R. Frederick Riddle's Blog, page 61

My Favorite Character in Perished

It stands without controversy that my favorite character in my book Perished is God Himself. I could write page after page about Him.

However, the purpose of this blog is not to preach, but to teach writing. So my favorite human character is the subject.

It is not that easy to identify which one. So let me take a look at the top five characters.

ADAM

The very first human being. That alone makes him special. He is also the first to sin. But there is more to Adam than that. When you study him out using facts as well as one’s imagination he is a faithful man who truly regrets his act of sin. This dominates his thoughts and actions for the rest of his life.


ENOS

This is a man that the Bible says taught men to pray. Such a statement identifies him as someone very important. In Perished he teaches men how to approach God, how to properly worship Him, and to obey Him.


ENOCH

Aside from being a preacher of righteousness he is raptured. This makes him both an historical person and a revelation of the future rapture of all men and women who have been born again.


METHUSELAH

He lived longer than any man in history. We are not told much about him other than his age and that he died the same year as the Flood. God used him as a sort of landmark. To have lived that long it is possible he was very rich and very powerful. It is also possible (I think probable) he was a worshipper of God. Why would God preserve his life so long and tie his name to the Flood? Because he was used to help Noah?


NOAH

A farmer by trade he was called by God to preach and to build an Ark neither of which he was qualified (by human standards) to do. In Perished he realizes he needs help and goes to Methuselah. By faith he preaches to an unbelieving populace; by faith he builds an Ark; and by faith he and his family enter the Ark.

Everyone of these men could be my favorite character. Perhaps because I knew so little about him before I wrote the book and perhaps because of biblical hints I have chosen Methuselah. Exploring his character was exciting and challenging. And intriguing.

When you write, who is your favorite character? It doesn’t have to be the hero or heroine, it can be another character altogether. Your readers will have their favorites, so why not you?

This means personal involvement. As you mold the character you invest something of yourself in that character. Oh, and by the way, just because you are a man or woman does not mean your favorite character is the same sex. For instance, I could have added Naamah (Noah’s wife) and other women who were heroic in their own right.

Another way to look at this is to make every character your favorite. How? By investing your time and emotions in them. That character may be only part of the supporting cast as in a movie, but when you invest yourself in them they take on an importance far exceeding their actual role.

If you do this your readers will find the characters believable.

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R Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

His eBook Perished: The World That Was can be found on Amazon Kindle. The paperback edition is found on Amazon.

Filed under: books, Character development, fiction, World that was, Writing Tagged: Character, Favorite characters, Writing

Book Reviewers Wanted!

This is an alert to all of those who follow my blog.

My latest novel Perished: The World That Was is now available. If you participate in Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free. Why am I telling you this? Because I am looking for book possible reviewers.

If you like to review historical fiction then I encourage you to do the following:

Contact me at information@rfrederickriddle.com and tell me.
Get your Free copy at Kindle Unlimited or for $3.99 at Kindle.
Once you have read the book post it on Amazon.
And let me know about your review.

Thank you in advance.

R. Frederick Riddle

Filed under: book review, fiction, Noah and the Ark, Writing Tagged: Book reviewers, fiction, novels

A Self-Interview with R. Frederick Riddle

Normally I blog about writing techniques, but occasionally I will do an author’s interview. Today I am interviewing myself as I just published my first novel with T&R Independent Books, our own publishing company.

So with no further delay let’s get started. As interviewer I will be Ron.

Ron: Welcome to Writer’s World. Should I call you R. Frederick?

Frederick: Some people drop the R and just call me Frederick. So that is OK.

Ron: As I stated you just published with T&R. Briefly tell us about your company.

Frederick: T&R Independent Books was founded by myself and my wife in 2014 for the sole purpose of publishing our books. In the past two years it has evolved to not only publishing but providing inexpensive training course in writing plus a free directory of Christian authors with links to Amazon.

Ron: But it is still primarily for publishing your books?

Frederick: Yes. We have already published two of my books: So You Want To Write? and now Perished: The World That Was. We plan on publishing my wife’s (Tress) debut novel later this year.

Ron: I understand Perished is actually a republishing of the book. Walk us through that if you could.

Frederick: Earlier this year I bought back the publishing rights to the original Perished. Once that was done, I set about reformatting and rewriting the book. So while the Title is the same, there have been a few changes in content. It also has a different cover.

The reason for doing this is two-fold: 1) When first written I didn’t expect it to be a series, which it became. 2) T&R exists to publish our books and it only makes sense to have all the series books under one imprint.

