Tag Archives: writing

December 8, 2016 · 10:47 am

Rewriting: An Overview of the Process

Absolutely one of the best dicussions of story structure I’ve read. Resonates on so many levels for me! I just wrote to a writing group colleague that a story that’s working tells me what it’s about, and I think that sentiment jibes with this discussion. Let me know what you think!

MDellert-dot-Com

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.”
— C. J. Cherryh

The goal of the rewrite is simple, but not easy. You want your story to live. To accomplish this, it’s helpful to have a basic confidence in the arc of your heroine’s journey before getting more specific with character, dialogue, and the refinement of prose. You’re seeking to create a story that amuses and entertains, but also captures some complexity and truth about the human experience.

This is a daunting task because—be honest—there’s a bit of inflexibility in your relationship with your first draft. On the one hand, you fear that if it’s not told as precisely as you imagined it, it won’t work. On the other hand, it feels somewhat unsatisfying as written.

So the biggest challenge in the rewriting is being able to make a thousand little painful paper-cut changes while avoiding…

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Filed under Editing your novel, Learning to write, Myths and Truths for writers, Plot Development for writers, self editing for fiction writers, Writing, Writing and Learning, writing novels

Tagged as #amediting, #amwriting, creative writing, fiction, plotting a novel, revision, rewriting, story question, story structure, writer's craft, writing

December 6, 2016 · 2:48 pm

Describers vs. Prescribers: Reaching a Linguistic Common Ground

Visit from the Grammar Police!

Reading this piece from Nicholas C. Rossis, I couldn’t help giving a mental high-five. Starting sentences with gerunds (and various other odd bits of language) is absolutely okay! I would caution that starting sentences with -ing forms of verbs can all too easily lead to “dangling modifiers,” for example, “Reading this, it was a really good discussion of an issue we all face.” If you’re not sure why that sentence DOES contain a sentence-structure error, look up “dangling modifiers.” Returning, however, to the question of prescriptive versus descriptive language mavens, I ask only—well, mainly—that the parts of sentences hook up logically so that I can tell what modifies what and who’s doing what.
I have a feeling this is sliding into a rant. Check my series on “How Much Grammar Do You Need,” and here and here, for my largely descriptivist views.

Nicholas C. Rossis

When I published The Power of Six, my first collection of short stories, a reviewer said that the book had grammatical errors, albeit small ones. This shocked me, as the book had been professionally edited and proof-read. So, I reached out and asked her for an example. “You start a sentence with a gerund,” she said. “So?” I asked. “So, that’s wrong.”

I was baffled by this. Surely, that’s a matter of style, right?

This seemingly innocent question actually led me into a minefield. As The Economist points out, for half a century, language experts have fallen into two camps. Most lexicographers and academic linguists stand on one side, and traditionalist writers and editors on the other. The question that defines the to camps is deceivingly simple: should language experts describe the state of the language accurately? (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, in 1961, shocked the world by including common…

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Tagged as creative writing, dangling modifiers, gerunds, grammar, self editing for fiction writers, writing, writing novels

December 4, 2016 · 10:27 am

How to Be Found on Google Today, 17 Powerful Tools

All you ever wanted to know about how to use Google resources! Thanks, Chris, for reblogging.

Have you used any of these? Which ones should we focus on?

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

This post offers a description of 19 Google tools and explains how they will help website creators get their sites found on search engines.

Source: How to Be Found on Google Today, 17 Powerful Tools

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Filed under blogging, business of writing, ebooks publishing and selling, indie publishing, Marketing books, Print on Demand for fiction writers, Self-publishing, Writing

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November 28, 2016 · 10:50 am

Writing a Press Release!

Typing up your press release for your book! These clear instructions and multiple templates and examples for how to write a press release for your book are exactly what I’ve been looking for. Now to get busy and DO IT! Share your experiences writing and sending out releases for your books!

