Neil Fein

4,051 reputation

11034

bio	website	neilfein.com
	location	New Jersey
	age
visits	member for	2 years, 6 months
	seen	9 hours ago
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A freelance editor, I specialize in fiction but I've worked on non-fiction as well as web copy, corporate literature, and non-profit materials. I also edit and write for the group blog Magnificent Nose, which covers many topics but gravitates towards articles about writing and reading.

I'm also a lyricist; a guitarist for the band Baroque & Hungry; and I'm a touring cyclist.

	4,051 reputation	bio	website	neilfein.com	visits	member for	2 years, 6 months
11034 badges		location	New Jersey		seen	9 hours ago

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Apr 13	comment	What types of research do writers do in advance of writing? You're welcome. I'll keep an eye out for this there; I'll be happy to comment from the point of view of an editor. I'm going to close this as non-constructive, but feel free to further edit it (or post more questions here).
Apr 13	comment	What types of research do writers do in advance of writing? This question, while interesting and relevant, is more of a poll than an answerable question. It'd really be more appropriate on a discussion forum. (A place like r/writing would get you a lot of good answers.) Are you willing to edit this into something more answerable?
Apr 12	comment	What is the preferred way to type out ellipses? Welcome to Writers!
Apr 12	comment	What is the preferred way to type out ellipses? @RegDwight - Just saw this. It's a bit late, but should I still send this over to ELU? (It's fine here as a style question.)
Apr 12	comment	Critique a short essay But generally, where you break paragraphs is a matter of personal taste. You want to keep similar thoughts together, but you can also change the rhythm of the text by varying paragraph length. An analogy to speaking helps: If a comma or a period is where you take a breath, a paragraph is where you might put a dramatic pause.
Apr 12	comment	Critique a short essay For the purposes of critique, this is good enough. It's easier to refer to text when you have it split up like this.
Apr 12	comment	Critique a short essay Not a full critique, but I'd seriously consider chopping this into paragraphs.
Apr 10	comment	Automated correction of google translated documents The problem is that, if this is a question about finding a tool, it's fine here; if this is about creating a tool, it's straddling the line between whats on-topic here and what isn't. You're also more likely to get answers about constructing a coding solution on Stack Overflow, and maybe about assembling a solution from components on SuperUser. (Software recommendations are off-topic on the latter site, I checked.) Are you willing to edit this so it's more of a tool recommendation? If not, we'll be closing this for now.
Apr 10	comment	Automated correction of google translated documents I'm a little unclear on what you're looking for. An out-of-the-box solution? A library of translation routines you can use to roll your own solution? Something else?
Apr 9	comment	How can I improve my analytical writing for a standardized test? Dylan, this question is currently asking for a list of books, which is not on-topic here on Writers. However, @Kit is correct in that this can be edited into a question that will work here. I'll try; please let me know if it's what you want.
Apr 8	comment	german tourist or German tourist? @Robusto - Like this, alas.
Apr 8	comment	Writing in second language @MonicaCellio - Agreed. This needs clarification.
Apr 8	comment	Ideas for nicknames of characters in a story I'm sorry to say that asking for suggestions like this is, essentially, starting a discussion, which is a kind of question that doesn't work well on Stack Exchange sites. You may want to familiarize yourself with our FAQ, particularly this section, to get more of an idea why. You might get better results by brainstorming about this in chat, or in a conventional discussion forum.
Apr 7	comment	Ways to improve your writing skills @JohnSmithers - Ah, now I can see it in the original post source code. (It's not visible in the version tracking, where I first looked.) And I know how the edit button works, thank you. :P
Apr 7	comment	Ways to improve your writing skills @John - Maybe I missed something, but how did you puzzle "Elements" out of this?
Apr 7	comment	To translate a novel with Westerner's point of view There's still no real question to be answered here, only a call to discuss the situation. Des, please keep asking more questions about specific aspects of your project, as you did in this excellent question. But asking about very short bits of text - a few sentences, say - is off-topic on this site. @Lauren - who advised you to do this - may not be aware of this. (Or maybe you were thinking of the imagery involved?)
Apr 6	comment	Tenses I should use in a translated-novel Des, that's very helpful. I've edited your question to reflect this information, but any possible answers will still be ungrounded opinions. To help people give you better answers, it could be helpful to learn a few more things: Why do you think you might want to use present tense? What tense is used in the source language? What tone do you want to convey in the translated book? What are the goals of the translation?
Apr 6	comment	german tourist or German tourist? Des, welcome to Writers, but as per our FAQ this is off-topic here. I'm going to send this to our sister site, English Language and Usage.
Apr 6	comment	Tenses I should use in a translated-novel Welcome to Writers.SE. I'm unclear on what question you're asking, exactly; could you please clarify?
Apr 5	comment	How to avoid specifying the gender in English when the original text does not specify it? @C.A.McCann - I was unaware that singular "they" was such an old construct. (Or are you referring to "thou" and I'm missing the point?) Not doubting you, but I'd love to learn more on this; do you have a source with more details?