Rob Bignell's Blog, page 300

Writing Prompt: Incorporate real life

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: How can you incorporate “real life” into a story scene involving something that you’ve never experienced? For example, on an interstellar flight, what are the feelings of loneliness or the fear of being lost in the great emptiness that the passengers feel? Can you draw upon similar feelings you’ve felt during a long road trip across the Great Plains or a desert to make the scene in your story more real?

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 San Francisco, California, or a small town like Nimrod, Oregon, I can provide that second eye.

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Editing client’s book finalist for national award

A book authored by a recent editing client of mine, Brian Strobel, has been selected as a Finalist for the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award in the category of Business-Motivational. “Leading Change from Within” is based on the principle that the No. 1 priority of today’s leaders is managing change and offers expert advice on how to do exactly that, especially in an institutional environment resistant to adapting. A previous winner in this category has had his book on The New York Times bestseller list, so we’re all hopeful for his success. Congratulations, Brian! His 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 Salt Lake City, Utah, or a small town like Zzyzx, California, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Storytelling

“Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.” - Eudora Welty

“The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in.” - Henry Green

“I keep six honest serving men/(They taught me all I knew);/Their names are What and Why and When/and How and Where and Who.” - Rudyard Kipling

“To hell with facts! We need stories!” - Ken Kesey

“Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.” - Michael Shermer

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 Worth, Texas, or a small town like Tightwad, Missouri, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Five Great Quotations about Books

To write is to realize my destiny

Writing is your destiny.

It’s more than just a pattern in your life. It is reaching for your full potential; it is those moments you feel most self-empowered.

When writing, you experience fulfillment and bliss. You feel successful and enjoy affluence, perhaps not yet monetarily but certainly you are showered with the emotional and intellectual wealth that a creative pursuit brings.

When writing, you feel like you are doing exactly what you were placed on this Earth to do. Writing is meaningful, and you have purpose.

It is living your dream.

It is your future.

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 Dallas, Texas, or if you come from a small town Why, Arizona, I can provide that second eye.

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When to promote your book using Twitter

When promoting your self-published book, the social media tool Twitter ought to play an important role in the marketing strategy. Knowing when to tweet, however, can maximize your efforts.

According to a number of studies, the best time to tweet is Monday through Thursdays from 1 to 3 p.m.

That’s because more people are on Twitter during Monday through Thursday between 9 a.m.-3 p.m. with usage increasing until peaking between 1-3 p.m.

Of course, these times are relative. If your business is national, you need to tweet over a longer spread of time than 1-3 p.m. in your time zone, or you’ll miss the peak times in other parts of the country. For example, if your business is based in Chicago (Central Time), you would aim messages for the East Coast at noon-2 p.m. Central Time and messages for the West Coast at 3-5 p.m. Central Time.

Add a photo as well to your tweet. Tweets with photos see a 36% increase in clicks over those tweets without a picture. If that’s not enough to convince you, tweets with photos also see a 41% increase in retweets, 31% increase in visits, 48% increase in favorites, 33% increase in visitor-to-lead conversion rate, and a 55% increase in leads, compared to those tweets that are just text.

The absolute worst time to tweet is Friday after 3 p.m. and Saturday through Thursday after 8 p.m. Though people are on Twitter during this time, the number of users drops considerably compared to the earlier mentioned peak hours.

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 Chicago, Illinois, or a small town like Humptulips, Washington, I can provide that second eye.

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Editing tip: Learn some literary devices

If your current writing feels flat, then expose yourself to some new techniques. This can be done by reading a critically acclaimed novel from outside the genre you write in or by discovering a literary device described in a writing guidebook. Try your hand at the literary devices gleaned from the novel or writing guidebook.

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 Los Angeles, California, or a small town like Hell, Michigan, I can provide that second eye.

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It’s not all too much: Faint vs. feint

Some readers (and editors, too!) nearly pass out when they see writers mix up these two words.

Faint generally means to deficient or barely perceptible, as in a faint light or to lose consciousness (e.g. Surprisingly, very few people ever faint during an earthquake in Los Angeles.).

Feint is to deceive through a mock action, as in The New York running back feinted going left but went right and scored.

Now that you know the difference, there’s no reason for you to ever again find these two words tricky!

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 Chicago, Illinois, or a small town like Bantam, Connecticut, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Make up a Situation

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: Observe other people while in a public location. As you don’t have the full context of what they’re talking about or doing, make up a situation they are in – planning a heist, fleeing an alien assigned to assassinate them, deciding where they will hide a dead body, and so on. Now wrap their gestures and snatches of conversation into this situation and create a scene or even a whole 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 Provo, Utah, or a small town like Dismal, Tennessee, I can provide that second eye.

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Don’t smother writing with your red pen

Sometimes writers sabotage their own stories by ensuring every sentence is grammatically correct, as if they were turning it in to their middle school English teacher. Read through many of the great literary works, though, and you’ll find enough grammar and mechanical errors to make a spell check program explode. Are you taking the “life” out of your story by smothering it with your red correction pen? Read a paragraph that you’ve corrected and then the original. Which sounds better?

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 Sacramento, California, or a small town like Intercourse, Pennsylvania, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Why We Write

“We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little.” - Anne Lamott

“The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.” - T. S. Eliot

“Writing is an act of hope. It is a means of carving order from chaos, of challenging one’s own beliefs and assumptions, of facing the world with eyes and heart wide open. Through writing, we declare a personal identity amid faceless anonymity. We find purpose and beauty and meaning even when the rational mind argues that none of these exist.” - Jack Heffron

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.” - Erin Morgenstern

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.” - Sue Monk Kidd

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 Augusta, Georgia, or a small town like Funk, Ohio, I can provide that second eye.

 

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