The Cuckleburr Times » Writing & Publishing Help

How Commas Kill Children

David Bowman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:59:54 +0000

Can commas kill children? Unfortunately, yes—if we use them incorrectly.

Let’s start with three correct samples of using commas with appositives. You might be asking, “What the heck is an appositive, and why should I care?” Good question! Once we learn to identify appositives, we’ll see how to use commas correctly and how misusing them can kill children.

Three correct samples:

1. The package, a brown box with no return address, sat in the storeroom for weeks.
2. My car, a 2011 Honda Accord, needs cleaning.
3. Bob’s daughter Sara graduated last year. (Bob has more than one daughter.)

First, Appositives

The term appositive is new to most people, so let’s take a little time to figure out what it means. (In all my writing classes, I ask students if they know this term. Only once did someone know it.) Once we understand the term appositive, we will use it to discuss commas.

Appositive. An appositive is a word, phrase, or clause that renames something just written; the appositive is the same thing as whatever it renames. An appositive is considered to be in apposition to the thing it is renaming.

Even if the term appositive is new to you, you can probably spot appositives easily.

In Sample 1, the phrase a brown box with no return address renames, or is another way of saying, package. Here, package and a brown box with no return address are the same thing. Because of this, we know that a brown box with no return address is an appositive. It is in apposition to package.

This is similar to Sample 2. Here, a 2011 Honda Accord renames, or has the same meaning as, my car. Thus, a 2011 Honda Accord is an appositive.

Non-restrictive Appositives

The appositives in Samples 1 and 2 are non-restrictive appositives because the appositive and the word it renames are a perfect one-to-one match. Everything described by the appositive equals everything described by the term that the appositive renames.

With a non-restrictive appositive, you are not restricting, or limiting, the readers’ attention to one thing among several. You are not indicating one thing from a group of things. Rather, you are providing additional details.

In Sample 2, a 2011 Honda Accord exactly describes my car. I have no cars other than the 2011 Honda Accord. Everything described by my car is also described by a 2011 Honda Accord. Sample 1 works the same way.

Koan:
Bumbo wrote a letter to his parents. At the end of the letter he wrote, “Please give my regards to my sister, Vera.”
His teacher looked over Bumbo’s shoulder and asked, “How many sisters do you have?”
Bumbo answered, “Two.”
“Oh, you wicked student!” his teacher cried. “Your comma just killed one.”

Sample 3 does not have a non-restrictive appositive. It has a restrictive appositive. Bob has more than one daughter, so Sara is not a perfect one-to-one match with daughter. In this sample, we are restricting, or limiting, the readers’ attention from the group of daughters to one particular daughter named Sara.

Here’s another way to differentiate restrictive and non-restrictive appositives.

Restrictive: Specifies which thing.
Non-restrictive: Provides additional description.

Rule J
Separate non-restrictive appositives with commas.

Now that we have learned to find appositives, following this rule is easy. If you have a non-restrictive appositive, separate it from the rest of the sentence with commas.

In Samples 1 and 2, the appositives are embedded in the sentence. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, both before and after.

The first comma gives the reader a clue that we’re about to provide some extra information. The second comma lets the reader know that the description is completed and that we’re getting back to the main point.

One more sample:

4. I sent the letter to my best friend, John.

Sample 4 is a little different. In this sample, the non-restrictive appositive is John. John is in apposition to my best friend. It is the last word of the sentence, so we only need the comma before John.

Rule K
Don’t use commas to separate restrictive appositives.

Non-restrictive appositives need commas. Restrictive appositives don’t. Non-restrictive appositives can be removed from the sentence without losing essential content. Restrictive appositives can’t.

Sample 3 provides a good example of a restrictive appositive. Bob has other daughters, so Sara tells us which daughter. We are restricting the group of daughters to one particular daughter. As such, Sara is not separated by commas.

If we use commas around Sara, we make Sara a non-restrictive appositive. This would mean that Bob has only one daughter. With that comma, his other daughters cease to exist!

(This article is adapted from the forthcoming guide to commas Zen Comma, available on 5/15/2011 at Hostile Editing in PDF and Kindle formats.)

Connecting with Bloggers to Promote Your Book

A Guest Article Writer — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:51:30 +0000

Article by L. Drew Gerber

When it comes to promoting your book you can’t forget about bloggers. Successful bloggers have a targeted and engaged audience that you would love the opportunity to reach out to. Whether it’s self-help, green-living, finance — you name it — the people who follow these blogs look to the blogger as someone who represents their voice and provides new and cool insights into what’s cutting-edge in their niche.

Before you begin pitching bloggers, you’ll have to find them first. It’s easy to search on Google for bloggers related to your expertise. If you’re a green-living author, you can simply type in “green-living blogs” and you’ll find links to these blogs, articles mentioning them, blog posts about these blogs and blog posts about these blog posts about these blogs. Usually you’ll find the most popular blogs related to your expertise, and because they are the most popular they will also be the hardest to break into. But right off the bat though, you have your goal: Get your book reviewed on that blog!

If you’re just starting out, you should find a less popular blog or one who maybe has even more of a niche following your book would be fit for. Sites like Technorati are really helpful in narrowing down blogs and bloggers to start building relationships with. You’ll definitely find the most popular ones and the most popular posts, but they also have comprehensive directories with each blog’s authority ranking on the particular subject manner, i.e. green living. You can search Technorati just like you would search Google and start browsing blogs with the reach you’re committed too. Make a realistic list of five or so blogs you’d want your book reviewed on, then get ready to begin building your relationship with them.

Before you reach out to the blogger, make sure you know the blog and you’re keeping up with the kinds of content that is being posted. Note if they have guests that do book reviews and ask yourself whether or not this blog is truly a good fit for you and your book. If it is, start by posting comments with good commentary or additional thoughts wherever you can. The goal here is to show the blogger and its followers you’re an avid and engaged fan of what they have to say, and you have a genuine interest in being part of this community.

Once you’ve established yourself in the community, it’s time to reach out to the blogger with an email. Make it short and simple, telling them you really enjoy the blog and was wondering if they were in need of anything. Ask if they accept guest-bloggers or do reviews of books. By now though, you should have a good idea whether they do or don’t, but ask anyway and give them a taste of what you could offer. The key here is to be extremely polite and not to overload them with information. Keep it short and sweet. It could take a couple of exchanges before they ask to review your book, but remember it’s relationship building. It takes time.

Once you’ve had your book reviewed, be sure to show your gratitude. Now don’t worry about finding their home address and sending them a thank you card or gift basket. But really the most important thing you need to do is follow-up with an acknowledgement. They’ll appreciate it.

So by all means, brag about yourself to everyone you can possibly brag about yourself to. Get on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and tell the world about how your book was featured on this blog. Provide a link and drive as much traffic as you can to the blog and really be a voice for support. Send them to the blog’s main page not just to the page you’re featured on. The idea here is to increase the whole blog’s readership and create returning fans. Make sure you keep on top of the comments and respond and engage the community of followers who are commenting on your feature.

And then keep it up. Play an active role in this newfound community where you now belong. Try to provide fresh content whenever and wherever you can and stay in contact with the blogger and continue to develop your relationship.

L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc. (www.PublicityResults.com) and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists, publicists, and experts. Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact L. Drew Gerber at:AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.

5 Habits Every Serious Poet Should Develop

A Guest Article Writer — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:00:21 +0000

The following habits are ones that should be developed by those who desire to communicate their ideals, passions and thoughts to an audience through the medium of poetry, and who are willing to study the ways in which to do that most effectively. You are not going to move an audience by pouring your emotions, unchecked, onto paper. Powerful poetry is created when skilled, practiced poets channel their deepest emotions and convey them in startlingly beautiful new ways. If that is your aim in writing poetry, here are 5 things you can start doing now to hone your skills.

1) Read a variety of poetry every day.

You can’t expect to understand how to write good poetry if you don’t read any. Drawing from a wide pool of poets can help you understand different techniques, appreciate and fall in love with words, familiarize yourself with unfamiliar forms, and develop your own personal style. Grab some anthologies from the library and write down the title, author and year of any poems you enjoy. Afterwards, read up on anything you particularly enjoyed, whether a specific poet, poetic form, time period, or school of writing. Take out some subscriptions to quality poetry journals as well. It pays to understand the market and to know who your contemporaries are.

2) Keep a notebook and write poetry every day

Writing everyday may seem like an obvious suggestion, but not many people do it. Poems might come easily some days, but those are lamentably few and far between. On the bad days, the trick is to write anything, even if it is utter rubbish. Try writing nonstop for 10 minutes, letting your subconscious mind run wild; it’s a good way to avoid writing tired, trite verse. A lot of it will be junk, but salvaging even one or two fresh images from a freewrite makes it worthwhile—tomorrow, you can build an entire poem around one of those ideas. Alternatively, you could practice writing in meter on one of your off days; even if you don’t produce anything worth keeping, you’re attuning your ear to the nuances of rhythm and sound.

3) Experiment with new forms, techniques, and poetic devices

As you write, be sure that you are constantly pushing yourself. Even if you have no intention of publishing any poetry in a strict form, writing them is an extremely useful exercise for your mind. By forcing your ideas into the confines of a meter or rhyme scheme, you challenge yourself to look at your subject matter in a different way. And remember: even in free verse, paying attention to sound, rhythm, and line breaks is vital. Writing in form can train your mind to pay attention to these subtleties.

