Self-Editing, The Writer’s Friend

All kinds of writers (fiction, business,  non-fiction, etc.) have all kinds of reasons they need to self-edit. 

For starters – well it’s the place to start. Even if you have it in your budget to hire a professional editor or you have friends in the office standing by to do a read through, the fact of the matter is you need to do a self-edit first…and maybe last. 

Great news is there are all kinds of helps you can use.  But, of course there are advantages and downsides to using those tools.  

The advantages? 

Many tools are free or low cost, yep, you can use many of them for nothing.  These tools aren’t human so if you have a difference with them it is quite impossible to insult them or cause hard feelings. If you pay attention to what you find when using these tools you’ll learn stuff. Really, you will. And a tool won’t judge you for misspelling the same word over and over, it will simply point that out for you to correct.

The disadvantages?

One is the same as the advantage – the tools aren’t human.  They won’t think for you. A tool may give you a heads up regarding potential problems, but it’s you as the writer who needs to decide what to address and how or if you should ignore it altogether.  A tool isn’t going to fix it for you. Sometimes a tool unearths something that isn’t clear and you’ll have to dig around  in craft of writing books or style guides to figure it out. 

So why don’t you give some helpful tools a try?

Check out the Hemingway App http://www.hemingwayapp.com/desktop.html   It will highlight adverbs in blue. After that you can dump them or leave ones you think are important leading the way to showing your reader instead of telling a story.

When you approach self-editing remember first it’s good to begin with the overview then work your way down to sentences and fixes for words. Use only one tool at a time or you’re really going to confuse yourself. And it isn’t necessary to use every tool in your toolbox every time you write. Think about which ones will do the job the best.

Here’s a link to eight proofreading tools you might find useful.

Meanwhile don't forget my new comic series, written and illustrated with Charlene Brash-Sorensen is Kindle Free through Thurs. Aug. 27.  Grab your copy now! 

 

Writers Don't Wait For Inspiration

 “You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

― Jack London

One of my favorite quotes on writing.

I don’t know how many writers still carry that image in their heads that a writer sits around contemplating until struck with a brilliant ideas at which point said writer begins to write in earnest. Hopefully not many.

I don’t know how many readers also have that same image of writers in their heads.

To both camps I say, get it out. Stomp that idea to death and do it now.

Hemingway had it closer with his famous quote, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Combine that first quote above with the second and it’s something closer to what writing is all about.

Seriously, you can’t sit and wait for ‘inspiration’, you have to pursue it, look for it, grab it when it comes your way. If your muse is busy, read something that might spark an idea, take a brisk walk, play with your dog. Do something that relaxes and inspires you and throws that door open to new ideas.

Staring off into space can be you conjuring an idea, but if all you’re doing IS staring off into space, you need to get moving. Stir the pot!

Sometimes it’s as simple as tossing words onto paper, type something or write something, anything, then follow with more words. A full-blown idea just might kick in.

But whatever you do, don’t think sitting around, waiting, will do it for you. Some ideas strike out of the blue, others need to be tracked down and subdued.

Because an idea doesn’t come to you easily don’t think if you simply wait long enough it will.

It won’t.

Part of the trick is always remaining open to new ideas and experiences; always think of the ways of the world as grist for your mill. If you’re continually ‘tuned in’ ideas flow much more easily. There really is nothing magic about the muse hitting you over the head with a fresh, new idea. You’re generating them all the time and there’s no end to strange, interesting, funny and bizarre happenings and behaviors to feed your need.

Hey, writing standing up doesn’t hurt either!

So, get up, grab a club and go after that muse.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Puncutation

This one is for pretty much everyone - writers, readers, students, anybody who plays with the language frequently and at times gets a bit puzzled about punctuation usage.  How To Use Punctuation Correctly is there to help.

Seriously, check it out! 

And while you're at it here are a couple of blogs worth visiting as well:

DavidHaywoodYoung  - a new writer

Marcy Kennedy Science Fiction & Fantasy Author 

Writers & Readers WEbsites Wednesday - No Rules Just Write

Following up on my "Forget The Rules, Just Write" I stumbled on CJ Lynos' site "No Rules Just Write".  She offers a lovely assemblage of free and at a cost items. Why, after all, do we think we should get everything free?  

 

Dig around a bit, you'll find a helpful, brief video on formatting for Kindle, CJ's Writer's Toolbox, and Writer's Resources among other things. What the heck, why not?