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Filed under business of writing, ebooks publishing and selling, indie publishing, Marketing books, Money issues for writers, Print on Demand for fiction writers, Self-publishing, Writing, writing novels

Tagged as creative writing, fiction, Marketing books, Press releases for books, writing, writing novels

November 21, 2016 · 9:51 am

Stupid Writing Rules: 12 Dumb Things New Writers Tell Each Other

Fortunately for me, the members of both of the writing groups I belong to don’t traffic in most of these pointless prescriptions and proscriptions. I do, however, agree that too many people have a basic fear of the word “was.” As Allen points out, there’s a big difference between “I was reading when she came in” and “I read when she came in.” Also “had.” Sometimes the past perfect is just necessary. Do you have any “stupid rules” to add, or do you take exception to Allen’s judgment on these?

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Filed under correct grammar for writers of fiction, ebooks publishing and selling, Editing your novel, grammar rules for writers, indie publishing, Learning to write, Myths and Truths for writers, Plot Development for writers, punctuation for writers of novels, self editing for fiction writers, Self-publishing, style for writers, What Not To Do in Writing Novels, Writers' groups, Writing, writing novels

Tagged as ", creative writing, Editing your novel, fiction, grammar, point of view, writing, writing novels

November 13, 2016 · 9:39 am

What Happens In Your Brain When You Write?

This interesting infographic reinforces several things writing teachers know about writing. Writing is a powerful “mode of learning,” to borrow from 1970s writing researcher Janet Emig, because it does so many of the things shown here. One thing it does really well is to SLOW YOU DOWN so information has time to work its way into your synapses and new ideas to bubble up.

And as this infographic shows, writing involves your body and your senses, not just isolated parts of your brain.

And writing pushes you to be more precise in diction and sentence construction, since you can’t just toss a few disjointed words out but must connect them logically to each other.

So when you want to learn or remember something, write about it!

Archer's Aim

Amazing Facts on Writing and How it Affects Our Brain [Infographic] - An Infographic from BestInfographics.co

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Tagged as creative writing, fiction, graphics, infographic, Janet Emig, writing, writing and cognition, Writing as a mode of learning, writing novels

November 7, 2016 · 10:58 am

A Book Production Checklist for Indie Authors

A comprehensive list for producing your own book for ingram, CreateSpace, KDP, and others! Lots of links and resources. Thanks, Chris!

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

An extract by Carla King, on BookWorks Site:

Are you ready to upload your book for sale to the online retailers?

Got all your front and back matter, images, fonts, and ISBNs?

Use this checklist to make sure you’ve done everything you can to create a quality book that competes with books produced in the traditional publishing houses.

But first, here’s a quick overview of the entire book production process.

It begins with an unedited manuscript and ends with a check of the final proof before distribution.

Continue learning at the following link:

Book Production Checklist

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Filed under Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, book design for creative writers, business of writing, ebooks publishing and selling, indie publishing, Print on Demand for fiction writers, Publishing, Self-publishing, Tech tips for writers, Writing, writing novels

Tagged as book production, covers, CreateSpace, creative writing, ebooks publishing and selling, IngramSpark, MS Word, publishing, Smashwords, writing, writing novels

November 3, 2016 · 10:38 am

Do you know how to publish an ebook with pictures?

Here’s some simple advice that may prove useful even if you’re not working on a children’s picture book! Jean Cogdell tries things out for us and shares!

Jean's Writing

Using MS-Word?

Success at last! When I loaded it up to KDP, everything worked!

If you write children’s books or comic books, I’m sure you’ve heard of Kindle Kids’ Book Creator. This program is terrific. However, the program limits which electronic devices that can open and read the book.

I wanted my picture books to be available on e-readers and tablets. I found out after using KKBC for A Most Reluctant Princess; this wasn’t possible. Using KKBC limits which electronic devices available. Since publishing my first picture book, I’ve read tips, blogs, instructions, and watched videos searching a way to use MS-Word.

No one had the answers I needed. So, I began experimenting until I figured out a process that worked.

My new book, A Reluctant Little Prince, in e-book form, is written on MS-Word and can be read on a Kindle. Yay!

For the print version…

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October 31, 2016 · 9:58 am

Some Helpful Advice on Copyright, ISBNs, and More

Books leading to a door in a brick wall Joel Friedlander is always a wonderful resource. Today’s “Mailbag” covers some important questions about copyright and ISBNs, as well as some questions about vendors and formatting decisions. Check it out!