Coping with the Advice Machine

By: Ann S. Hill 

Does your head spin sometimes with advice that smothers your enthusiasm for writing another word? You’re not alone. Here are a few nuggets of advice that have frustrated me:

1)     Limit the use of “to be” verbs. 

      Okay, but if you are writing in close third person with one POV character, the only way to get certain scenes across is to have them reported by another character. That character will necessarily use the verbs “was,” were,” and “had been” to relate that scene in which your POV character was not present.

2)     Keep things in the present. 

      Action. Action. Action. Good advice, usually. But same problem here if one is in the situation explained above.

3)     Provide conflict on every page. 

      Really? How then might the author portray a character’s personality if he or she is not an S.O.B.? A character who is kind, generous and admirable (of course he has the required faults also) will have situations that are pleasant in order to display this characteristic. 

      Think Atticus Finch in endearing scenes with Scout. Peers have suggested the creation of a storm for conflict during such scenes, but isn’t that just gratuitous conflict that feels like author manipulation? What does it have to do with the story? 

      All of my chapters contain conflict but not every scene. I’m still trying to figure out how to fulfill this requirement while keeping to my storyline and character profile. Especially in scenes with subplot resolutions. Can’t we give our characters a break and let them have a few pleasant days or portions of days? We do have them in real life.

4)     Rivet your reader with deep point of view.

     Don’t use tags which tell. Most of the time this is effective. But, anyone else find that these attempts can slow down the scene and sound just plain wordy? I probably need more practice …

Wading through books on writing technique, attending critique sessions, and searching volumes of notes on writing advice — some of it seemingly conflicting — can be daunting. But we push through, write and rewrite, and finally produce a manuscript that we believe meets the multiple requirements. Then what?

One more piece of advice: Read your chapters out loud.

Find a time when the family is gone and you are undisturbed. Have a glass of your favorite beverage nearby (nonalcoholic preferably). You’ll need it. This project can prove challenging for the vocal chords.

Amazingly, a manuscript read aloud discloses weaknesses we’ve overlooked. We find typos, misspellings, and words that are poorly chosen. When reading to ourselves, those problems escape our attention because our brain corrects them. But when we read them aloud, they jump off the page like an animated word from a preschooler’s Sesame Street episode.

Suddenly we become aware of phrases or sentences that are cumbersome or downright convoluted. So have a red pen handy. That brings up another point: read from a paper copy. This helps identify areas to polish far more effectively than reading from the computer, particularly in locating missed quotation marks, forgotten periods or undeleted additional punctuation marks after making edits.

This oral test is a must for finding errors in syntax. Sometimes a sentence flows better with minor changes, a moved adverbial phrase, for instance. If an author’s sentence patterns are all too much the same, he’ll notice this fact when reading aloud. What could be more boring than reading a work filled with subject, verb, and complements always in that order?

What about the story’s progression? Perhaps a sentence needs to be moved so that ideas or events flow naturally. Inexplicably, this mistake in order becomes astonishingly more apparent when one’s written words meet his ears.

Completing this project with an entire manuscript will require a significant investment of time, but the venture is straightforward and relatively simple to perform. This last prudent step before releasing a book into the hands of agents and editors might spare an author later regrets.

An author yearns to hear, “Your prose flows like poetry. It’s a pleasure to read.” One final oral audition may be the very assistance necessary for a writer to achieve such coveted praise.

New writers who become frustrated with seemingly unyielding rules as I was, need to take hope. While mindful of the rules and writing advice, apply them where they help you achieve goals, but set them aside when they are simply not applicable. While most advice has validity, you must not allow rules to stifle your creativity or storytelling ability.

About the writer:  After hearing the call to write in her thirties, Ann set the ambition aside while life happened. Now that she has retired from her career as a dentist and her children are adults, she is seriously attacking that parked ambition. She spends significant time on her true passion and has recently completed her first novel, Wait for Me. She has written several short stories and is currently working on a concept for her second novel. In the meantime, she remains a voracious reader and film aficionado.

The Serialized Novel – Part 1

By Deb McLeod

My venture into the land of the serial and serialized novel started with the death of my favorite soap opera. Yes, I was one of the two million loyal fans of All My Children (and I mean LOYAL) who mourned the passing of their lunchtime dose of melodrama. I watched when I could, sometimes going years without seeing the show. But, of course, was able to catch up within a week whenever I came back. As a writer, I loved watching the twists and turns, and marveled at the content churned out every week day about the same characters for over forty years.

