Rob Bignell's Blog, page 231

5 Great Quotations about Poetry

���Poetry is about the grief. Politics is about the grievance.��� - Robert Frost

���Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.��� - Thomas Gray

���A poet���s work is to name the unnameable.��� - Salman Rushdie

���Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.��� - Plato

���Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.��� - Leonard Cohen

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.



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Writers must be comfortable with failure

To be successful, writers must be comfortable with failure.

Remember that no first attempt at a short story, novel or nonfiction book will be perfect. In fact, it probably will be more awful than good.

The challenge is to learn from the experience ��� to identify what can be improved and how to do so, and then to try again by writing another draft.

Remember that no second draft of a short story, novel or nonfiction book will be perfect either. This new version, though, should be better, more refined and markedly less bad that the first draft.

And so you examine again what went wrong, explore techniques to make it better, and write yet another draft.

Remember, almost no third draft of a short story, novel or nonfiction book will be perfect either. But you know what to do...write another draft.

And then another draft and another and another until you get it just the way you want it.

I know, it sounds dull. It���s not magical. Rather than grow bored with this process, though, you must instead maintain momentum. As you revise and rewrite, you must grow excited that the manuscript is getting better and better with each draft.

To maintain your enthusiasm, you must come to understand that ���failure��� is part of the writing process. Embrace it, and you���ll succeed!

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.



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Editing client releases Battle of Britain novel

A recent editing client of mine has published his first novel. Part historical fiction, part spy thriller, Sean Connors��� ���Desperate Summer��� weaves a tale of love, courage and betrayal during the long, hot summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain. Tense, twisting and turning, the novel follows Hatfield Watkins��� journey from innocent Kansas farm boy to deadly ace, aging Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erwin Eichmann���s fight against the arrogance of the Third Reich, and the dark struggles of a conflicted Rachel Towning, a beautiful but deadly spy. As they fight a battle that they did not ask for but desperately need to win, they are forced to face the truth about themselves���and each other. The book 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.



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Editing client publishes her latest kid���s book

A long-time editing client, Jana Meador, has published her latest children���s book. ���Vole Bunch of Fun��� follows the adventures of the Vole family, seven adorable burrowing creatures who keep managing to find trouble in their Alaskan village home. Under the watchful eye of Mama, there's no end to the excitement found everyday by strong Big Eyes, curious Sniffy, cute Chewy, big-footed Hoppity Hop, Little Torn Earn, and Tiny Whiney. Join them in these short, endearing tales as Big Eyes gets lost, Chewy suffers from a troubled tooth, Hoppity Hop discovers a magic wheel, and more for a Vole Bunch of Fun! The book, lushly illustrated by Ian Welsh, 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.



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5 Writing Prompts for Science Fiction Writers

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:

Biorepository and genomic information system
What if there were a national biorepository and genomic information system, holding data on every citizen? How would this transform healthcare? Could the repository and info system have other applications, such as serving as voting I.D.?

Claytronics
What if any object in our lives ��� from our motor vehicles to our toys, from our buildings to our furniture ��� could change their color or shape upon command? The use of catoms (aka claytronic atoms) could make this a possibility.

Deep-ocean mining
What if deep-ocean mining were widespread, made viable by advanced robotics and telepresence? Rare-earth metals and methane hydrate deposits would be the miners��� targets.

Flood barriers in coastal cities
With rising water levels, what steps can coastal communities take to save themselves from flooding? Focus on a single city, such as New York.

Virtual telepathy
What if brain-computer interfaces were commonplace? How would this change the way we communicate and access information?

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.



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Utilize writing process to develop your book

Many writers will tell you ���there���s no system��� to writing a book. They���re right in that the craft of writing can���t be reduced to an assembly line production, at least not unless you wish to churn out cookie-cutter stories and ultimately be incredibly dissatisfied with your passion.

But there is a system of five basic steps ��� brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, formatting ��� that all writers essentially follow every time they work on a story or a nonfiction book. How much time writers spend on each step and how frequently they switch back and forth between them is entirely unique to each individual, however. It even can change for an author with each story written.

Being aware of these five steps can allow you to better reflect on your own writing techniques and to pinpoint how you might possibly improve upon them. Sometimes when stuck on a story, you���ve skipped or not done enough work on one or more of these steps, so an understanding of them can help you break through your block. Other times, these steps can provide a template to help you start and develop a great story idea that you love but feel ill-equipped to turn into a short story, a novel, or a nonfiction book.

Indeed, arguably one of the biggest mistakes aspiring authors make is denying that these steps are necessary or that they even exist. These writers often say they don���t use or need outlines, that they write ���from the seat of their pants.��� Yet, they are following the process by brainstorming and outlining the manuscript in their head a split second before they commit their thoughts to paper. The more successful of these writers have internalized certain basic principles of writing ��� the novelist might always follow the five parts of a plot or ensure their protagonist always is in conflict while trying to solve a goal ��� and their imagination is enough to carry them. With very few exceptions, though, such writing tends to require significant amounts of revision, another step, by the way, in the writing process.

Here are articles that go in-depth on each of the five steps:
��� Brainstorming
��� Outlining
��� Drafting
��� Revising
��� Formatting

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.



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5 Great Quotations about Power of Writing

���You can make anything by writing.��� - C.S. Lewis

���If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.��� - Peter Handke

���All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.��� - Nietzsche

���Words are loaded pistols.��� - Jean-Paul Sartre

���Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly - they���ll go through anything. You read and you���re pierced.��� - Aldous Huxley

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.



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Create visuals for your workshop presentation

In an era when YouTube and television dominate, including visuals in your workshop presentations is vital. Text on a large screen, photographs, and charts all can help the audience better follow your points and keep their attention.

Fortunately, putting together visuals for presentations doesn���t require hiring expensive marketing companies or designers. You actually can do it yourself, all for free.

You���ll first need software to create the visuals. PowerPoint and Keynote are among the most popular and often come with your PC or Mac, but other programs and apps exist as well. All are fairly easy to use, though until you become comfortable with them, you���ll need at least a couple of hours to put together the visuals.

Regardless of which software you use, begin by writing each of your presentation���s major points on individual slides. Make sure they are large enough to be seen from a distance, so going with bold, thicker fonts and a large font size usually work best. Go with a dark font on a light background; black on white works best, but if want to add color, keep the background a light hue of yellow.

Next, create slides of bulleted lists that support your major points. Limit yourself to 2-5 points per list. More than five points usually will be difficult for your audience to remember.

Include relevant illustrations or pictures on some of the slides ��� for example, if the slide is a list of photography tips, include a camera. Don���t let these graphics overwhelm your text, however. The goal of the graphic element is to draw attention to the slide and the text on it. Most software for creating visuals come with pictures for you to select, or you can download free stock images from websites.

Tables and charts also make for great graphic elements and can be included on separate slides. Make sure the information provided on the chart actually makes a powerful point, however, and don���t post more than two or three separate slides of tables of charts, or it will be info overload for your audience.

Lastly, always practice your presentation while using the visuals. You may discover early on that you need to add a slide or that one you���ve already included is unnecessary. Also look for spelling and typos errors, as letting one slip through will be embarrassing and a major distraction during your presentation.

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.



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