4) Notice small details and connections

Another key to great poetry is attention to detail. As a poet, it is your job to notice what others miss; to make surprising intuitive leaps and compare unlike things, or maybe just to see beauty that others have overlooked. When you walk around outside, or go through your day-to-day routines, do it with your mind and senses alert. Write down anything interesting you notice.

5) Find an active poetic community in which to participate

Being a poet doesn’t have to be a lonely undertaking. Find other poets in your community and online with whom you can share your work, discuss poetry, and put together events. Sign up for poetry slams and readings, or just attend if you don’t think you’re ready to read. The point is to go—it can be a great morale boost to talk to people who share your passion, and networking with other poets can help you improve your craft and career.

Becoming a poet consistently capable of producing publishable writing takes hard work; depending on your level of natural talent, it may take years. However, that’s nothing to worry about if you truly have a passion for words. Reading, writing, refining, and sharing poetry are a source of joy in a poet’s life. Developing these habits may be difficult at first, but the pride you will feel when your poetry improves is more than worth the effort.

Article by Danny Offer. Danny is a partner in the Facebook chat program Chit Chat for Facebook. The desktop Facebook chat application makes it easier to send a Facebook message to your friends whilst surfing the internet.

Create Buzz for your eBooks

A Guest Article Writer — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:35:53 +0000

When marketing ebooks, your target market is a little different, since most ebooks are geared to those who are quite proficient in the use of technology. Certainly, this does not mean you should completely neglect offline means of marketing, but simply that most of your marketing efforts should be geared towards the internet. Here are some tips on how to market ebooks:

Build a website or blog around the ebooks that you are marketing, and add additional compelling and relevant content so that people will get an idea of your writing style and what they will learn from reading your ebook. Of course, make it easy for them to order from your site.

Write some articles on the topic of your ebook, with a link to your website. Submitting articles to directories establishes you as an authority on the subject, especially when someone does a Google search and comes up with dozens of articles you’ve written on the subject.

Guest blog posting on relevant sites can help market both your website and your ebook. Of course, you will link back to your website, and perhaps reciprocate by allowing the other blog author to guest post on your blog as well.

Auction sites like Ebay are good places to market your book. Be sure that you have a good sales letter written to use for this purpose, and market it there, allowing for both ‘buy it now’ and auction purchases. This is also a great way to collect testimonial feedback to add to your website and other marketing efforts.

Facebook pages are a great way to generate buzz about your ebooks. Build your page, and also add other similar pages to your page’s favorites and join relevant groups. Also suggest your page to those of your Facebook friends you believe would be interested, because when they ‘like’ your page, all of their friends will also be exposed to it.

Contact sites or blogs that publish book reviews, and reading groups. Both will read your ebook and then publish information about the book on their site. This can be a great way to interact with readers of your ebook as well, but replying to comments.

Also, promote your ebook offline in relevant areas. For instance, if your ebook is about Mediterranean cooking, a grocery store would be a great place to promote it. If it’s about gardening, perhaps a home center or garden store, but always make it relevant to the book.

Article by Denise Gabbard of Discount Vouchers, where you will find Argos.co.uk discount vouchers and Comet discount codes.

How to Improve Your Writing – Nobody’s That Perfect

Merrill Heath — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 02:06:44 +0000

Nothing bugs me more than when the hero or heroine in a novel is too perfect. This is a common mistake for novice writers. But it also plagues some writers who should know better. I recently started reading a best-seller by a novelist who has had a bevy of best-sellers and I quit on page 34. That was the point where it became evident that the two main characters were just too perfect. Mind you, these are characters in a series of books, so I must assume this has been going on for some time now. The man was handsome, smart, understanding and romantic, and yet he was a real tough guy who was an expert marksman and a martial arts black belt. The woman was drop-dead gorgeous, in peak physical fitness with the body of a goddess, sexy, sophisticated, brilliant, tough as nails, and also an expert in self-defense. Oh, yeah, and they both were the most ethical and moral people you’ve ever met. It was like the old British TV show The Avengers with Steed and Mrs. Peel. Only it wasn’t tongue-in-cheek like that show. This was a serious novel with main characters that belonged in a comic book.

There are many reasons to avoid making your hero or heroine too perfect but I’ll only touch on a couple – one from the reader’s perspective and one from the writer’s perspective. From the reader’s perspective…they’re boring! A character who has some flaws, is struggling with a personal problem or problems, and has a few wrinkles (both in his psyche as well as his appearance) has more depth, is more realistic, and therefore is much more interesting. We all know people who are too good or too perfect and, even though they may be someone you respect in some ways, I bet they aren’t the people you gravitate toward at a cocktail party. Why would you want to bore your reader with a whole novel about someone like that?

From the writer’s perspective, perfect characters are too restrictive. Why limit yourself? In Robert B. Parker’s series about Jesse Stone, he has a main character who is a recovering alcoholic with a checkered past and a co-dependent relationship with his ex-wife. That gives Parker a couple of ready-made subplots for every novel in this series and a ton of material for character development. You may not be a fan of Parker, but he is a master at character development. He’s able to create interesting characters that can support a series of books without becoming caricatures of themselves. That’s pretty remarkable when you consider he’s written 38 novels in the Spenser series alone.

Think about your favorite characters from the novels you’ve read, the movies you’ve seen, and even the TV shows you watch. I’m quite sure they are not perfect. We all have a tendency to make our main characters above average and someone we can respect and look up to. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Just don’t overdo it. Too much of a good thing is just simply that…too much. I love banana pudding. But if I eat too much I don’t want to go near the stuff again for a while. Don’t create characters that are too perfect or your readers will “pass on dessert” next time.

Merrill Heath is an author who has a strong desire to “pay it forward” by helping other authors improve their craft. For more information on his novels and current projects visit his blog at: http://merrillheath.wordpress.com

Revising the First Draft of a Novel

A Guest Article Writer — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:21:54 +0000

After the first draft, the first thing to do is to read the story from beginning to end as if for the first time and as if someone else wrote it. If a writer decides to do this to the best of his ability, he’ll see the story’s flaws with ease. It is important to understand that objectivity does not come easily to any writer, even if he thinks he can be highly critical of his own work.

Overall:

A serious look at the entire story is needed. What is the story’s message? Is a theme hiding inside it somewhere or is the theme or the central message obvious? A core message such as love, forgiveness, resilience, truth is important because it holds the story together and creates depth.

The Start of the Novel:

How does the story start? Does it start with a bang then fizzle down or does it start simply but with an attention-grabbing first sentence, paragraph, or chapter to keep the reader reading and then begin to bring on the complexities? One thing to keep in mind is that most successful novels and long stories start simply, giving the reader a preliminary goal to keep track of, before the hard knocks. So the main character will be introduced properly, and after he finds his normal life turned upside down, he will have time enough to go through changes.

Plot and Scenes:

Does the storyline show an episodic plot or is the plot a climactic one? An episodic plot is a general story that is composed of episodes. Each of these episodes can stand alone on its own even though it is related to a central idea with the same characters, as in Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street or in the TV sitcoms.

A climactic plot is the one that has a definite story arc rising to a climax toward the end. If a writer has the climactic plot, and chances are he does, he needs to check if he has advanced the story through scenes that build up the dramatic tension, followed by checking each scene to see if it has a clear goal and if it leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. Finding the key scenes in the story and making them more dramatic will heighten their impact. That can be done, at least partially, by increasing the conflict in each scene and even inserting tension in between the characters who may be at the same side.

The Viewpoint:

The question to ask is: Is the story told through the viewpoint of the right character for it or if the story would be better off if any other character told it? For example, if Moby Dick were to be told by Captain Ahab, the story would be very different, even though Ahab is the protagonist. Instead, Ishmael did a fantastic job, telling the story. The same is true of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby which could only be brought to life through Nick Carraway’s words.

The Main Character:

Here are a few questions the writer may ask himself. Does the main character have a clear-cut goal that only he can reach through his own initiative, even if the goal is not evident to the protagonist in the beginning of the story?

Is the main character deep enough? Was there a character sheet for him, and if not, can one be made now to see if his persona and the changes he has gone through fits with it?

Is the main character dramatic enough? A character who acts to resolve some life issue or challenge despite being in pain is a dramatic character. A character’s need to act while he is hurt and as the result of his actions may even hurt more will draw empathy or some kind of an emotion from the readers.

Is there an unresolved problem from the protagonist’s past that fits well with the theme and has a direct impact on the story? Is it implied or told directly? If the answer is yes to these questions that means the novel has an extra depth; if not, an unresolved problem that might have influenced the protagonist’s actions can be added.

Then, what does the protagonist do at the darkest hour? And when does his darkest hour come? One thing to keep in mind: the darkest hour is before the dawn could apply to the protagonist and the story arc.

The Ending:

The ending of the novel has to come along the lines of logical thinking. An unhappy ending will not make a novel more literary if it shocks the reader and leaves him disappointed. On the other hand, a forced Hollywood ending will disappoint just as much since it will make all the hard work of the writer appear wishy-washy.

Chapters:

Next, a serious look at the chapters is needed. Can a chapter begin a little later? Is the opening exciting enough to grab the reader’s attention? Do all the chapters in the novel begin the same way? It is a good idea to open each chapter and check the opening paragraphs for these questions.

