Common Mistakes New and Indie Writers Sometimes Make

There is a lot to keep in mind when you write a novel, memoir, or other non-fiction book. Enthusiasm is great to have and necessary for getting that first draft and subsequent revisions done. But here are some common issues I frequently see in manuscripts from clients. Are any of them ones you need to watch for?

Let’s look at some technical matters.

Punctuation: Not everyone loves punctuation. Not everyone knows how to use it. If you don’t know how to use it and aren’t inclined to learn, be certain to use the services of an editor or proofreader. A literary agent or publisher wants to see the best copy you can submit. If you self-publish, your readers will appreciate proper punctuation. You see, in real life our hand gestures, vocal intonations, and facial expressions clarify our intended meaning of the words we use. In the written word, punctuation is one way we accomplish this.

And then there’s dialogue. Many writers do not know how to punctuate dialogue. As important as punctuation is in narrative, it is equally important in dialogue.

Fact Checking and Spelling: You can certainly use the spell-check feature, but you still have to make sure the right word is used. If you mean to write “I put my keys right there,” but type “their” or “they’re,” spell-check will only highlight the wrong word if it’s misspelled. The grammar feature may highlight it, but you may not notice it.

When it comes to fact checking, just do it. I’ve seen clients use business or brand names, universities or institutions, song or video titles, and so on, without verifying the correct names, titles, or spellings. With the Internet so available these days (or a phone directory or library reference desk), there’s no reason for this to happen. And you don’t want readers, including agents or publishers, to see that you didn’t go the distance to get such things right. It won’t speak well for you as a writer.

Space between Sentences: When everyone used typewriters, it was necessary to have two spaces between sentences. Now that most people use computers, only one space is needed. In fact, it’s now industry standard. You can also look at this from a monetary aspect: The extra spaces create extra pages. Extra pages cost more to print. A traditional publisher won’t allow it. If you self-publish in print, your cost and cost to readers will be more than it needs to be. Even if you self-publish an e-book, that extra space throughout your text will make the book longer than it should be.

Space between Paragraphs; Indents: I’ve noticed that some e-books don’t indent paragraphs. Instead, they include a space between paragraphs. This isn’t a requirement for e-book formatting, and traditional publishers usually make e-books look like print versions. But I will say that for print, it’s best if you indent each paragraph (5 spaces) and leave out the space between the paragraphs. Again, you can look at the economics of this: extra space equals extra pages that results in extra cost. If you intend to submit to a literary agent or publisher, make sure your paragraphs are indented (including dialogue) and there’s no space between paragraphs. This is what they expect and consider professional.

No Chapters or Too-Long Chapters: Some writers get so excited about writing they forget to use chapters (some forget to use paragraphs). Or they get so into writing they don’t notice how long their chapters are. One client’s first chapter of his manuscript was 42 single-spaced pages. In paperback, that comes out to something like twice that number of pages—way too long for a chapter. Even 42 print pages for a chapter is too long. In times past, when readers didn’t have TV or radio, much less electronic devices, they didn’t mind long books with long chapters. That’s not the way it is today. Readers want pace and punch. And the fact is that if a chapter is only a few to several pages long, or has scene breaks, readers will keep reading to see what happens next.

No Scene Changes or Breaks: When the next scene comes after an interval of “time” has passed since the last scene, or an entirely new scene is presented, this must be indicated to readers.

Mixed Themes/Scenes in the Same Paragraph: Often a writer gets everything down but not necessarily where it best belongs. Each paragraph is a scene unto itself, within a scene. Everything that occurs in the story through narrative or dialogue is to lead to the very next thing that is to or should occur. This holds true for paragraphs.  

Tense: I’ve seen people start out in the right tense then slip out of it. Sometimes the writer starts in the wrong tense and stays there. This usually means the manuscript is written in synopsis form, rather than manuscript form. Example of proper tense, in third-person point of view (POV): Marcus walked to the window and peered at the shadowed form behind the oak tree. Example of improper tense: Marcus walks to the window and peers at the shadowed form behind the oak tree. The first example puts readers into the story. The second example reminds them they’re reading.

Overuse of Words or Use of Incorrect Words: There will be words you cannot avoid using often, but there are words that should not be used more than once in the same sentence or paragraph or even again in the entire story—because they stand out. Example: Marcus suddenly stood, alerted by a sudden noise. He walked to the window and peered out. Suddenly, a shadowed form moved behind the oak tree.

As for incorrect words—if you only think you know what a word means, please look it up in the dictionary to make certain it’s the right word for what you mean to say. I’d say use a thesaurus, which is good advice, but be sure to check the definition of the alternate word or words. One client used a thesaurus to find another word for sensual, found salacious, and kept using it, believing the two words meant exactly the same thing. I knew she likely didn’t know what the alternate word actually meant, because it wasn’t that kind of book. When I provided the definition and asked her if that truly was her intended meaning, she was so very glad I paid attention.

