by Christine Bode | Fév 7, 2026 | Writing Tips
Editors form early impressions, but not final judgments. The first five pages of a manuscript offer signals, not conclusions. Within those opening moments, your manuscript’s first five pages reveal how a writer approaches language, tone, and reader trust. Five pages...
by Christine Bode | Fév 3, 2026 | Writing Tips
Writers often ask me which rules matter most. My answer may surprise them. Your voice matters even more than grammar rules because voice is what readers remember. Voice is the living pulse beneath the prose. Without it, even flawless grammar falls flat. That doesn’t...
by Christine Bode | Jan 31, 2026 | Book Reviews
Book Review by Christine Bode Title: The HospitalityAuthor: Luna Asli KolcuPublisher: Self-PublishedReleased: January 20, 2026Pages: 144ASIN: B0GDS1NKNJStars: 4.0 “Some families pass down heirlooms. Some pass down land. The Ashfords pass down guests.” Discovering a...
by Christine Bode | Jan 27, 2026 | Writing Tips
Readers don’t fall in love with characters because of perfect prose. They care because the characters feel alive. If you want to write compelling characters without overwriting, you must resist the urge to explain everything. Overwriting takes various forms:...
by Christine Bode | Jan 24, 2026 | Editing Tips
Editors rely on The Chicago Manual of Style, so authors don’t have to. One of the primary roles of a professional editor is to apply CMOS consistently behind the scenes, allowing authors to focus on storytelling rather than technical rules. If you’re writing fiction...
by Christine Bode | Jan 20, 2026 | Writing Tips
Every writer wants readers to forget they’re reading and feel like they’re listening. That’s the heart of natural dialogue writing tips—crafting conversations that feel alive rather than constructed. Dialogue that breathes exists where characters speak with purpose,...
by Christine Bode | Jan 17, 2026 | Writing Tips
From your first draft onward, show vs tell writing tips matter more than you might think. Writers everywhere hear “show, don’t tell,” but few stop to ask what that really means. Worse, many feel shame when they don’t do it perfectly. We won’t let that happen....
by Christine Bode | Jan 13, 2026 | Publishing Industry
Ah, the tantalizing dream of self-publishing. It’s the siren call that whispers, You can do this your way. And you can—but let’s not pretend it’s simple. That’s why I’m offering self-publishing success tips for authors who want it done right....
by Christine Bode | Jan 10, 2026 | Book Reviews
Book Review by Christine Bode Title: No Life but Immortality: Book 1 of Geryon’s Code CycleAuthor: Liudmila BrusPublisher: Ghost WorkshopReleased: October 29, 2024Pages: 357ASIN: B0DLGLPQCJStars: 4.0 “Something catastrophic has caused a global blackout of the...
by Christine Bode | Jan 6, 2026 | Writing Tips
Many writers believe good writing is flawless writing. Clean sentences. Perfect grammar. Not a comma out of place. That belief is understandable and deeply unhelpful. In practice, perfectionism stalls manuscripts, dulls voices, and keeps books from ever attracting...
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