Category: Editing

Edit So They Get It

7/16/2020

As an avid reader and writer myself, I'm always focused on how to get better. I've tried my hand at being a perfectionist and with all honesty, even as much as I've tried to with my own writing. I'm not perfect. My writing is not perfect. Such is the case with any good book, it's not impossible for you to edit it yourself. It's just highly unlikely you'll catch everything. And, your friend who got 'A's' in English back in high school just might not be the perfect person either. The truth of the matter is you really don't have to be. But, I do recommend that you invest the time and money in getting the help you need to make your book great. I recently stumbled on an article by one of the writing greats, Max Lucado, who shares some insight into his process for making sure that only the best goes into his book. You can read his advise here.

If you've ever read any of his books, you'll testify that it's worth. Great writing makes for easy understanding and simplified application. Editing is not only important, but its critical to your writing. Don't have an editor? Contact us. We can help at www.PurposePublishing.com.

To Your Success,

MG

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It Doesn't Matter if You Go Short of Go Long; Get Help!

11/24/2016

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by Micah Channing

Writing a short story may not take the same time and energy as writing a novel, but the shorter form provides its own challenges – notably crafting a meaningful read in a short span of time and pages. These four tips can help you focus on how to write a short story.

Short stories are one of the most popular literary forms, for authors and readers alike. Although much more time and effort goes into creating a book or a novel, short stories have their artistic value, and their elegant simplicity makes them appear easy to write – which is not exactly the case.

I can’t help but recall the legendary anecdote involving the great Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway bet a few of his fellow authors that he would be able to create a short story containing only six words. They deemed it an impossible feat, but after all the money was placed in the pot, Hemingway wrote down something on a napkin, and passed it on for other writers to read. The napkin read “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn”.

There are examples like this one that can testify to the simple power of a short story, but for the time being, let’s focus on how to write a short story and what you can do to make your writing come to life. Here are four essential tips designed to help you do exactly that.

1. Start with a single detail

There are rare occasions when a complete story will reveal itself to you, right away, beginning to end. More often than not, you will come up with smaller pieces of the puzzle, which can be anything from a specific event around which the entire story is written, a main character’s name or physical traits, a location, or maybe just a particular phrase or word you want to use at some point in the story.

One way to come up with ideas for a story is to schedule a brainstorming session, though inspiration is a fickle thing known to strike at any moment, so make sure you are always prepared to write down the ideas that pop inside your head. Of course, you can also turn to real life for inspiration, especially when it comes to developing your characters.

2. Set up the story immediately

Because of their compact format, short stories do not allow for lengthy expositions, dozens of characters, or meandering subplots. This means you should focus on providing the reader with all the information he or she needs right away and set up the story from the first sentence. Make sure your reader is aware of the event that is taking place, as well as time, location, and all of the characters which carry the story.

Simply put, every single sentence should propel the short story forward, or develop its characters. Speaking of characters, keep in mind that this particular literary form allows only for a small number of fully fleshed-out characters who contribute to the overall narrative. This same approach should translate to the events described in short stories as occurring over a period of days, hours, or even minutes, and taking place in one or two settings.

3. Create believable characters

The key to making your story appear genuine and believable is to make your characters human, with all their virtues and flaws. If you are not sure how to do this, pick a character, and write down a list of all their traits and attributes, like their name or nickname, favorite food, place they were born in, or physical impairments, just as if they were real.

Again, when you are shooting for realism, you must avoid making your characters perfect. In fact, why not have some fun and create a character that is deeply flawed, or even has a villainous side? If you think readers will have a tough time identifying with a character who makes questionable moral choices from time to time, consider Batman, who is nearly psychotic in his pursuit of criminals, or the serial killer Dexter from the TV show of the same name.