Hyphens: If you aren’t certain whether or not two words require a hyphen, are written as two words, or form one word, the dictionary is the place to go to confirm this. I suggest that unless you have access to a proper reference online, stick with the dictionary. If someone wrote it wrong online, you’ll copy them. You don’t want to do that.

Those were some of the most frequent technical matters I see. Now for several creative issues that crop up often.

Proper Attention to Timeline: Are you familiar with the term “pantser”? Pantsers are writers who write by “the seat of their pants”—meaning they write without planning or an outline. This is not a promotion for outlining, but to bring your awareness onto the necessity of paying attention to what’s happening in the story so that scenes and events are logical and or sequential. Novel writers should have at least these three things on hand, whether created beforehand or as they write: a list of characters, character sketches, and a timeline for scenes and events.

The timeline will help you keep events, and when they happen in time, in proper order. This includes keeping track of hours, days, weeks, months, and years, as needed for the story. Also track the ages of your main characters, the year the story takes place in, and the year or years of any back story instances. If your protagonist is now 40 and you want to use a scene from his high school prom, including a special song he danced to, make certain the song comes from that prom year, rather than a song that didn’t exist at that time. This holds true for any real-life and fictional events used in the story.

Character Development: I mentioned character sketches above. The more you know about your characters the easier it is to write them. You can look up my article about this on this site: “Developing Strong Characters.” I provided what’s needed to create a character sketch, which you should do for each significant character. You want to make them as real to readers as possible. Cardboard characters do not engage readers.

Setting: Give a sense of place for readers. Your characters do not act and speak in a void. They need place. Readers want place. See my article about setting on this site: “The Importance of Setting in a Novel.” Even memoirs and other non-fiction books require setting in some form.

Inconsistencies: You have to watch for these. They can sneak up on you when you’re more involved with writing than with paying attention to what you’re writing. If your protagonist is completely bald, don’t have him run his fingers through his hair.

Keeping It Real: In books like the Harry Potter series and other magical stories, a character that needs a hammer can have one appear out of nowhere. That’s acceptable to readers (believable), because of the type of book it is. If your non-magical detective needs a hammer and “suddenly” has one in his hand, it won’t work. He has to look for or see a hammer nearby and pick it up. Also, figure out how things can happen. Never write something like this: Marcus somehow got out of the locked room.

Recommendations

One solution that can assist every writer with these or other technical and creative matters is this: Read. Read more than you may be reading now. Read to enjoy a book, but also read or reread it with the attention of a writer. One disclaimer: There are a number of differences between American and British writing. This includes some spellings, punctuation, and grammar. Do not mix the two up. Example: Among is the American usage; amongst is British.

Also, understand from the start that manuscript revisions are required. Every best-selling author does revisions. Any new or indie writer who doesn’t understand this or do this does an injustice to him- or herself, the work, and readers. From best-selling author Michael Crichton: “Books aren’t written—they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.” One thing that will absolutely assist you is to read your original draft and each revision aloud to yourself. I ALWAYS advise my editing clients to read their revised manuscripts out loud. It makes a huge difference, as this brief article by Wayne Hughes states: http://buildbookbuzz.com/for-reading-out-loud/ .

Writing a book is an adventure. The more you understand about the process and are on board with it, the better experience you have and the better what you’ve written can be.

I wish you the best with your writing and progress.

Joyce L. Shafer provides developmental/substantive editing and book evaluation services, especially but not solely, for new writers. Details about her services, plus her e-book for aspiring and new writers—Write, Get Published, and Promote and her special reports—How to Get an Agent for Your Book or Choose Self-Publishing Instead: Tips, Lists, and More and How to Get Your Book Started: Plan Your Work Then Work Your Plan are available at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ . 

Are you a writer or an author?

Here’s something from author Elizabeth George about writing:

“Lots of people want to have written; they don’t want to write.  In other words, they want to see their name on the front cover of a book and their grinning picture on the back. But this is what comes at the end of the job, not at the beginning. To reach that end, you have to be willing just to set it aside, knowing that it may never happen at all but not much caring because it’s the writing that matters to you; it’s the mystery and the magic of putting words on paper that are truly important. If you don’t feel this way, then you want to be an author, not a writer.

Authors are those guys who hope to get rich quick with a big sale to a big publisher followed by a lucrative movie deal. They write the same novel over and over and they declare at the beginning of their careers that if they don’t get published, they’ll give it up.

Writers, on the other hand, are those guys who’d write anyway. They have to breathe, after all. They have to live.”

