Writing & Editing

This episode of Editing Writing is an interview I did with Emily Enger. She runs a marketing service for writers of all kinds—though perhaps mostly those who have self-published or have published with a small press—called Good Enough Book Marketing. She’s a book marketing coach, and as she puts it, she is “helping authors cut through the marketing noise to stay true to their first calling of writi...

The comedian who’s my guest today is actually someone I’ve known personally for the past 5 or 6 years. Matt Balaker. He and I co-wrote a biography of the great standup comedian named Greg Giraldo, which was published in 2019. Matt is a really great guy, generous, easy to talk to, and very funny. It was a real hoot working with him. I’ve never actually seen Matt perform standup—he lives in the US a...

Wayne talks about two aspects of detail in writing: le mot juste and the telling detail. All inspired by another podcaster oversharing a little …

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview I did with Ashley Kalagian Blunt. Ashley is a writer with three books to her credit and is currently working on her fourth. She also teaches writing as well as creativity generally, and co-hosts with her husband the podcast James and Ashley Stay at Home . She was really fun to talk to, and she has a lot of practical advice for writers.

Wayne talks about the lies in our culture, but the truth among pornographers and standup comedians.

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview and chat I had with Robert Rosen on April 10. He was in New York City and I was, as usual, in Ottawa, Canada. Robert is a writer and editor who has produced several books and whose work has appeared in many magazines and periodicals. I was particularly interested though in his book about when he worked in the porn industry as an editor and w...

Wayne discusses some of the new words and uses of words that have come into English in the last couple of years since COVID began, and also how they illustrate some typical ways in which the language works.

This episode consists of an interview I did via Zoom with Lauca (she is in Germany and I am in Canada). I had come across her website and I was interested in several aspects of her work, including the different genres she writes in, reactions to her decision to write from the point of view of a man, and her experience with self-publishing. You can check out some of her work on her website, lauca.e...

Wayne talks about the importance of tone, and consistency of tone, in writing. He defines the term, provides some examples to illustrate the meaning, and also some cases from his editing work where issues of tone need to be addressed.

Wayne talks about dictionaries and words, specifically the Oxford English Dictionary , and the five possible things that happen to any word that ever enters the English language.

Wayne makes some comments about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the Academy Awards ceremony, and extrapolates to talk about art in general and how it is separate from real life.

In this episode, Wayne interviews young fantasy writer Sarah Humpherys, who had her first novel published when she was just 16 years old. You can check out her website here , and purchase her novel on amazon , where (as of March 26, 2022) she has an impressive 4.5 rating based on 70 reviews. Sarah lives in Utah.

Wayne talks about the use of euphemism not only in our everyday personal lives, but also in society in general as well as in contexts such as war or where the stakes are high for an organization that cannot really come out and say in plain language the truth about what it is up to.

Wayne discusses in general how it's inappropriate to make comparisons between versions of the same work done in two different art forms, and then talks about some of his favourites: American Psycho; Hamlet; Glengarry Glen Ross; A Clockwork Orange; and The Exorcist .

Wayne provides a list of 11 things that, as an editor, he commonly sees in the writing by his clients. How many do you know?

Wayne talks about blocks, sentences, and transitions.

Wayne receives an assignment from NATO and the EU to write a communiqué tomorrow about the war in Ukraine.

Wayne talks about lying in in writing, in film, and in real life.

As they say, it's like it says on the tin: Wayne discusses and gives some examples of some of the basic reference works (dictionaries and much more) that any writer should have handy.

Wayne uses examples from fiction and from film to talk about the 4 (or 5) different ways in which sex scenes are done: Clinical Euphemistic Vernacular Literary (Evasive)

Wayne interviews and chats with his friend Mel Simoneau, who's written and published both poetry and non-fiction, about the similarities and differences between the mindsets and methods in writing them both.

Wayne analyzes the writing in the speech that Vladimir Putin gave on Russian television before the invasion of Ukraine. There are similarities in the rhetoric to speeches given in the past by Western leaders. Along the way, George Carlin and Jonathan Swift are invoked to bring some sense to everything.

Wayne discusses why and how editors keep all aspects of their clients' work consistent. One of the main tools in this effort is the "style sheet."

Wayne talks about his valuing the style and the how of fiction (and film), and along the way has some comments on non-fiction, editing, the Talking Heads, and figure skating.

Wayne talks about the various things you need to do in order to self-publish your book, and also identifies a new player in the overall publishing business: the company specifically designed to provide full service for self-publishing authors.