4. Make it short, but meaningful

Kurt Vonnegut had a great advice for writers: “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.” A short story doesn’t give you much space for elaborations of the psychological triggers behind the characters’ actions, but you should still achieve sense of completion. The reader should understand where the culmination of the plot comes from. He needs to realize what the protagonist wants and why he made the morally significant choices that mark your short story. While this doesn’t mean you should aim to please everybody’s taste with your short story, the reader should walk away after reading your work and feel as if it was worth their time and effort.

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10 Common Mistakes New Writers Make

10/27/2016

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by Micah Channing

In my years of coaching writers, I’ve seen manuscripts from many a new author. I strictly work with nonfiction that will either save lives, change lives, or transform society, and the manuscripts I receive normally come from nonprofessional writers who have experienced or learned something they feel compelled to share. But because they aren’t professional writers – some of them may not have written since they were in school – the work is often substandard. Here are 10 common mistakes new writers make. You can avoid all of them!

A new author often:

1. Thinks he has an original idea (but doesn’t)
Before you start writing a book, make sure you have a genuinely original idea. How do you do that? Research! Read other books on the same topic and in the same genre, and if you find that your message has already been delivered, save yourself the time and aggravation of writing a book. Better yet, find your own unique angle about that topic and write to that perspective.

2. Loves the sound of her own writing
Seasoned authors understand the value of outside, objective criticism and will seek it at every opportunity. Amateur writers often believe that because they scored well in high school English, their writing is beyond criticism, and they don’t need any feedback. That’s a big mistake. An overconfident attitude produces sloppy writing.

3. Thinks writing a book will be easy
Writing isn’t easy and it never has been. It’s a hard discipline, and very few can hack it. If it were easy, you would have already written your book! No one has ever accidentally written a book, and neither will you. You must create deadlines, hold yourself accountable to them, and write all the time. As Agatha Christie said, “Write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”

4. Doesn’t know how to begin
Think about how you would start any multi-layered project – like building a house. You’d start with a plan, wouldn’t you? Your book writing project should also begin with a plan that will carry you from your initial concept to the finished cover. You must know what you are trying to accomplish in order to reach your goal. Begin by answering these foundational questions, then write the book targeted to your answers.
What purpose will this book serve?
How is it different from other books published on this same subject?
What is the main theme of the story? What are the secondary themes?
What new information or angle does this story present that hasn’t already been published?
Why will people want to read this story?
Who is the audience for this book? List the primary and secondary markets.
How will this work impact that audience?
What change will this book invoke in the reader?
Why will people recommend this book to others?
Finish the sentence: “The purpose of this book is to ___________________.”

5. Limits his language and fails to expand his writing style
Readers appreciate a varied vocabulary and are impatient with repetition of words, phrases, and sentence structure. Be sure your writing is interesting, that there is a mixture of sentence styles, that you’ve employed active language, and that your verbs are sharp and distinctive. Language matters a lot.

6. Misuses grammar and punctuation
You may not understand the rules of grammar and punctuation, but that doesn’t mean others don’t. They do, and they’ll spot your mistakes in a flash. There are strict rules for both grammar and punctuation, and you had better sharpen those skills if you don’t want to be dismissed as an amateur.

7. Doesn’t invest in necessary resources
Do you need help with grammar and punctuation? Hire an editor. Are you unsure if there are mistakes in your manuscript? Hire a proofreader. If you plan to self-publish, hire a professional cover designer and interior designer. Just because you can do everything yourself, it doesn’t mean you should. Publishing is a specialized, professional industry, and you should work with professionals.

8. Trusts the opinions of friends and family
Friends and family are wonderful, but are likely compromised when it comes to offering you objective feedback. To put it bluntly, when it comes to your book, their opinion shouldn’t count. They are inexperienced, care too much about your feelings, and may only tell you what you want to hear. Perhaps even worse, they may burst your bubble and steal your confidence. Seek an outside opinion from a professional editor who is trained to critique writing. But brace yourself – this might sting! If you do employ the services of a professional, you should be prepared to make the suggested changes to meet professional standards.

