Tag Archives: Editing

Bloggers, Writing

Zoe Shares Her Space… | Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

December 13, 2017 Tina Frisco 11 Comments

Zoe the Fabulous Feline has graciously given her monthly guest spot on The Story Reading Ape‘s blog to her human, Emily. She is a most magnanimous feline, even if she is using this time to chill out in her condo 😊

Dear friends, I hope you don’t mind, but my human, Emily, apparently needs some attention. She asked if she could take my spot this month to show off share something she wrote recently. I thought, Yeah, why not? I can use a break. So, I’m sharing my space so she can share her poem. And, without further ado, here it is. Now excuse me . . . I’m going to go chill out in my condo.

Unjust Desserts

Sitting cross-legged on a concrete bench

Taking in the action just beyond the fence

He watches the bustle, pinstripes abound

And children playing, they fall on the ground

Miniskirts taunt him, smiles on a face

Tease him with heels and a hint of lace

No girl in his corner, no warm memories

Of deep secret kisses or silky panties

He wants to be cool, he wants to take part

Something is hurting, it feels like his heart

His mind is straining to block out the noise

As voices repeat “you’re not one of the boys”

The white coats stand by, uncaring and chill

Holding his pre-dinner dosing of pills

He sits in the daylight unwarmed by the sun

Sipping a 16-ounce Pepsi with a sweet honey bun.

Emily’s Sunrise Editing Services

Continue reading . . .

Source: Zoe Shares Her Space… | Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

Author Resources, Writing

EDITING 101: 64 – Story Organization…

November 17, 2017 Tina Frisco 13 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky is on Chris The Story Reading Ape‘s blog with Part 64 of her Editing 101 series: Story Organization. This series is second to none, and I’m sorry to see it end. If you’ve missed any episodes, Chris has indexed them for us so we can bookmark. A heartfelt thank you to Susan and Chris for sharing this outstanding series ❤

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Story Organization

We talked briefly about this in Article #21, “Plotting.” But now I’d like to go into a little more detail about it.

Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, you’re simply going to have to keep track of some details, especially if your book deals with the passage of time. And that’s just about every book ever written—whether it’s only one day throughout the whole book or a number of years, or even decades or centuries. You must keep track of what is going on when. In addition to tracking time, you can also plot out your story arc (to be the theme of a future article), false clues (red herrings), foreshadowing, and other details.

As I said in Article #21, some authors use white boards or bulletin boards, notebooks or pads of paper, sticky notes, index cards, or…walls. And then there are those who avail themselves…

View original post 649 more words

Author Resources, Writing

EDITING 101: 59 – Character Profiles…

October 13, 2017 Tina Frisco 7 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky is over at The Story Reading Ape‘s blog with Part 59 of her Editing 101 series, Character Profiles. Have you considered interviewing your characters as a way of developing them into strong, flexible, and unique personalities? Susan’s articles are invaluable and highly #recommended

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy ofAdirondack Editing

Character Profiles

Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser (101:21), I’m almost 100% certain that at some point, you’ll have to keep track of your characters’ details. The plotter/pantser post also covered some practical ways that some authors make sure these details are fresh in their minds—or, at least, quickly available.

However, before you can list these precious tidbits of information, you have to either discover them (if your story leads you) or decide on them (if you lead your story). The obvious information is focused on physical appearance: eye color, hair color, stature, body shape, etc. But sometimes authors neglect to round out their profiles with other information that can play a critical part in your story. I’m talking about…

View original post 491 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 40 – Editing Myths…

June 2, 2017 Tina Frisco 12 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 40 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape‘s blog. She debunks several editing myths, every last one of which has derailed my little grey cells at times. But I now feel I have permission to merrily toss them out the window, in keeping with Susan’s guidelines. I’m such a stickler for correct grammar that I sometimes feel like a train wreck after a long day of writing. I expect Susan’s post will reduce your writing stress level as much as it has mine 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Editing Myths

I’m sure you’ve heard of these “rules” that need to be applied to your manuscript. Today we’re going to debunk them as myths!

Never start a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, or), however, or because.
Never end a sentence with a preposition.
Passive voice is always wrong.
You use “a” before words that start with consonants and “an” before words that start with vowels.
Don’t use who when the rules call for whom.
Don’t split an infinitive verb with an adverb.
The only way to write a possessive is to add ’s to the word.
Data and media are plural nouns and always take a plural verb.

Because the English language is fluid and adjustable, there is no…

View original post 410 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 35 – Using the five senses…

April 28, 2017 Tina Frisco 12 Comments

In Part 35 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape, Susan Uttendorfsky discusses using the five senses in our writing. I especially enjoyed her examples for the sense of smell, e.g., A gym bag in September that hasn’t been emptied since June. Visit Chris’ blog to read the rest of this superb article and link to the previous 34 in this series…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy ofAdirondack Editing

Using the five senses

I love it when an author decides to use the senses in writing their descriptions. It’s so rarely done, it seems, that it keeps the story fresh and exciting for me. Let’s talk about some ways to incorporate each of them into your descriptions—without going overboard, of course! Nobody wants a blow-by-blow listing of everything your main character smelled in a day, especially if he’s a homicide detective in the morgue!

