Rob Bignell's Blog, page 230

Editing client publishes her first novel

A recent editing client has published her first novel. Daisy Ozouwain��� ���Hell to Pay,��� tells the story of Princess Kenya, a victim of betrayal in an intrafamily power struggle. To save her, Kenya���s father makes a pact with the goddess Hel, his clan���s oracle in a bargain that will have a lasting impact for generations to come. Through a strange series of events, Kenya finds herself on a slave ship headed for New Orleans. Separated from her family, the young woman takes the first step in a hostile new world. But all is not lost, for her father has given her a gift more powerful than she could ever have imagined. ���Hell to Pay��� is available online.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
- Inventing Reality Editing Service
5 Ways to Create a Killer Opening Page - Inventing Reality Editing Service
6 Easy Ways to Improve Your Writing Style - Inventing Reality Editing Service
Editing client releases Battle of Britain novel - Inventing Reality Editing Service

5 SF Novum-Oriented Writing Prompts

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a ���reality��� in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as ���The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of life��� or ���The government outlaws books.��� The author then asks ���What if?��� exploring how the world with this novum is different than ours.

Among the problems of many novice science fiction writers is instead of introducing a new novum they rely on used furniture ��� that is, they borrow novums from popular SF series. After all, how many novels have you read that use starships exploring the galaxy for the Earth-based Federation? Barely changing names to appear as if you are not appropriating ��� a starcraft seeking M-class worlds for the Earth-centered Alliance ��� still doesn���t cut it as original or fully using the potential that science fiction offers to examine our culture or humanity.

To help SF writers, here are some novums of potential near-future inventions from which stories could be built:

Diamond nanothread
Tetrahedrally-bonded carbon crystalline nanomaterial ��� similar in structure to diamonds but only a few atoms wide ��� will revolutionize construction and architecture, being far stronger than concrete or steel. What other applications might this material have?

Instant checkout
What if instead of scanning every object one by one, simply pushing a cart through a scan beam would automatically ring up all items? How else might this technology be applied?

Mega-skyscrapers
With carbon nanotubes and diamond nanothreads, skyscrapers will soar far higher than today���s structures. They���ll also be able to go far deeper into the earth ��� up to 25 stories below ground.

RFID truant officers
What if attendance at school were taken by Radio Frequency Identification technology? How would some clever students get around the use of such tags and even profit from their knowledge?

Tissue nanotransfection
What if a coin-sized silicon chip could deliver genetic code to skin cells, transforming it into cells needed to treat a condition or illness? How would this change medical care and first-aid kits? What if the chip malfunctioned?

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Make tables readable in your self-published book

11 Tips to Choosing the Right Point of View

��� What is point of view in a story? 
��� Heighten tension with consistent point of view 
��� Most popular point of view types in stories 
��� Create intimacy with narrator via first-person 
��� When to use first-person minor in stories
��� Use third���person limited for greater clarity
��� Rotate third-person limited to avoid issues
��� Types of third-person point of views 
��� Select your viewpoint character with care 
��� Avoid shifting point of view in your story 
��� Streamline writing by cutting perception fallacy

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", geneva; font-size: 10pt;" data-mce-style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; font-size: 10pt;"><A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A></span>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Writing Inspiration: Who are you?
5 Writing Prompts for Science Fiction Writers
Utilize writing process to develop your book

5 Great Quotations about the Writing Life

���Young or old, good or bad, I don���t think anything dies as slow and as hard as a writer.��� - Charles Bukowski

���Writing is hard work and bad for the health.��� - E. B. White

���Writers live twice.��� - Natalie Goldberg

���Writing is a dreadful labor, yet not so dreadful as idleness.��� - Thomas Carlyle

���The desire to write grows with writing.��� - Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Who are you?
Four ways to write a great tweet that sells books
Five Great Quotations about the Craft of Writing - Inventing Reality Editing Service

Every success story begins with a dream. If you dream of...

Every success story begins with a dream. If you dream of being a professional, published author, that success story requires believing in yourself and in knowing that your efforts will lead to triumph. Read the motivational blog entry this quotation came from by clicking on the quote card.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

Related articles

Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Five Humorous Thoughts about Writing - Inventing Reality Editing Service
Five Great Quotations about Business of Writing - Inventing Reality Editing Service
Five Great Quotations: Advice to Aspiring Writers - Inventing Reality Editing Service

How to Market Your Book: 7 Minutes a Day to Promoting Y...

How to Market Your Book: 7 Minutes a Day to Promoting Your Book shows how to develop a strategy that will get articles about your self-published book in newspapers, magazines, on radio and television programs, posted on blogs, and linked to on websites, while landing you book signings and readings, all at virtually no cost.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Writing Inspiration: Who are you?
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Make tables readable in your self-published book
Four ways to write a great tweet that sells books

Create infographics to support your book

Among the best ways to present information on your blog, website or in your book ��� especially if writing nonfiction ��� is an infographic. A representation of information in visual form, you can see an example of one to the right of this text (The infographic is a visual representation of part of this entry!); click on it for a larger version.

