Rob Bignell's Blog, page 288

Writing Prompt: Grow a seed from your journal

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: Do you keep a journal? If so, identify a kernel of a story idea that appears in it. Spend 15 minutes writing that 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 a big city like Kansas City, Missouri, or a small town like Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, I can provide that second eye.

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Make tables readable in your self-published book

When self-publishing a nonfiction book, you probably will want to include tables of some sort. If writing a book about rock climbing, for example, you might include a list of the National Climbing Classification System.

The problem with tables created in Microsoft Word is that they don���t resize well. In Word parlance, a table is a ���fixed format element.��� So if you create a table that is six inches wide, the text likely will be unreadable if you shrink it to fit on a paperback page that���s only five inches wide or look at it on an ereader screen that���s only three inches wide.

You have a couple of solutions.

One option is to create the table only after you know the paperback���s size and then limiting the table���s size to those measurements. So if the book size ��� discounting the gutters and margins ��� is 5 inches wide by 6.5 inches tall, the table must be no larger than that. To ensure it fits an ereader, you���ll want to make the table even smaller, say 3 inches wide by 4 inches wide. Doing this ensures there is no shrinking of the table at all, as it���s designed for the page or screen.

A second option is to make the table a picture. This is useful if there���s no way to make the table fit the page���s actual size, usually because there are too many rows or columns in the table to make that viable. You still can create the table in Word. When finished, take a screenshot of it and then save the screenshot as a jpeg. You may need to do some cropping to make the screensheet show only the table.

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 Atlanta, Georgia, or a small town like Atlanta, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about the Writing Process

���I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, then stop.��� - Clarence Budington Kelland

���...I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together - often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort. I would have ideas for ���nodes,��� as I think of them - story or character details that have lots of potential connections to other such nodes - and even though I didn't quite understand, I would plunk them in. Two hundred pages later, everything would back-fit, and I'd say, ���Ah, that's why I wrote that.������ - Tad Williams

���In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it ���got boring,��� the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.��� - Stephen King

���Writing a book is a blood sport. If it doesn���t hurt when you���re done, you���re probably doing something wrong.��� - Kevis Hendrickson

���Writing is a lot like making soup. My subconscious cooks the idea, but I have to sit down at the computer to pour it out.���- Robin Wells

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 Springfield, Massachusetts, or a small town like Burnt Corn, Alabama, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Writing Inspiration: Seek another���s advice

Have another person read a manuscript that you have been working on for some time. Use their advice to revise the piece.

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 Orlando, Florida, or a small town like Beer Bottle Crossing, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Four ways to write a great tweet that sells books

One of the best social media outlets for promoting your book is Twitter. That���s because you can target a specific audience of readers who would be interested in your book, and many of those who are interested likely will retweet it to others who you haven���t yet reached. Ironically, though, a lot of writers pen poor tweets and miss out on this promotional opportunity.

By following a few simple guidelines, though, authors can write great Tweets that attract attention to your book and grow your list your followers (Note: The following advise presumes you include a link in your tweet to a blog post you wrote or to a web page that sells your book):
��� Focus on what���s in it for the reader ��� Saying that you have a new book out is ho-hum (Read my new book about plumbers!). Lots of people have new books out. What the reader wants to know is why your new book is entertaining to read (What if your plumber were a serial killer?) or that there���s an obvious benefit to them (Five ways to stop a plumber from ripping you off).
��� Be specific ��� If you���re too vague (The surprising truth about plumbers), you won���t grab the reader���s attention. Instead, tell exactly what the link in your tweet is about (Plumbers are poisoning your tap water!).
��� Dump the smoke and mirrors ��� Some writers make over-the-top promises (The secret to selling a million ebooks in 24 hours!). No one trusts these tweets. Honesty (How to boost your ebook sales via Twitter) works much better.
��� Ask a question ��� Especially with fiction, posing a question that briefly states what the story is about works well for arousing a reader���s curiosity (What if a widower met the spitting image of his deceased spouse?).

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 Boston, Massachusetts, or a small town like Boston, Georgia, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Inspiration: Who are you?

Being authentic requires that you be in touch with yourself. Ask yourself who you are (That is, how how do you define yourself?). What makes you happy? What are your passions (beyond writing, of course!)? Does your writing reflect who you are and what you feel most strongly about?

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 Portland, Oregon, or a small town like Papa, Hawaii, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Pen your autobiography

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: Another way to write for self-discovery is using a journal to pen your ���autobiography.��� Think of your life as a journey. What were the waypoints in your life? What obstacles did you encounter? What is the purpose of your journey and what is your destination?

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 Las Vegas, Nevada, or a small town like Accident, Maryland, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Start with last line

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: Read the last line of the book you checked out or purchased. Use it as a writing prompt and spend 15 minutes writing a story in which it is the opening line.

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 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or a small town like Cluttsville, Alabama, I can provide that second eye.

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Three ebook formatting tips, part VIII

Ebooks follow different formatting rules than books printed on paper. That���s because a book made of ink on paper is a different platform for presenting information than a book made of digital bits on an electronic screen. Even though the same content (your book) is being presented, the platforms will need to be handled differently, just as certainly different production methods are used for a play presented on stage and on a television screen.

Because of that, there are a number of things you might do when formatting a paperback but never would do when constructing an ebook. Following are three tips about what to differently.

Add space function
Don���t use the ���Add Space Before Paragraph��� or the ���Add Space After Paragraph��� function on your word processing program when formatting. Since you���ll use a block paragraph structure (rather than tabs to indent the paragraph���s first line) when formatting an ebook, the add space function can result in paragraphs that are squished too closely together as well as uneven spacing between text and images. The better solution is to use a hard return to create a blank line that will ensure the spacing is equal to the height of a line of a text, resulting in a cleaner appearance. In addition, should you have extra lines that need to be deleted between paragraphs, locating and using the search and replace function to resolve the problem will prove easier with a hard return.

Tab key
Don���t indent the first line of each paragraph by either using the tab key or the space bar. Doing so usually will result in one paragraph beginning so many spaces from the left margin and the next paragraph at another spot. This occurs because most ereaders automatically distribute your text evenly between the margins and ignore the word processing program���s instructions to begin at a specific location relative to the left margin. Instead, use block paragraphs in an ebook, just as you would if designing a web page. This means no indentations but a blank line between paragraphs.

Text wrap
Generally, text can be wrapped around photos and graphic elements in an ebook. Even if you are able finagle some text to do so, as soon as a reader changes the font and font size, your work text will move out of place. Instead, place all images and graphics with the text above and below it.

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 Wichita, Kansas, or a small town like Bird In Hand, Pennsylvania, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Plot

���A story is only formulaic if you allow it to be. It has nothing to do with abiding by the principles of solid storytelling and the handful of elements, parts, and milestones that comprise it.��� - Larry Brooks

���All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.��� - Leo Tolstoy

���A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.��� - Graham Greene

���Just start at the beginning, you say? And what beginning might that be? I've come to the conclusion all starts are false ones. Tap the fragile shell of any beginning and you'll find another nested inside.��� - Christina Sunley

���All plots are cliche.��� - Jincy Willett

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 Boise, Idaho, or a small town like Cut n' Shoot, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

 

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