9. Doesn’t know how to end the book
Just as your opening line is important, the ending can make or break a book. How and where do you stop? You must decide if you want to tie your story in a neat bow or allow it to continue. Write three or four endings, then choose the one that is most satisfying. Tie up loose strings on all subplots, and revisit those foundational questions to be sure you’ve accomplished your stated goals.

10. Sets arbitrary deadlines
A new author often sets unreasonable deadlines, then latches onto them for dear life. Come hell or high water, you’re going to get your book finished by Christmas, or the new year, or by any other manufactured deadline that has nothing to do with the book itself. Know this: by the time you’re in the home stretch, you’re going to be sick of your book. You may even hate it. But that doesn’t mean that you push it out the door just to get rid of it. Pull back and be thorough with every edit and research item. Exercise firm discipline and slow down so you can produce a professional and polished manuscript and become an author, not just another writer.

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3 Reasons Why Your Book Will Benefit From Professional Editing

8/26/2016

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by Joanne Leake

Your manuscript isn’t perfect, but don’t feel ashamed; every writer needs an editor.

It took Ezra Pound’s editing skills to turn T.S. Eliot’s early drafts into the The Waste Land we all know and love today. We all know and love The Waste Land, right?!

A caring, careful collaboration between writer and editor can make a good book great. Why?

1. You’re too close to your book

After all the time, effort, and creative energy it took to “finish” writing your book, you’ll be spinning between moods of elation, self-doubt, delusions of grandeur, and shame. The alternating anxiety and buzz of near-completion can cause you to rush through things and make justifications for imperfections that you’d otherwise have caught and fixed.

You have high hopes, and the idea of turning back to redraft your writing now is almost sickening. But don’t let yourself be fooled by how close the finish-line appears. Now, more than ever, it’s important to get a second set of eyes on that manuscript. If you’ve spent a year or more writing the book, what’s another couple months to do it right!? Don’t be a bad parent: nurture your book to the best of your ability!

A professional book editor will be able to spot problem areas in plot, character, continuity, tone, and more.

2. You’re not always your own best marketer

An editor who knows what works and what sells in your chosen genre will be able to help you make both creative and strategic decisions that will give your book a better chance of success in the marketplace. Should you cut 3 chapters to make sure it’s less than 250 pages? Is your title going to give the wrong impression to readers? An editor will encourage you to consider factors you didn’t even know would make a difference.

They may also be able to play some role in connecting you with agents, publishers, publicists, and readers (though that is never guaranteed).

3. Spellcheck doesn’t dot all your i’s or cross all your t’s

You’d think they would—but computers don’t catch every grammatical, syntactical, or spelling issue. A trained eye can catch errors in your manuscript you’ve overlooked a hundred times. Working with a professional editor will save you the embarrassment of someone posting on your Facebook page 6 months from now saying, “Hey, you slacker—I found typos on page 78, 112, and 204!”

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Copy Editing, Not a Copycat!

6/23/2016

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by Rosalind Bauchum

Copy editing is the process of revising and correcting your written material to make it the best it can be.

Copy can be about any topic and come in any form, from manuscripts to essays to material for a website. Regardless of the topic of a piece of text, a good copy editor has the expertise to find and correct errors in spelling, grammar, continuity, flow, and punctuation.

In order to understand exactly what needs to be done to improve your writing, a copy editor will ask the following questions:

1) Who is the intended audience?
The copy editor will ensure that the work is suitable for the intended readers of the text. By knowing who will read the piece, the copy editor can confirm that the writing is easy to understand.

2) What is the purpose or intended effect of the work?
Understanding the purpose of the work will enable the copy editor to ensure that the intended meaning comes across clearly and concisely.

3) Is the length appropriate for the audience and media?
The copy editor will make sure that the length of the entire work, as well as that of each paragraph and sentence, is appropriate for the intended audience. If part of the text seems too long, the copy editor will either cut or propose ways to shorten certain sections. Conversely, if a section needs further explanation, the copy editor will make suggestions on ways to expand it.

