On April 4, 2023, I was pleased to interview authenticity reader Crystal Shelley before a live audience in the Fictionary community. I’ve long benefited from the resources Crystal produces, and I have unending respect for her and for the way she approaches her work.

In this informative interview Crystal sheds light on authenticity reading and her approach to language. We also talk about her Conscious Language Toolkit for writers and editors, and at the end of the presentation we give away a copy of that wonderful resource to one of our lucky attendees.

Upcoming interviews can be joined live by registered members of the Fictionary community, and it’s always free to register.

James Gallagher is the owner of Castle Walls Editing, a Fictionary-Certified StoryCoach, and the copy editor of more than 250 books.

About Crystal Shelley

Crystal Shelley is the owner of Rabbit with a Red Pen, where she provides editing and authenticity reading services to fiction authors. Drawing on her background as a social worker, she unites her love of language and her passion for social justice by advocating conscious language use and inclusive representation in her editorial work. She is the creator of the Conscious Language Toolkit for Editors and Writers and serves on the board of ACES: The Society for Editing.

About Fictionary

Fictionary is a story-editing software that allows writers and editors to glean insights and perform developmental edits on their works using Fictionary’s 38 story elements for character, plot, and setting.

The software also provides attractive visual reports, including the story arc (showing location of the inciting incident, plot point 1, midpoint, plot point 2, and climax), as well as reports illustrating such items as the story map, character list, and word count per scene.

More information can be found at Fictionary.co.

The Fictionary community can be found here (free to register).