When using any of the senses in writing description, you want to remember “Show, don’t tell” to get the most effectiveness out of it.

Taste

Your first cup of coffee in the morning—does anything taste better? Or, on the other hand, it can be your biggest…

View original post 549 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 25 – Style Guides for Fiction…

February 18, 2017 Tina Frisco 5 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky is a guest on The Story Reading Ape, bringing us Part 25 of her Editing 101 series: Style Guides for Fiction. Even though The Gregg Reference Manual is typically for business, I’ve used it for decades and find it an invaluable resource. Susan lists several other editing guides that you might find helpful. Bottom line: If self-editing, a style manual is a necessity!

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Style Guides for Fiction

In order to make the English language (or any language) consistent, style guides and manuals have been developed to use certain consistent rules or standards. Most industries or professions have their own style manual, so that all materials written for that industry are of the same standard. This not only includes punctuation, but also capitalization and grammar.

For instance, all newspaper articles in the US are written using AP (Associated Press) style. For business, there’s The Gregg Reference Manual, and for web publishing, there’s the The Yahoo! Style Guide. Each of these style guides has different rules, and someone writing for those industries must follow those rules.

If you’re working for the United States government, it has…

View original post 364 more words

Author Resources, Editing, Editors

Introducing: Sunrise Editing Services…

January 10, 2017 Tina Frisco 7 Comments

Author Andrew Joyce spells out the reasons why writers should have their work professionally edited. He introduces his editor, Emily Gmitter, whose rates are very reasonable. Speaking metaphorically and from personal experience with Emily, she will find a needle in a needle stack! Hop over to The Story Reading Ape‘s blog for the details, and check out Sunrise Editing Services. It will be well worth your time …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

aj-author
My name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. I’ve been lucky enough to have three of my books become best-sellers on Amazon, and two of them have won prestigious awards. I only tell you this because I want you to know that I am serious about my writing and will not publish a book until it is free of errors, and that means not until it has been edited many, many times.

I am also associated with another writer that you may have heard of, the famous (or infamous) Danny the Dog. He is also serious about his writing.

One thing both Danny and I agree on is that a writer cannot edit his or her own work.

Let me repeat that: YOU CANNOT EDIT YOUR OWN WORK!

Excuse me for yelling, but it is important that I get that thought through to you.

The number…

View original post 619 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 18 – Writer’s Block…

December 30, 2016 Tina Frisco 4 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 18 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape. The focus is writer’s block, and she lists 14 ways to attempt breaking through. I love it when an editor helps the harried writer hike the hurdles. 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Writer’s Block

Ok, so maybe you’re not quite done writing. Maybe you’re stuck. Horribly stuck, and you have no idea where to go next in your book. You are so completely, terribly, frantically stuck that you can’t even write a darn thing! (Yes, that’s a lot of “ly” adverbs there, isn’t it?

What now?

Aha! Super Susan to the rescue. I can’t say I’ve ever been there, because I don’t do a lot of writing. But I can imagine how horrible it is, and I’ve read a lot of threads in LinkedIn writing groups talking about writer’s block. So I’ve stored up quite a few hints and ideas to get you over the hump. No, not Hump Day—that’s the Geico® camel*…

View original post 559 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 17 – Powerful Protagonists…

December 23, 2016 Tina Frisco 3 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 17 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape. She discusses powerful vs. ineffective protagonists and includes links to two articles that speak of this in detail. Many parts of this series helped me immensely in writing my latest novel. If you’re an author and have missed any parts or all of this series, do yourself a favor and check it out. I’m sure you’ll find it enlightening …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Powerful Protagonists

The protagonist is the chief actor, or main character, in your book. It might be a man or a woman, or even a fictional character with no gender (such as a tree). For today’s post, we’re going to refer to the protagonist as “him” for continuity’s sake.

Why is it important for your protagonist to be powerful? I don’t mean physically strong. I don’t even mean personally effective or likeable. Your protagonist may be on your readers’ hate list, but perhaps they have a grudging respect for him. I’m talking about powerful in terms of making an impact with your readers. A main character who doesn’t make an impact with your readers is going to lead you down the…

View original post 467 more words

Author Resources, Editing

EDITING 101: 16 – Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones…

December 16, 2016 Tina Frisco 4 Comments

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 16 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape. She discusses homonyms, homographs, and homophones, the latter of which can be a challenge for writers …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones

I had a lot of fun researching today’s post. (Yes, I’m an über-geek, but let’s just keep this to ourselves, shall we?) You may be wondering what these words are (and how in the world they pertain to writing), but you’ll be surprised once I define them. I’m sure you know exactly what they are; you just don’t know the official words for them. And we’re only interested in one when it comes to writing and editing.

Homonyms are words with the same spelling and the same pronunciation, but they have different meanings: