Reading and adhering to the many writing rules found online, in books, and from the mouths of teachers can be exhausting to say the least. My advice: Follow some and break some. This book is your baby, and you can take it in whatever direction you desire.
There are three parts of your book: the beginning, middle, and end
Beginning: This is where you need to grab the reader’s attention, introduce your main characters, and present the problem.
Middle: The middle is the meat of your story sandwich. It’s where you begin to answer some of the questions that your plot has raised, and shed light on the problem.
End: Here you are wrapping things up to leave the reader satisfied.
Here are some things I think are worth focusing on while writing, editing, and proofreading:
Beginning: This is where you need to grab the reader’s attention, introduce your main characters, and present the problem.
Middle: The middle is the meat of your story sandwich. It’s where you begin to answer some of the questions that your plot has raised, and shed light on the problem.
End: Here you are wrapping things up to leave the reader satisfied.
Here are some things I think are worth focusing on while writing, editing, and proofreading:
- Write what you know. It’s a comfortable way to break into a story!
- Make sure you have a unique hook in your story. What’s separating it from everything else on the shelves?
- Print out your manuscript so that you have a hard copy to go through, proofread, highlight, and take notes.
- Read your work out loud. Really listen to how easily the words roll off your tongue. If something sounds funky or unnatural, address it because it will probably read that way, too!
- Is there a clear problem AND a solution in your story?
- Can you describe your story in 30 seconds? This is important for two reasons. 1 - When someone asks you what your book is about, you will have a slim window of attention to take advantage of. 2 - If you can’t easily describe your book quickly, how are you going to be able to write a description for your book? You want to make sure that you can write a captivating description without being too wordy or too short.
Your characters should evoke emotion from your reader. Whether it’s love or hate, you have to make the reader FEEL. If there is no emotional connection to the characters, then odds are that readers will walk away from your book dissatisfied.
An important part of creating a well-developed character is defining your character’s motivations.
Basic Motivations: survival, failure, peer pressure, curiosity, guilt, desire, instability
Noble Motivations: love, loyalty, honor, obedience, vengeance, inequality, unfulfillment
Evil Motivations: hatred, dishonor, pride, greed, revenge, lust, jealousy
Fear Motivations: death, humiliation, pain, rejection, loss, regret, shame
An important part of creating a well-developed character is defining your character’s motivations.
Basic Motivations: survival, failure, peer pressure, curiosity, guilt, desire, instability
Noble Motivations: love, loyalty, honor, obedience, vengeance, inequality, unfulfillment
Evil Motivations: hatred, dishonor, pride, greed, revenge, lust, jealousy
Fear Motivations: death, humiliation, pain, rejection, loss, regret, shame
Prewriting (Preparing to write)
• Read, think, free-write in journal format
• Identify purpose and audience
• Research, take notes, gather information
• Brainstorm with a peer group
• Organize thinking and plan
Drafting/Outlining (Putting thoughts on paper)
• Focus on content
• Compose freely, without concern for mechanics or rules of the craft
Revising (Taking another look)
• Maintain focus on content vs. mechanics
• Share draft with peer group
• Invite discussion, accept response and helpful input from peers
• Add to, delete from, rearrange and revise first draft
Editing
• Share revised draft with peer group
• Invite correction of grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage
• Incorporate corrections in final draft
Final draft
• Share the product with peer group (dramatizations, small group reports, individual oral presentations, etc.)
• Invite evaluation by peer group
• Read, think, free-write in journal format
• Identify purpose and audience
• Research, take notes, gather information
• Brainstorm with a peer group
• Organize thinking and plan
Drafting/Outlining (Putting thoughts on paper)
• Focus on content
• Compose freely, without concern for mechanics or rules of the craft
Revising (Taking another look)
• Maintain focus on content vs. mechanics
• Share draft with peer group
• Invite discussion, accept response and helpful input from peers
• Add to, delete from, rearrange and revise first draft
Editing
• Share revised draft with peer group
• Invite correction of grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage
• Incorporate corrections in final draft
Final draft
• Share the product with peer group (dramatizations, small group reports, individual oral presentations, etc.)
• Invite evaluation by peer group
Content editing - This is when you check the flow of your story. Are your characters well-developed? Is there a hole in your plot? This is prime time to eliminate scenes or dialogue that aren’t truly serving a purpose in the manuscript.
Copy editing - Copy editing is checking grammar, punctuation, word usage, spelling, and facts.
Proofreading - Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.
*I want to add that you need to be able to do some self-editing with your own work. Whether it’s a blog post, a press release, or an email to a fellow professional, you need to have some editing knowledge. I don’t think this requires a college course. There are many free resources online, books at your library, and other alternative continuing education courses similar to what we are doing in this eCourse.
Copy editing - Copy editing is checking grammar, punctuation, word usage, spelling, and facts.
Proofreading - Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.
*I want to add that you need to be able to do some self-editing with your own work. Whether it’s a blog post, a press release, or an email to a fellow professional, you need to have some editing knowledge. I don’t think this requires a college course. There are many free resources online, books at your library, and other alternative continuing education courses similar to what we are doing in this eCourse.
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Why do you need to create digital copies of your book in mobi or epub?
A word processor file does NOT work on an eReading device – it’s just not set up correctly (Word files are FIXED LAYOUT digital, while eReaders need REFLOWABLE text). It’s like putting a vinyl LP in a DVD player and expecting it to work. If you are going to make your book viewable on an eReader device, you must convert it to a digital format.
What is Epub?
You should now understand that for a book to displayed correctly on multiple eReading devices, you need a specific digital file. The standard format is the Epub. The Epub is an open format, which means that is it not ‘owned’ by any one company or device. Since Epub is the standard format, MOST eReaders will display an epub. In fact, it is very easy to read an Epub with lots of free tools out there that will allow you to do so on your computer. It is even possible to read an Epub in a web browser, such as Firefox.
However, what really counts is eReaders, and there are number of important devices that will read Epub:
But not Kindles. Epubs are not compatible with Kindle readers.
Which brings us to the mobi! The mobi is Amazon’s version of the Epub.
There are three ways to tackle the conversion:
1 - Rely on companies like Amazon to do the conversion for you. I for one have had an awful experience with that. I am stating it because lots of authors do it, but I personally wouldn’t do it again.
2 - DIY - buy software (Jutoh) and do-it-yourself.
The pro is that you save some money, but the con is that it is time consuming, and you risk making some big mistakes without practice.
I will say that if you decide to go the DIY route, YouTube is your friend! You can learn just about anything watching free instructional videos.
3 - Hire a professional. I think this is a wise to place to spend money.
A word processor file does NOT work on an eReading device – it’s just not set up correctly (Word files are FIXED LAYOUT digital, while eReaders need REFLOWABLE text). It’s like putting a vinyl LP in a DVD player and expecting it to work. If you are going to make your book viewable on an eReader device, you must convert it to a digital format.
What is Epub?
You should now understand that for a book to displayed correctly on multiple eReading devices, you need a specific digital file. The standard format is the Epub. The Epub is an open format, which means that is it not ‘owned’ by any one company or device. Since Epub is the standard format, MOST eReaders will display an epub. In fact, it is very easy to read an Epub with lots of free tools out there that will allow you to do so on your computer. It is even possible to read an Epub in a web browser, such as Firefox.
However, what really counts is eReaders, and there are number of important devices that will read Epub:
- Apple iPad and iPhone
- Kobo eReader
- Barnes & Noble Nook
- Sony Reader
- Android phones
But not Kindles. Epubs are not compatible with Kindle readers.
Which brings us to the mobi! The mobi is Amazon’s version of the Epub.
There are three ways to tackle the conversion:
1 - Rely on companies like Amazon to do the conversion for you. I for one have had an awful experience with that. I am stating it because lots of authors do it, but I personally wouldn’t do it again.
2 - DIY - buy software (Jutoh) and do-it-yourself.
The pro is that you save some money, but the con is that it is time consuming, and you risk making some big mistakes without practice.
I will say that if you decide to go the DIY route, YouTube is your friend! You can learn just about anything watching free instructional videos.
3 - Hire a professional. I think this is a wise to place to spend money.
1. Write a book description for your manuscript. If you don't have a book written yet, then write a mock one!
2. Research editors or anyone else you'll need to hire for your book. Update your publishing plan with some estimates on what these freelancers will cost so that you can continue to shape your book budget.
2. Research editors or anyone else you'll need to hire for your book. Update your publishing plan with some estimates on what these freelancers will cost so that you can continue to shape your book budget.
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