Rob Bignell's Blog, page 286

Appeal to sense of taste in descriptions

Of the five senses, taste is the rarest in stories. The reason is that we���re not eating, drinking, smoking or falling face-first into the dirt as frequently as we are seeing, hearing and smelling the world around us.

Like the senses of sound and smell, taste ought to be reserved for moments when it can offer meaningful descriptions of an object, to raise dramatic tension or to offer insights into a character. For example, describing how an extrasolar colonist who has learned bad news suddenly finds bitter the taste of his otherwise sweet julah drink shows how the information has affected him emotionally. Unfortunately, writers too often simply describe the food a character is eating either for the gross-out factor (such as the Klingon���s gagh in ���Star Trek���) or simply to find a way to get the sense of taste into their story.

Where taste and smell are concerned, sometimes you can get your descriptions to appeal to both senses. They are, after all, closely related: Humans who have temporarily lost their sense of smell due to a cold often can���t taste either. J. Chris Rock accomplishes this in his short story ���Lucy��� (which appears in the August 2008 Asimov���s Science Fiction): ������Seriously though,��� Elgin says, his mouth full of Fritos. I can smell them, that gross wet corn mush smell.���

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 Modesto, California, or a small town like Hard Scratch, Iowa, I can provide that second eye.

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���I don���t want you to write about what you know, because you don���t know anything. I don���t want to hear about your boyfriend or your grandma��� I���m getting a little tired of ���my life story as fiction���. Please don���t tell me about your little life ��� is there nothing larger? More important?��� - Toni Morrison

���Tell the story that's been growing in your heart, the characters you can't keep out of your head, the tale story that speaks to you, that pops into your head during your daily commute, that wakes you up in the morning.��� - Jennifer Weiner

���But isn't it true that an author can write only about himself?��� - Milan Kundera

���If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.��� - Nikki Giovanni

���The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write about it.��� - Benjamin Disraeli

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 Spokane, Washington, or a small town like Looneyville, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Read through a few of your most recent writings. What purpose do the writings serve? Do they help you better understand yourself? Are they intended to bring pleasure to others? How does this compare to the purpose of your favorite authors��� books?

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 Bakersfield, California, or a small town like Mosquitoville, Vermont, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Improve descriptions by appealing to 'touch'

As with sight, we���re constantly barraged with the sensation of touch, but often it goes ignored. American and Western culture prefers personal space that prevents a lot of touching, and our buildings tend to be climate-controlled, leaving us neither hot nor cold. Our furniture is designed to be soft enough that our bodies do not get sore when sitting or reclining. While most writers certainly wouldn���t complain about such comfortableness, it does challenge us to work for images that appeal to a sense of touch that readers can relate to.

Since touch is almost a background sensation in readers��� lives, its use ought to be reserved for moments when it can offer meaningful descriptions of an object, to raise dramatic tension or to offer insights into a character. As the sensation of touch is powerful in real life, sloppy use of it in your fictional world can wreck the story���s believability. Deftly handled appeals to the sense of touch, however, can make for a striking description that keeps the reader turning the page.

Recognizing the power of touch, author Jack Skillingstead appeals to the sense of touch in the opening line of his recent short story ���What You are About to See��� (which appears in the August 2008 Asimov���s Science Fiction): ���I sat in a cold room.��� Readers used to climate-controlled buildings instantly finds the situation peculiar. The exoticness of appealing to the sense of touch further serves to pull the reader in. The line also does a good job of establishing the story���s tone, one in which our main character and the other government officials around him are never quite comfortable, as they���ve made contact with an alien whose craft crashed in the Nevada desert.

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 Phoenix, Arizona, or a small town like Last Chance, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Inspiration: List your values

Does your writing express who you are or does it present an image of what you want others to believe? You likely won���t be happy with your writing if it���s the latter. List at least three values ��� that is, three ethical principles ��� that you hold most dear. Do you see those values portrayed in your writings?

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 Albuquerque, New Mexico, or a small town like Mud Butte, South Dakota, I can provide that second eye.

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Don���t trip and get hurt: Heal vs. heel

Some writers could use a good kick in the you know where for their misuse of heal and heel.

Heal is a verb meaning to recover, especially from an illness or from anguish, as in New York City will need a long time to heal from the tragedy of 9/11.

Heel is the bottom back of the foot, as in the Los Angeles soccer player injured his heel in the playoff game.

Hopefully, writers who mix up these two words will need a little while to get better from being kicked in the you know where.

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 Columbus, Ohio, or a small town like Ricketts, Iowa, I can provide that second eye.

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Give yourself a 30-day challenge. Set aside a time during which you will write for at least a half-hour daily. Can you write during that time period for 30 straight days? If you do, reward yourself���then set another 30-day challenge.

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 Albany, New York, or a small town like Ding Dong, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

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What are the steps in publishing process?

Q: How does the written work get moved from editing to publishing ��� how does that process work? I've heard conflicting stories. ��� J.U.

A: The details of the process are different for everyone, but every aspiring book writer follows the same general steps.

It begins with writing a manuscript, which then is revised over successive drafts. These revisions might be done with the benefit of an editor, a beta reader, a writers group, or a friend or a family member who reads over the manuscript.

Once the manuscript reaches a version that the writer considers ���final,��� then a publisher is sought. There are two routes to getting published ��� the traditional, corporate method and the indie, self-publishing way.

If using the first method, the writer will seek a literary agent. If successful in obtaining one, the agent then will try to place the manuscript with a publishing house. Should the agent succeed at that, the publishing house then will assign an editor to the manuscript and take care of the cover design, formatting the book, printing, and distributing. Usually the publishing house will do a minimal amount of marketing as well.

Sometimes the writer will forgo the literary agent and simply seek a publisher. This often is the case with small university publishing houses.

If self-publishing, the author must do all of the steps that a publishing house would undertake. These steps can be contracted out (and most writers contract an editor and a cover designer), but most print on demand companies, such as CreateSpace and Smashwords, have made the process fairly simple. At the very least, the process becomes easier after you���ve done it once.

The basic self-publishing process is: edit the manuscript; format the manuscript (i.e., put it in the form in which it will appear when printed) for paperback, ebook or both; write the cover text and author���s bio; design a cover; select a print on demand house; upload the formatted manuscript, cover, and information so a web page can be made for your book; review and approve the uploaded manuscript, cover and information so that book can be printed; and market the book.

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 Chattanooga, Tennessee, or a small town like Jot-Em-Down, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Readers

���If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. And here I make a rule - a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last.��� - John Steinbeck

���...no reader ever asks a question. A writer must force his favors upon his readers.��� - Jan Neruda

���The paper is patient, but the reader is not.��� - Joseph Joubert

���A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.��� - Samuel Johnson

���Only a generation of readers will span a generation of writers.��� - Steven Spielberg

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 Provo, Utah, or a small town like Dismal, Tennessee, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Even the great masters had to learn their craft. Pick up a book about the craft of writing from the library or a bookstore. Apply a couple of the techniques described in the book to your writing. Are the new passages you���ve written more appealing?

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 Fresno, California, or a small town like Frizzleburg, Pennsylvania, I can provide that second eye.

 

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