That is why I plan on rewriting The Rise of Shem. Since I will be changing the title as well as content, I don’t plan on repurchasing the rights.

As for Perished, the book covers world history from Creation to the Flood. It tells the story behind the story. I think fans, both current and future, will enjoy this book because it is slightly different than the original yet still brings the Bible alive.

Ron: You mentioned world history. Does that mean historical fiction?

Frederick: Yes. It is also action and adventure as well as Christian fiction.

Ron: Where do you write from?

Frederick: My wife and I live in Port Charlotte, Florida full time.

Ron: Briefly, what led up to this book?

Frederick: Aside from the launching of T&R, I have wished I could rewrite the book. But it was owned by America Star, the publisher. It wasn’t a major rewrite, but I felt it would be a stronger novel. As for the original, I have long had a deep affection for Biblical history. In this world of confusing, humanistic explanations of life, the Bible stands out as the sole authority on early history. Putting that history into a fictional story that remains true to the facts enables me to give people an alternative to the mythical beliefs of modern science.

Ron: What was the timeframe for writing this version?

Frederick: I bought the rights at the end of August and republished on October 12th. So about a month and a half.

Ron: That’s fast. You must have been busy.

Frederick: Very. But I enjoyed it.

Ron: What is your platform?

Frederick: That remains a work in progress, but generally I write this blog and make use of Social Media. I also plan on reaching out for more interviews and reviews.

Ron: What’s next?

Frederick: I’m real excited about  my next book. It will actually serve as a bridge between Perished and Shem. It will focus primarily on Noah’s Ark, including during the Flood. After that comes the rewrite of the Rise of Shem, plus I have another in the series called Abraham. So I have a busy future.

Ron: Where can interested readers get your book?

Frederick: Create Space Estore and Amazon.com for the print, and the Ebook is available at Amazon.com only.

I might also add that I will be looking for reviewers probably through Goodreads, although interested readers can contact me through information@rfrederickriddle.com. I will provide a PDF version to them, although buying it through Amazon would give more weight to their review.

Ron: Thank you. To those of you interested in R Frederick Riddle’s Perished:The World That Was it can be purchased here for paperback or here for Ebook.

For our readers I am planning on doing future interviews with upcoming and established authors. I will try to give you advance notice.

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R Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: Authors, book review, fiction, Noah and the Ark, World that was, Writing, writing academy Tagged: Author interview, book review, fiction, novels, Writing

Keeping Your Focus Part II

In Part I the topic centered on how health can distract from our focus. Today I wish to explore how finances can impact us.

Finances can have either positive or negative impacts on our business. But whether it’s positive or negative, finances can be a major distraction.

For example, one of my titles in T&R Independent Books is Vice President of Finance. This means that I am involved with the daily budgets, check writing, credit card balances, etc. It can be very involved and can easily distract from my writing.

Speaking as a man involved in financial work for over twenty-two years, I know firsthand how time consuming and frustrating money management can be. It is demanding of both time and energy.

So, how do you balance the needs of finance with the needs of marketing?

One answer is “FREE” marketing tools. And there is an abundance of free tools available. Not all will work for you, or for me. But they are there for your perusal.

The key to using free tools or the equally abundant marketing ideas is ‘not to jump from horse to horse.’ It can be very tempting every time you run across a new idea to abandon what you are currently doing and jump to this new idea. I have had to fight this temptation throughout my career.

For example, I may come across a marketer promoting his/her marketing approach. A free video, course, or seminar may be offered to promote the idea to you. Now, you might think I’ll say stay away, it can mislead you. On the contrary, check them out!

But after you’ve sample the ‘free’ stuff, step away and take a deep breath. Does this marketing solution really fit with who you are? Will it work with your book marketing?

It all comes down to a principle a friend once taught me. He liked to visit Florida, especially the Orlando area. He would come across offers to travel free to Orlando and to stay free for x number of days at a nice hotel. The only catch was that he had to attend a seminar on real estate. He would jump at it every time! Why? That’s where the principle comes in.

The only obligation was to listen to the presentation. No requirement to buy. So here it is: Although he was committed to the seminar there was no commitment to buy anything. For an hour or more of listening to the presentation he got all the benefits of the offer.

In marketing you can do the same thing, but instead of lodging you are getting valuable information that you may use; all for free by simply giving your email address and reading/listening to a presentation!

So how does that impact your marketing focus?

