Rob Bignell's Blog, page 285

Writing Inspiration: What will be your legacy?

What is the legacy you wish to leave? Each of us has a limited time on Earth. How in that short time ��� through your writing ��� might you make the world a better place for future generations?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Colorado Springs, Colorado, or a small town like Big Chimney, West Virginia, 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
Make tables readable in your self-published book

No apostrophe needed with possessive pronouns

Does overkill annoy you? Then fight back by saying NO to apostrophes after possessive pronouns.

Such pronouns are words like his, hers, its, my, mine, our, ours, their and theirs. They indicate something belongs to the person or persons that the pronoun refers to, as in Her cabin is several hours north of Chicago. In this sentence, the cabin belongs to whoever her is.

Apostrophes are used to show possession. For example, San Diego���s top problem is where to get fresh water for a growing population. The apostrophe tells the reader that the top problem belongs to San Diego.

Using an apostrophe with a possessive pronoun, however, is stating the obvious. A possessive pronoun by definition shows possession, so an apostrophe isn���t needed.

WRONG: Her��� flight went through Dallas to Los Angeles.
RIGHT: Her flight went through Denver to San Francisco.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Charleston, West Virginia, or a small town like Frog Eye, Alabama, I can provide that second eye.

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

Best time to post on LinkedIn
Best time to promote your book on Google+
Best time to promote your book on Pinterest
Writing Prompt: Go down another road
Narrowing definitions: Aisle vs. isle

Writing Inspiration: What are your intentions?

What are your individual intentions? That is, what do you most deeply hope to accomplish in life? To live true to your values? To be at peace with the person you are? To inspire others to find serenity and happiness in their lives? List at least three of your individual intentions. How can you incorporate these intentions into your writing?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Little Rock, Arkansas, or a small town like No Name, Colorado, 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

Consider diary form as structural option

One alternative to the traditional novel structure of scenes and chapters is diary form. In such a story, diary entries are tied together into a tale. This also is known as an epistolary novel; note that diary form, though, also can be used in short stories. 

Popular in the 1700s, the form still is used today. ���Go Ask Alice��� by Anonymous, ���Bridget Jones's Diary��� by Helen Fielding, and ���Flowers for Algernon��� by Daniel Keyes are examples of a diary form novel from modern times. 

There are several advantages to using diary form. The main one is creating a strong connection between the story���s narrator and the reader. That���s because the reader gains intimate knowledge about the narrator/diarist. The form also is useful when you want the story to focus on a portrayal of everyday life. This occurs because the story emphasizes the daily goings-on of a character to make its message or entertain with its plot. Further, diary entries can be as short as a single paragraph, sentence or word, which gives you the opportunity to be more creative. Such a short chapter would look out of place in a traditional novel. Finally, diary form is one of the few ways that the narrator actually can be dead. After all, the reader could be looking at a diary that the narrator wrote when alive.

If choosing to use a diary form, follow these few guidelines:
��� Tell the story in first-person from the narrator/diarist���s viewpoint ��� You absolutely cannot break this point of view, as there���s no way the narrator/diarist can get inside other people���s heads like an omniscient narrator could.
��� Move the plot forward at all times ��� The narrator/diarist needs to recount events, not just her thoughts on them, though the latter is how most people actually write their diaries. Instead, the story essentially a series of flashbacks as each entry is the narrator/diarist���s recollections of events that happened to them earlier in the day rather than long paragraphs of exposition about their inner turmoil.
��� Skip the days when nothing of significance happens ��� Just as a traditional novel skips those events in the characters��� lives that don���t move the plot forward, so you would do the same in a diary form. The narrator also should refrain from referring these non-presented entries.
��� Avoid creating a self-absorbed character ��� This easily can happen in a book full of ���I���s��� and ���me���s���. The challenge is to keep such pronouns and expository thoughts about events at a minimum.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Salt Lake City, Utah, or a small town like Zzyzx, California, 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

Five Great Quotations about What is a Writer

���Storytellers are individuals who enjoy creating a holiday for the mind.��� - Linda Daly

���The task of the artist at any time is uncompromisingly simple ��� to discover what has not yet been done, and to do it.��� - Craig Raine

���I stand in the mist and cry, thinking of myself standing in the mist and crying, and wondering if I will ever be able to use this experience in a book.��� - Erica Jong

���The other day, when I was deciding where to place a mountain range, how to make a river's flow detour around underground stalactite caves, and what precise color to give the sky at sunset, I realized I was God... or an artist and a writer.��� - Vera Nazarian

���To write is your last resort when you've betrayed someone.��� - Jean Genet

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Buffalo, New York, or a small town like Ham Bone, California, I can provide that second eye.

