Rob Bignell's Blog, page 271

Danish editing client publishes novelette

A recent editing client, Danish author Victoria Ichizli-Bartels, has published her latest, the novelette ���Seven Broken Pieces.��� The book tells the tale of young and resolute Sasha Leroy Palmer, who still suffering from her sister���s death in Vietnam, decided in the 1960s to fight the enemy on the other side of the Iron Curtain from within by becoming a spy.

She convinces herself that her sister���s death was the only reason she came to help her home country. So why does every letter from home, secretly passed to her by colleagues in the cause, make her feel that this wasn���t the reason? Was she really running away from her responsibilities, as her parents insisted? And if she was, what could make her stop running? Surely not the man who caught her as she stumbled on a shaky trolley-bus in the capital of Soviet Moldova. Or could he?

���Seven Broken Pieces: A Short Story (A Life Upside Down)��� is available online as a paperback or ebook.

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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Which way to go: Bring vs. take

These two words often leave writers��� compasses spinning. To get yourself righted, think of these words in terms of direction.

Bring is when something comes to you, as in Please bring your toy here so I can fix it.

Take, however, is when something goes away from you, as in Please take this file to the Accounting Department.

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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Tips for coming up with story ideas

Good stories center on the clashing of characters��� goals and motivations. If trying to come up with a compelling story idea, as you go through your day think of situations in which characters can come into conflict with one another.

Here are three such areas you can mine for story ideas:
��� Scour the news ��� Headlines are a source of great stories. Always ask ���what if��� in conjunction with the headline and then build the story from there: ���Boat capsizes, leaving 115 dead��� ��� but what if there were 116 passengers? What happened to the one who survived? How did he survive? Ask ���What is the real story?��� Why did that boat capsize? Did it carry a spy or someone with information who needed to ���disappear���? Was it revenge for not paying up to the local mob?
��� Add a family member ��� Usually in happy families, each member has found a satisfying position or roll in it. Think about the different people you pass each day and disrupt this happy family by adding one of them as a new member. For example, what if the family discovered that once the father had a child with another woman? What if a single mother out of the blue marries a man, giving her children a stepfather? What if half-siblings suddenly come to live with a remarried man and his wife and children? How must each character change so that happiness can be restored?
��� Enter a portal ��� Symbolically, going through a door, turnstile, window or other opening is an entryway into another world. Look for such portals during your day and ask what would happen if your main character passes through a portal in which he shouldn���t go ��� a poor man into a bank���s vault, an escaped slave on a train heading west, a custodian into a scientist���s experimental wormhole? How does entering this portal change your main character���s life? What obstacles does your main character face in this new world? Would the main character want to stay there?

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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Reorient your story���s plot by shadow staging

One variation of developing a story is to present a crucial event���s consequences rather than directly telling or showing it. Using this approach is called shadow staging, a term coined by Cambridge SF Workshop creator Steve Popkes.

An excellent example of shadow staging is the novel and motion picture ���Sophie���s Choice,��� by William Styron (Warning: plot spoilers ahead). The story, set in 1947, examines the seemingly inexplicable behavior of a Polish woman named Sophie and her Jewish lover, Nathan, as seen through the eyes of a writer named Stingo. Nathan is a self-medicating paranoid schizophrenic, but the cause of Sophie���s actions is a dark secret that she reveals near the book���s end ��� the Nazis forced her to choose which one of her two children would be gassed. The consequences of this tragic event leaves her an alcoholic and deeply depressed.

To a large degree, shadow staging creates a mystery that needs to be resolved; in the case of ���Sophie���s Choice,��� Stingo, and by consequence the reader, want to learn what brings a beautiful woman like Sophie to become alcoholic and depressed. If that secret were revealed in the story���s opening (as it���s the out-of-whack event that transforms Sophie) then we���d have quite a different tale, specifically one in which Stingo and the reader want to see how she comes to terms with this tragedy by ending her self-guilt and addiction to the bottle.

Hence, use of the technique largely depends upon the type of story you want to tell. Arguably, since most stories present the out-of-whack event in the opening paragraphs and the rest of the tale focuses on overcoming it, reorienting that inciting incident offers the advantage of being a more unique and (at least during the opening days of such a writing trend) interesting story. A significant challenge for the author using shadow staging ��� like a mystery writer who presents a crime that must be solved ��� is to not reveal the secret too early but to leave enough clues that allows for the secret to be believable.

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 Editing

���To write is human, to edit is divine.��� - Stephen King

���You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You���ve been backstage. You���ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.��� ��� Margaret Atwood

���I apologize for the length of this letter; I didn���t have time to make it shorter.��� - Blaise Pascal

���Everything you write must be read aloud. Once all the context items are in place, this is the final test for any written piece...��� - Jiro Adachi

���The best time to hire an editor is when you have completed your manuscript...The closer to finished the writing work is, the more thorough and cost-effective the editing process will be.��� - Kit Cooley

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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Develop good taste by reading the masters

If you want to be a good writer, you need to develop good taste. This doesn���t mean you should become a literary snob but that you need to expose yourself to good writing to learn what makes it so.