Well, you:

Get a fast track education on new techniques
Save money
Actually get information that may make your marketing more effective.
get the above while maintaining focus on your writing.

I don’t believe I’ll ever stop using free or inexpensive informational tools. If I get one new idea that benefits me it is well worth the small investment in time. I am then able to focus on putting that information to work in my marketing plan. In fact, the longer I am in this business the smarter I become and am able to refine my own marketing efforts.

In the above case I am able to focus on both marketing and financing. But if I jumped on the follow-up offer I could easily get bogged down and find myself entangled in a frustrating situation that deprives me of the energy needed to write.

If I was advising a new author I would say the following:

“Writing is your primary focus, so learn how to minimize your marketing and financial efforts. By so doing you can stay fresh and keep your focus on writing.”

In short, investigate new strategies, but be wise.

One tool that can help you is budgeting your time. This is a lot more difficult than it first appears and is different with each person. You must determine your priorities, such as where do you want to concentrate your focus? I would suggest you keep a short listed of priorities. And don’t be afraid to revise that list when needed.

Budgeting your time is only one way of keeping your marketing and financing under control. You may know of other tools. Tell us about them.

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R Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured. His latest novel is a rewrite of Perished: The World That Was published by T&R Independent Books.

Filed under: books, fiction, Focus, marketing strategies, Writing, Writing Techniques Tagged: fiction, novels, Writing, Writing tools

Keeping Your Focus Part I

Ever since I wrote my first novel I have had to work at keeping my focus. You might think that it gets easier with each succeeding book. It doesn’t.

There are many interruptions that can affect one’s focus. In this blog I will cover several. Today it will be health.

Your health affects your ability to focus.

In 2014 I had a major heart attack. While I recovered quickly mental focus has been slow to come back. I need to take a rest periodically. It’s an ongoing struggle that I am slowly winning.

Prior to my heart attack I could stay on the computer virtually all day without interruption, but now I often need to take a short nap at least once during the day. I get mentally tired and find it difficult to concentrate on the work being done.

So, like I said, health affects your ability to focus.

So what do I mean by focus?

Here is my definition: Focus is the ability to concentrate on both the problem and the solutions. In marketing, it requires a high degree of study to determine the best course of action.

When I wrote my first book I quickly learned that most marketing was going to be by me. Over the years I have learned that there are a multitude of marketing ideas. So one part of focus is sorting the ideas out and determining which one is best for me.

This requires study and concentration. It is not easy. Especially since many of these ideas are well defined and presented.

So how do I focus?

Remember my definition? I’ll repeat it: Focus is the ability to concentrate on both the problem and the solutions. In marketing, it requires a high degree of study to determine the best course of action.

As can be seen, it can be tiring, exhausting.

Each one of us have different make ups. Different things disrupt our lives. But all of us need to focus on our work whether writing, publishing, or marketing.

So if necessary, take that nap. Do whatever you must to keep your ability to concentrate at a high level.

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R Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: books, fiction, Focus, Writing, writing academy Tagged: fiction, novels, Writing

The World That Was: Noah

I have been writing about how I wrote Perished: The World That Was. Today I write about Noah.
What was Noah like?
If you believe the movie ‘Noah’ he was not very nice. In fact, he was something of a mental case. Further he didn’t think humans were worthy of redemption.
All in all the movie ‘Noah’ is fiction with extremely little ties to the facts.
When writing the book Perished, I strove to make him exactly like he is portrayed in the Bible: a man saved by the Grace of God and commissioned to build an Ark to the saving of mankind.
Both in the church and outside the church you hear statements such as:
1.     The Ark was the first ship (heard preached)
2.     The Ark was unseaworthy (popular belief)
3.     Noah was crazy (popular belief and taught in movie)
4.     Noah was a drunk (he did get drunk once, but no indication he was a drunkard)
All of these are false. Nowhere in the Bible is the Ark ever described as the only ship built before the Flood. The truth is that the ‘blue print’ given Noah by God presupposes some knowledge of ship building.
Noah was a farmer, who grew grapes, and was not a shipbuilder. In olden days farmers often did some carpentry, but nothing like building a ship.
Scientists have determined the Ark to be very seaworthy. And the Bible shows a man who loved God and was very godly in character.
These were just some of the issues I had to deal with before I could create an accurate picture of Noah.
Some people claim the entire story is a story taken from the Epic of Gilgamesh. But the Bible account is a first hand eyewitness account of the events. Gilgamesh was written after the Flood, indeed after the Confusion of Tongues!
So my job was to portray Noah as a highly intelligent, godly man. Fortunately I had the Bible as a ready reference. There are a lot of facts about him if you look. Secondly, we know from science and archaeology what the world may have been like.
So once I had all the facts gathered I was able to weave a story about him and his family that not only was believable, but probably very close to the truth.
All of this teaches a very important truth: When using a historical person do your research. You want your character as believable as possible.
 By the way, I am in the final stages of rewriting Perished: The World That Was. It should be coming out soon, so watch for it.
Your comments are welcome. Just make a comment below.