And if you have some undiscovered gems of websites I haven't yet unearthed, be sure to comment and add them below.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Auto Correct for Readers & Writers

You all probably already know about auto correct on Word and may well sometimes swear at it, but come visit Gary Corby's blog, specifically the post Auto Correct Is Your Friend, and get some great tips on how to use it effectively for writers.  Anybody who reads or writes will be interested in this since it gives some great tips - the rest of his site is fun as well!

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday

 

Okay, now this is a very helpful, interesting, and visual site, the Visual Dictionary Online.  An excellent resource and entertaining for readers and writers alike.

Have a great Wednesday and don't pass this one up. 

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday

Time for a new website I stumbled across and this one's pretty good.  It's called Diploma Guide, but don't let that name confuse or stop you.  

They offer writing courses online from top universities and education websites and they're free.  On a pretty nice variety of writing topics to. 

Beginning, editing and proofing, poetry, essays and yes, more, are offered by MIT, UK's Open University, Crafty Writer, UCLA, Purdue and well, others. 

Tool around, check out the site and see if there are any offerings here that might help you take your writing up a notch.

Tell me if you find a helpful course here and if you know of any other free and helpful writing courses please note them below for others. 

Developing Your Craft – of Writing

We do a lot of wandering in this blog about writing, writers, the craft of writing, websites for writers; pretty much anything writing related. This time around we're going to get back to some basics and those basics apply to pretty much all writing. 

A number of these you may have heard before, but well, you're going to hear them again.  This is a wake up call – get your head out of the sand and improve your craft. We know you have good ideas. Now's the time to back up, take a break, look around and get really good at expressing those stories into books, screenplays, whatever  your pleasure.

So, here goes ~

1. Use simple, declarative sentences. Don't get all fancy and flowery on us. Write tight and write exciting. Grab the reader by the eyeballs and that doesn't happen when you write the sentence that never ends.

2.  Avoid using the passive voice. Who wants passive in an exciting, engaging and interesting story? So don't use sentences like “The village had been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath”, instead, make it, “The dragon scorched the village with his fiery breath.” or “Why was the road crossed by the chicken” becomes “Why did the chicken cross the road.” Really folks, it's not that hard, read with an eye toward passive voice – look it up on the web if you need more examples or don't get what I'm telling you here.

3. Again, keep it simple and limit your use of adjectives and adverbs. Yes, give your reader the information he or she needs to want to continue reading, but a continual barrage of adjectives and adverbs. If you have trouble with this concept Karen Elizabeth Gordon's book, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed may be of assistance.

4.  Go easy on your descriptive narrative.  Yes your readers want the scene set, they want to know about the people, but they don't want it to go on forever so don't overwrite.  And that leads us to –

5.  Reread your work – consider each word you've written thats three syllables or more long and think about whether it can be replaced by a simpler, crisper word.

6.  Avoid ifs, buts, and can'ts – unless absolutely necessary. I try not to say things like this, but I've seen them peppered throughout manuscripts and it's definitely worth keeping your eye on.

7. Oh, and finally, cut the crap and never rescue your hero. Seriously. He got himself into this, he can darn well get himself out. In fact he better get himself out. I mean where is your imagination? If the main character doesn't find a way out of whatever hot water you've tossed him or her into and you need to extract tweezers and pluck the hero out of the boiling cauldron, what fun is that? Nope, that stalwart has to find a way out. You're not it – well you are in the sense that you're writing the story, the book, the screenplay, but you know what I mean.

8.  And finally you might consider stopping the multi-tasking crap when you write and go more with mono-tasking. Turn off the phone, Click off your browser (unless you're researching and then click off when you're done). Break your addiction and focus.

Think about it and writers tell me if any of these reminders strike a chord.

Readers, tell me if any of the above ring any bells and have caused you to be unhappy with a book or to give up on it altogether.~ We're all in this together.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Grammar Girl

Need some help with your grammar? Do you feel a bit like a lion tamer when you confront grammar, punctuation, etc.? 

Then Grammar Girl is your site - presided over by bestselling authority Mignon Fogarty, it tackles grammatical quandries, answers difficult questions about punctuation, word choice, style and more. Visit and get your puzzling questions answered. 

Next week I'll be posting one of my regular articles now that the holidays have moved on by like a crashing wave -- stay tuned!