Tips for Creating and Proofreading Your Manuscript Draft

Many writers impede their progress and stifle their creativity by not doing two particular “somethings” while writing their first draft and once their draft is completed—and waste time and energy by not doing them.

Author James Michener said, “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”

Writing the Draft

A writer can feel about a blank page of paper or computer screen the way an artist may feel about a blank canvas: stymied or hesitant to start. The way an artist gets going is to make a first stroke. Notice I didn’t say make “the” first stroke, but “a” first stroke. Write anything, even if it’s something like “I haven’t got a clue what to call this book, but I’ll figure it out eventually.” It’s more important to get your fingers typing or writing than to insist that what you write be perfect the first time (it likely won’t be).

It’s also best if you just write and keep on writing, without stopping to reread and edit what you’ve written, as tempting as that is. You can use up a lot of time and energy by writing, rereading, and editing the sentence or paragraph or chapter you just wrote (perhaps over and over). During the first creative writing course I took a few decades back, we had to read something we wrote aloud to the class. One participant read the first chapter of the book he was writing. It was brilliant, engaging, and well crafted. We enjoyed it so much that we begged him to read the second chapter to us at the next class. He admitted he had only the one chapter—and that he’d been working on it for two years. Two years! At that rate he’s probably still not finished.

Get your first draft written then focus on needed edits and revisions. Which leads me to…

The Best Way to Check Your First and Subsequent Drafts

• After you finish your first draft, print it out. You may want to double-space it first, if you believe you may need or prefer to have the extra space to make notes.
• Put the draft aside for one week. I’m serious. Mark a time on your calendar to work on your draft the following week and go do something else. If you happen to think of something to include or change, make a note on a piece of paper or a computer document, but DO NOT work on your draft.
• It’s now a week later and time to look at your draft. Find a place that’s comfortable, quiet, and where you can work as uninterrupted as possible or feasible.
• Get your draft copy and a pen or pencil and eraser.
• Read your draft aloud. I cannot emphasize enough how important and helpful doing this is. It makes a real difference. You need to hear how what you wrote sounds… because that’s how readers will hear it in the movie in their minds when they read your book. Reading your draft aloud—and not at a fast pace—not only lets you hear how what you’ve written sounds, but also brings typos, spacing, and other issues to your attention. You want to wear your editor hat, not your look-what-I-did!-author hat for this read-through.
• Makes notes on the pages and on the backs of the pages. Pay attention to indents, punctuation, content organization, and clarity, as well as creative aspects of what you’ve written. This may take more than one period of time to complete. Allow for this, but stay committed.
• Once you’ve done this process all the way through your manuscript, make the changes and revisions. This also may take more than one period of time to complete. Allow for this, but stay committed.
• Repeat this process for each revision until you feel it’s time to get either a reader you trust to read it and comment or get a developmental evaluation (critique) from someone who knows how to do this. Or you may feel it’s time to use the services of a developmental editor (or proofreader—if you’re genuinely confident about your technical skills) to polish it and or bring your attention to anything you may need to be aware of. Whichever one of these next steps you take, you’ll need to repeat the process for going through your revised draft.
• Once you feel your draft is a final one, after you’ve made your latest revisions and tweaks, let your proofreader or editor proofread it one more time. Too often I have self-published clients who skip this step, only to see “oopsies” that could have been taken care of before the book went into print.

A few other tips that will benefit you are…

Work on your manuscript every day (or at least 5-6 days a week), even if one hour is all you have that day. If all you have is five minutes a day, use it. You can find a number of authors who’ve shared that this daily incremental writing pattern is how they got their books written. An hour (or five minutes) a day gets it written faster than zero minutes of writing a day.

Take needed breaks! Writing, proofreading, and revising use brain energy. If you feel your energy flagging, pause for a refresher break or start again the next day.

Find more helpful tips in WRITE, GET PUBLISHED, AND PROMOTE (covers the basics for beginning writers—Also available on Nook) http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jls1422

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author (or publishing-house author) who needs or wants your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Some Tricky Words for Writers

Let’s face it: Some words and their uses confuse us. We believe we know how to use them correctly, but that’s not always the case. Here are some commonly-used words that can be tricky for writers. (Also see the Blog post below, “Words Often Misused,” for other words that confuse writers.) Never hesitate to turn to a dictionary to confirm that the word you wish to use is the right one and is spelled correctly.

Acknowledgment/Acknowledgement: Each is spelled correctly, but the first version is for the U.S., while the second is for British use.

Acute/Chronic: Acute is used for a brief illness (disease) that reaches severity or crisis quickly. Chronic is used for a long-lasting illness or health condition.

Adrenalin/adrenaline: Adrenalin is capitalized and without the ending “e” and is used for the pharma version of adrenaline (not capitalized and with the “e” at the end), which is produced naturally by the body’s adrenal glands.