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R Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: Bible, book research, books, Character development, Creation, fiction, World that was, Writing Tagged: ancient world, Character, fiction, history, Noah, Writing

Hooked on Writing

Those of you that are familiar with me know I published my first novel in 2003 at the age of 60. But you may not know that I got the bug to write as a teenager.

You may ask why the large gap in years? Even as a child I had an active imagination and came up with stories that were adventurous and exciting. And, of course, I was often the hero. When I entered my teen years this ability to conceive stories (never told to anyone) led me to desire to write. English became one of my favorite classes.

But choosing a writing career doesn’t guarantee you actually start writing and publishing books. To achieve this requires a commitment. Thus the reason for the title ‘Hooked on Writing.’

You are likely going to run into roadblocks that either frustrate or cause you to stop. You are tempted to quit. Being hooked on writing is all about persevering. You press forward.

As a teenager I wanted to write, but I knew precious little about writing a book. In my early twenties I served in the Navy and got out in 1968 at the age of 25. You might consider this my first roadblock. But at worst it was a delay.

I shortly afterward signed up for a course on writing. About the time I was making progress I ran out of money. This was my second roadblock. And it effectively stopped me in my tracks.

In 1973 I received Christ as my Savior. This motivated me to want to write Christian fiction. But I still knew little about the subject. Frustrated in this effort I turned to poetry. I liked (still do) rhyming poetry. I began writing poems. In addition, I began writing computer programs for my own use. Neither of these furthered my career, although the poetry played a role in winning the heart of my future wife.

I continued trying to write stories. However, most stories lasted only a chapter or two while one actually went much further before being abandoned. In every case, I was unable to relate to the characters I developed or the plot itself.

But in 2001 I had a breakthrough. I was reading my Bible for my daily devotions. I was in Genesis, chapter 6 where you read of Noah and the Flood. Sudden inspiration struck! While the facts of the event are laid out for everyone to see, there is a story behind the story never told. I set out to tell that story.

Since then I have written several novels and am completing a rewrite of my novel Perished: The World That Was. It will be available soon.

Are you tempted to quit? To throw in the towel? Are you frustrated by some roadblock such as: lack of money, uncooperative characters, or a plot going nowhere?

The question for you to answer is: Are you hooked on writing?

If so, don’t give up. There are things you can do:

 Write something other than fiction
Read other authors in your genre
Be open to ideas
Take a course
Pray

Praying is important because if you are a Christian you should want God’s blessing. He will answer that prayer, but maybe not as fast as you like. Be patient.

Meanwhile consider taking a course. There are many out there including Authors Academy which we offer. This inexpensive course will get you started. Click here and begin your new career.

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R. Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: books, fiction, writers, Writing, writing academy Tagged: fiction, novels, Writing

PC EDITING Part II

Last week I wrote about PC Editing, today is part II. First a quick review:

PC Editing (Proof Copy Editing) is a term I invented because an Indie author generally does the editing, copy editing, and proofreading themselves. PC Editing incorporates all of these responsibilities.

PCE is the practice of examining manuscripts from the earliest draft through the continuous copyediting until the final draft. Then proofing kicks in as the final draft is prepared for publication.

After posting the blog I received the following comment:

“Instead of the things that you list, mine editing tips for indie authors would be stuff like:

As the author of the chapter, you’re already emotionally invested in the characters and events. Pretend that your only knowledge of these characters and events come from the words on the page. Do those words engage you? Or do they bore you to tears? Do they make you care about the characters? Or do they bore you to tears? Are you excited to know what happens next? Or are you bored to tears?

Okay, so not much of a list. Just don’t bore your readers, which is the main problem I find with writers new enough to find lists like yours useful.”

My response: Interesting comment. I don’t oppose what you say, but bringing your characters alive is more than editing. I teach this prior to editing. The process of creating great characters begins at the beginning and carries through the entire experience. My blog was dealing with the basics of editing which probably should have included your points. So thank you for pointing that out.