Around that same time I began to notice nighttime television was changing. They still scheduled those horrid reality shows and inane sitcoms, but there was an added element to the nighttime drama schedule that was intriguing.

Revenge was a new show and season one was pretty good. My husband and I discovered Breaking Bad, which is a fabulous piece of writing (acting too, but that’s not my focus). The Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black, The Americans, The Newsroom and Boss to name a few. Have you noticed that TV drama written more like a novel these days? Great story lines and in some cases, great writing. TV is coming into its own.

At the same time I was observing television in a new way, I was looking into epublishing. One of the observations I came across was about satisfying ebook fans with quick content. Big-name writers were starting to put out novellas and short stories and extras for their books to keep the interest high while they prepped the next title for release. Amanda Hocking put words out. And out. And out. Like a book every two weeks!

I remembered a conversation I had with Francine Matthews years ago. At that time she had two mystery series going and was able to write a first draft of one of her series in eight weeks. NaNoWriMo showed me what I could do in a month if I made a plan.

So I began to look at television writing as perhaps a model for cranking out content. I know how to do the ‘book in two years’ thing, but I wanted to see how I could do it faster. Of course television writing rooms have more than one writer, but I thought I might be able to find some interesting ways they broke a story and if I could learn anything from the process.

I read a few books, the best of them being:

• “Writing for the Soaps” by Jean Rouveral
• “Writing the TV Drama Series” by Pamela Douglas
• “Small Screen, Big Picture” by Chad Gervich 
• “Crafty TV Writing” by Alex Epstein.

Add into the mix of television research, one of my book club buddies introduced me to Blake Snyder – another life-changing experience – and I began to get my process down. Having been a die-hard pantser, I am now a die-hard plotter.

I am writing a series of novels called The Julia Set: An Angel Thriller. It’s about the angels in and around our world and their attempt to contain a secret that will have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences should it get out. I envision eight books, high tension, with philosophical and spiritual questions, as well as a driving plot. So far it’s coming along well. The first book is done and in edits. However it took me over a year to write.

But the second book was plotted in the two or three days before 2013 NaNo and written in the first thirteen days of the contest. Hoo-rah!

So what does all this have to do with serials and serialization? Well, I’m going to serialize the series.

A true serial is one where the book is being released as the author is writing it. A serialization is a novel that’s already complete but is released in increments.When I build an audience for my thriller, I may join the ranks of ebook authors who are writing true serials. But for now I’m just trying to master the craft of serialization which has to fulfill the serial requirements.

And there is a craft to it: the cliff hanger, the catch-up, the openings of every new section. Each episode should stand on its own but also draw the reader through to the cliff hanger that sets up the next episode or book. There’s the dreaded third episode I’ve been reading about where writers often flail and fans drop away. There’s pricing issues to consider. And publishers who are stepping into the serial market.

Join me in these next few blogs while I attempt to become a serial novelist and explore the serialized novel and the market. I'll be writing about the how-to's, the history, the craft elements and the publishing. Stay tuned...

(To read Part II, click here.)

About the Author: Deb McLeod, is a writer, creative writing coach and founder of The Writing Ranch. She has both an MFA and a BA in creative writing. She has been teaching and coaching for over ten years. Deb has published short fiction in anthologies and journals. She has written articles and creative nonfiction. Deb has been a professional blogger, tech writer, graphic artist and Internet marketing specialist.  

Denver SCBWI Conference Offers Tips for All Writers

By Stacy S. Jensen

What came first: children reading at a higher-grade level or books aimed at that market?

I never figured out the answer to this question, but know from my attendance at the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s & Illustrators regional Letters & Lines Fall conference in September the market is changing.

Editors, authors and agents all repeated the comment that parents are pushing their children to read at an earlier age. As a result, picture books are geared toward a younger market as older children are reading chapter books, middle grades and young adult novels sooner.

The Rocky Mountain Area region conference brought men and women, writers and illustrators, from Colorado and Wyoming to Denver to learn more about the craft and today’s publishing market.

Women outnumbered the men at the Rocky Mountain Area Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators regional conference, so the bathrooms near the workshop rooms were changed to accommodate the attendees.

This is the first conference I’ve attended that had a specific policy outlining blogging and recording policies. My thoughts comply with this line in the policy: “While we think it’s great when bloggers share thoughts about their overall experience, offer a personal anecdote, and/or briefly talk about something that resonated with them, it is equally important that bloggers not give away that which is not theirs to give.”

