R. Frederick Riddle's Blog, page 24

Ron’s Lit Tip Motivation

Today’s Issue: Motivation

Welcome to #RonsLitTip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

What is Motivation?

The dictionary defines it as ‘1 – The act of motivating or providing an incentive; 2 – That which motivates; incentive, drive’.

Simply put, it is doing something that encourages you to move forward toward your goal. It can be an incentive, a reward, an inspirational phrase, almost anything.

How do you get Motivated?

Getting motivated is a lot harder than merely quoting a dictionary. It requires a little self-introspection. For example, I am motivated to write this blog because I want to help other people. I write books and my motivation there is both to entertain and to share the Christian worldview and the Gospel. I am the Editor at TR Writing Services because I want to help new authors and other authors get their hard work turned into a quality book and then get published.

Three different tasks and three different motivations: Help others, entertain, and be a witness.

We are each different from one another. And that applies to motivation. Some people are motivated to write by the promise of money, fame, and influence. It can be just one or, as in my case, multiple goals. You need to find what motivates you. To do that you need to ask yourself hard questions and answer honestly.

These questions can be as simple as: What do I want to achieve with this book? Sales, popularity, influence, or something else. Write it down. Then break it down.

For instance, one of my choices would be influence. I could break that down to Help others and to acquaint them with Christ. Or I might choose to entertain and break that down to providing a good read, igniting their imagination, or providing escape from everyday life.

How to Keep Motivated?

Once you’ve identified what motivates you, I believe the rest is easy. Keep doing the things that got you motivated in the first place. But, while that is true, there is a dark side.

Getting Motivated Again

The fact is that experienced writers do get off track. I’m tempted to say go back to How do you get Motivated and start over. And that might work. The problem is that sometimes when we get off track, we also lose the desire to get motivated. Sometimes we need a kick in the pants by our friends or relatives. Only when you regain the desire to be motivated will the Get Motivated work.

You need someone who is willing to do that. It can be your mate, a friend, or a fellow author. By the way, this works in your Christian walk also.

Lit Tip: Motivation is important. Keep working on it.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Monday News & Comments 08 24 20

Today’s Issue: Epicenter of Covid-19

Welcome to Monday News & Comments.

This morning I read an article that was critical of the way Florida has been handling Covid-19. To read that article you would think that Florida is the Epicenter of Covid-19 in the United States. That is not true!

What is true is that Florida cases peaked higher than New York, but the real story is in the deaths. In New York you saw body bags being stacked and stored, but in Florida there’s been nothing like that.

In SE Florida you have what we call the epicenter for Florida. It includes Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. That area leads the nation in cases per capita. Another area is the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. And as mentioned above Florida surpassed New York in cases per capita. This has caused experts to label Florida the new epicenter of Covid-19. But let’s take a deeper look.

Florida has had 600,571 cases and 10,462 deaths for a Death Rate of 1.74%.

New York has had 460,460 cases and 32,967 deaths for a Death Rate of 7.16%.

Again, experts keep warning us that the numbers of deaths lag the case rise. Let’s assume they are correct, after all they are the experts. But New York’s numbers of deaths to cases has been extremely high from the beginning! Remember the body bags? They were hit early and hard.

In Florida’s situation the case load has been high for awhile now. There is no doubt the case load is much higher than New York’s, but it has not been nearly as deadly. When you compare the two states by death count you discover that Florida is less than 1/3 New York’s death count (10,462 / 32,967 = 31.7%) yet Florida’s cases are much higher (600,571-460,460 = 140,111 or 30.4% higher).

I contend that while cases per capita may be helpful to the experts, it is misleading to us average folks. It creates panic. It should raise concern because even 1 death is tragic, but the truth is that Florida is considerably safer than New York. You might get sicker down here, but your chances of survival are higher.

This throwing numbers around belongs in the lab not the newspaper or local news. It creates unnecessary panic. Getting sick (and they say for young adults it’s equivalent to a bad case of flu) is not to be feared. No one wants to get sick which is a good argument for wearing masks and practicing social distancing. But the death rate is encouraging news, especially since the time span now covers almost eight months!

But broadcasting these numbers on national TV is almost criminal. It creates a problem that is bigger than the facts, creates panic, keeps businesses shut down, and makes it hard for people to return to a more normal life.

We need more responsible reporting and less finger pointing.  

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Friday News & Comments 08 21 20

Today’s Issue: Trump vs. Harris

Welcome to Friday News.