Chapter endings, too, need to be checked for the quality that will make the reader wonder what will come next. The questions to ask here might be: Can the chapter end earlier or can it be added to?; Do all the chapters end in the same way?

Dialogue:

Is the dialogue realistic enough? Does the dialogue vary according to the action in the story? Can the dialogue be made more memorable in some way? For the answer to the last question, it is advisable to think in terms of stage plays, as to how each line can make a point.

Adorning the story:

Now is the time to add in sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste as much as possible to the descriptions and the scenes.

Finding the “telling” parts of the story is next. Is telling in any one part appropriate or would the story be better off if showing were to be used instead. A writer cannot always show and he should not always tell. A rule of thumb is 80% showing versus 20%.

In addition, changing the overused words and finding the passive verbs -forms of to be, seem, appear, make etc.- and deciding if they are necessary or if an active verb would make the story more exciting should be considered.

Last comes proofreading the novel for sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and other aspects of grammar.

Article by Joy Cagil. Joy is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Revive a Stalled Novel – Weave Sub-Plots Into Your Fiction Novel

Lee Masterson — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:01:12 +0000

How many times have you started work on a great novel only to run out of steam 50 pages into your work?

The story stalls, the idea goes flat, the characters seem to stare back at you saying “What now, boss?”

In some cases it might be that you didn’t spend enough time planning how your characters are going to get from beginning to end and that red-hot plot you were so excited about just fizzles out.

In other cases it might be that the idea wasn’t big enough to fill out a novel or maybe you simply don’t have enough conflict in your story so far and want to liven things up a bit.

Weaving a second plot through your main storyline not only helps you to uncover new facets of your characters but can help raise conflict levels and create tension. You also have the opportunity to create a new depth to your original story, building layers of complexity that can force your fictional world into three dimensions.

If you create a sub-plot that has absolutely nothing to do with the main plot you’ll even force your reader to keep turning pages just to see how they gel together. Of course your reader already knows they will end up tied together in a neat little bow by the end of the book – otherwise there would be no reason for the new plot thread – but the reader will want to know how they end up intertwined and so will keep reading to find out.

Your sub-plot doesn’t need to be a romantic thread braided through the original story, although this is one of the more common sub-plot tactics used in many novels.

You might decide to have your main secondary character working with your protagonist openly, but secretly harboring a desire to thwart the hero’s efforts at every turn because he has other things on his agenda. You might decide to introduce a completely new plot to your novel that has nothing to do with the first and weave these together.

No matter what you decide to add for your sub-plot or how separate they are, it’s important that something within the sub-plot contains a vital element that is necessary to complete the main plot.

Sub-plots are used very effectively in many fantasy epics. The characters are all focused on a primary goal or quest, but each character has different things going on that either impede or interfere with the main plot.

Many horror novels have a light romantic sub-plot running through them to help relieve the pent-up tension created during intense horror scenes.

So how do you weave a sub-plot thread through your existing novel plot?

The easiest method of interweaving a new sub-plot through an existing plot is to create alternate chapters showing the viewpoint of another character. It’s through this character’s eyes that the new parts of the thread are shown to the reader.

When you first introduce your sub-plot it will seem to run parallel to your main storyline, but throughout your novel it should cross and sometimes even overtake your main plot until they meet at the end during the final scenes.

Even though you know where they’ll end up, your reader shouldn’t see it coming until the point where they finally intersect and it’s revealed why the sub-plot was the secret ingredient needed in order to finish the main plot all along.

Take a closer look at your current novel and see if you can find a sub-plot to throw at a secondary character that will help confuse and hinder your hero until the final scenes. You’ll be surprised at the new life you can breathe into a stalled novel.

Lee Masterson is a freelance writer from South Australia. She is also the editor of Fiction Factor (http://www.fictionfactor.com) – a free online magazine for writers, offering tips and advice on getting published, articles to improve your writing skills, heaps of writer’s resources and much more.

Effective Writing – Exorcise Your Grammar Demons

Scott Flood — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:48:59 +0000

If I could scrape up some spare time, I think I’d tackle a screenplay for a horror movie. My movie would feature an entity more terrifying than a chainsaw-wielding maniac. More dreadful than the living dead. More heart-stopping than a fire-breathing demon.

It would be an English teacher.

Okay, hold on. I really, really like English teachers. They are truly dedicated people whose bravery eclipses mine. Anyone who can interest seventh-graders in the poetry of e.e. cummings or bring Shakespeare to life for sophomores is genuinely inspiring.

But after dealing with hundreds of clients over the years, I’m convinced that what English teachers inspire more than anything else is sheer terror. I’ve reached that conclusion after watching the way people react to grammatical issues.

Sometimes, I see it when they are struggling with something they’ve written, wondering whether this phrase or that one is grammatically correct. At other times, it becomes apparent in their reaction to something I’ve written on their behalf. (“He started a sentence with a conjunction – doesn’t he know you can’t do that?”)

Once the discussion moves beyond opening arguments to testimony, they invariably cite the same source as the basis for their contention. “Well, when I had Mrs. Jones, she said …” “Now, Mr. Smith told us we should never use …” “If I turned in a paper with that sentence to Miss McGillicuddy …” And when I gently suggest that the English teacher who towers over their subconscious might be wrong in this instance, panic flickers in their eyes. It’s as if I’ve suggested that the North Pole is uninhabited.

How could that be? They wrote hundreds of themes in grade school, essays in high school and term papers in college, and those rules applied every single time. Don’t use contractions. You should never use the second person. Or fragments. And absolutely no sentences that begin with conjunctions.

Their teachers were absolutely right. When one is creating sentences and paragraphs for a formal document within an academic setting, it is critical to employ proper form, syntax and mechanics to ensure a favorable evaluation. Such are the rules of the academic world.

But once you’ve left the confines of school and find yourself communicating in a persuasive manner to prospects, customers, co-workers, and anyone else who falls under that “stakeholder” umbrella, grammar takes a backseat to something far more important. Whether you want to tell, sell, convince, entertain, emphasize, or even infuriate, you must connect with the reader and ensure that your message is clearly understood.

The most effective way to do that is to be individual and personal, and that calls for a conversational style. Conversation is far more informal than the academic writing style. When we speak, most of us don’t use textbook grammar. We start sentences with conjunctions, we end them with prepositions. We even use fragments. Those whose spoken grammar is letter-perfect come across as tedious snobs (think of TV’s Frasier).

Grammar is not a rigid set of rules. It’s a framework of structure and standards that varies by the type of writing and the audience – just as different types of buildings demand different degrees of engineering. It’s also important to remember that grammar isn’t timeless. If it were, we’d all write and speak in the style of the King James Version. Some rules that were considered inviolate just thirty years ago have already faded away.

When you write something other than a term paper, write to communicate. Don’t agonize over the grammatical correctness of your work. Match it to the situation and the audience. A memo about the company picnic doesn’t need to be as formal as a white paper directed to college professors. Focus on conveying the message, not on achieving grammatical perfection.

And don’t be afraid that your English teacher will come after you. If what you create is truly communicative and accomplishes the goal, he or she would actually be very proud.

Scott Flood creates effective copy for companies and other organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.sfwriting.com, or read his blog at http://sfwriting.com/wordpress/

Restoring the Power of Cliches

David Bowman — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:47:43 +0000

How a cliché becomes a cliché
When a particular cliché was first used (before it became a cliché), it created an impact. It used words in an interesting and novel way. The person who heard or read the expression might have thought, “Gosh, that’s a really creative way to express that idea.” Then, when other people began to use that expression, they were not clever; they were copycats. Having no interesting ideas of their own, they used someone else’s idea. When many people do this, the once clever expression became a cliché.

The reader’s response to clichés
When a reader comes across a cliché, he will think that that the writer has nothing interesting to say about the topic. In most cases, the reader will be right. A writer who uses clichés is simply repeating what he has heard or read, so the chance that his ideas will be interesting is slim.

The reader may be obligated to read the entire document (such as a teacher grading an essay), but without such an obligation, the reader will lose interest. After all, if the writer has nothing new or interesting to say, why keep reading? This is the real problem with using clichés. They give the reader no reason to continue reading.

Restoring the power of the clichés
Here’s the challenge: Take a dull cliché and restore its original power and impact. Remember, the first time the now cliché was used, it was interesting because it provided a new way of thinking about something. You can modify a cliché so that it does this again. We have three strategies for restoring the power of a cliché.

To demonstrate the three strategies, we will use the following two clichés:

“It’s the journey that matters, not the destination.
“We agree to disagree.”

Strategy One: Word Reversal
Find the key words in the cliché and put them in the opposite order.

In the first example, the key words are “journey” and “destination,” in that order. Using this strategy, we reverse their order:

“It’s the destination that matters, not the journey.”

The reader will realize that this statement is based on the cliché, but that you have done something to it. You have made it new and different than what the reader is accustomed to. That makes it interesting, and the reader will have to think about what the expression means when stated this way. The reader gets involved in thinking about your idea. That’s impact.

In the second example, the key words are “agree” and “disagree,” in that order. Using this strategy, we reverse their order (and modify it a bit to make it grammatically correct):

“We disagree about agreeing.”

The reader notices the statement because it looks like the familiar cliché. It gets attention. However, instead of turning off the reader, it engages him. It’s different than what he expected. “But what,” he might ask, “does it mean now?” The reader is thinking about your idea and the new way you have expressed it.