Writers Websites Wednesday

Writing.com has been online since 2000, bringing writers of all interests and skill levels free writing tools, inspiration, free portfolios so you can store and/or display your writings and contests.  Great website services for the writer and mostly for free. You need to join before you're let in on all the details, but it's worth giving up your e-mail address to join.

The Writer's Bane & Joy - Character Naming

Names = preconceptions. 

That's the way it is, you can't get away from it. You hear the name John or Cameron, Elizabeth or Carie and from somewhere deep inside you conjure.

Yes, you do.

Elizabeth can become Liz or Lizzie Bet or Betty.

Names can come from ethnic background, religious beliefs, or maybe a roll of the dice.

Think about it and you realize quickly enough how important the naming of your characters in script, novel or short story can be. Names can be a stumbling block or an inspiration. Easily remembered or a struggle. Give a character a wimpy or even just neutral name and you're liable to have a character who's unmotivated and doesn't do a whole lot.  Give that character a spunky name, a heroic name and weirdly it will even affect you as the writer. The right name fills a void and pumps life into that character.

Readers will tell you the same. A name that's right, for whatever reason, strikes a chord and draws the reader in.

What's in a name? A whole heckuva lot!

I still have a collection of name books on my shelf in hard copy.  Names are a must, they're important, they're character. When I'm stuck for a name it drives me crazy and I know it affects other writers the same way. There should be some magic method, but alas, there isn't.

But there are some things you can do, some places you can go.

Okay, simply, for starters, don't have your characters names all start with the same letter.  No Mary, Max, Megan, Melissa, Matt, Mike....you get it. It slows the reader down, makes him focus on which "M" character has taken the stage. I've mentioned this in another post, but it still holds.

When you pick a name, choose one that's realistic. When you're plowing through all the possibles it's easy to start reaching, you know, going for a  name that really stands out. Something flowery and expressive, or out of the medieval texts (that's okay  if you're writing a historical piece). But don't get carried away. Some characters are just "Bob" or "John" - really. The key is in how the character name fits - both the character and the story.

If what you're writing has a historic or geographic need to fulfill with the name, then do so.  The last thing you want to do is to insert a name so out of character with the time or place that you trip your reader right into a sudden dose of reality that drags them out of the dream world you created.

Another thought.  Is the name you've chosen gender-neutral?  Is it Lee or Tracy? If it is, make sure you make it plain from the get-go whether it's male or female.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, don't hesitate to change a name when the first one you picked just isn't working.  That's why you have a global replace function.

So, where can you look for all these names.  Lots of places. The Character Naming Sourcebook 

There's the Social Security Administration's records of baby names

You can find Victorian Era names.  

Then there's The Random Name Generator 

 The Fantasy Name Generator  that has links to several generators.

The Random Title Generator  Ooops, but that's a whole 'nother thing.

The Elvish Name Generator 

The Fake name Generator  

Behind The Name - Baby name meanings of first names


Then there's the Victorian and Steampunk name generator 

and probably a whole lot more if you care to spend some more time searching.

Check them out, tell me what you think and comment on your own name selection struggles.

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday - NaNoWriMo

This week a reminder - National Novel Writing Month is next month. - Writers dedicate November to writing your novel - readers, get in on the excitement, see what writers are doing, how they're progressing. There's fun stuff, stuff for new/young writers, events and more. A fun time for writers and readers. 

Follow in the footsteps of the greats - read! write!

Writers Websites Wednesday - Paper Rater Review

Manon  Eileen offers a great review at her site on Paper Rater. She gives the ins and outs on how it works and how it can work for you. Whether you're a professional writer, a student who wants to improve writing abilities or a reader who'd like to play around with this tool for your own amusement, it's a great one. Read the review, then click on the link to Paper Rater and try it out.  A great writer's tool for Writer's Websites Wednesday. Did I mention it's free?

Writers Websites Wednesday - Fortean Times

Okay, I not only admit I'm a fan of the weird and wonderful in our world and other folks' imaginations, I state it proudly!  

You too?  

Want unusual, maybe spooky and/or totally weird?  Bring along your sense of adventure, curiosity, natural skepticism and a good sense of humor. Check out the Fortean Times site, wander it's cubbyholes and discover all sorts of story-inspiring weirdness.  Great fun - I could wander that site for a very long time.  Let me know what you think of it.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Baby Name Genie

Struggling to find the perfect name for your character? Baby Name Genie could be your solution.  He comes up with some great combinations. Only hitch is, you supply the last name - he focuses on first and middle. A great way to kickstart the thought process even if the genie doesn't come up with the exact name you're looking for.

Writers Websites Wednesday - PaperRater for online proofing

 

Need online proofreading? Grammar check? Vocabulary building? Then Paper Rater is the place to do it. It's free and there are no downloads.  Young or old, new or experienced, this is a free resource, developed and maintained by linguistics professionals and graduate students. PaperRater.com is used by schools and universities in over 46 countries to help students improve their writing. Perhaps it can help you to

Writers Websites Wednesday - Story Starters

A bit hard to come up with an idea at times? Need a little kickstart?  The Story Starter is a fun site that kicks out random story starters. Over 2 billion of them!  Surely there's an idea in there somewhere that'll get the creative juices flowing.  Wander over and check  it out.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Create A Character

Oh, this is way too cool and too fun for writers.  You can go to Monoface and create the characters you can see in your mind's eye, one you never thought of, or you can check out other faces folks before you have created.

Give yourself something you can focus on for descriptions and just have a lot of fun. Another great internet toy to help you out ~ and of course waste some time. Click on the eyes, the nose, the chin, the hair and see what you can come up with. 

Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your comments.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Edit Your Own Galaxy

Galaxiki is a fun site - yep, we're all about fun!  And this is a fictional galaxy anyone is welcome to edit. Love SciFi? Tour it, get  your own solar system, read SciFi and have fun.

Are You a Writer Striving For a Novel Ending?

Writing is tricky.

Novel writing is even trickier.

Trickiest of all is bringing in that ending with punch, pow, wow and 'I'm sorry it's over' power that brings readers back for more, clamoring for your next book. The ending that helps get you an agent or a publisher - which helps lead to those readers.

So today I decided I'd write a bit about things you should and shouldn't do to create that nail-biting, throat-gripping ending.  Of course HOW you accomplish these ideals is up to you - you're the writer - but lets clarify some of the things that will help make the ending of your novel outstanding. 

First some things you SHOULD do.

Near the end is where your biggest surprises should happen.  Here's where some tiny trivial detail seen earlier in the book might play a big part in the ending. Not just might, but should.  Here's where that small detail the reader may well have skimmed over will pop out and be a very decisive factor in the novel's ending.  Remember that pocket knife Jimmy's dad gave him for his birthday?  Here's where that little knife can chisel a hole in the way and let him and his little sister escape to safety away from kidnappers.  Remember the bubble gum wrapper the killer dropped on the floor when he left the scene of the murder? Here's where that wrapper can play a crucial part in the murder's apprehension.  You get it.  The 'Wow' factor. 

Another thing you, as the writer, needs to do is to resolve the main conflict of your novel. No, I'm not telling you all your novels must be possessed of a 'happily ever after' ending, but something in your ending that's uplifting is a real boost. Readers love to be raised up a the end and remember publishers, editors and agents want to give readers what they want. So do you, actually. Here's where you put your imagination to the test.

As you write your way to the end of your novel it's also important to give your hero a chance to redeem himself.  Yes, he's screwed up royally along the way, made a mess of things, been a bit of a jerk, but it's part of the 'uplifting' thing above - in the end allow your reader to know the hero has done the right thing.

Here's also where you want to be writing those loose ends together.  All through the book you wrote you planted questions - yes you did.  This is the place, the here and now where your writing skills need to be directed to addressing each of those questions, creating closures.  Readers don't like to be left hanging so answer the questions even if it's just to say there's an issue that will be resolved after the book ends or perhaps in another book coming in the series (IF it is a series).

Those are some of the things that, as a writer, you should do.  So what shouldn't you do?

Well the ending isn't the place to introduce new characters and/or subplots. Don't stick something in that hasn't been foreshadowded.  It's jarring and it could well cause your readers to blow you off for future books.

The ending of your novel isn't the time to change your writer's voice or tone either. Be consistent.

Avoid writing page after page of explanation of philosophizing at the end of your book.  Keep your descriptions to a minimum and focus on the conflict and it's resolution. You should have planted all sorts of goodies previous to the last 50 or so pages of your story. Now's the time to moved it along and wrap it up.

And please, above all, don't create a gimmicky ending. Don't come up with some strange twist in your writing that is nothing more than the coward's way out of completing the novel you've written. If your reader is here with you at the end it's because you've written well, tossed out the interesting hooks and he or she is looking for a satisfying ending.  Don't trick or cheat your reader, you're a better writer than that.