In a spirit of not pirating anyone’s material (and utilizing those starred notes from the workshops I attended), I’m sharing a few observations that apply to many writers — not just children’s writers.

• Author Todd Mitchell gave the banquet keynote with a fun Power Point. Two key thoughts: “No one else can tell your story” and “If you can be talked out of writing, then why are you doing it?”

• Author Denise Vega: “You always need to be working on a new project.” She also emphasized in her Publishing 101 session: “It’s a business.”

• In response to a picture book writer saying editors don’t like her story, Holiday House Editor Sylvie Frank said, “It’s not that we don’t like them. We can’t sell them.”

• Author Chris Crutcher said real life stories can be turned into fiction. He used an iPad as he read from his books. His print books were sold in the conference bookstore.

• Illustrator turned author Leslie Ann Clark shared her baby — her manuscript wrapped in a blanket. The power of a strong character was evident in her publication story. She created her Peepsqueak character first and then landed a contract to write her story.

• Illustrator and self-published author Will Terry shared how he created his first picture book application and published some children’s ebooks. On the topic of self-publication, he said there’s no substitute to being early to market due to different ebook publisher ranking methods. During the discussion on children’s storybook apps, he said books face the problem of going out of print while ebook or storybook apps can face the dilemma of being nonfunctional as readers and tablet technology changes.

• Illustrator and Designer Megan Halsey spoke about her personal creative umbrella — how she expanded into different markets and how her personal artwork feeds into her design and illustration work. She encouraged attendees to listen to her inner voice and ask, “Where’s my joy?” to help navigate the publishing and creative world.

• For those working on book covers or any art, Will Terry shared in another session the importance of using a thumbnail size of your drawing/photo to work out the shape, design and values of lights and darks.

• Author Jean Reidy shared her picture book revision process. A noteworthy reminder: “The publisher is your first customer.”

The regional SCBWI conference offered a variety of craft and motivational workshops for those interested in writing or illustrating for children. My favorite part of any conference is hanging out with other writers. I met several online writing friends from the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge, several PPW friends and met a few new folks from Colorado Springs.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard at a writer’s conference?  

About the Author: Stacy S. Jensen worked as a newspaper reporter and editor for two decades. Today, she writes picture books and revises a memoir manuscript. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and toddler.  You can find her at her blog: http://stacysjensen.blogspot.com and on Twitter: @StacySJensen.

Sweet Success! Deb Buckingham

Deb Buckingham's nonfiction craft book on knitting for all ages, Dishcloth Diva (ISBN 978-1-937513-14-6, softcover/digital, 62 color pages), was released in September 2012 by Cooperative Press. The book is available from Cooperative Press and will be available soon from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Table Rock Llamas. The author's website is at theartfulyarn.blogspot.com.

Let’s face it—dishcloths are a pretty utilitarian knit. But they become a delightfully simple pleasure when they have a modern design twist. In Dishcloth Diva, Deb Buckingham brings new spin to an old idea. Each pattern offers a unique take on dishcloth design using knots, lines, ribs, and textures. With 20 patterns, including a wide variety of stitches, each design is easy and fun to knit, and fits effortlessly into your bag, ready for a road trip…or the morning subway commute. Beautiful photography shows each design up close and personal, while emphasizing stitch detail. Clear and precise step-by-step instructions guide you through each pattern, achieving stunning results at any skill level. These 20 modern, enjoyable knits are perfect both for beginners and for experienced knitters looking for a relaxing project. Dishcloth Diva features a foreword from Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting, an avowed fan of the humble washcloth.

After a long day as a certified nurse’s aide, Deb Buckingham found that she enjoyed nothing more than to sit down to knit a simple, satisfying dishcloth. Sound familiar? She is a full-time knitting pattern designer, and has been published in the 2013 Knitting Calendar released by Simon and Schuster. Deb loves to amuse readers by engaging them in top ten lists and designer interviews on her blog, theartfulyarn.blogspot.com.


We love to hear of fellow Pikes Peak Writers' Sweet Successes. Please email DeAnna Knippling at dknippling [at] gmail [dot] com if you've got a Sweet Success you'd like to share.

What I Learned from the Unabomber by j.a. kazimer

Believe it or not, the Unabomber taught me a lot, as did Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, and homegrown Colorado serial murder Scott Kimball.

About evil, sure.

But something else, too.

They taught me about being a better writer.

And not in the way one might think.