Strategy Two: Word Replacement
Find the key words in the cliché and replace them.

In the first example, you can replace “journey” with a different word, such as “company.” This gives you the following expression:

“It’s the company that matters, not the destination.”

This sentence doesn’t have the same meaning as the cliché, even though it looks like it. By changing one of the key words, you are expressing a new idea, a new concept. The reader will realize that you have used a different word, and that new word will have high impact, i.e., power. We could have replaced “destination” for the same effect.

The second example is trickier. To transform it, we have to understand what made it interesting originally. The two key words are closely related: they are antonyms and they look and sound similar. If we replace just one of the words, this will no longer be true. It will no longer look like the original cliché, the reader won’t focus on it, and the statement won’t have power. After some thought, here’s one option:

“We promise to make no promises.”

This is a completely new idea, based on the structure of the original cliché. While the reader may not recognize it as a transformation of the cliché, he may have the same response to it. As a result, the statement will have the power the cliché has long since lost.

Combining Strategies One and Two
Combine the first two strategies to make them even more powerful.

First we reorder the key words, and then we replace one of them. Using the first sample, the transformed cliché may look like this:

“It’s the company that matters, not the journey.”

Strategy Three: Adding Final Words
Use the cliché without changing it, but then add an impact statement to the end.

With this strategy, the reader sees the cliché, knows what words to expect, and then is surprised by the final words. Those final words give a new way of thinking about the concept expressed by the cliché.

Using the first example, we add new words to the end of the cliché, which gives us this:

“It’s the journey that matters, not the destination—unless you’re heading to the bank.”

That final statement changes the meaning of the entire cliché. After catching the reader’s attention, you surprise him with new information. This makes him think about the idea from a new perspective.

You can also add additional information to the end of the second cliché. You might add a condition or contrary information (as with the first example). One possibility is as follows:

“We agree to disagree, but only at home.”

The Reader’s Response to a Transformed Cliché
Let’s think about why we’re doing this. First, we want to get the reader’s attention. Second, we want the reader to think that we’re using words in a new way (a.k.a. being clever). Third, we want the reader to think about our ideas. Together, these three purposes can be summed up as making an impact on the reader. From the reader’s perspective, here’s what happens.

“Ah, a cliché. How dull.”
“Wait a minute. This is different!”
“The writer is pretty clever. He took a cliché and made something new.”
“What sentence does this mean now?”

The end result is a reader who respects your cleverness and is interested in what you have to say. This is the exact opposite reaction you get when using clichés, and it is the exact response you desire.

David Bowman is the Owner and Chief Editor of Precise Edit, a comprehensive editing, proofreading, and document analysis service for authors, students, and businesses. Precise Edit also offers a variety of other services, such as translation, transcription, and website development.

How to Make Your Book a Bestseller – By Harnessing the Incredible Power of Internet Marketing

Stephanie J. Hale — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:55:23 +0000

If you’ve written a book or if you want to get your message out to the world, there has never been an easier time to become a bestselling author. The Internet has provided writers with an unprecedented opportunity to spread their message and reach more readers at a faster rate than ever before.

So let me take you through the process step-by-step of how to turn your book into a bestseller and gain more ‘customers’ or readers.

Your number one priority is to give away something of value to your potential readers. It sounds back-to-font – but trust me, it isn’t.

You might give away valuable content such as: a ‘how to’ article; a free ebook or report; an ezine; a teleseminar; or an MP3.

Better still, team up with other experts who can provide this free content. So if your book is about dog breeding, contact other pet experts. Or if your book is about gardening, contact high profile gardening experts (preferably those with a large database or ‘list’ of clients).

Tell them you’re offering the chance to promote their business if they’d like to offer something for free in return. It’s a win-win situation: they provide you with a freebie, you promote their website to your readers.

When you put a value on these free bonuses, it can run into thousands of dollars. This makes a $9.99 book phenomenal value – in fact, readers will sometimes buy a book just to get their hands on the bonuses.

On the day your book is launched, ask all the experts who gave free bonuses to help promote it. They can do this via their own mailing lists, as well as social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Chances are they’ll also want to bulk-buy your book to sell to their own clients. If everyone promotes your book on the same day, you can very quickly push your book onto the bestseller list for your particular niche on Amazon.

Even if it only hovers there for three seconds, that’s all it takes. The kudos of having a bestselling book lasts a lifetime! I even have a client who used this technique successfully to push her poetry book (self-published 5 years previously) to bestselling status.

What to do with your ‘customers’ or readers when you have their contact details? Write to them at least once a week. Get to know them: let them get to know you. Share valuable information with them.

Follow these simple steps and you will be well on your way to becoming a successful author.

Stephanie J. Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. Find more FREE publishing tips at: http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com

Solving 3 Common Dialogue Problems

David Bowman — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:01:00 +0000

Dialogue is an essential component of a story. Through dialogue, we learn about characters’ personalities, we see characters react to events, and we understand the relationships they have with each other. Dialogue allows the reader to visualize scenes. Authors use dialogue to follow the adage “show, don’t tell” what happens.

When we help authors edit manuscripts, we frequently have to solve three common problems with dialogue:

confusion,
stasis, and
displacement.

We use these terms to categorize the three strategies we use to improve dialogue. To help understand these common dialogue problems, let’s look at an example of poor dialogue, study how it illustrates these problems, and then find solutions.

John and Tom walked into the restaurant and sat down.
“Do you know what you want?”
“Not really. I’m hungry enough to eat a horse.”
“You’re in luck. Horse meat is on the menu.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. Look at the back page under ‘Chef’s Specials.’ ”
“Holy cow! You’re right. That’s gross.”
“Not really. It’s pretty good, actually.”
“There’s no way I would eat horse meat.”
“You already have.”
“Huh?”
“Remember those burgers we ate when I had you for a cookout last month?”
“Please don’t tell me that was horse meat.”
“Ok, I won’t. But you sure enjoyed them.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Oh, don’t be such a snob. I thought you liked Chinese food.”
“I do, but what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, the Chinese eat over a million and a half horses each year.”
“Maybe Mexican food would be better.”
“Same problem. They eat six hundred thousand each year.”
“That’s it. I’m going home for Italian cuisine. No, don’t tell me!”

Obviously, this is a back and forth exchange between two characters, John and Tom. They each talk in turn. In this sample, the reader will learn about each character’s prejudices and the nature of their relationship. In that regard, the dialogue is fine. However, it suffers from confusion, stasis, and displacement.

1. Confusion Problems in Dialogue

Problem: Who is talking? In the sample, which character likes horsemeat and which one is grossed out? You don’t know because the author didn’t tell you. In many dialogues where we see this problem, the author will indicate who is speaking first, or, at a minimum, give the reader a clue. Following that first indication, however, the author leaves the reader to figure out who is speaking, leaving the reader confused.

In this sample, we could indicate that the first speaker is John.

“Do you know what you want?” asked John.

Then, because this is a back and forth exchange, we could figure out who is saying what. After a number of exchanges, though, the reader may lose track and have to study the dialogue carefully, naming the character for each statement: This is John, this is Tom, this is John, this is Tom, etc. Basically, the reader is doing the work the writer should have done.

When you confuse your reader this way, you make the reader work too hard to understand the dialogue. You force the reader to pay attention to the writing, which means the reader is not engaged in the story. Fortunately, this problem has a simple solution.

Solution: Label the speakers. Tell the reader who is speaking. You don’t need to label every line, every few lines is sufficient for the reader to keep track. Also, if you want the reader to focus mainly on one character, only label that character’s speech. Generally, we recommend labeling both, or all, speakers. Following this advice, the sample exchange might include this.

“Please don’t tell me that was horse meat” said Tom.
“Ok, I won’t. But you sure enjoyed them.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Oh, don’t be such a snob,” said John. “I thought you liked Chinese food.”
“I do, but what’s that got to do with anything?” Tom asked.

Now the reader knows who is speaking. Problem solved.

2. Stasis Problems with Dialogue

Problem: What are the characters doing? “Stasis” means “the state of being motionless.” When people talk, they also act. They move, look, gesture, and inflect. What they don’t do is keep completely still.

To help the reader visualize the scene, the author lets the characters move. These movements are important. Movement shows how they feel about what they hear or say. This shows the reader important information about characters’ feelings and personalities. Movement also helps to clarify who is speaking, which helps with confusion problems. Most importantly, movement during dialogue makes the scene more realistic and engaging to the reader. Look at this pair of sentences.

“Do you know what you want?”
John looked up from his menu and asked, “Do you know what you want?”

The second sentence not only tells us who is speaking (confusion problem) but also shows the reader what John is doing while speaking (stasis problem).

Solution: Include necessary actions. To add realistic, and necessary, movement to dialogue, the author needs to imagine the scene in his or her mind, and then describe what occurs. The challenge for the writer is to determine which actions are necessary to understanding the scene, the characters, or the meaning of the dialogue. For example, the author of this sample could have written the following.

“You already have.”
Tom leaned forward, mouth agape. “Huh?”
“Remember those burgers we ate when I had you for a cookout last month?”
“Please,” Tom said, “don’t tell me that was horse meat.” He put his hands over his ears and scrunched up his face.
“Ok, I won’t,” John said and smiled broadly. “But you sure enjoyed them.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”

Now the reader knows what the characters are doing. Problem solved.