Aggravate/Irritate: Aggravate is used to indicate making something worse (If you don’t stop scratching, you’ll aggravate that rash); irritate is used to indicate annoyance (The noise you’re making is irritating me).

Alright/All right: All right is the correct version to use; alright is considered substandard English.

Alter/Altar: Alter means to modify or change; altar is a structure used in ceremonies, usually religious or spiritual in nature.

Amid/Amidst: Amid is used in the U.S.; amidst is British.

Among/Amongst: Among is used in the U.S.; amongst is British.

Among/Between: In the U.S., among is used when referring to more than two people or items (Divide these leaflets among the five of you); between is used when referring to two people or items (Settle this disagreement between you). British writing uses between, even when referring to more than two.

Amount/Number: Use amount when you can’t count something (No amount of kindess will please her). Use number when you can count whatever you refer to (The number of beers he’s had so far is six).

Anxious/Eager: Anxious is used to refer to anxiety, unease (I’m anxious about flying in bad weather); eager is used to refer to anticipation or expectancy (I’m eager for Jane’s plane to arrive).

Around/Round: Use around when referring to, well, going around something, like a street corner or a table. Use round when referring to a shape, gathering cattle, or rounding a number up or down.

Beside/Besides: Use beside to refer to alongside (He sat beside her). Use besides to indicate in addition to (What are you cooking besides a roast?).

Can not/Cannot: The correct use is cannot.

Continuous/Continual: Use continuous to indicate something is uninterrupted, has no break. Use continual to indicate repetition or something that happens over and over.

Dark/Darkened: Use dark to indicate having little or no light. Use darkened to indicate making something darker.

Every day/Everyday: Use every day to indicate that you mean each day (I go there every day). Use everyday to indicate something that is commonplace (Use this jacket for your everyday wear).

Gray/Grey: The preferred spelling in the U.S. is gray. British use tends to be grey.

Jeep/jeep: Use Jeep to indicate a brand of vehicle or a non-military vehicle. Use jeep when referring to a military vehicle (but not as a brand).

Fewer/Less: Use fewer to indicate things that you can count (There are fewer people at the meeting than last month), and less to refer to quantity (There was less paper in the photocopier than she thought).

Nauseate/Nauseous: Use nauseous to refer to causing nausea, and nauseated to mean once nausea has started.

Okay/O.K./OK: Each is acceptable. Just choose one form and be consistent about its use.

Prone/Prostrate: Use prone to indicate someone lying on their back, and prostrate to indicate someone lying on their stomach.

Slight/Sleight: Use slight to refer to a matter of degree, and sleight to refer to dexterity or deftness.

Tack/Tact: Use tack to refer to the item you use to keep papers and such in place on a board or wall—or as a nautical reference, and tact to indicate sensitivity.

That/Who: Use that to refer to a material object, organization, or a moment in time. Use who to refer to a person (It was Sally who showed up first / It was the plumber who turned off the water).

Throw/Throe: Use throw to indicate tossing something, and throe to indicate struggle or turmoil.

Toward/Towards: Use toward for U.S. writing. Towards is used in British writing.

Unbeknown/Unbeknownst: Use unbeknown for U.S. writing. Unbeknownst is a British usage.

Inexplicable/Unexplainable: Unexplainable is being used more and more, but inexplicable is the preferred word.

Who/Whom: Use who when you refer to someone doing the action (Jeff is who will speak first), and whom to refer to the person on the other end of an action—the recipient (Whom do you wish to speak with?).

Who’s/Whose: Use who’s as a contraction for who is (Who’s coming with me to the store?). Use whose to refer to possessive case (Whose bag is this?).

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author who needs your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Costs of Becoming a Writer

There’s generally a great deal of excitement about becoming a writer. We have visions of what it will be like, what we and our life will be like, once we’re published. The dream carries us on waves of energy and enthusiasm. But there’s also the reality that most new writers—those who’ve never approached writing a book before, need to know; and most new writers don’t know what they don’t know, which is why assistance and guidance are beneficial.

One thing new writers are typically not aware of are the costs involved in the process of creating a manuscript in final form and moving it forward into publishing, especially if the author intends to self-publish. What follows gives you a general idea of costs involved, whether you intend to self-publish or aim for a traditional publisher; but the focus here, after a certain point, is for authors who wish to self-publish. Note: All costs involved are tax deductible—as long as you publish! Keep your receipts.

Getting a first draft (and subsequent revisions) done costs you time. There’s no way around that. But when you’re passionate about your project, you find or create the time and go the distance, however long that takes.

Now you have a first draft. Is it ready to send to a literary agent to represent you, or to a publisher who accepts submissions, or to self-publish? Only if you have the needed expertise, is it ready.