While each genre has it conventions, almost all writing in Western civilization shares similarities, especially in plot structure and craftsmanship. These two aspects of writing, in particular, get at the core of what Western readers universally consider ���good storytelling,��� regardless of the genre.

You probably already are an avid reader. And if you consider a story or novel you wrote to not be very good, it���s because you are aware of what is quality writing.

The key to successful writing is to allow this innate sense of good taste to mentor and shape your skills. You can learn from what you read by consciously thinking about how other authors did it.

Developing good taste can���t be done by reading whatever is out there, though. Just as a master chef wouldn���t learn what is a quality dish by dining everyday at McDonalds, so you���re not going to learn to be a great novelist by reading hacks, online news articles, or nonfiction.

Instead, read the master storytellers. Begin with those who are considered the best in your genre. Not all may be to your liking (Consider that three of the masters of the science fiction genre ��� Heinlein, Asimov and Bradbury ��� have radically different writing styles.), but you���ll probably discover some fantastic authors along the way. Next, expand your knowledge by reading the masters of a genre similar to yours. A science fiction writer might pick up action-adventure novels while mystery writers can grab police-crime thrillers. Finally, read the masters of literature. Homer, Shakespeare, Hemingway and many others all have greatly influenced modern writing and every genre we read today.

So, uncertain how to solve a problem in your story or of what to write next? Then crack open a book by a master. The answer is there, waiting for you to discover it.

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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Tips for setting up your book presentation

Many book authors are happy to simply do what they enjoy most, which is write. You also have to promote your published books, though, and a time-honored way of doing so is by making public presentations, such as signings and readings at bookstores or other businesses that might carry your titles.

Usually these presentations allow you to get publicity for the event, meaning that those attending have a strong interest in your book���s topic. Such a captive audience can be introduced to other books you���ve written, increasing sales of your older titles.

Despite these benefits and the popularity of such presentations, there are too few resources for authors about how to set up and deliver them.

Like other authors, I spent a long time learning the hard way ��� through trial and error ��� how to handle signings, readings and presentations, and not just for a single book either. I���ve done them for my first novel and for a series of nonfiction books, as well as for a poetry collection. I���ve talked about my books to audiences at bookstores and at retailers. I���ve read to an audience of one and audiences of several dozen. I���ve delivered presentations at conferences and workshops. All of this experience informed not just my efforts as an author but made me an invaluable source for my editing clients.

Here are some of those tips:
��� Determine if a book presentation is a good decision
��� Potential locations for holding a book presentation
��� Arranging a book presentation
��� How to deal with stage fright
��� Checklist of steps for delivering a 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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Editing client releases his first ���Civil War��� novel

An editing client of mine has released his first novel, a paranormal tale in which the ghosts of Confederate soldiers battle Federal authorities. Boyd Parker���s ���Ghost of a Chance��� tells the tale of the Feds trying to round up Civil War re-enactors, who are supsected of fomenting terrorist acts on behalf of a suspected shadow Confederate government. When agents move in, the re-enactors find they have an ally from the very past that so fascinates them. 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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Quick fix: Long-term vs. longterm vs. long term

Here���s a set of words that have been an ongoing problem among writers.

Long-term with a hyphen, as in long-term disability, is the correct form.

The confusion probably comes from the fact that a similar adjective, longtime, is now widely accepted in dictionaries and stylebooks as hyphenless. That isn���t the case with long-term, though, at least in the short-term.

And, of course, long term as two words always is incorrect. A compound word used as an adjective, a hyphen 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: Mysterious gift

Good stories center on the clashing of characters��� goals and motivations. Sometimes a character���s goals and motivations arise upon receiving a mysterious gift. Here are four writing prompts for stories that involve the motivation of resolving the mystery of a gift.

Man vs. man
As the main character attempts to find out why he received a mysterious gift, he learns that another person wants this item. What actions does this nemesis take to commandeer the gift? Why does the main character simply not give up the gift? What is the secret behind the gift?

Man vs. society
The main character possesses a wonderful talent ��� a ���gift,��� as others in society term it ��� perhaps as a musician or an artist. What if the main character does not wish to express his gift as society wishes him to? Why does he want to act contrary to society���s desires?

Man vs. God(s)
A gift comes in the form of a ���miracle.��� What if the main character, though, doesn���t see it as a miracle? What if this miracle is not enough to resolve a need, wish or prayer?

Man vs. himself
The main character possesses an ability ��� a ���gift,��� as some view it ��� that he views as a terrible burden. In fact, the character doesn���t want to use his gift. Why is this? And what if a crisis arises that only the main character can resolve by using his special ability?

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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