While studying for my master’s degree in forensic psychology, I discovered behavioral evidence analysis, better known as Criminal Profiling, which changed my life and my writing forever. If you’ve watched the show Criminal Minds you probably have an idea about how a criminal profile is used to catch bad guys.

But have you considered how that same process can be used in your writing?

Trust me, it can help. Immensely. Especially if you struggle with dialogue, or more importantly, the spaces between what your characters say and what they really mean. 

The beauty of well written dialogue is what is not ‘said’.  Think about it.

“Go ahead, make my day.”

Take the above line, spoken through the gravelly voice of Clint Eastwood, his eyes squinty and cold.  

Menacing, right?  

Now consider the same line, said in the baby voice of Jennifer Tilly, her lips pouty and red.

Not the same, huh?

So it’s not always the words between the quotes that create the tension in a scene. And this is where profiling can help. Criminal profiling infers offender traits based upon actions, and that should be the goal of every writer. Readers want to interact with our story, to infer character traits and motivations, to play Sherlock Holmes to our Watson, even in a category romance.

On July 19^th, I’ll be hosting a workshop for the PPW to give writers a look at criminal profiling tools and how they can be used to make the reader’s day.  I hope to see you there.

About the Writer: Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, j.a. escaped at a young age, and now lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. Books include The Junkie Tales (Obscure Publishing, 2010), Stolen Kidneys, Dead Hookers & Other Nursery Crimes (Obscure Publishing, 2010), and The Body Dwellers (Solstice Publishing, 2011).

Forthcoming books include, CURSES! A F**ked Up Fairytale (Kensington, March 2012) and Holy Socks and Dirtier Demons (Champagne Books, Spring 2012).

j.a. kazimer holds a master's degree in forensic psychology, and has worked as a PI, bartender, and most recently at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.

Creating Compelling Characters by Jodie Renner

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? If I look back to some of my early reading, icons like Orphan Annie, Huckleberry Finn, and Jo March of Little Women come to mind. Nowadays, I love Janet Evanovich’s great cast of characters, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar and Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Haller, among others. Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense Three Fates features six unique, intriguing characters with tons of personality and attitude, who all spring to life and interact in fascinating ways. The stories crafted by these and bestselling authors are exciting and satisfying, but it’s often the characters that endear themselves to us and stay with us longer. How can we, too, create characters that jump off the page and stay with the readers?

Your novel can have a great premise and riveting plot, but if your characters are weak, boring, or undeveloped, your book will be quickly rejected by agents and acquisition editors. As Elizabeth Lyon points out, “Characterization is the bedrock of fiction and the reason most people read it. What endures in our hearts and minds over time is the heroes, heroines, and villains. Less often do we recall their plots. The fiction writer’s greatest challenge is character development.” (A Writer’s Guide to Fiction)

Your protagonist needs to be likeable, charismatic, and complex enough to be interesting. He needs emotional depth and a few flaws and insecurities. And he needs to be able to draw on inner strengths and resources to take on adversity and overcome odds. If your character is annoying, boring, too perfect, or a wimp, you’re dead in the water. –And don’t make your villains 100% evil, either!

Please – no annoying protagonists

Your main character can and should have a few faults, but overall, she needs to be sympathetic and likeable – not whiney, ditzy, cold, immature, or annoying. Your reader wants to be able to identify immediately with your lead character. If the reader doesn’t care about your protagonist and what happens to her within the first few pages, she will put down the book and go on to another one. As James Scott Bell says, in fiction, “readers will respond only if they are connected, bonded in a way to the lead character.” (Revision & Self-Editing)

A perfect character is insufferable

Don’t make your main character too good to be true. Nobody likes a “goody-goody two-shoes.” As Mittelmark and Newman so aptly put it, “Perfect people are boring. Perfect people are obnoxious because they’re better than us. Perfect people are, above all, too good to be true.

“Protagonists should only be as nice as everyday people are in real life. Making them nicer than the average reader will earn the reader’s loathing, or make her laugh in disbelief.”  (Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, How Not to Write a Novel)

Develop those cardboard characters

To avoid flat, superficial characters, you need to create an interesting backstory for each of them, including their secret fears and insecurities, hopes and desires, likes and dislikes, quirks and attitudes, and strengths and triumphs. Many of these details won’t make it into your novel, but knowing them yourself will make your character more complex and well-rounded, and reduce the chances that you have him acting out of character.

 Also, a sure-fire way to deepen your characters is to have them react more to events. Show how they’re feeling, through their words, actions, and body language. An emotionally flat character is boring.