3. Displacement Problems in Dialogue

Problem: Where is the dialogue occurring? Events happen somewhere. Dialogue occurs in a place, not in a void. It has an environment. The environment includes sights, sounds, smells, and other people. The environment also includes thoughts and memories. Basically, anything that affects the characters’ words and actions are part of the environment. Displaced dialogue, meaning dialogue that occurs in a void, won’t engage the reader, won’t help the reader to visualize the scene, and won’t provide a context for the characters’ actions.

Let’s study one line from the sample and ask questions about the environment.

“Holy cow! You’re right. That’s gross.”

Tom is upset about the fact that the restaurant serves horse meat. That’s pretty obvious from his words. Now, if the restaurant serves it, are the other patrons eating it? Can he detect an unusual smell in the air? If the kitchen door swings open, can he see a horse carcass hanging against the wall? Does Tom know anything about cultures where horse meat is eaten? What are his feelings about horses? This one line is crucial to the rest of the exchange, so let’s put it in place.

Solution: Provide an environment. The author needs to show the environment for the dialogue, i.e., to put the dialogue in a place. When we imagine the scene mentally, we can identify parts of the environment that help the reader to understand the character’s actions and reactions. Think about both the external and internal environment. The external environment includes what occurs around the speakers. The internal environment includes what occurs in the speakers’ minds. This will also help solve confusion and stasis problems. When we put the sample dialogue in place, we get this.

“Holy cow! You’re right.” Tom swept his eyes across the tables in the restaurant. Was anyone actually eating horse? “That’s gross.”
“Not really,” John said and set down his menu. “It’s pretty good, actually.”
The waitress came to take their order. John noted Tom’s discomfort and told her that they would probably need a few more minutes.
Tom leaned in and whispered, “There’s no way I would eat horse meat.”
“You already have.”
“Huh?”
“Remember those burgers we ate when I had you for a cookout last month?”
“Please,” Tom said, “don’t tell me that was horse meat.” He put his hands over his ears and scrunched up his face. He remembered eating two—and enjoying them.

Now the reader knows the environment for the dialogue. Problem solved.

Conclusion

By solving these three problems with writing dialogue—confusion, stasis, and displacement—an author can create dialogue that is important, that interests the reader, and that seems realistic. Take a look at Hemingway’s writing. Earnest Hemingway is known for his minimalist approach to writing, yet he, too, addresses these issues. And few readers would argue against the quality of his writing. Now examine your own writing and ask yourself these questions:

Will the reader know who is speaking?
Are the characters acting in a realistic manner?
Does the dialogue occur in an environment?

We ask these questions when working with clients, and we either advise the authors to revise their manuscripts or we do it ourselves, depending on the level of service. In either case, the result is great dialogue.

Write Like a Pro! How to “Show, Don’t Tell”

Laura Backes — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:00:06 +0000

If there’s one piece of universal writing advice it’s this: “Show, Don’t Tell”.

But what does that really mean — and how is it done?

Let’s begin with a definition. “Telling” uses abstract, general terms (The dog was big and scary.) “Showing” uses specific nouns and verbs and pulls from the five senses so the reader will get exactly the meaning the author intends. (Eva felt the dog’s breath on her cheek as she passed by the chain link fence, and smelled the musty odor from his matted fur. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him keep pace with her slow, deliberate steps. But when a low growl rose from the dog’s throat, Eva ran.)

Showing often uses more words than telling, but it also gives the reader more information. In the second example, we see how Eva interacts with the dog. We see the dog as she sees him, and we know exactly what “scary” means. And since showing incorporates more into the text than simple description, you get a lot of mileage from every word.

Showing Character

The way a character reacts to his circumstances or moves through his day shows us a lot about who he is. If your character chooses to miss a movie in order to help his sister with her homework, you’ve shown he’s generous. If she adopts a stray kitten, she’s an animal lover. Don’t sum up your characters with adjectives (Sam is a good big brother; Kayla has a kind heart). Let their actions speak for themselves.

Many authors over-describe their characters’ physical appearances. Highlight one or two traits that make them stand out. Try to work the description into the action or dialogue (“Now your hair’s purple,” Julie exclaimed. “When did you make the switch from blue?”) Secondary characters should be seen through your protagonist’s eyes. Touch on what your protagonist notices about other people rather than listing all their attributes. By showing character, you’ll also be showing plot. The situations your characters put themselves in, and what they do once they’re there, create the backbone of your plot structure. Tension and drama are created by your readers seeing what the characters are doing and placing their own value judgments on the characters’ choices.

Showing Setting

Ideally, the setting is revealed as your protagonist moves through it. While glancing out her bedroom window Jane may see a river flowing in the distance, and recall the previous summer when the water dried up. Alex may admire a neighbor’s new car; the make and model giving the reader a clue as to what year the story takes place. If the story happens in your character’s everyday world, then the details of ordinary life (clothing, housing, food, transportation) won’t be considered exceptional. A 13-year-old girl growing up on a farm in the 1920s wouldn’t think it disgusting to pluck a freshly-killed chicken for dinner – she’d just do it. However, if a character is plunked down in an unfamiliar setting, rather than describe every detail you need to zero in on the aspects of that setting that stand out for your protagonist.

Showing Actions

The single best way to show – without adding extra words – is to pay attention to your verbs. Specific verbs not only convey action, they can also convey emotion, state of mind, and physicality. After school, Jake went to the store only tells us what Jake did. But if you also want to show how Jake did it, change the verb: Jake dashed to the store; Jake trudged to the store; Jake marched to the store; Jake stumbled to the store. Each verb gives different clues about how Jake feels about his trip to the store, and helps us visualize the way he’s moving. That’s a lot of showing packed into one word.

Showing, not telling is, of course, just the beginning. If you want much more about how to write a children’s book, come hang with the Fightin’ Bookworms at http://cbiclubhouse.com. Whether it’s writing picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, finding children’s book publishers — or anything else — you’ll find all the answers at the CBI Clubhouse!

Laura Backes, publisher of Children’s Book Insider, has worked in the field since 1986, and has held positions with several publishers including Ballantine and Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She is also a former literary agent and freelance editor. Her book, “Best Books for Kids Who (think they) Hate To Read” was published by Prima/Random House in 2001.

Laura was Technical Editor of “Writing Children’s Book for Dummies” and is the co-founder of the Children’s Author’s Bootcamp workshops.

How to Price Your Book So That it Sells

A Guest Article Writer — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:55:31 +0000

Many authors struggle when pricing their books. On one hand, you are providing extremely valuable information to your readers. On the other hand, books have a perceived value that is less than a coaching session or a live event.

For many of you, pricing will not be an issue. You will work with a publisher who will determine the price of your book for you. However, if you decide to self-publish your book, or work with a publisher who allows you to set your price, you may find yourself in a quandary over the pricing of your book.

Proceed cautiously. There are many important factors to consider when pricing your book. I know an author who wanted to make her book very attractive to buyers. She set her price so low that she lost money on each book sale. Other authors repel sales by pricing their book too high. Pricing requires a delicate balance.

Consider these things before you set your price:

1. How much does it cost to produce your book?
There are many hard costs associated with producing a book. You should know the price of the printing as well as how much you’ve spent for editing, cover design, and marketing. Then estimate how many books you will sell in the first six months after your book launch. Divide all the production costs by the number of books you plan to sell. That will give you a rough breakdown of the hard costs for each book.

2. Remember that bookstores and other wholesale outlets will buy your book at 50-60% of the cover price. Set your cover price high enough that your hard costs are covered at the 50% wholesale price with a bit of profit built in.

3. Determine the pricing of similar books. Amazon.com will give you excellent information. Look for the high and low prices on similar books on Amazon. Note the retail price, not the discounted price on Amazon. The Amazon discount may change daily as Amazon adjusts prices to sell the maximum number of books.

Depending on your genre, you will find that most non-fiction books sell from $14.95 to $29.95. Notice that most book prices end in five not a seven.

Self-help and spiritual books sell at the lower end of that range. Business books are generally on the higher end of the range.

4. Be aware that book sales depend on volume. It is better to strive to sell many books at a small profit per book than to sell fewer books and make more per sale. Remember that your book is a marketing tool for your business so you want to sell as many copies of your book as possible.

5. Once you have a price range for your book from Amazon, set your price in the middle to upper end of the range. If your book is too cheap, buyers will assume that it is not worthwhile.

6. Check your numbers. Will you cover your hard costs at this price?

7. Then, practice saying, “My book sells for $xx.xx.” Can you say that figure with confidence? If not, determine why. Adjust the price until you can say it with confidence and sincerity.

8. Finally, ask your heart. Do you feel that this price is a fair exchange, one in which the reader gets great value in return for their money? When in doubt, err on the side of a slightly lower price. Aim for a fair price that feels like a great deal for the reader and a good deal for you.

Setting the price of your book is an art and a science. Combining the facts of hard costs and profit margins with the more heart centered feeling approach will give you the ideal price for your book.

Article by Lynne Klippel. Lynne is a publisher, author and book shepherd who specializes in helping authors write business building books. Want to create a successful book? Discover 8 book marketing blunders that you can avoid. Grab your free ecourse at http://www.BookMarketingBlitz.com.

