Clear, concise, accurate: these are words that guided Diana Richards in her 25-year career as an instructional designer and business trainer. Turns out, they are the same words that drive her as an editor and writer.
Those words and the practice they embody have helped Diana in her years as a Senior Tutor in the Writer Center at Johnson County Community College. Diana has also been a copy editor for an international magazine and says, “It doesn’t matter what you’re writing. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, a mystery or a romance, you will lose your message if it’s not built on a strong foundation of solid grammar and proper punctuation.”
So it’s no surprise that Diana will join us at this year’s Writers Conference to offer One-on-One Edits, which will focus on readability and transparency. These sessions, Diana says, are not for theoreticians or academics; they are for real writers in the real world. Emphasis will be on how to use punctuation and grammar to enhance your story, not impede it.
Diana is a past winner of our writing contest. Her story, “Cactus,” was selected in 2021 for the category The Fool’s Journey. You can read it here.
—written by Lisa Allen, adult services specialist