Rob Bignell's Blog, page 251

When to use colons in a sentence

All too often, colons are misused in writing. This punctuation mark is meant to signal readers that what follows is a proof or explanation of what came before it. For example, the following sentence requires a colon rather than a comma:

Laura wanted to move for Los Angeles for three reasons: the great weather; the laid-back lifestyle; and all of the fun things to do there.

What appears after the colon explains why Laura wanted to move to Los Angeles. Note that semicolons are used to separate each reason after the colon.

The portion of the sentence appearing before the colon, however, must be a complete sentence. Of course, Laura wanted to move for Los Angeles for three reasons, is a complete sentence. If it were not a complete sentence, no colon is needed:

Laura wanted to move for Los Angeles because of the great weather, the laid-back lifestyle, and all of the fun things to do there.

Of course, Laura wanted to move for Los Angeles because of is not a complete sentence. Also note that commas rather than semicolons are used to separate each reason given.

An exception is introducing block quotes and bulleted lists, which often appear in newspapers, magazines and on website articles. To wit:

Laura wanted to move for Los Angeles for:
��� The great weather
��� The laid-back lifestyle
��� All of the fun things to do there

Note that in a bulleted list, semicolons, commas and periods are not needed at the end of each bulleted item. The exception is if each bulleted point is a complete sentence; then a period is needed.

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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Four writing prompts: Trapped

Good stories center on the clashing of characters��� goals and motivations. Sometimes a character���s goals and motivations arise when they feel confined. Here are four writing prompts for stories that center on being trapped.

Man vs. nature
A man alone in the wilds is trapped by a freak accident ��� e.g. pinned down in an avalanche, cut off by a flashflood or a forest fire, stuck atop a mountain ledge because his climbing rope has broke. How does he survive nature���s elements until help can ��� if it ever will ��� arrive?

Man vs. man
Our main character is kidnapped for ransom. How does he survive his captivity? Why was he kidnapped and by whom? Can he ultimately escape by psychologically working over one of his keepers?

Man vs. society
A person trapped by circumstances but who desires more ��� romance, glamour, fun ��� finds himself at odds with his family���s values. How can he escape his circumstances, if only temporarily? Must he ultimately sacrifice a relationship with his family to obtain freedom?

Man vs. himself
After a disaster occurs, our protagonist finds himself alone. While he probably can survive for years where he is despite the calamity, he knows there is no way to escape, nil chance of being rescued for at least several months, and that he is entirely by himself. How does he maintain his sanity until rescue arrives?

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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Five Great Quotations about Characters

���In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!��� - Anton Chekhov

���...and then to give us the stories of men and women of character who in turn inspire those of us who dare to reach for the truly great within ourselves.��� - Holly Lisle

���A writer has no other material to make his people from than the people of his experience ... The only thing the writer can do is to recombine parts, suppress some characteristics and emphasize others, put two or three people into one fictional character, and pray the real-life prototypes won���t sue.��� - Wallace Stegner

���...if you don���t understand that story is character and not just idea, you will not be able to breathe life into even the most intriguing flash of inspiration.��� - Elizabeth George

���Stories are more than just images. As you continue in the tale, you get to know the characters, motivations and conflicts that make up the core of the story.��� - Livia Blackburne

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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Four writing prompts: Control

Good stories center on the clashing of characters��� goals and motivations. Sometimes a character���s goals and motivations arise from attempting to influence or direct a course of events. Here are four writing prompts for stories that center on control.

Man vs. nature
Our protagnoist is marooned in an inhospitable environment. To survive, he attempts to control it but is met with disaster at every turn. What if to survive he must not control the evironment but instead live in harmony with it? How does he come to this realization? How does this outlook affect his overall perspective on life?

Man vs. man
What if a successful man ��� one with a profitable business and who is popular ��� loses control to his emotions (perhaps his heart wins over his rationality or he tries some addictive drug) for a single night and in doing so jeopardizes all he���s built? How does he regain control of himself despite the lure of the person who helped/caused him to give in to his emotions? Or does he decide to give up ���control��� (and if so, why)?