12 Easy Ways to Select A Topic For a Non-Fiction Book

A Guest Article Writer — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:04:53 +0000

So you want to write a non-fiction book. Maybe you have an idea and maybe you don’t, but choosing a topic for your non-fiction book should be easy. Start with what you know, love, or care about, but always, always, always search for the unique angle. Simply rehashing the same old, same old won’t cut it.

Talking about a new angle-how many diet books were in the market prior to Dr. Atkins entered in 1989 with his high-protein, low carbohydrate diet? More than you can name, I’m sure, from the infamous Grapefruit Diet to the Scarsdale Diet. Every new diet idea has to have a book, or two, or three. Diet books were already a huge market. The field was crowded, but his new angle was a breakthrough and changed the diet scene forever.

Shortly after it became a smash hit, other protein diet books appeared. He spawned a whole new way too look at diets and this motivated other authors. There were books created to support his point of view, other books to tweak it, and others to challenge it. Then along came the cookbooks. High-protein, low carbohydrate recipes were all the fad. I don’t know the total number of books created directly as a result of the Atkins diet, but I daresay it is in the thousands. Do you think the publishers said, “Oh no, not another diet book?” Or did they rush it to print to take advantage of the buzz?

What do you know that is a little different from what has been published before? Bookstores and libraries are chock full of self-improvement books. How many ways are there to find your inner power, create success, sleep better, be happier, stop smoking, find God, and develop irresistible powers of attraction? Yet, with all of this information truckloads of new self-help books hit the market every year. Each of them say essentially the same things, but they all seek a different hook. Will new angles ever be depleted? It doesn’t seem so, but if you have one, don’t sit on it or someone else will come up with it too while you are languishing in the starting gate. A good idea is too valuable to waste.

Is there new information you can bring to the table that may have been overlooked? Research and discoveries are continuing in every field of endeavor. If you are keeping up with the latest information, your book by hitting the market first could propel you into the spotlight.

Has technology changed the landscape? How? There are few subjects that don’t benefit from improved technologies. Even in fields like restoration of old paintings technology is used to discover what is unseen to the naked eye but vital to the correct restoration.

What do you expect will happen to your topic in the future? Project yourself into the future, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, or more. What does the future hold for your field of interest?

How has your topic altered, improved, or ruined your life? Get personal. Readers are bored with dry reading; they want to know what your experience has been, even if it turned out badly. Especially if it turned out badly. In fact, there is a reason news shows lead with murder and mayhem. It’s sick, but humans are very curious about disasters. Even if your experience is and was very positive, you’ll want to look for some contrast to create drama.

Has new information been unearthed that alters previously held beliefs? People are forever studying the history of this, that, or the other. You can rest assured that someone will come across with an old memo, forgotten manuscript, or lost photos. Perhaps those discoveries will contradict previous truths.

Do you have doubts about the subject and can you prove them? Every subject needs balance. If all of the books written glorify your subject, you may think about being the devil’s advocate. Look for evidence of the dark side.

What are your ten rules? Huh? You don’t think you have rules, ah but you do. Things that we enjoy doing required us to learn how to do it. Think back to when you started and list the steps you had to learn to master it. Write them down one through ten and dedicate a chapter to each of those steps.

How does your subject fare in other countries? Would utilizing practices from a foreign country improve performance here? Have the practitioners of your subject in distant lands created ways and means that are more effective? Would your readers be served well by knowing what those differences are?

What have you always wanted to say but kept to yourself because certain areas are sacred cows? Fear of rejection or expulsion has killed many a good book. If you have a burning desire to tell something that will stir up trouble, it takes real courage. Do you have enough guts to be the one? Just think of all of the people who would benefit from the truth you are keeping to yourself.

Who will read your book, a well-informed practitioner, or a novice? Consider the books currently in the market on your subject. If the majority of them are written for the beginner, perhaps the experts would benefit from your expertise. Be sure you don’t write over the heads of the newbie’s or talk down to the pros. Write for the audience you choose. The purpose of a non-fiction book should be to dispense information, not dazzle the readers with your prose. Save that for creative writing classes or novels.

Can you latch on and ride with a trend? Like the Atkins example, is there something hot in the marketplace right now? Maybe it doesn’t even have to directly relate. If something in your title, or cover art indicates a relationship you could benefit from the trend. When President Obama was elected there was a fervor that rivaled religion. Suppose you had a book of stories and folk sayings from his birthplace Hawaii, couldn’t you call it something like Folk Stories from President Obama’s Birthplace? I know it is a stretch, but crazier things have been done like the Obama Chia Pet.

Article by Bill Ruesch. Bill is a member of the Utah State Poetry Society. He has taught poets for many years and has seen four of his students become Utah’s Poet of the Year over the last six years. His profession is printing broker and is in the process of creating a new organizations for authors called The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors. You can catch up with Bill by going to his website http://www.billprintbroker.com

Smart Strategies To Sell Ebooks

A Guest Article Writer — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:37:32 +0000

It is said that there is a novel within all of us and if you are amongst the fortunate few who has finally taken the plunge and written an ebook, congratulations! But, it is not enough to have simply written the book. You also want it to be read by as many people as possible. Otherwise you might as well have kept the book within your head only!

As in everything, the marketing strategy and the right publicity are very crucial nowadays. With every little thing generating so much hype it seems if you do not join the bandwagon you will get left behind and that is the inescapable truth. Smart publicity and promotion of the ebook is a must. The marketing strategy has to be eye-grabbing as people have very short attention-span nowadays and what catches their eyes instantly will only get their due notice.

Here are some ways of smart marketing strategies to increase traffic for noticing your ebook:

Creating an interesting website is one of the foremost things to do for your ebook to become noticeable. Your site should be giving them hopes for things which they would like to know about in relation to the topic of the book which you have written. The sales pitch on your site should have the right balance of delicacy and urging visitors to read your book. There are thousands of e-books on various sites and unless you make your ebook stand out it will get lost among them. The positive aspects of your book should be sold to the public to convert prospects into actual purchasers.

To increase traffic, you can write some snippets related to your ebook and link it to the sales page of the book. You can even offer excerpts from the book and use them to create links. Choose the most interesting bits from your book and offer tantalizing glimpses of it; this will be sure to arouse the interest of the visitors (of course, your writing and topic has to be good enough) who will then, hopefully, make a beeline for your ebook.

`Do not judge a book by its cover`; unfortunately, the value of this old saying has diminished considerably in a world where everything is beginning to be judged instantly. So, you have to make the cover of your ebook as attractive as possible. A shoddy-looking book will generate no interest and it`s wiser to take the help of a professional graphic designer for your book`s cover. Also, that feeling of an actual book in hand can never be replaced by an ebook so you have to depend on attractive images to sell your product.

The title of your ebook should also demand instant attention; if you get the title right, half the battle is won as the curiosity of the reader is aroused. Get the title wrong and the most interesting writing will not sell as much as it should.

Generating a buzz around a product is all part of excellent marketing strategies and even before the launch of your book, you should distribute the draft copy of your book to useful people in your niche. Online interviews, email interviews, web chats, mentioning the ebook in a blog; all add to the hype which is necessary to sell your ebook. Signing up for newsletters and forums related to your writing can do wonders for the publicity for your book.

Your purpose in writing an ebook is to reach out to as many people as possible and this can only happen by selling it with the right marketing and promotional strategies.

Article by Roberto Sedycias.

Robert works as IT consultant for http://www.polomercantil.com.br/ . You can have access to articles about ebooks in the Portuguese language from http://www.polomercantil.com.br/direito.php.

What Really Happens When You Land a Book Deal: Publishing Myths and Realities You Need to Know

A Guest Article Writer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:34:15 +0000

For many aspiring authors, the prospect of landing a book deal sounds like the ultimate ticket to success. And while a contract with a major press can come with some perks, there can be some unexpected surprises along the way. Here’s what you need to know to get into the game with your eyes wide open.

Myth: Once you hand over your manuscript, your book will be on bookstore shelves right away. Patience is essential when working with a traditional publisher. It takes most major publishers about a year to complete your book and put it into distribution. With the amount of red tape they have going on, the process takes much longer than most realize. Just don’t expect to see your book on shelves within a few months, as this is highly unlikely unless your book is rushed to market under special circumstances.

Myth: Your book will be produced exactly as written. Each publisher has different editorial processes, guidelines and goals. Your developmental editor may want to rework sections of your book or ask you to add or even remove content. Though you will be involved in the editing process and asked to turn it all around quickly, you may or may not like the proposed changes and you may or may not have a voice in the ultimate outcome. Some book deals end up getting cancelled during the editing process when the author and publisher fail to agree on changes.

Myth: You will have input on the cover design. Cover design is an area where you will probably have little input. The publisher will design something and may send it to you for review, but requests for changes are not likely to be met. This is a point in the process when you may have to accept that your work is no longer exclusively yours.

Myth: Your book must be finished before you pitch it to a publisher. This is actually true for fiction books—publishers want to see the whole story before a deal is made. But nonfiction books are an exception. During the pitch process, most publishers want to see an outline and two or three sample chapters. If they like your work and offer you a book deal, you can actually negotiate the remaining time needed to complete your manuscript.

Myth: Big Press = Big Marketing. Don’t expect much marketing at all since most publishers don’t have big marketing budgets. The bulk of responsibility almost always falls on the author. You might appear in the publisher’s catalog, in a press release, and may get featured at a trade show, but don’t count on them landing you an appearance alongside Matt Lauer. Those efforts are reserved for established, big-name authors. Smaller publishers may actually work a little harder to assist with marketing since they have more riding on the success of each title, but as a rule, authors should set expectations very low.

Myth: Once you land a book deal, your author career is set for life. Just because you sign a deal with a publisher, there are no guarantees that they will want your next book, even though your contract will likely stipulate that they get first right of refusal on your next book. Your first book must perform exceptionally well before the next book will be considered for publication.

Keep in mind that you may not want to publish another book with that same publisher. There are many reasons why you might want to move on—creative differences, other publishers that are a better fit for your genre of writing, or you may decide to pursue self-publishing opportunities. This can be a catch-22 as you must give your current publisher the chance to evaluate your next book idea before you can be released from your contract. (Hint: if you want out, pick an idea you know they won’t want!)

Myth: Authors make tons of money. The vast majority of authors will tell you that there is not a lot of money to be found in a traditional book deal. Sure you get an advance check, which on average comes in around $5,000 to $10,000, unless you are a celebrity. Then you have to earn that back before you will see another dime.

Perhaps most surprising is what authors earn in royalties from book sales. You can expect to make around $1 to $2 per book sold and with numbers like this, you’ve got to sell a lot of books to generate a substantial royalty check. To make matters worse, most publishers only pay authors twice per year, so don’t expect to see your monthly income increase because of your book. Some authors create other revenue opportunities around their books from things like speaking (which can command $2,000 to $10,000 fees), consulting and related information products.

Myth: You can purchase your own books at cost. As surprising as this may seem, your contract with a publisher will probably allow you to buy your own books at just 40% to 50% off of the cover price. So if you have a book that sells for $20, you will be lucky to buy your copies for $10 each. Since the publisher’s cost is likely far less than $10, they are still generating a significant profit from your orders. This is a point that can be negotiated so remember to ask for a deeper discount when you receive your contract offer!

Myth: If you self-publish, you kill your chances of landing a book deal. If you self-publish a book and achieve some success by selling 1,000 copies or more, you can actually improve your chances of landing a traditional book deal. Publishers want authors to come to the table with a ready made “platform.” This means that they want to know that you have an audience. Selling a significant number of books proves that you have that audience and raises your appeal. Just ask Christopher Paolini, the teenage boy who wrote and self-published “Eragon,” or Richard Paul Evans who wrote “The Christmas Box.” Their self-publishing success stories landed them multi-million dollar book deals.

I know several authors who have been approached by major presses, which can demonstrate an interesting shift in power. In one case, an author who publishes instructional books for a specific trade quickly turned down a rather substantial offer. He simply makes too much money on his books to give his margin away. He also didn’t want to give up control since he has built his own distribution channels so that his books are devoured by his target market. The publisher didn’t relent and instead returned with an even bigger offer. He turned that one down too.

There is still much to celebrate about receiving an offer for a book deal with a traditional publisher. The added credibility can bring plenty of opportunities with the media, speaking, consulting and much more. But it is important to know what you’re getting into before you venture forward so that you can navigate the waters like a pro.

About The Author

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several books including “The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform” and “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products.” She is also the host of http://NonfictionWritersConference.com , the only virtual writers’ conference for nonfiction authors. For author and speaker details visit http://StephanieChandler.com

Punctuating Appositives

David Bowman — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:42:47 +0000

Punctuation isn’t complicated once you know what you’re looking at. I see many writers making errors when punctuating appositives. This may be a new term for many folks, so we’ll take a look at what I mean by “appositive,” and then we’ll figure out how to punctuate them correctly.

WHAT’S AN APPOSITIVE?

An appositive is a word or phrase that:

renames something you have written and
can serve the same grammatical function as the word or phrase it renames.

If the word or phrase passes these two tests, it is an appositive.

FIRST EXAMPLE OF AN APPOSITIVE

Here’s a sentence with an appositive. Let’s take a look at the phrase “a harsh and stubborn woman.” Is this an appositive?

The committee chairwoman, a harsh and stubborn woman, scorned the director’s request.

First test: In this sample, the phrase “a harsh and stubborn woman” renames “The committee chairwoman.” It means the same thing. This satisfies the first test.

Second test: “The committee chairwoman” is the subject of this sentence. However, if we leave out this subject, then “a harsh and stubborn woman” will serve as the subject (minus the commas around it). In this way, “a harsh and stubborn woman” can serve the same grammatical function as “the committee chairwoman.” This satisfies the second test.

Another way to perform this test is to leave out one phrase and then the other, resulting in two sentences. If they are both grammatically correct, then the phrase passes the second test. Using this example, we have the following two grammatically correct sentences.

The committee chairwoman scorned the director’s request.

A harsh and stubborn woman scorned the director’s request.

Based on these two tests, the phrase “a harsh and stubborn woman” is an appositive. We say that this phrase is in apposition to “the committee chairwoman.”

SECOND EXAMPLE OF AN APPOSITVE

Here is another sentence with an appositive:

My brother, a violin player, is coming home.

The phrase “a violin player” is an appositive. It is in apposition to “My brother,” and it passes the two tests: 1) it renames “my brother;” 2) it can serve the same grammatical function.

THIRD EXAMPLE OF AN APPOSITIVE

Most appositives follow the word or phrase they rename. Here’s a sentence in which the appositive is before the word it renames.

A streak in the sky, the eagle raced overhead.

The appositive is “a streak in the sky.” It renames “eagle” and can serve the same grammatical function. We can write “The eagle raced overhead” or “A streak in the sky raced overhead.”

HOW DO I PUNCTUATE AN APPOSITIVE?

Now, what are the rules for punctuating appositives? How do you punctuate an appositive? Now that we know what appositives are, let’s figure out how to punctuate them. To answer this question, we first have to decide what type of appositive we are using: non-restrictive or restrictive.

Non-restrictive appositives: By non-restrictive, we mean they are simply renaming something. We are only referring to one thing, a category with only one thing in it. When appositives are non-restrictive, they are set off with commas. The examples above are all non-restrictive.

In the first example above, only one woman is the committee chairwoman. We don’t need to restrict the category to indicate which woman because it only has one woman in it; we’re just providing additional information about that woman. As such, the appositive is set off with commas.

Restrictive appositives: By restrictive, we mean that we have used a name for a broad category with many things in it. We want the reader to know which thing we’re writing about, so we need to restrict the broad category to a narrow category that only contains one thing. When appositives are restrictive, they are not set off with commas.

Here is a sentence with a restrictive appositive:

The belief that he was alone led him to depression.

The restrictive appositive is “that he was alone.” This phrase renames “the belief,” and, as a noun phrase, it can also serve as the subject (though this will sound awkward to native English speakers).

Why is this restrictive? The category “belief” has many things in it (i.e., contains many individual beliefs), and we want to indicate the one belief to which we are referring. We are restricting the broad category to a very narrow category, the broad category of beliefs to the narrow category of belief that he was alone. As such, this appositive is not set off with commas.

EXAMPLES FROM ONLINE REFERENCE SITES

Let’s look at two examples of appositives taken from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/596/1 ).

My brother’s car, a sporty red convertible with bucket seats, is the envy of my friends.

The appositive is “a sporty red convertible with bucket seats.” This is in apposition to “car.” It is renaming “car” inasmuch as it means the same thing. “Car” = “a sporty red convertible with bucket seats” (first test). Also, it can serve the same grammatical function as “car.” In this sentence, “My brother’s car” is the subject. However, if we remove the subject (and fix the punctuation), “A sporty red convertible with bucket seats” becomes the subject (second test).

[This one is non-restrictive. My brother has only one car. As such, the appositive is set off with commas.]

Your friend Bill is in trouble.

“Bill” is in apposition to “friend.” “Bill” is renaming “friend” inasmuch as it means the same thing (first test). “Friend” = “Bill” (first test). Second, the appositive can serve the same grammatical function. The sentence “Your friend is in trouble” has the same grammatical structure as “Bill is in trouble” (second test).

[This one is restrictive, assuming you have more than one friend. We are narrowing the broad category of "friend" to a narrow category called "friends named Bill." As such, the appositive is not set off with commas. The broad category has many things in it, i.e., many friends, so we need to restrict it to point out the one we're writing about.]

The Center for Writing Studies (CWS) at the University of Illinois ( http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/appositives/ ) provides a decent definition: “Appositives are two words or word groups which MEAN THE SAME THING and are placed together. Appositives identify or explain the nouns or pronouns which they modify.” Here is one of their examples:

Our teacher, Professor Lamanna, loves grammar.

The appositive they identify is “Professor Lamanna.” This appositive renames “our teacher” and can serve the same grammatical function if “our teacher” (and the pair of commas) is removed.

WHAT DO I DO?

Find your appositives. To determine whether or not a word or words are appositives, look at what they mean and how they are used.
Decide whether the appositive is restrictive or non-restrictive.
Once you have done these two tasks, use the punctuation rules above to determine whether or not to set them off with commas.

Book Distributors and What They Can Do For Your Book

A Guest Article Writer — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:51:22 +0000

Many new authors are mystified about how in the world to get their books into a bookstore.

While is it fairly easy to list your book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, getting your book into a physical bookstore is very difficult for a new, self-published author.

According to Eric Kampmann, principal of MidPoint Trade Books, large bookstore chains are not interested in dealing with self-publishers or even small independent publishers. They are reluctant because they are not sure that the books will be of high quality with a professional cover and great editing, and it is too time consuming for them to deal with small orders.

That’s when a book distributor comes in.

A book distributor is the intermediary between the publisher and store buyers. Distributors put books in catalogs and send sales staff to pitch books to buyers. They are experts in wholesale book marketing and moving books into stores from warehouses. They also negotiate contacts with stores for special sales, front of store displays, and any type of special promotion for books.

There are different kinds of distributors. If you print your book with Lightning Source, as I do, Ingram Distribution will automatically distribute your book. This is good. However, Ingram has a very large catalog so your book will probably not get too much attention from their sales staff unless you are appearing on Oprah.

Other distributors are smaller and take a more personal approach. MidPoint Trade Books, for example, only agrees to distribute a book after a very rigorous screening process. If a book passes muster, the sales staff will enthusiastically represent it.

Most distributors start working with a publisher 6-12 months before the book is printed. However, distributors will also evaluate books that have been launched if they have sold 300-400 copies on Amazon in the first three months after release. Those Amazon sales figures show that the book can generate sales so a distributor would be interested in pitching it to bookstores.

If you want to sell your books in bookstores, take these steps:
- Make sure you invest in a very professional cover, great editing, and professional layout. Your book has to look first rate and be first rate.
- Start to research distributors before you publish your book. The dates of publication are very important to bookstores sales and you will need a distributor to help you time the launch of your book in the most advantageous way.
- Be willing to pay. Book distributors do a lot of work on your behalf and deserve to be compensated well. Anticipate paying a distribution fee of at least 30% and maybe more.
- Listen and learn. You hire a book distributor for expertise in selling books. They are your partners in the success of your book so if your distributor makes a suggestion for a revised cover, additional editing, or other changes, you would be wise to accept those suggestions.

If this whole idea scares you, give up on the idea of having your book in bookstores and concentrate your efforts on selling it on your own website and on Amazon/Barnes and Nobles.

Putting books in bookstores is not for everyone.

However, if it is your dream, you now have some additional knowledge that will help you make that dream come true.

Article by Lynne Klippel. Lynne is a publisher, author and book shepherd who specializes in helping authors write business building books.Want to create a successful book? Discover 8 book marketing blunders that you can avoid. Grab your free ecourse at Book Marketing Blitz.

Query Letter Writing Fact and Fiction

Robert L. Bacon — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:21:26 +0000

Fact: Query Letter Writing is an Art Form.

Make no mistake about it, writing queries that produce results is a craft.

Fact: A Query Should Not be Written Like a Synopsis.

I devoted an entire article to this, yet writers who have read the article continue to send me sample queries that ignore this premise. Yes, there are exceptions. There are exceptions to everything in publishing. But if an author wants to entice an agent to stand up and take notice, as I said in the prior article, sell the sizzle and not the steak. Pure and simple, a query for fiction is best written if it mirrors liner notes.

Fact: A Writer has to Know the Genre in which the Work is Written.

If the author doesn’t know the genre in which his or her work is written, any bona fide editor can explain it. A writer who doesn’t take the time to figure this out has virtually no chance. Genre identification is paramount. And while critique groups, etc., are a wonderful sounding board, they are historically populated by amateurs, and as such not the place to learn about genre specificity in today’s complicated and ever-changing market.

Fact: Structurally, a Query can be Designed like a Short Theme.

Yes, a simple but effective way to structure a query is like a theme. Begin with a core thought that highlights two or three critical plot elements. Justify these issues in the next paragraph, then close the letter with the thrust of the thesis: Why Readers Will Gravitate to the Story. Personal credentials if they pertain directly to the work can be added in a final brief sentence or two, along with a statement of appreciation for the agent’s or publisher’s time.

Fiction: Copying the Words of Phrases from a Successful Query will Assure another Query’s Success.

Nothing could be further from the truth. A query should define the voice and strength of the writer and the project. An experienced agent or publisher can pick up the nuances of a writer’s style. Counterfeiting doesn’t work

Fiction: Query Letters Should Never Contain Questions.

This farce has been bandied about for some time and is ridiculous. No one likes a query that reads like a movie opening: In a world…followed by a “what if” scenario. But there is nothing at all problematic about asking an agent or publisher to consider a novel’s most poignant issue or issues. And if some agent has written to the contrary, so be it. Hundreds of other agents, and all of those I know and work with, think differently.

Fiction: A query Should Fill as Much of the Page as Possible.

It’s quality not quantity that matters. A query with 500 words jammed on a page is not going to be perceived to be any better than 300 words that clearly and concisely reflect the writer’s skill and the “hot points” about the story he or she has written. An overwritten query can plant the thought that the novel is also structured in the same manner.

What can distort this last remark are the bloated query examples posted by some writers whose work has been accepted for publication. But when a query turns into a synopsis, which is almost always the tendency in longer efforts, it’s generally a quick reach by the agent or publisher for the SASE or the rejection template on the computer file.

Fiction: If my Query Doesn’t Work the First Time, I can Write another One Later to the Same Agent for the Same Book.

Agents keep records. At least many of the good ones I know do. And, universally, as I’ve experienced it, agents never want to see a query about the same material a second time any more than they will consider a manuscript they’ve previously rejected. So it is imperative to get it right the first time.

A final thought: A poor query will never get a book in front of an agent; however, a great query can influence an agent to look at a novel that might require a touch up. And critical feedback can often be gleaned from an agent. For anyone not using a professional editor (curses), I cannot think of a better way to receive professional advice without having to pay for it. However, most authors would be way ahead of the game if they sought professional direction to assure a quality query before bombarding a highly selective marketplace with less than sterling requests to review material.

Robert L. Bacon, Founder

The Perfect Write®

FREE! ReceiveThe Perfect Write® NEWSLETTERS that feature articles on writing and editing, along with tips for having your manuscript published by a major royalty publisher. Visit the lower section of our Home Page at http://www.theperfectwrite.com for simple two-step sign-up instructions.

Also For authors, The Perfect Write® is now providing FREE QUERY LETTER REVIEW AND ANALYSIS. Visit our Sample Letters Page at http://theperfectwrite.com/sample-letters/ for examples of Successful Query Letters, and E-mail your query to theperfectwrite@aol.com (no attachments).

Writing a Publishable Novel – The Art of Tying up Story Threads

Robert L. Bacon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:05:14 +0000

Story Threads can be a Huge Problem if Not Resolved, and even Some of the Most Respected Writers are Not Sacrosanct

A thread is a plot element, nothing more, nothing less, but a problem for authors if they do not reconcile their threads for the reader. The obvious rationale for an exception is to purposely leave the plot point unresolved to engender interest in reading a sequel to the story. But when the aforementioned is not relevant, the problem can be excruciating for the reader. And some of the most respected writers in literary history have been derelict by not tying up their threads acceptably.

One of the Most Flagrant Examples of Not Tying up a Thread is in INDEPENDENCE DAY

In Richard Ford’s INDEPENDENCE DAY, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996, he provides great detail in describing the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of a real estate agent. Then, later in the novel, he brings up her death once more, heightening the reader’s enthusiasm for an answer to who did it. But the thread is never developed and the culprit not identified. The murder therefore has no relevance to the story line, and by not providing a “reveal,” an awkward hole is left, although apparently not egregious enough for the Pulitzer committee to find fault.

WAR AND PEACE and THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE were also Not Immune to Dangling Threads

I call this lack of resolution a dangling thread, and a wonderful bad example (ugh, I know) can be read in the two novels cited in this subtitle.

Anatol is a profound early character in WAR AND PEACE (he’s the guy who ties Pierre to the bear, should anyone have forgotten). Tolstoy relates much later in the tale that Anatol lost a leg in battle, but there is not one single mention of him in any other section of the book.

In THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, Captain Vye is a fabulous character for which a rich fabric is knitted by Hardy. But after Eustacia meets her end, there is no further reference to Vye–and his feelings–thus leaving the story and the reader with a huge void.

Can there be a Happy Medium?

Perhaps an expedient way to view threads is via Dos Passos’ USA. Eventually he had to leave some threads to their own devices or he’d have been writing ad infinitum because of the type of historical chronicle the story happened to be. However, USA demonstrates in abundant terms how threads can be expanded to reach a satisfactory conclusion in the mind of the reader–yet sans “finality” in each and every scenario.

Shouldn’t the Writer be Cut some Slack

Some can argue, and most justifiably, that it’s not a literary transgression to defer providing a detailed chronology for the life of every character in a book the size of WAR AND PEACE. This is certainly not disputable, but it does beg reconciliation by the author when, in my opinion, a character is prominent enough to drive a significant segment of a story. This is my contention in the Tolstoy example, and for me it’s even more acute in Hardy’s work because the captain is such a viable character in so much of the narrative.

It could be nothing more than an issue of degree, but if readers were to parse stories they didn’t enjoy, there might be a legitimate question as to how often their disappointment was due to dangling threads.

Robert L. Bacon, Founder

The Perfect Write®

FREE! ReceiveThe Perfect Write® NEWSLETTERS that feature articles on writing and editing, along with tips for having your manuscript published by a major royalty publisher. Visit the lower section of our Home Page at http://www.theperfectwrite.com for simple two-step sign-up instructions.