Give your protagonist charisma

“GRIT, WIT, AND IT.” – That’s James Scott Bell’s answer to the question “What makes a great Lead character?” Here are a few of his points about each of these essential attributes:

GRIT – “Let me lead off with the one unbreakable rule for major characters in fiction: No wimps!

A wimp is someone who just takes it. Who reacts (barely) rather than acts. While a character may start out as a wimp, very early on he must develop real grit. He must do something. He must have forward motion. Grit is guts in action.”

No one wants to read about someone with a million different phobias or who’s wallowing in self-pity or afraid to make a move to improve their life. As Bell says, “Know your character’s inner lion. What is it that will make her roar and fight? Bring that aspect to the surface early in your story and you won’t be hampered by the wimp factor.”

WIT – Wit can rescue a character from a moment that can become just maudlin self-pity, or be overly sentimental, almost sappy, and will enliven even a negative character. As Bell says,

“Find an instance when your character can gently make fun of himself. Work that into a scene early in the book. This makes for a great first impression on the reader.”

IT – “It” means “personal magnetism – sex appeal as well as a quality that invites admiration (or envy) among others. Someone who walks into a room and draws all the attention has ‘It’.”

Bell gives several suggestions for making sure your lead character has “it”, including:

“Work into your novel an early scene where another character is drawn to your Lead character. This can be because of sex appeal, power, or fascination. It can be subtle or overt. But this will set It in the minds of the readers.” (Revision & Self-Editing)

And don’t forget to give your main character plenty of attitude!

Don’t wimp out on us

“Fiction writers too often forget that interesting characters are almost always characters who are active—risk-takers—highly motivated toward a goal. Many a story has been wrecked at the outset because the writer chose to write about the wrong kind of person—a character of the type we sometimes call a wimp.” (Jack M. Bickham, The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them))

As Jessica Page Morrell says, “Your characters can be neurotic or despicable, vain or shallow, but they must always be vivid, fascinating, and believable, and their actions, decisions, and motives must propel the story to an inevitable conclusion. […] Usually the writer simply doesn’t realize that his character is a dishrag type because he modeled the character after a real person or he doesn’t realize that fictional characters differ from us mere mortals.” (Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us)

So don’t model your hero after someone you know. He needs to be stronger, braver, more resourceful and more intelligent. As Morrell puts it, “fictional characters venture into physical and emotional territory where most of us would fear to tread.”

Make sure your protagonists aren’t boring, perfect, annoying, or wimpy. Make them appealing and memorable by giving them charisma, flaws, likeable traits, and above-average moral and physical strength and inner resources.



BIO:

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction manuscript editor, specializing in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, romance, YA, and historical fiction.

Jodie’s services range from developmental and substantive editing to light final copyediting and proofreading, as well as manuscript critiques.

Check out Jodie’s website at www.JodieRennerEditing.com and her blog, dedicated to advice and resources for fiction writers, at http://JodieRennerEditing.blogspot.com.

Random 10: Ways to Use the Weather in Your Writing by Deb Courtney

Writing comes from inside us, from the secret places, from our joys and our experiences and from our imaginations. It can also be impacted by external events and phenomena. Weather is one of those mundane things which we give little thought to, but which can impact us greatly—from our moods, to directing the events of our lives in small ways. Here’s a look at how that bit of mundane might be put to work for you, as a writer.

Actual Weather, impacting us as writers:

Cold—on a brisk, cold day, place your hand on a windowpane. Take a walk in the chill. Feel the invigoration, or the pain, of two degree air as it hits your lungs. Know that for most of us, the cold is an ephemeral experience, a fleeting part of our time, but it can get in the way of things, much like writers block or a day job can. But it passes.

Gray—oh how a dreary day gets some of us down. The barometric pressure drops, the grey mimics twilight, and calls for a fire, a cup of something warm, and a comfy blanket. Or a nap! But what an opportunity for quiet reflection. On your goals, on your stories, on your progress. As a writer, the ability to revel in this quiet time may lead to discovery, or new ideas, or breakthroughs on old ones. So, revel.

Brilliant—When there are no clouds, and the temperature is as close to perfect as it ever gets, take a notebook and get outside. On your patio, on a hike, at a pool. Interact. Through interactions with people and nature, you build experiences upon which your characters can draw, and through which your settings can manifest.