Today I want to share some facts brought up by Newt Gingrich. Consider:

The Biden-Harris commitment to renew the Obama effort to destroy suburban neighborhoods is a direct threat to the peace of mind for two-thirds of the American people – including a large number of African American and Latino suburbanites .The Biden-Harris commitment to use taxpayer money to pay for abortions through the ninth month of pregnancy is opposed even by many pro-choice Americans (and is a break with Biden’s entire career of supporting the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer money from paying for abortions).The commitment in HR 6800, which 207 House Democrats supported and Biden endorsed, to pay $1,200 bonuses to every person in the country illegally is deeply unpopular. Biden’s commitment to Beto O’Rourke that he could pursue gun control (recall, O’Rourke wants compulsory confiscation going door-to-door) will alienate virtually all Second Amendment supporters.The Democratic mayors and district attorneys (many elected with George Soros’ money) represent a pro-criminal future which is exploding into violence. As Democrats continue to publicly praise soft on crime prosecutors and cry “defund the police,” the choice in November will become pro-police vs. pro-criminal , and there is a huge majority against violence.The teachers’ unions own the Democratic Party , and their blackmail approach to reopening schools is isolating them from Americans. Remember: Gov. Ron DeSantis earned 18 percent of Black female votes against a Black Democratic opponent on the issue of school choice.

Emphasis is mine.

Newt could have continued but this list is condemning enough. When you consider that Kamala Harris, widely expected to become President in 1st term, is not a Centrist as the media claims but far right (rejected by Democratic voters in the primary), you can see the danger.

I’ve never seen a worse ticket! I’ve seen tickets I didn’t like, but never one this radical and incompetent. There was a time when Joe Biden was sharp, but that has passed. He’s 77 years old, a few months younger than me, and I couldn’t handle the Presidency. That leaves the election being Trump vs. Harris!

Trump is the only reasonable choice. Or to put it another way, Order (Trump) over Chaos (Harris). And let’s not forget that Trump brought back prosperity for all; he can do it again!

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Lit Tip Rewrite

Today’s Issue: Rewrite

Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

Should we ever consider rewriting our book?

Yes!

Maybe it’s me but I enjoy rereading books I’ve written. Not because I’m vain, but because I enjoy the same genre’s that I write in. I read other authors works as well, but on occasion I read what I’ve written. I love to read.

In the process of reading my books I sometimes think that something should have been written differently or maybe expanded upon. On occasion I may find an error. But the biggest thing is I am inspired to make changes that, in my opinion, strengthens the book.

And then there is the feeling of freshness. Unless your book is a masterpiece it probably needs refreshing from time to time. And a refreshed book might stir sales, as well.

Isn’t that hard?”

Not as hard as you might expect. If you are an Indie Author and Publisher, you probably have that ability. You do if you use KDP. That is one of the reasons I love being an Indie. Once I have written a book I can go back and edit it anytime I want.

How do you do it?”

There are two ways to do it.

Number 1: write your revised version while the original is still for sale. You should do this if the changes are only cosmetic. For example, you found some errors after the book was published and you want to correct/remove them. Simply edit the book then republish.

Number 2: suspend the book and rewrite it when you have major changes that impact the entire story. When done, republish. You might want to consider this if the book has major mistakes or you want to do a total rewrite. However, if a total rewrite, then it might require a new ISBN. In addition, you might want to change the cover. If you want to change the Title or the ISBN, that will mean you are publishing a new book.

Then What?

Once you decide to revise it, began going through your book and making the corrections, deletions, and/or additions. Next, revisit editing the book. Be just as thorough as you originally were.

Will that mean changing the price?

KDP allows you to change your price at any time. You can raise, lower, or leave as is the pricing.

What else should I change?

You have the option of changing the book cover, but not the title or ISBN (see above). If you are doing a complete overhaul you can then create a new book with a new ISBN.

Any final thoughts?

Don’t be afraid to edit or revise. It is a powerful tool that you can use to improve the writing and the sales.

Lit Tip: Once your book has been published, review and, if needed, rewrite (edit).

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Lit Tip First Person

Ron’s Tip of the Day is now Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you. Today I am looking at First Person.

I am not a fan of First Person.

Having said that, I have read stories in the First Person and thoroughly enjoyed them. A contradiction?

Yes. I generally stay away from First Person books, but that attitude is not absolute. Sometimes a story will attract me, and I will read it despite being first person. My biggest objection to the writing not the reading is it a very difficult medium to work within, so I avoid it.