4) Will additional material be added later?
It is important for the copy editor to know if text or additional information is to be added to the work; otherwise, he or she may assume you’ve omitted relevant details or haven’t covered everything you intended to.

5) What have you budgeted for copy editing?
If you come to the copy editing stage only to realize you haven’t budgeted enough to have your entire book edited, both you and the copy editor will be at a loss.

6) Are there any additional details?
In some cases, the copy editor will ensure that the facts are correct and that the published work will not lead to any legal trouble for you, the author. The copy editor will also want to know whether objects, like pictures, diagrams, or tables, will be inserted in the text (and if so, whether they will need to be edited as well). If there are any other details about your work that will help the copy editor do his or her job better, it would benefit you to let him or her know.

While copy editors ensure a piece of text is accurate in terms of spelling, grammar, style, and punctuation, is audience-appropriate, and conveys the intended meaning, there are some things copy editors do not do. These include rewriting, paraphrasing, ghost writing, and any research beyond fact-checking.

To ensure copy editing meets your standards, the editor will ask him- or herself the following questions while editing your work:

1) Is the main idea conveyed concisely?
Here, the editor is looking to see that the text is not convoluted or full of jargon, and that short words and phrases are used instead of long ones, when possible. You don’t want to exhaust the reader by making him or her read a page-long paragraph for one tidbit of information.

2) Are any words, sentences, or sections of the writing extraneous?
This is similar to the point above. If something is irrelevant or unnecessary, the copy editor will do away with it, allowing only the most read-worthy material to shine.

3) Does your introduction inspire people to continue reading?
An introduction is what pulls the reader in, so it had better be interesting, informative, and intriguing enough to make your audience want more.

4) Is the progression of the text well organized?
You won’t be doing anyone a favor by presenting a disorganized text. Make it easy on your readers (and the editor) by sticking to an outline and smoothly transitioning from one point to the next. Of course, this will be provided as part of the copy editing service, but you want to provide your editor with a strong first draft.

5) Are the tone and style consistent throughout?
Does the work read as if it were written by five different authors? Maintaining consistency in terms of writing style and voice is one of a copy editor’s concerns.

6) Is the final thought strong?
Whether you want to teach your readers something or leave them with a thought-provoking idea, the copy editor will help ensure that your conclusion is as strong as your introduction (which is what you promised the reader in the first place).

Back in your court
Before you move on from the copy editing stage, you must approve all the edits. It’s up to you to make sure all your facts are still accurate, that no new errors slipped in during the editing process, and that any changes have not altered your intended meaning. The copy editing process can take several drafts, so it’s important to be prompt and stick to your deadlines (and your budget). When all is said and done, your material should be noticeably improved.

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Can we talk, dialogue?

5/12/2016

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by Micah Channing

Dialogue tags are not the place to get creative if you want to draw your reader in. Leave that to the dialogue itself.

’ve never met a writer, whether working on an epic fantasy novel or a true-life account of a harrowing experience, who hasn’t wanted her reader to get completely lost in the words on the page. While there are many things that separate fact from fiction, there’s one thing that all writers ignore at their peril: a good, hard, honest self-edit.

Let’s talk dialogue. Fiction writers learn quickly that there’s nothing as terrible as stiff, unrealistic dialogue to pull a reader out of the story. And while non-fiction writers can’t falsify direct quotes, there’s plenty they can do to ensure the flow is natural. The first place to start is by cutting out as many dialogue tags as you can.

You want the reader to read right over those tags as if they’re not there. Dialogue tags exist for only one purpose: to identify for the reader who is speaking in your manuscript. That’s it. You want the focus on the dialogue itself. You don’t want readers to get distracted by the tag.

This is one of the most common mistakes new writers make. They think words like asked or said are boring or repetitive, so they try to use more interesting alternatives.

Trust me: dialogue tags are not the place to get fancy. Dialogue tags should melt into the background. Said and asked are all you need. Resist the urge to use queried instead of asked, or exclaimed instead of said. All those flourishes will do is tell readers you’re a newbie.
If you’re writing creative non-fiction, you get to have some fun and create dialogue in your story. It doesn’t have to be verbatim, as long as it’s true to your telling of the story.