Visitors to your blog and website are up to three times more likely to click an infographic than other types of content, such as videos, pictures and text. After all, which looks easier for you to read ��� this article or the infographic to the right?

That���s because when done right, infographics are easy to digest in very little time and they are engaging thanks to being visually pleasing and sometimes fun.

Even if you have no design experience, you still can make an infographic with ease. Start by writing the text. Then select a design platform to make them; a lot of software and even online apps have templates, sometimes for free. Among the possibilities for designing infographics are Adobe InDesign, Canva, Piktochart, Infograph.ly.

Most infographics include five elements:
��� Headline ��� Catchy and engaging, the headline in a few words tells you what the infographic is about, such as How to Be a Better Writer or 5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Pen Name. The headline should be in larger letters than the text that follows it. Sometimes a secondary head or subhead appears below the headline in a smaller font size to elaborate on it.
��� Text ��� This consists of the words that support the headline. They often are written as incomplete sentences and in bulleted lists so that they can be quickly read. Always be sure to include the source of the data or information used to create the text.
��� Imagery ��� Pictures or illustrations can be used to enhance the text. For example, in the infographic The 5-Step Writing Process, a number might be used to show which step the text represents (such as a 1 for brainstorming) or icons might be used, such as a pen on paper for the third step of drafting.
��� Whitespace ��� Whitespace is the empty unfilled space that appears between headlines, text and imagery. Think of whitespace as the canvas upon which you aesthetically balance headlines, text and imagery to maximize readability. It doesn���t have to be white or even a lone color.
��� Branding ��� Always include a link to your website on the infographic, usually at the bottom where it won���t compete with the text and imagery. A company logo, if you have one, also is a good idea. As your infographic is shared on the Internet, branding gives you free advertising.

Ideally, you want to construct an infographic that appears in your book. This helps maximize the benefits of your efforts ��� you enhance the readability of your book while at the same time have an item that be posted on social media platforms to promote the title and your author���s website.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<a href="http://inventingrealityeditingservice... Widgets</a>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Make tables readable in your self-published book

5 Must-Know Rules for Writing Academic Papers

��� Understand instructions before writing paper
��� Types of academic papers you could write
��� How to properly punctuate 'et. al'
��� Examples of how to use e.g. vs. i.e. 
��� How to use page numbers in APA Style Citations

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", geneva; font-size: 10pt;" data-mce-style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; font-size: 10pt;"><A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A></span>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing prompt: Coming up with an opening line - Inventing Reality Editing Service
How many words is a novella? - Inventing Reality Editing Service
A typical error: Abhorrent vs. aberrant - Inventing Reality Editing Service
Editing tip: Use parentheses and keep going - Inventing Reality Editing Service

5 Novums for Science Fiction Writing Prompts

Science fiction stories typically arise from a novum, a scientifically plausible concept that is a ���reality��� in the tale. The novum might be an mechanical device like robot servants, artificial intelligence, or faster-than-light spacecraft; it also can be a hypothetical idea such as ���The Earth is a scientific experiment run by aliens to determine the meaning of life��� or ���The government outlaws books.��� The author then asks ���What if?��� exploring how the world with this novum is different than ours.

Among the problems of many novice science fiction writers is instead of introducing a new novum they rely on used furniture ��� that is, they borrow novums from popular SF series. After all, how many novels have you read that use starships exploring the galaxy for the Earth-based Federation? Barely changing names to appear as if you are not appropriating ��� a starcraft seeking M-class worlds for the Earth-centered Alliance ��� still doesn���t cut it as original or fully using the potential that science fiction offers to examine our culture or humanity.

To help SF writers, here are some novums of potential near-future inventions from which stories could be built:

Helium-3 mining
What if Helium-3 were mined on the moon to power nuclear fusion reactors on Earth? How would this operation function?

Hypersonic vactrains
What if maglev trains and pneumatic tubes were combined to create a fast, new transportation system that connected major cities? The fastest train could reach speeds of 4000 mph, compared to 300 mph for maglev trains.

Picotechnology
What if picotechnology ��� technology on the scale of trillionths of a meter (far smaller than nanotechnology) becomes practical and everyday? How will manipulation of the structure of atoms themselves change our lives?

Three languages left
What if globalization leaves the world with only three languages ��� English, Mandarin and Spanish? How does this affect political systems and culture?

Tropical cyclones in the Mediterranean
With global warming, by the 2060s tropical cyclones become common in the Mediterranean, wreaking havoc among coastal communities and major population centers. What steps will those cities and nations take to deal with the problem?

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Make tables readable in your self-published book

5 Ways to Create a Killer Opening Page

��� Don���t underestimate first page���s importance
��� How to write your story���s opening line
��� Always start your story in the middle
��� Hint at protagonist's intentions on opening page
��� Establish story���s point of view in opening lines
��� BONUS: ���The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.��� - Philip Roth 

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



<A HREF=���http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widg... Widgets</A>

Related articles

Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process
Writing Inspiration: Seek another's advice
Make tables readable in your self-published book
6 Tips for Creating Unforgettable Protagonists - Inventing Reality Editing Service