If you wonder about the quality of the composition (is it truly a good read?), you can use a critique (editorial evaluation) service to let you know where your manuscript works well and where and how it might be improved.

If you are confident in your creative and technical writing skills (and I mean seriously confident about your competence), you need at least a proofreader with experience to go through your manuscript.

If you know your manuscript needs editing, you need to hire an editor. You may even need a developmental editor who can assist you not only with the technical matters, but also with the creative ones.

An editor—and especially a developmental editor, will more than likely indicate that your manuscript needs some revision (even best-selling authors go through multiple revisions). You might make the revisions then decide that all is well and proceed toward publishing without letting the editor or a proofreader go through it again. Anytime you make revisions, it’s very easy to miss simple things, which is why another pair of eyes is worth the cost (after each revision), which is really an investment in you and your manuscript. I’m currently doing a book review for a self-published author who did a brilliant job with the story, but missed simple things like using then when he should have used than, and did this more than once (two words that often get confused in their use). It doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the work he did, but I can’t help wonder why he didn’t hire a proofreader to go over it one last time before committing it to print. Another book I reviewed left notes from the editor in, in a couple of sections.

Editing and or proofreading needs to be done before you submit your manuscript to a literary agent or a publisher that accepts submissions directly from authors, and absolutely before you self-publish. Bloopers happen to the best authors (and editors and proofreaders—we’re all human). I find typos or “oopsies” in nearly every traditionally published book I read. It happens. Please do what needs to be done to have as few “oopsies” in your book as possible.

Now we focus on those who intend to self-publish. Once you have your manuscript into final form, you need to have it formatted and you need an ISBN (the number above the barcode on the back of the book and on the copyright page). The first thing you have to do is decide who is going to do the publishing. If you’re going to use an online print-on-demand (POD) service, you need to decide on the book size and get those specifications, and you need to see what they offer regarding ISBNs. Some services have marketing packages that are either free or for a fee that also allow you to acquire your ISBN through them. Research what they offer so you can make your choice. There are POD services that allow you to publish for free and some that charge.

Then you need to find a professional formatting service or individual who knows what s/he is doing. There are POD services that either offer these services or have guidebooks to take you through it to do it yourself. This becomes a toss-up between paying for this service (which can be minimal if it’s just text, or more if you include images, charts, etc.) or, perhaps, getting a headache figuring it out yourself. If you’re going to also offer your book on Kindle and other electronic devices, you need a separate ISBN (it’s considered a separate publishing from the print version), as well as specific formatting to meet requirements.

Then you need a book cover (even for electronic versions). POD services have improved their offerings of gallery covers and allow you to make changes to fonts, and upload photos and descriptions for the back cover so that you create your own cover at no charge. Find out the specifics for photos regarding sizing and DPI quality (sharpness). Many POD services offer book cover creation as a paid service, or you can find an individual who does this professionally, unless you have expertise in this (which includes knowing how to create the spine and embed the ISBN and barcode).

You also want to research online services that let you upload your manuscript and book cover files so that you can print your book in bulk quantities for a reduced price (and with good quality), in the event you do book signings, etc.

If you’re going to offer an electronic version of your book, you’ll need to get it onto those services. You can either find out what’s required and do this yourself (or pay someone to do this for you), or see if your POD site offers this as a paid service, possibly as part of the electronic version formatting package.

Then there’s marketing your book. There are numerous free and paid ways to do this, and a combination is usually involved. It all depends on how committed to marketing your book you are.

The old adage that says to sharpen the ax before you go to the tree applies here. It’s best if you consider everything you need and need to do and create a Next-Steps list to keep track of these, along with any potential or actual costs that will or may be involved, as well as what can be done at no cost—and if you’re willing or able to do these yourself. Do this ahead of time, while you’re still getting your manuscript into final form, so you know how to plan and which steps to take when (or hire someone to help you with this). Be flexible. Something always comes up, but you learn and gain experience. Make notes for the next time you publish.

Yes, there is a lot involved to become a self-published (or traditionally published) author, but there really is nothing like seeing your efforts in a paperback or hardback copy you hold in your hands. Your dream becomes your reality, and it’s a feeling of accomplishment you don’t soon forget.

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author who needs your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Common Words Often Misused

Some words sound so much alike that it’s easy to use the wrong one and not realize it. And, the spell-check function of your word processing program will not necessarily catch them, because they may be spelled correctly.

Here are several of the most commonly misused words.

Accept/Except

Accept means to receive something tangible, or to be received as a member of a group or as an idea or theory: Please accept this bonus for a job done well. / The Garden Club will accept me as a member. / I accept your opinion about this matter.

Except means to exclude: Invite everyone except Jean; or other than: Everyone was on time except Jean. 