There’s also the tendency to use the dreaded –ly adverb in your dialogue tag.

Consider this: Dialogue tags are not the place to convey emotion – the dialogue itself should do that. If you think you need an adverb to convey emotion, your scene needs to be written so the character’s dialogue and actions more clearly express that emotion. It’s the difference between showing and telling.
Here’s an example we use when explaining the problem with adverbs in dialogue.

“I’ve had enough,” Simon said angrily.

This simply tells us that Simon is angry. But that emotion isn’t demonstrated through his actions or the dialogue itself.

Remember what we said earlier about dialogue tags: Readers read right over them. Their only purpose is to tell the reader who is speaking.

So if you want the reader to feel Simon’s anger, you have to show them through the dialogue itself. Here’s how you might do it:

“You disgust me. This conversation is over,” Simon said.
Here, Simon’s words are angry, so you don’t need to rely on the adverb angrily to convey that. The dialogue is stronger and the emotion is clear.

You could also include some brief actions or descriptions to eliminate the adverb and convey the character’s emotion.

For example:

Simon shoved back his chair and slammed his fist on the table. “I’ve had enough,” he said, clenching his jaw. “This discussion is over.”

The actions and description here help show how Simon feels, so we can easily eliminate the word angrily from that dialogue tag.

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, you are telling a story. Dialogue is one of the most powerful elements in storytelling.

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5 'No Brainers' on Book Editing

3/31/2016

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by Rosalind Bauchum

Editing is like housework, it goes unnoticed unless it’s not done. Here are five reasons why professional editing is a necessity for your writing.
Novelists love stories and are often motivated to write by the effects a story can have on a reader. There’s a real power in being able to touch the emotions of someone, a stranger, who lives far away or even far in the future. Most writers have felt this long reach that words can have. It has changed their lives. It has made them writers. And what better reason is there to write than to inspire others to follow their dreams?

And yet, too many authors waste that opportunity. They confuse their reader with awkward phrasing, distract with careless typos, or turn off a potential buyer with a poor quality product.

A well-edited novel, on the other hand, will have that power to reach the reader. It will attract attention, seep into the reader’s thoughts and emotions, and might even cause them make a change, to make a tiny difference. And a good quality product will always sell better than a cheap fake.

If you’re not already convinced, here are five more reasons why you need professional editing for your novel:

1. Investing in a professional editor is money well-spent

Editing is like housework, it goes unnoticed unless it’s not done.

Professional editing is an indispensable, not just a desirable, part of a novel’s journey to publication. Editing can make your good novel great, get readers talking, reach the ears of professional publishers, and catch the eye of movie producers. An editor will make sure the reader remembers the dazzling plot and characterization, and not the problems with grammar. It takes teamwork to craft a polished and captivating novel that could become tomorrow’s bestseller. In short, authors need editors.

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You've Got to Edit!

3/3/2016

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by Rosalind Bauchum

Book editing is both a craft and a discipline, and self-editing can be a tedious task not every writer is cut out for.

Writers face unique challenges in starting and finishing projects. At one time or another, all of us encounter the dreaded writer’s block. Just staring at a blank page can be one of the most frustrating and frightening things.

Perhaps an even more crippling problem is self-editor’s block.

The writing stage can be exhilarating. Writing page after page and having something tangible in hand – a manuscript – feels like such an accomplishment. But as much as we might like to think we’re done when we’ve finished writing, there’s still much to do. It’s the book editing phase, where we produce subsequent drafts and revisions – quite literally re-seeing and making the necessary big changes to produce a great manuscript – that separates the amateurs from the professionals.

Editing can be harder than writing because we grow to love our creations, and we often have difficulty seeing them objectively. We have a hard time destroying the little superfluous bits that keep our manuscripts from greatness because it feels like we’re destroying pieces of ourselves.

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