story into something entirely your own.
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Catherine Forrest
Aug 274 min read


How to Format a Print Book Interior: A Self-Publishing Typesetting Guide
Formatting your own print book interior is doable if you know what decisions to make. This guide walks self-publishing authors through trim size, text block placement, gutter margins, running heads, folios, font selection, leading, chapter openers, and PDF file specs — everything needed to produce a press-ready interior file.
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Catherine Forrest
Aug 277 min read


5 Signs Your Publisher Is Scamming You (And What to Do About It)
Publishing predators target new and developing authors — and they're getting more sophisticated. Here are five clear warning signs that the "publisher" or "agent" in your inbox isn't legitimate, and what each scam actually looks like in practice.
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Catherine Forrest
Aug 276 min read


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