I thought the writer was going to write more on the subject that I could include. But I haven’t received anything.

But he is correct. The characters need to be believable. It doesn’t matter if they are historical or fictional. Thus it is important for you to create characters that draw the reader in.

It is well to consider that your characters are human and humans have desires and flaws. When creating a character make him/her as real as possible.

For example, mankind has a perpetual desire to return to the innocence of the Garden of Eden. Some people believe this and some don’t, but all have it. Some even envision an idyllic world where man is at peace with his surroundings, himself, and with God.

How does this impact a novel? The truth is that every novel ever written or to be written is impacted in some way. The degree of impact will depend on the author’s understanding of that desire and ability to put it to paper.

The exciting thing is that your fictional characters start out with nothing and you can build on that. Then again, your character may be a real person. In the book Perished: The World That Was many of the characters were real, lifted right off the pages of the Bible. Therefore some characteristics or traits were already known. Even so I was able to take those few facts and develop the characters further.

In the case of Adam there was a constant inner desire to return to the Garden where he walked with God. But that was impossible. So what did he do? He built a small garden within his home and called it Little Eden. It was a place for quiet meditation or important meetings. That yearning was never really addressed but it expressed itself several times within the story.

The Yearning Factor

Your character is going to have strong and weak desires. Those desires will shape his/her expectations, experiences, and decisions as the story moves forward. So your first duty is to identify the Yearning Factor.

Basically the Yearning Factor is the primary desire of your character. So ask yourself, What motivates my character? How deep does it go? What does the character believe about him/herself?

Since your character starts out with nothing, you can start molding it right away. You can either tell (narrate) certain facts that reveal the character to some extent or you can let the character demonstrate it. Often you can do this by exploring the character’s past. Have there been broken hearts? Perhaps your character has desired things in the past and failed to realized them. Or perhaps your character has flaws that has prevented those desires from being attained.

The key is to know your characters strengths, and weaknesses. A well-written character grows from the beginning of the book to the end with constant, if not obvious, progress toward that goal. The character’s reaction to events transpiring in the story will both reflect and develop the desire.

So during the editing process  take a closer look at your character(s). As the commentator said ask yourself some questions:

Are you (as the reader) engaged?
Do the characters bore you to tears?
Do you care about the characters?
Are you excited to know what happens next?

If you’re engaged, interested, caring, and excited then you probably have created characters that others will care about and get excited about.

Here’s a thought to consider: The end of the story represents the end of the quest. Your character never truly attains the goal or desire. In life we end up with a mixture of successes and failures. To be realistic let your character also experience success and a small degree of failure. Perhaps a victory doesn’t satisfy as much as the character anticipated.

If this character will be a part of another forthcoming novel let the character develop and expand in that future novel. You can even put little teasers in the first book that will be answered in the second.

Developing strong characters not only enhances your book but builds your voice.

What is voice? There are probably a dozen or more interpretations, but essentially your voice is:

“An author’s unique style and way of saying things. You should be able to recognize an author’s written voice the way you recognize a person’s spoken voice . In creative writing, one goal is to develop your written voice .”

This covers more than characters, it covers your entire story. As people read your stories they will learn what makes you unique and interesting. So having strong, interesting characters builds your voice.

As stated in the first blog, PC Editing basically finds and removes the most objectionable errors. The more often your manuscript is reviewed, the more often you will streamline your book. So don’t fall in love with a character or a scene or anything. Be ready to edit it or even remove it!

PC Editing is a process that you want to master. Put your own spin on it. The primary goal is to make your manuscript as error proof as possible.

PC Editing is a needful practice for the Indie Author. It is your responsibility to create an entertaining, gripping novel. If you fail to do this you will likely fail as an author.

One final thought.

Don’t worry so much about what others think of your book. What do you think and feel? There are always critics. Some will delight in tearing down your book and you. But if you can honestly say you like your books plus the characters and events in the book, then it is likely others will agree.

At the same time, don’t be satisfied. As you begin a new novel determine to make improvements in your characters and story line. You should learn and grow as a writer after each book is published.

Feel free to comment on this blog. As you can see I read your comments and may include them in a future blog. But whether I do or don’t, you can be sure that I will read it!

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R. Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: Character development, Editing, PC Editing, Writing Tagged: basics on writing, PC Editing, Writing

The World That Was: Methuselah

We have been looking at how I wrote The World That Was series. Today I will take a look at character development as it relates to Methuselah.

We know very little about Methuselah other than he was the grandfather of Noah and he was the oldest person who ever lived. After that our knowledge takes a nosedive.

While this creates a challenge it also opens wide an opportunity. Developing Methuselah was challenging, yes. But I was able to create his character almost from scratch.

Since I believe that God gave him long life for a reason and his life coincided with the building of the Ark, I imagined him as having a major role. In addition, I thought of him as a leader both in war and in ruling.

In those days there was no government as we know it. That didn’t happen until after the Flood. But man always seeks to rule others. So it was easy to see him as a general and, perhaps later, as a ruler. If a ruler he would have ruled by decree. There would have been no laws, no courts, and no prisons.

With these assumptions in mind I was able to create the character of Methuselah as a man who loved God, who rose to be a general and a great ruler. Because he loved God he became involved financially in support of the building of the Ark.

While much of his life is fictional in the book, it is also believable. And that is what we strive for: a character bigger than life who is believable. Such a character adds to the overall impact of the story.

This is another example of using imagination. Imagination is something we emphasize in Authors Academy. While having an imagination is something you have or don’t (and if you don’t you are in the wrong business), we can give you principles for employing it.

Your comments are welcome. Just make a comment below.

 

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R. Frederick Riddle is the author of several books. For more information on him visit his Amazon Authors Page. He is also co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books where his books are featured.

Filed under: Character development, Writing, writing academy, Writing Techniques Tagged: basics on writing, Writing

PC Editing

PC Editing (Proof Copy Editing) is a term I invented because an Indie author generally does the editing, copy editing, and proofreading themselves. PC Editing incorporates all of these responsibilities.

 You can divide this into three areas:

Copy Editing – This concerns examining drafts for:

Proper grammar
Spelling
Word use
Consistency (spelling of names are consistent throughout, etc.)

 Proofreading – This is typically done after all copy editing is done. It is making your final draft ready to submit for publishing.

So, PCE is: the practice of examining manuscripts from the earliest draft through the continuous copy editing until the final draft. Then proofing kicks in as the final draft is prepared for publication.

How do you copy edit?

Have you heard the term KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid? Not a nice way of saying something, but it does apply to editing. The simpler your story writing the better it flows and the more satisfied your reader. With that in mind I have provided below 13 editing rules.

 

Avoid long sentences whenever possible. Short sentences tend to speed up the story flow while long sentences tend to bog the story down.
Stay with one voice, either 1st person or 3rd person.
Limit use of adverbs (i.e., words ending with “ly”).
Watch your punctuation.
Avoid overusing parentheses,  colons and the like.
Avoid redundancies, such as ‘exact same thing.’
Use common words rather than jargon or slang.
Keep prepositions to a minimum. Sometimes you need to add ‘of,’ ‘to,’ ‘for,’ etc. but probably not as much as you are doing.
Watch words like ‘that,’ ‘thing,’ ‘start to,’ ‘in order to,’ ‘very,’ and ‘really.’
Avoid use of a passive voice.
Always refer to people as ‘who.”Let your writing be personable.
Use contractions (that’s instead of that is).
Watch your spelling.

OK, we have a set of rules to follow. How do you edit? Different people have different ideas, but I prefer the following:

 

EIY (Edit it Yourself) –

Many professionals will cry out not to do this, but it is an option that works if done properly.
Be the first to review your work and make corrections.
Have corrected copy reviewed by someone else, then edit.
Get a third person to review, then you edit.
Repeat these steps as often as you can.

 

PC Editing basically finds and removes the most objectionable errors. The more often your manuscript is reviewed, the more often you will streamline your book.

PC Editing is a process that you want to master. Put your own spin on it. The primary goal is to make your manuscript as error proof as possible. By the way, take with a grain of salt claims by some authors that they don’t make any errors. I have read great novels by celebrated authors and found errors. At the same time, don’t take a “whatever will be” attitude. Strive for perfection, but don’t get hung up on it.

Being an Indie Author puts a lot of responsibility and pressure on you, but you can do it. And the satisfaction that comes from a well-written novel is tremendous.

I might suggest that after you have completed the PC Editing process that you reward yourself. The old way of editing was to hire editors. So why not pay yourself for doing the work. Perhaps money in the bank, a nice dinner out, or buy something for yourself.

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Filed under: Editing, fiction, PC Editing, Writing Tagged: basics on writing, PC Editing, Writing, Writing tools