Tag Archives: writing tip

End of Summer Update – My Writing Projects

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So here it is, the end of the summer, and what have I accomplished? Well, more than I thought I would, and less than I thought I would.

To be fair, let me explain – I have no kids, and I do not work in the education field. Therefore, summer is no different from the rest of the year as far as my schedule or time commitments. All that changes is that it’s hotter. And humid. I hate humidity. But that’s another topic….

So, back to the current status of my writing projects. Here’s what I’m finding myself doing:

Editing

The current millstone around my neck is book one of my fantasy trilogy The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala. As I (slowly) progress through this editing/rewriting/more editing phase, I’m discovering that I’m very much a first-draft lover. I love cranking out that fine new tale, in all its roughness and over-verbosity, getting to know the characters and their shiny new world.

Editing, revising, and rewriting is a lot like mowing the lawn – an apparently never-ending task, boring, unpleasant in every way. But I like the results. Mowing the lawn is necessary if you don’t want your yard to look like an abandoned property, and editing and revising your story is necessary if you don’t want it to look like it was written by a second-grader with no talent.

But I’m happy to report that I’m past (most) of the parts of book one that needed the heaviest re-writes (I hope). Right now I’m doing more editing and revising that full-out re-writing; it’s a lot more like weed-eating the edges rather than mowing the whole stupid yard.

Writing

This is the stuff I enjoy. I’m working on the first draft of the second Light-Whisperers book, albeit sporadically. I’m trying to focus my time and energies on the revising of book one for the next month or so. I’m also still working out some major plot points of book two, and since I’m a big-time plotter, I’m not in a huge hurry to get to that blank spot in my outline.

I’ve also started working on a short story for a contest. It’s fantasy, of course. The challenge here is to keep it short. I’m one of those odd people who can bang out 100,000 words with (relative) ease, but I struggle when it comes to keeping it under 5,000 words. My “short stories” in my college English classes were usually small novellas.

In the blogging realm, I am feeling very accomplished because as of the time of this writing, I have several future entries done (full or in part). This saves me from that last-minute panic of “ohmygosh I publish every Wednesday morning and it’s now 11pm Tuesday and I have nothing written.” So now I can relax and publish panic-free for the next few weeks until I use up my back-stock and have to start writing again.

More editing

I am now also marketing myself as a freelance copy editor and proof-reader. I figure why not put my inner grammar nazi to good use? I’ve put up a page outlining what I do. Contact me if you’re needing a second pair of eyes for that last-minute polish, and please help spread the word!

So that’s been my summer. Writing, editing, heat, and humidity. And mowing the lawn. How was your summer?

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: Frequently Misspelled Words

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This subject could be novel-length—or at least long enough for several blog posts—but I’m going to cover just a select few words that I often see misspelled or misused. I encounter these a lot, whether it be the quick Facebook comment where spelling doesn’t matter as much, or the story or blog post by a professional where correct usage does matter.

Alright: This is not actually a word at all. The correct spelling is all right—two words. It is used in place of okay, such as “All right, Joe, we’ll do it your way,” or “What happened to you? Are you all right?”

It’s not related to the word already, which seems to be the popular belief, judging by the common usage of alright. Already and all ready have two different meanings: “Is it time to go already? Wow, time went fast,” versus “Are you all ready to go?”

But all right stands alone, as a two-word phrase.

Then/Than: Both of these are perfectly legitimate words, but I see them mixed up all the time.

Then is most commonly an adverb, and describes time or an order of events. It’s also used in a cause and effect scenario. “I took a shower, and then went to bed,” or “If you drop that bowl, then it will shatter.”

Than is primarily a conjunction, and is used as a comparison word. “I like turkey more than chicken” or “She is older than her brother.”

The most common misuse I see of “than” is it being used in the cause and effect-type of sentence, like “If Stan wants to talk to me, than he will call me.”

And similarly, I see “then” being misused as a comparison word, such as “I like apples more then oranges.”

If you’re not sure how to keep the words straight, then take a moment to analyze the sentence. If the sentence involves time in any way, it’s probably going to use “then.” If it’s a comparison of any sort, “than” is usually a safe bet.

Ya’ll: This is not a word either. The correct spelling is y’all.

First, a quick definition for anyone who doesn’t live in the American south—y’all means “you guys,” as in more than one person. It’s a contraction of “you all.”

The apostrophe indicates that there is a letter taken out—same as in words like don’t (do not) or it’s (it is). In this case, it’s the –ou taken out of you. Spelled ya’ll, it makes no sense.

And also remember, it’s a plural word. Y’all should not be used if one person is talking to one other person, unless the speaker is talking about a group of more than one. If you’re writing a story with a character from the American south, make sure that you don’t use this word if the character is having a one-on-one conversation with someone.

Correct: “Hey, Sammy, are you coming over tonight?” (Sammy alone has been invited)

or,

“Hey, Sammy, are y’all coming over tonight?” (correct only if it has been revealed earlier that Sammy, his wife, and his son have all been invited. In this case, the context indicates that Sammy is representing his whole family)

Incorrect: (romantic moment between guy and gal)—“So, Clara, do y’all love me?” (romantic moment turns disturbing here. Does Clara have someone else living inside her?)

I hope this helps to clear up some confusion about some of those troublesome words!

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: Latin Abbreviations – i.e., e.g., etc.

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I don’t know about you, but sometimes Latin abbreviations just confuse me. Despite my love of languages, I never took a Latin class in school. I don’t know if that puts me at a disadvantage or not when it comes to scientific and literary Latin-isms. But I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one who gets confused sometimes about the proper usage of some of these oft-used Latin terms.

Rather than teach an entire Latin lesson (which I can’t do, because, as I just stated, I never studied it)—I’ll just cover three common Latin terms used in writing. Let’s start with i.e. and e.g.

The abbreviation i.e. stands for id est, which means “that is.” It’s a way of explaining in further detail something that was stated in the first part of a sentence. If you substitute “that is” or “in other words” for the i.e. and the sentence still makes sense, then i.e. is probably the abbreviation you need.

Since I’m lactose intolerant, I can’t eat the best part of the pizza, i.e., the cheese. (Since I’m lactose intolerant, I can’t eat the best part of the pizza, in other words, the cheese.)

To help you remember what i.e. means and you’re not a Latin expert, pretend that it means “in essence.”

The abbreviation e.g. stands for exempli gratia, which means “for the sake of example.” It can be used to describe a list (or a single item) that is an example of what was stated in the first part of a sentence. If you substitute “for example” in place of the e.g. and the sentence still works, that’s probably the right choice.

I grew up reading super hero comics, e.g., X-Men, Fantastic Four, Batman. (I grew up reading super hero comics, for example, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Batman.)

To help you remember what e.g. means, pretend that it stands for “example given.”

I may be going against a rule book of grammatical standards, but for general usage, these two abbreviations should be lower case, always have the period after each letter, and should be followed by a comma. (I think this last, about the comma, applies primarily to American usage. British usage doesn’t have the comma).

The abbreviation etc. stands for et cetera, which means “and so forth” or “and other things.” It is used at the end of a sentence to indicate a continuation of a list of related items.

I’ve owned many different breeds of rabbits: mini lop, rex, lion head, etc. (I’ve owned many different breeds of rabbits: mini lop, rex, lion head, and so forth/and other similar things.)

Like the other two abbreviations, etc. is always lowercase and always followed by a period. It’s usually used at the end of a sentence, but it should be proceeded by a comma after the last word of the series.

I hope this helps to clarify some of these Latin abbreviations, both when you’re reading and when you’re writing. Just remember:

i.e. – in essence

e.g. – example given

etc. – and so forth

 

Does anyone else have any other troublesome abbreviations and easy tricks for remembering how to use them?

An Interview with your Character

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There are so many tips, tricks, and exercises to help a writer with developing their characters. I’ve written a couple of posts about that myself.

One technique that I recently learned is to answer questions about your character as if they were being interviewed. To really get into our character’s psyche, try answering these questions in first person, in your character’s voice. Write it out, and be sure to use your character’s speech pattern, mannerisms, everything. How would your character respond if someone in the story were asking them these questions?

Some of these questions would be most applicable to a human character in modern day, but I’ve tried to make some of them general enough to apply to fantasy/historical/sci-fi, etc.

So your character sits down to answer these interview questions. What does he or she say?

What’s your favorite band?

Who’s your favorite athlete or favorite sports team?

Do you have a Facebook or Twitter account? Why or why not?

What makes you laugh?

Are you right-handed or a lefty?

What’s your favorite hobby?

Do you have a nickname? Are you proud of it or embarrassed by it?

Have you ever killed anyone?

How many countries have you been to?

If you could permanently change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be?

Feel free to share some answers or dialogue exchanges! What are some other interview questions that could help with character development?