Affect/Effect

Affect means to influence: Sugar can affect health; or to use a pretense: He affected a French accent to impress women.

Effect means to bring about by some cause: He created the new rules to effect better customer service at his store.

Effect can also mean a result: This lemon-yellow paint will create a cheerful effect in your kitchen.

Allude/Elude

Allude means to make an indirect reference: Mary alluded to a past transgression when she said, “You remember what you did the last time?”

Elude means to evade or escape: You can elude capture if you hide in that culvert.

Farther/Further

Farther is a reference about distance: I traveled farther than I thought I would in one day.

Further is a reference about a situation: She pushed him further in developing his skills than he believed he could accomplish.

Hear/Here

Hear means to listen or receive a sound: Do you hear music in the distance?

Here means in the location you’re in: Meet me here in two hours.

It’s/Its

It’s is a contraction of it is: It’s in the corner.

Its is a possessive form: The dog wagged its tail.

Have/Of

Have is a verb: You should have asked to borrow the saw. / Contraction form: Should’ve, never should of.

Of is a preposition: You can ask to borrow the saw of Mr. Green, which is sharper than Mr. Bean’s.

Than/Then

Than is a conjunction that represents comparison: Bob is a better violinist than Mark.

Then represents time: He was a master drummer back then. / The then drummer in the group broke his arm. / She bought a single rose then left the shop. / The flight is delayed for two hours; until then I’ll visit the bookshop.

Then represents “in addition”: The drive takes six hours, and then there are all the stops to rest and eat to consider.

Then acts as a qualifier of a preceding thought: She felt pain from the injury, but then what injury doesn’t cause pain?

Then represents a consequence: He’s made up his mind; so that, then, is that.

They’re/There/Their

They’re is the contraction of they are: They’re due to arrive in ten minutes.

There indicates a location: Put the flowers there. / We’ll meet there at noon.

Their is possessive: They’re having the party there, at their house.

Wet/Whet

Wet means to dampen or in some way affect with water: Your clothes are sopping wet.

Whet means to sharpen: He used a tool to whet the antique knife; or to stimulate: This appetizer should whet your appetite for the entrée.

Yea/Yeah/Yay

Yea is an archaic term: “Yea, though I walk…” It’s also is a cheer: “Yea! Our candidate won.”

Yeah is a casual way to say yes: Yeah, I can be there by eight o’clock.

Yay indicates approximate size, usually with a demonstration using fingers, hands, or arms: “The fish he caught was yay big.”

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Sometimes you need more than basic editing, which is called Developmental Editing, to assist you with plot and character development, as well as with other creative and technical matters. I particularly enjoy this service when the writer’s story has “good bones.” Know this: most new-writer manuscripts need this service, especially first drafts; and when I see in the sample chapters sent to me that Developmental Evaluation (a critique) is needed instead, because the manuscript needs substantial revision, I advise clients to go for that service, unless they really want me to do an overhaul for them, which I can, though it’s labor-intensive.

Developmental Evaluation is also beneficial for non-fiction and memoirs, which sometimes need structure re-organization: the story is not told in the best order for the most impact or is confusing to read.

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes.

Timing: New writers typically don’t know to anticipate that time may or will be involved to get their manuscript into final form, meaning into proper shape to self-publish or submit to an agent or publisher. This timing all depends on how much work their manuscript needs. Manuscripts generally need more than one revision. Even best-sellers go through multiple revisions.

The entire process of manuscript to retail product is an involved but fascinating one. You learn a lot about what it takes from start to finish for an idea to become a book, and benefit greatly from what you learn, especially if you intend to keep writing.

Have a question? Contact me at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ and I’ll blog about it.

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Story

Story is what every fiction, non-fiction, and memoir is ultimately about. There’s much to say about story, but I’ll provide a few tidbits for now.

There are archetypal stories and stereotypical stories.

An archetypal story reveals and shares a universal human experience, even if there are unique cultural specifics involved.

A stereotypical story tends to be short on quality content and form; it focuses on non-specific generalities or hopes to match another commercial success. Though its words fill space on the page, the story is empty and leaves readers feeling empty, if they continue to read it, that is.

Stereotypical stories seem to stay in one place—there is little change of any significance in plot or characters.

Archetypal stories take people on a journey, preferably an inner and outer journey.

Good storytelling does not take shortcuts, but neither does it fill space with empty content and events. Every scene moves the plot and characters forward in some specific way, even in non-fiction and memoirs. Scenes work as they should when they elicit some emotion, which can include humor.

Story is about storytelling, not trying to guarantee sales. No one can guarantee that, especially for a first book. But every book needs to tell a good story and tell it well. It must create a movie in the minds of readers.