But if you can write an entertaining story in first person, give it a shot. Chances are I might come across it, decide to read it and enjoy it.

What is First Person?

The dictionary gives us the following descriptions: The speaker (First Person), the person being talked to (Second Person), and the person being talked about (Third Person). Another way to look at it is the following: I, me, (First Person); you, (Second Person), and he, him, (Third Person).

Most authors use the third person.

One reason I enjoy Third Person is its flexibility. First Person is rigid, in my opinion, and the author only knows what the person knows. In Third Person the author knows more than the main character and has more control. Another reason I don’t like First Person is it can come across too prideful. It takes skill to make it work.

Maybe you have the skill to make it work for you. Then give it a try.

Lit Tip: If you have the skill then try using First Person.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Monday News & Comments 08 17 20

Today’s Issue: Kamala Harris

Welcome to Monday News & Comments.

Where does Harris stand on the Issues?

Abortion

Pro-Choice Supports preventing states from enacting laws without first clearing with Justice DepartmentSupports repeal of Hyde Amendment

(Pro-Choice, a feel good name for Pro Abortion, is now accepting abortion right up until birth.)

Climate Change

Supports giving grants to coastal communities to prepare for sea-level riseSupports the Green New Deal

(The Green New Deal is a prescription for disaster. Major industries, including mom/pop businesses would be negatively impacted. It could reduce America to a 3rd world country.)

Criminal Justice Reform

Opposes death penalty (formerly supported it) Supported pardoning people convicted of drug-related crimes Supports expanding (packing) the Supreme Court

(The death penalty is 100% effective against repeat offenses; pardoning drug-related crimes would flood streets with criminals; packing Supreme Court would undermine government.)

Economy

Supports ‘Equal Pay Certification’ to prove companies not giving preferential treatment regarding pay, promotions, & more

Education

Supports College For All Act (eliminating tuition/fees for public colleges/universities for Americans earning less than $125,000/yr.Supports a limited student loan debt forgiveness program

Election Reform

Supports abolition of the Electoral College Supports updating and reinvigorating the Voting Rights Act

(Electoral College protects small states; founders intentionally included it.)

Foreign Relations

Supports Israel

(This is what our country should always do.)

Guns

Supports universal background checks Supports ban on assault weapons

(Attack on 2nd Amendment; most hunting rifles would be included.)

Healthcare

Supports “Medicare-for-All with public option”

(Would bankrupt nation.)

Housing

Supports Homeowners Bill of RightsSupports debt reduction for homeownersSupports refundable tax credit for families making less than $100,000/yr.Supports $100 billion program to help Americans of color buy homesSupports reforming eviction and screening processes

Immigration

Supports possible abolishment of ICE Supports DACA

(ICE protects our borders; most claims against it are false. DACA no longer an issue.)

Marijuana

Supports federal legalization of marijuana Supports expunging marijuana convictions from people’s records

(Medical marijuana is different from marijuana.)

Reparations

Supports reparations

             (Opportunities for Black people to advance already exist and should be improved. Reparations are not justified or needed.)

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Friday News & Comments 08 14 20

Today’s Issue: Biden & Harris

Welcome to Friday News. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I share tips while on Friday and Monday I report the news.

On Tuesday Biden caved and followed the advice he was given to tap Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential candidate. In so doing, he aligned himself with the Far Left. Because she favors the public option being attached to Medicare-for-all and supports Israel, I previously marked her Moderately Left. But that is still very much Left. And she supports such things as the Green New Deal, straddles the fence on police defunding, and supports other extreme left ideas. In effect she has two toes in the Moderately Left and a foot plus three toes in the Extreme Left.

The truth is that the Democratic ticket leans heavily to the Left and considering the likelihood that Biden will either be a figurehead or may not survive his Presidency, she would become an Extreme Left President.

She also carries serious baggage, such as the ‘hiding’ of evidence when she was San Francisco’s district attorney. Defenders point out that she says she knew nothing about the problem until it went public. Neither did she own up to her responsibility until this year meaning she only owned up to it because it had become an election year issue. She should have owned up to it at the very first based simply on the concept laid down by President Johnson, “The Buck stops here.”

Her office also argued against releasing prisoners to free prisons of overcrowding. This was later characterized by her as indentured servants and she spoke against it. But, once again, it was her office and as the head of that office she should have taken responsibility.

Then, there is her condemnation of candidate Joe Biden for working with segregationists and on Busing. All of these issues will undoubtedly be explored in upcoming debates. And in the meantime, Biden and Harris have to reconcile over some very personal attacks.