Man vs. society
To survive, a society must naturally limit some individual freedoms. What happens, though, in situations where a main character believes those limits are oppressive? What would the main character do to regain some control over his life?

Man vs. himself
Our protagonist loses his job, suffers a divorce, and finds himself cut off from his friends and family all within a few months time. How does he cope with this downward spiral in his life and the self-doubt that accompanies it? Can he regain control of his life ��� or is such control merely a myth?

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 first science fiction novel

A recent editing client has published his first science fiction novel. Julien Saindon���s ���Electronics of the Dead,��� is set in the year 2098, when the world has learned to harness the power of the positron. With this new technology, the population must fight a deadly bacteria that is wiping out the humanity, as electronics engineers try to build a device that will counter the invasion of violent, infected hosts. 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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Five Great Quotes: Writing ��� Talent or Hard Work?

���Writing starts with living.��� - L.L. Barkat

���If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is.��� - Richard Rhodes

���We have a strange idea about writing: that it can be done, and done well, without a great deal of effort. Dancers practice every day, musicians practice every day, even when they are at the peak of their careers ��� especially then. Somehow, we don���t take writing as seriously. But writing ��� writing wonderfully ��� takes just as much dedication.��� - Theodora Goss

���Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long.��� - Leonard Bernstein

���Inspiration comes and goes, creativity is the result of practice.��� - Phil Cousineau

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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Five Great Quotations: Writing ��� Talent or Hard Work?

���Writing starts with living.��� - L.L. Barkat

���If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is.��� - Richard Rhodes

���We have a strange idea about writing: that it can be done, and done well, without a great deal of effort. Dancers practice every day, musicians practice every day, even when they are at the peak of their careers ��� especially then. Somehow, we don���t take writing as seriously. But writing ��� writing wonderfully ��� takes just as much dedication.��� - Theodora Goss

���Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long.��� - Leonard Bernstein

���Inspiration comes and goes, creativity is the result of practice.��� - Phil Cousineau

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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Long-time editing client publishes children���s book

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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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Watch for comma splices in your writing

In the old days when tape and film were used to record music and motion pictures, sometimes a little editing would have to be done. This might occur to shorten a piece to make it fit a certain length or reconnect tape/film that broke. It was called splicing. When done poorly, the song or movie scene might appear to have skipped a beat or two.

When writing, authors also can appear to have left our a word or two when they sloppily connect two sentences together to form one. This usually occurs during a comma splice.

In a comma splice, two separate sentences are joined by using a comma rather than the correct punctuation mark (which is a semicolon) or using a conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet) with the comma.

The following is an example of a comma splice:

We wanted to see the new movie, it was sold out, however.

It could be fixed in two ways. First, a semicolon might be used in place of the comma:

We wanted to see the new movie; it was sold out, however.

Secondly, a coordinating conjunction might be used after the comma:

We wanted to see the new movie, but it was sold out.

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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Man vs. nature
Two men on an expedition become separated thanks to a freak accident. To survive, however, each needs the other ��� the share of the gear they carry, their expertise, their companionship. How do our two characters overcome the challenges nature throws at them as they attempt to reunite? What can each man learn about themselves and perhaps each other as they overcome these difficulties?

Man vs. man
Our protagonist finds he has difficult connecting with others, which leads him to the edge of serious mental and physical health issues. Why is he unable to connect? What steps does he take try to connect? Are come people, by their very nature, unable to connect with others?

Man vs. society
The main character is separated from a loved one. How did they become separated? Why is this separation so unbearable? How do the two characters attempt to reunite? What obstacles do various elements of society throw at them to prevent them from seeing one another?

Man vs. himself
Our main character loses something of great importance to him ��� a position of prestige, a loved one, maybe both. How does he regain his sense of identity and self-worth in the aftermath of such a loss? How did he lose what he so much needed and loved?

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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