Caliente—summer’s heat can wring the life out of us, melt composure, wilt our good intentions. But the heat of summer can also remind us of the emotive interactions between our characters, or how they might feel on a tropical beach far away. Grab your notebook—no matter how damp—and capture the sensory experience and delights that only summer’s heat can bring us.

Windy—whether a hot summer’s breeze or the chill thrust of winter, wind can remind us of the changeable nature of things, and also how to remain flexible in the face of strong forces. Watch the trees bend, or the dust blow, and think through how your story and your characters remain strong but flexible and unbroken in the face of adversity, or how they might splinter under the force of something too strong to resist.

Weather in your story:

Setting—though a cliché, ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ does have the benefit of creating a setting of sorts. What is your setting’s weather and how does it relate to your story, plot and characters? Could this story only happen in a dusty and dry desert, or might it as easily take place in the Arctic? Why?

Mood Enhancer—use of weather in a story can enhance or complement the mood you create in scenes. Also a cliché is rain at a funeral, but what about light snow during a romantic walk? A change in weather during a climactic moment? To avoid cliché it is advisable not to dwell overly on weather conditions as a mood enhancer, but do not ignore them altogether.

Plot Driver—Some stories really can only happen in certain climates with certain weather. A flood in small town Massachusetts might not play, but would easily in a drought-ridden Midwest town where a freak storm drops unexpected amounts of water on soil baked to bricks. That same storm would be a drop in the bucket of water absorbed by a tropical rainforest, and considered run-of-the-mill in Central Florida.

Character—much as noted above, the weather has an impact on people. It may also have an impact on your characters. How do they respond to the weather of your story? How does it enhance or negate their moods, or the events of your plot?

Juxtaposition—a powerful tool is to play against the expected. A bright sunny gorgeous day may feel offensive at a funeral, or during a strongly emotional scene in your book, while a dreary rainy day might be an opportunity for your characters to be playfully full of joy and laughter.

As writers we are told to use what we know, and we all know the weather and what it does to us. So use it. And, as the old saying goes, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes—it’s sure to change.

Originally appeared in The Pikes Peak Writer, Volume VIII, Issue 3, May, June 2009

BIO:
Deb Courtney has a degree in fiction from the University of South Florida, has published several short stories, and has written freelance for such publications as The Tampa Tribune and Tampa Bay Business Journal. She is a frequent speaker at Pikes Peak Writers events.

She lives in the foothills in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she has a winter view of Pikes Peak (which is to say she can see it only when all the leaves are off the trees). She shares her home with a driving-age teen, two cross-eyed slightly brain-damaged felines, and likely has squirrels in her attic. And that's not a euphemism.

Tips to Mend the Errors of Your Writing Ways by Robin Widmar

Tips to Mend the Errors of Your Writing Ways
By Robin Widmar

"Never proofread your own work." - Master Gunnery Sergeant Frank Castaneda

The wise Master Gunny I once worked for wasn't the first to offer this advice, nor will he be the last. It's hard to spot errors when you're too close to the work, and your brain only muddles the effort by putting misspelled or misused words into context, causing you to miss typographical errors.

Writers often toil in solitude and under deadline, so it isn't always possible to have someone else proofread your work. If you must proofread your own writing, try these tips to minimize mistakes:

1. Use the spell check and grammar check tools in your word processing program – but don't rely solely on them! These programs have limited dictionaries, and they won't highlight a correctly spelled word used improperly (such as 'their' instead of 'there'). They also can't tell you when words are missing altogether unless the omission triggers a bad grammar alert.

2. Set aside your writing for at least an hour, and preferably a day or more. Give your brain a break, and reread the piece with a fresh perspective.

3. Print the document. Typos and other errors are usually easier to spot on paper than on the computer screen.

4. Allow yourself quiet time, free of distractions, to concentrate on proofreading.

5. Read the work aloud. Make sure you pronounce each word, and don't hurry.

6. Read it backwards, starting with the last word of the last sentence. Work your way to the beginning.

7. Always keep a dictionary and a thesaurus close at hand – and use them!

If you have the luxury of another set of eyes to review your writing, make sure that set of eyes is competent in spelling and grammar. You want to present your best work to the world, and you can't do that if your proofreader doesn't have a grip on the language.

(This article first appeared October 11, 2010 on the "The World Needs a Proofreader" blog.)

BIO: Robin Widmar is a freelance writer and copy editor who works to support a horse habit and writes to follow a dream. You can check out her blog, The World Needs a Proofreader, at: http://worldneedsproofreader.blogspot.com/