But the real issue is her political stand which is to the Far Left!

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Lit Tip Word Overuse

Ron’s Tip of the Day is now Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you. Today I am looking at Word Overuse.

Take a look at these words ‘then’, ‘beautiful’, ‘sunny’, ‘happy’, and any other word you can think of. They all have the potential to be overused.

What do you mean?

I am talking about repeatably using the same word over and over. When you find yourself doing that it might be a good idea to find a synonym. It means the same but is not the same word. Repetition is not always complimentary. Sometimes it becomes a drag on the story and may attract undo attention from the reader.

Using synonyms can also freshen your story and make everything more enjoyable to read. It good to look for other ways of describing the same action, reaction, or whatever else you are writing about.

This is also true of antonyms, which are words with opposite meanings. But it is synonyms you will use more often. They broaden your word usage and make your book that much more effective.

What’s the danger of overusing words?

I’ve already referred to it. It becomes a drag. It loses its freshness and makes the story stale and boring. So, it is a good thing to keep an eye out for repetition and changeup if possible. Perhaps get yourself a thesaurus for a resource.

But be careful. Some words might be synonyms but have slightly different applications. So, when replacing one word with another make sure to reword the sentence or paragraph. You don’t want to lose the meaning. You’ll also want to be aware of the tense. It could be finite, past, present, or future.

Lit Tip: Learn to use synonyms properly.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Lit Tip Characterization

Ron’s Tip of the Day is now Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you. Today I am looking at characterization.

What is characterization?

Basically, it is giving your character depth. There are many ways to do this and we will examine a few.

Education

This is one of the ways you can define a character. A person’s education is revealed in how that person talks, acts, and dresses. I’ll talk about speech later, but right now we’ll talk about how persons act. Some writers will let you see the character’s timidity, boorishness, and rudeness. It lets the reader know some important facts. But it requires consistency.

Same is true with how the character dresses. As a general rule, you don’t want a character to be dressed like a tramp one moment and a professor the next, unless that is part of the story. Again, you want consistency.

Physique

This is the character’s build, hair, eyes, skin color, and more. It is the physical part. It may or may not be a major part of the story, but that word consistency applies again. Unless you are dealing in miracles, it is not good to have a weak looking character performing feats of great strength. You also want believability.

Speech

Here is a place where you can differentiate. You can just have normal speech with no distinguishing details, or you can go into great detail, including language. I don’t favor ethnicity. I make no attempt to make my characters sound Spanish, French, or German. However, I can see scenes where a character cannot speak English. Then language would have to be shown. However, I have used a lisp (Serpent in Perished) and a specific saying associated with a character as in Methuselah. Again, consistency is a must.

It might be a good idea to keep a record of the character’s traits so that you will remain consistent and believable.

Lit Tip: Consistency is necessary in characterization.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Tip of the Day DIY Grammar

Today’s Issue: DIY Grammar

Welcome to Ron’s Tip of the Day. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I will share a tip with you. Today I am looking at DIY Grammar.

Experts tell us that an author should never do their own editing; to leave it to the professionals. And they have a lot of good reasons for saying that, chief among them is this: you, the author, know what you meant when you wrote the book. Your mind expects to see the words and meaning that you meant to put down; the professional does not. The professional looks at your work with an independent eye and more easily spots poor grammar, etc.

But you and I know we will do our own editing!

 The reason is pocketbook easy to understand. Professionals cost money! So, unless we can afford it, we are going to Do It Yourself (DIY).

Being a DIY editor requires time, effort, and honesty. It is that last part that is hard. We get married to phrases, descriptions, etc. and don’t want to change. It is hard, but sometimes necessary to divorce from them.

Some Tips to Help You.

Use Word’s ABC Word checker which checks for spelling, grammar, and more.Don’t rely totally on it though. Sometimes it will want to make corrections that are bizarre! For example, a character may be speaking or thinking in poor grammar. In a novel that is perfectly OK, if it is part of the character’s personality or education.Review your book more than once. You could, for example, use one reading to check for general errors, another reading for proper wording, checking sentences, and more.Consider having a relative or friend review your book for plot, character development, grammar, and more.Before publishing get a printed copy (Proof) and review it again.

Final Tip

After you’re done there will probably still be errors. But that is true with professionals also, though they may deny it. Even Classics have errors.

Tip of the Day: DIY requires time, effort, and honesty. But it’s worth it!

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.