Aim at excellence rather than to be a copycat of what’s working in the marketplace now.

Have a desire to reach inside the minds and hearts of your readers—you want your words to speak to them in some way. You want them to relate in some way.

Do not confuse original storytelling with eccentricity just for the sake of filling page space. Just to be different, without a true purpose behind it for plot and character development, and genuine respect for readers, will not create desired results for a writer who wishes his or her work to be read and appreciated.

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Sometimes you need more than basic editing, which is called Developmental Editing, to assist you with plot and character development, as well as other creative and technical matters. I particularly enjoy this service when the writer’s story has “good bones.” Know this: most new-writer manuscripts need this service, especially first drafts; and when I see in the sample chapters sent to me that Developmental Evaluation (a critique) is needed instead, because the manuscript needs substantial revision, I advise clients to go for that service, unless they really want me to do an overhaul for them, which I can, though it’s labor-intensive.

Developmental Evaluation is also beneficial for non-fiction and memoirs, which sometimes need structure re-organization: the story is not told in the best order for the most impact or is confusing to read. It doesn’t help if your story makes sense to you but not to readers. Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes.

Timing: New writers typically don’t know to anticipate that time may or will be involved to get their manuscript into final form, meaning into proper shape to self-publish or submit to an agent or publisher. This timing all depends on how much work their manuscript needs. Manuscripts generally need more than one revision. Even best-sellers go through multiple revisions.

The entire process of manuscript to retail product is an involved but fascinating one. You can learn a lot about what it takes from start to finish for an idea to become a book, and benefit greatly from what you learn, especially if you intend to keep writing.

Have a question? Contact me at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ and I’ll blog about it.

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Writing Times of Day

If you find you need to include times of day in your fiction, non-fiction, or memoir writing, it helps to know how to do this right.

When you use numerals, you follow them with a.m. or p.m. You can leave a.m. and p.m. as lowercase letters, which The Chicago Manual of Style recommends, but some publishers may prefer to use small caps (a.m. / p.m.). Do not use uppercase (A.M. / P.M.).

It isn’t a solid rule that you should never use a.m. / p.m. in dialogue, but it is best to avoid it. It sounds better to say “Let’s meet at eleven thirty Tuesday morning” than “Let’s meet at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.”

If you use a.m. / p.m., do not also use morning or evening—that’s redundant.

Incorrect Example: The phone rang at 3:00 a.m. in the morning.

Also notice there is a space between the last numeral and the first letter whenever you use a.m. or p.m.

Incorrect: 3:00a.m.

Do not use o’clock with numerals or a.m. / p.m.

Incorrect: The phone rang at 3:00 a.m. o’clock.

Correct: The phone rang at three o’clock this morning.

Correct: The phone rang at three this morning.

Other Correct Examples:

• See you at 1:20 p.m.
• The meeting starts at 7:50 in the morning.
• Her plane arrives at 2:48 a.m.
• Let’s meet for lunch at 12:00 m. (m. represents noon and is lowercase, and is seldom used) Better: Let’s meet for lunch at noon.
• Avoid using 12:00 p.m. or 12:00 a.m. It confuses people. It’s better to use noon or midnight.
• I’ll call you at ten forty-five tomorrow morning.

Times of day which are even (1:00), quarter (1:15), and half (1:30) numerals are best spelled out:

• I’ll deliver the flowers by one o’clock. (It’s assumed this means in the afternoon rather than the morning, but your context will make this clear.)
• He talked until a quarter after one.
• He talked until one fifteen.
• The movie starts at one thirty.

Use numerals for exact times:

• It’s now 2:25 a.m. in my time zone.
• She was on the 4:22 p.m. train.
• Your watch is set for 10:47 a.m. (EST). [EST represents Eastern Standard Time]

If you use the twenty-four-hour system of time (European and military):

• 1200 = noon
• 2400 = 0000 or midnight
• 0002 = 12:02 a.m.
• 1527 = 3:27 p.m.
• They started out at 1400 hours (or 1400h).

  

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Sometimes you need more than basic editing, which is called Developmental Editing, to assist you with plot and character development, as well as other creative and technical matters. I particularly enjoy this service when the writer’s story has “good bones.” Know this: most new-writer manuscripts need this service, especially first drafts; and when I see in the sample chapters sent to me that Developmental Evaluation (a critique) is needed instead, because the manuscript needs substantial revision, I advise clients to go for that service, unless they really want me to do an overhaul for them, which I can, though it’s labor-intensive.

Developmental Evaluation is also beneficial for non-fiction and memoirs, which sometimes need structure re-organization: the story is not told in the best order for the most impact or is confusing to read. It doesn’t help if your story makes sense to you but not to readers. Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes.