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

Five Great Quotations about Writer's Block
Writing Inspiration: Collect great quotations
Five Great Quotations about Theme
Editing tip: Read for a solution
Editing client publishes first near future novel

Writing Inspiration: Visualize your story

Before putting pen to paper, visualize your story. Imagine how it would read if in its most perfect form. For example, as writing my novel, ���Windmill,��� I visualized each line being read aloud by a specific radio personality; this guided how I threaded words together and fashioned the passages and scenes.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Dayton, Ohio, or a small town like Why, Arizona, I can provide that second eye.

 

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

Reverse engineer story to understand craft
Writing Inspiration: Imagineer your story
Editing tip: Read for a solution
Writing Inspiration: Collect great quotations
Writing Inspiration: Read trashy writing

Converse on blogs to boost your book sales

In the 21st century, getting out information about your books clearly involves social media. A good way to utilize social media is to participate in it ��� that is, to join conversations, even if they are only 140 characters long. The idea is that if you interact in a meaningful way, other social media users will look you up and ultimately some of them will purchase your books.

To increase the chances of such success, though, utilize an old school strategy: Get your interaction in as front of many eyes as possible. After all, television shows that draw the most viewers usually means more people will learn about their sponsors��� products than those television showers with the fewest viewers. Likewise, you want to focus the bulk of your interactions on those niche social media sites ��� such as blogs ��� that have the largest audiences.

First, you need to determine what those blogs are. Spend an evening or a few minutes each day for a week checking out those sites and ensuring their readers are the same one who would purchase your books. Eliminate from the list any site that wouldn���t be a good fit. At the same time, determine who has the largest number of followers. Usually blogs list their number of followers, but of not a way to further track their success is to check out the number of followers/friends they have on their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Next, choose the three blogs with the most followers. Each day, write useful and intelligent comments responding to a current entry on these blogs. Avoid being argumentative or leaving short, lame comments like ���Great post!��� You want to be part of a upbeat conversation. Also be sure to subtly slip in on some of those posts that you are a published author. In addition, tweet or otherwise share those entries to your followers/friends.

After a few weeks of this, you���ll gain a positive reputation among the sites��� various readers. In addition, the blog���s owners even may ask you to contribute a post, which can lead to even more sales!

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Detroit, Michigan, or a small town like Carefree, Arizona, 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

Writing Inspiration: Celebrate landmarks

Goals are landmarks in your life, not definitions of it. If your book requires more time to write than you initially thought, that���s okay. Just don���t give up on it or be critical of yourself because a goal wasn���t made by a certain date on an artificial timeline. Keep working on your writing goals, and when you achieve one of them, celebrate it as the success it is.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Allentown, Pennsylvania, or a small town like Chugwater, Wyoming, 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
Make tables readable in your self-published book

Writing Prompt: Second lines

Suffering from writer���s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine.

To that end, try this tip: Open a novel to a random page and read the first complete sentence at the top of it. This will be the opening line of your story. Now ask the 5 W���s and 1 H ��� who, what, when, where, why and how ��� to come up with alternate second lines for your story.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from an urban area like California's Orange County or a rural area like Loving County, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

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

Writing Prompt: Have a sex change
Quick, which one? Imminent vs. eminent
Editor's latest book hits shelves
Writing Inspiration: What are your goals?
Writing Inspiration: Profound aspirations

Writing Prompt: Go ahead, get weepy

Suffering from writer���s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine.

To that end, try this tip: Crying, counterintuitively to most people, actually helps one heal, as it removes toxic biochemicals from the body while reducing emotional stress. So consider writing a passage that induces weeping. Just keep a box of tissue next to your keyboard.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper 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. Whether you come from a big city like Ventura, California, or a small town like Big Ugly Creek, West Virginia, I can provide that second eye.

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

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