Rob Bignell's Blog, page 295

Writing Inspiration: Imagineer your story

The Walt Disney Company utilizes ���imagineers��� to create experiences for park-goers. These experiences are built on fantasy and illusion with just the right amount of real-life to be believable. This is not so different from writing a novel, which must offer readers a verisimilitude of reality, also known as the ���fictional dream.��� Read over a recent passage you wrote. Does it feel ���real���? Why or why not? Rewrite the piece so that it avoids those flaws that made it feel ���impossible.���

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 Fort Myers, Florida, or a small town like Knock 'em Stiff, Ohio, I can provide that second eye.

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Editing client publishes her first urban novel

A recent editing client of mine has published her first novel, ���James Girls���. F.J. Stevens��� urban tale tells the story of Brenda James ��� widow of one of DC's biggest drug dealers who is hell bent on revenge for her husband���s brutal murder ��� and sister Melissa "Missy" James ��� a diva extraordinaire who chooses the fairy tale only to discover the man she married hides a dark secret. Can the two rival sisters come together to solve their seemingly unique problems? The novel is available online.

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 Des Moines, Iowa, or a small town like Whynot, Mississippi, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Theme

���Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.��� - Alan Moore

���There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.��� - Doris Lessing

���The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.��� - Brandon Sanderson

���A great writer reveals the truth even when he or she does not wish to.��� - Tom Bissell

���All words are pegs to hang ideas on.��� - Henry Ward Beecher

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 Grand Rapids, Michigan, or a small town like Frying Pan Landing, North Carolina, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Writing Inspiration: Collect great quotations

Do you dream of becoming a writer but find yourself questioning your own ability to write? You night just need a little encouragement. Collect quotations that inspire you to write. Each time your inner critic speaks up, read five of those quotations.

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 Rochester, New York, or a small town like Beech Bottom, West Virginia, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Add social sharing links to your ebook

One great way to generate ebook sales is word of mouth. You can get readers who liked your title to spread the word via social media simply by including a few social media links at the back of your ebook.

These are called social sharing links. They consist of a picture icon (which looks classy in your book!) and the simplicity of tapping it allows your readers to advertise your book for you at no cost.

Well, there is an upfront cost to you ��� of a few minutes time in setting up the linked icon.

To do that, begin by finding a share link generator online. There are plenty of free ones, so don���t get scammed into paying for the service.

Next, compose messages for each of the various social media sites. Think in terms of what a reader might say about your book, such as ���Just finished reading ���Hikes and Tykes��� and highly recommend it!��� Include a link to where the book can be purchased. In addition, include any hashtags if applicable, especially with Twitter. The generator then will provide html code that you can add to your book.

After that, you���ll want to download a jpeg of an icon for your social media site. This can be done simply by conducting a search engine image search for the icon. Make sure there���s no copyright issues; usually if you grab the icon from the social media site itself, that���s not a problem. Some share link generators provide free icons that you may use.

Finally, add the icon to your book. You can do so by simply adding a few words at the end of your ebook, such as, ���Enjoyed This Book? Please Click to Share���. Then paste the icon after these words. Following that, highlight the icon and paste the copied html coding, usually into the ���hyperlink��� box.

Always add a number of a social sharing links to your book ��� definitely Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Tumbler ��� as your readers each have a favorite that they use. Many share link generators include options for readers to send emails, and adding that option is a good idea, too.

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 Bantam, give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like New York, New York, or a small town like Connecticut, I can provide that second eye.

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Give your characters room to breathe

Just as well-intentioned but misguided parents can stymie their children���s shift to independence and self-reliance, so well-intentioned but misguided writers can stifle their stories��� growth and evolution. The latter usually occurs because the author forces the characters to conform to his or her personal beliefs rather than be internally consistent based on the characters��� needs and motivations. Review one of your stories that you feel doesn���t ring true. Is that what occurred in your 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 Oklahoma City, or a small town like Peculiar, Missouri, I can provide that second eye.

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Editing client publishes first near future novel

A recent editing client of mine has published his first novel, the near future tale ���c-Real: The Perception Engineering Era Begins.��� Michael J. Ladd���s story tells how engineer Malachi Jacks and his team develop a new technology in which anyone literally can see the world the way they want to���and the incredible ramifications of it upon society���s sudden ���new��� sense of reality. The book is available online.

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 Toledo, Ohio, or a small town like Gnaw Bone, Indiana, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Gift a missing part

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: One way to come up with a gift idea is to observe what the recipient is missing in his home. What are you missing in your writing? Does your book need a description of a character���s physical appearance? An apt simile? An exciting exchange of dialogue? Spend your writing session giving yourself a gift by penning the missing part of your 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 New Orleans, or a small town like Searchlight, Nevada, I can provide that second eye.

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Avoid introducing wrong styles into your text

Among the most common yet avoidable errors when formatting a book to be self-published is inserting the wrong font, font size and or other style into the manuscript. For example, if you want your text to be in Times Roman, 12 point, and single spaced, you might find when editing it that a few paragraphs are in Helvetica, 11 point and have 1.15 points of space between lines.

Not fixing the problem results in an unprofessional-looking paperback and can get your ebook rejected from print of demand houses, especially at Smashwords.

This error typically is introduced into the text when cutting and pasting. The text in the other document ��� whether it be another Word document, a website, or an email ��� probably contains different instructions about how the text should appear. Simply cutting and pasting them carries those instructions to your manuscript.

While restyling the text so that it fits how you want your manuscript to look can be done, the wrong styles still have been introduced into your master copy. When revising the manuscript, should you need to deal with the paragraphs you restyled, the old style you changed can suddenly reappear.

The simple solution is to strip and copied text of its styles before pasting it into your manuscript. This can be done by pasting the copied text first into a .txt document and then copying the stripped text from the .txt document into your manuscript. Almost every computer these days comes with a .txt document that you can use (In Windows, it���s Notepad), so there���s no added expense.

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 Des Moines, Iowa, or a small town like Whynot, Mississippi, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations for Aspiring Writers

���Take heart from the knowledge that an author with a strong voice will often have trouble at the start of his or her career because strong, distinctive voices sometimes make editors nervous. But in theend, only the strong survive.��� - Jayne Ann Krentz

���Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.��� - Kurt Vonnegut

���Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.��� - Henry Miller

���The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck. That is the most valuable thing I can tell you so try to remember it.��� - Ernest Hemingway

���Keep writing, keep faith in the idea that you have unique stories to tell, and tell them. I meet far too many people who are going to be writers ���someday.������ - Robin Hobb

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 Louisville, Kentucky, or a small town like Lodge Pole, Montana, I can provide that second eye.

 

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