Timing: New writers typically don’t know to anticipate that time may or will be involved to get their manuscript into final form, meaning into proper shape to self-publish or submit to an agent or publisher. This timing all depends on how much work their manuscript needs. Manuscripts generally need more than one revision. Even best-sellers go through multiple revisions.

The entire process of manuscript to retail product is an involved but fascinating one. You can learn a lot about what it takes from start to finish for an idea to become a book, and benefit greatly from what you learn, especially if you intend to keep writing.

Have a question? Contact me at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ and I’ll blog about it.

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Some Basics for New Writers

I love new writers. I really do (I was one once upon a time). They are my favorite clients because they need the most assistance and guidance, and usually have tremendous enthusiasm about moving forward.

They also don’t know what they don’t know.

Some new writers have a fair understanding about what’s involved in writing (and publishing or self-publishing) their first book, but most don’t have a clue; they just know they want to write and/or have something to say or share.

As a provider of services for writers for over a decade (more like going on two decades), I see pretty much everything. I’ve received manuscripts that had no paragraphs, perhaps not even chapters—just one lonnnng stream-of-thought writing. I’ve received manuscripts written by people who don’t use punctuation or know much about punctuation or care to, and manuscripts that start in first-person and switch to third-person, or the other way around. I’ve received memoirs that would possibly be hits or best-sellers if they were submitted or published as novels instead. I’ve worked with one fairly prolific self-published client for a number of years who admitted on Facebook how much he appreciates that I figure out what he means to say (that’s a benefit of working together for so long).

Here’s a recent—and rare—example of what a new writer might not be aware of. I was contacted by someone seeking my services who doesn’t have MSWord or any such program on her computer (she wrote her story on a Web site for writers). I admire her dedication in doing that, but I had to explain to her that such a computer program is a necessity in order to work with anyone involved in the process of manuscript creation and on to a published product. I also had to explain that a 17,000-word count does not a novel make.

To all new writers out there—I genuinely appreciate what is involved in getting a first draft completed. What you need to know is that a first draft is not necessarily (read that as never) in its best and final form to either self-publish or submit to a literary agent or publisher. There are some basics you need to have in place.

Formatting:

• You have to have chapters and paragraphs in your manuscript.
• Paragraphs should not be over-long and must include only what should be within the paragraph: each paragraph is a scene in itself.
• You have to indent paragraphs and make sure the indentions are consistent throughout the manuscript. This includes for dialogue, as well as for narrative.
• You need only one space between sentences, not two.
• There’s also a particular way you have to set up your manuscript if you plan to submit it to a literary agent or publisher.
• If self-publishing, you don’t have to be as formal about set-up, because you’ll need your manuscript professionally formatted. The person who does that will handle it for you, though you have to give the person something clear to work with.

Punctuation: Punctuation contributes to ease of reading and clarity. Example: Let’s eat Grandma / Let’s eat, Grandma. The first part of the example is cannibalistic. The second part is a statement made to Grandma, who I’m sure would be relieved to know she isn’t on the menu. You must avoid overuse of the exclamation point (!) and the ellipsis (…), and know how and when to use them properly. You must understand the difference between a hyphen (-) and an em-dash (—), and when to use them. Or, you have to use the services of an editor who does.

Perspective: Choose first-person or third-person and stick with it. First-person means the main character tells the story based on what s/he directly observes or is told by other characters. Third-person means a storyteller conveys what’s going on, including what characters think but keep to themselves.

There is, of course, so much more to understand about all that’s involved. And if you don’t understand these things (and may not want to), you want an editor who does.

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Sometimes you need more than basic editing, which is called Developmental Editing, to assist you with plot and character development, as well as other creative and technical matters. I particularly enjoy this service when the writer’s story has “good bones.” Know this: most new-writer manuscripts need this service, especially first drafts; and when I see in the sample chapters sent to me that Developmental Evaluation (a critique) is needed instead, because the manuscript needs substantial revision, I advise clients to go for that service, unless they really want me to do an overhaul for them, which I can, though it’s labor-intensive.

Developmental Evaluation is also beneficial for non-fiction and memoirs, which sometimes need structure re-organization: the story is not told in the best order for the most impact or is confusing to read. It doesn’t help if your story makes sense to you but not to readers. Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes.

Timing: New writers typically don’t know to anticipate that time may or will be involved to get their manuscript into final form, meaning into proper shape to self-publish or submit to an agent or publisher. This timing all depends on how much work their manuscript needs. Manuscripts generally need more than one revision. Even best-sellers go through multiple revisions.

The entire process of manuscript to retail product is an involved but fascinating one. You can learn a lot about what it takes from start to finish for an idea to become a book, and benefit greatly from what you learn, especially if you intend to keep writing.

Have a question? Contact me at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ and I’ll blog about it.

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers