Tag: books
How To Manage Your Edits
“As an editor, I have heard horror stories about authors who didn’t know how to process the edits they received back from their editors. Instead of asking what to do with the Word document, [caution, you’re going to scream] some of the authors printed the full manuscript, compared item by item, then RETYPED the entire manuscript.
Don’t let this be you.
Firstly, your editor is on your TEAM. An editor wants you to succeed. And even though you may feel like we are all jackals, we don’t really bite. Ask us questions—especially when you feel overwhelmed or uncertain.”
— Billi Joy Carson / Senior Editor, Editing AddictEDITOR Sends Completed File Back to AUTHOR:
THE AUTHOR’S JOB:
1. READ through document
2. CHOOSE FROM (to accept and/or reject changes)
a. Accept All Changes in Document
b. Accept and Move to Next
c. Reject All Changes in Document
d. Reject and Move to Next
3. SHORTCUT for authors
a. Save TWO* versions of the file you received from your editor.
i. File A [edits accepted]
1. In Word Doc, under REVIEW tab [File A]
2. Select Accept All Changes in Document [File A]
ii. File B [edits visible]
1. Leave the file the way you received from the editor
b. Read through File A side-by-side with File B
i. If you find an edit you don’t want
1. In File B
a. Under REVIEW tab [File B]
b. Select Reject and Move to Next [File B]
ii. When you are finished reading File A, and correcting File B,
1. In File B
a. Under REVIEW tab [File B]
b. Select Accept All Changes in Document [File B]
c. File B is now fully edited, and author approved
*At Editing Addict, I do this beforehand for my authors, however, not all editors have the [File A & File B] policy, and expect the author to do it on their end. 
How to Accept and/or Reject Tracked Changes in a Word Document: YouTube Video
Still have questions? Leave a comment below, or send a message to the editor: billijoycarson@editingaddict.com. Teamwork brings success!
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Writing Sickness
Fantasy? Nah, My Neighborhood
[found on terribleminds.com; by Chuck Wendig]
“ROOTED IN THE REAL
Reality is fantasy’s best friend. We, the audience, and you, the writer, all live in reality. The problems we understand are real problems. Genuine conflicts. True drama. The drama of families, of lost loves, of financial woes. Cruel neighbors and callow bullies and loved ones dead.
This is the nature of write what you know, and the fantasy writer’s version of that is, write what’s real. Which sounds like very bad advice, because last time I checked, none of us were plagued by dragons or sentient fungal cities or old gods come back to haunt us. But that’s not the point — the point is, you use the fantasy to highlight the reality.
The dragon is the callow bully. The lease on your fungal apartment is up and your financial woes puts you in tithe to the old gods who in turn make for very bad neighbors. You grab the core essence of a true problem and swaddle it in the mad glittery ribbons of fantasy — and therein you find glorious new permutations of conflict. Reality expressed in mind-boggling ways. Reach for fantasy. Find the reality.”
For more tips on writing fantasy from Chuck Wendig, click here.
[found on http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/06/19/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-fantasyzzz]
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Strange Creatures, Authors
“To most, being locked away in solitary with nothing but pen and paper would prove a hard punishment. What a strange creature who views this as heaven.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
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Authors Must Write
“The pen to a writer is like a cigarette to a smoker; they need it to take the edge off.”
― Kellie Elmore
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Children’s Book, Here You Come
[found on wvculture.org; by Mary Rodd Furbee]
“Consider why you want to write children’s books.
If you want to write books for children, it helps to be a little crazy. I developed a passion to write nonfiction biographies for middle-school children about four years ago. My daughter’s experiences made me realize that there were hardly any children’s books on America’s founding mothers. It hit me, hard: This was what I had to write. There was a need. The subject was fascinating. I knew I could do it, and found the prospect exciting. If you have a similar passion, perfect. If not, perhaps you are meant to do something else. It’s hard to write books, harder still to write books for children. It’s difficult to get published, and you’ll face a lot of rejection.
Don’t expect to make big money or make it quickly.
Writing books for children is like starting a business. You must invest both time and money. I hoped to make money writing my first books, but I didn’t. Four years and six published books later, I still haven’t made as much money as I could have in most professional writing or editing positions. It’s the rare children’s book that hits the bestseller list or wins a Newbery Award, and the rare full-time children’s writer who makes a living.
Read children’s books.
When I decided to write biographies of women in American history, I read biographies, histories, books about writing biographies, and lots of middle-grade fiction and nonfiction. It’s amazing what you can learn by reading the books you want to write – be they board books for infants and toddlers, picture books, early readers, middle-grade novels or young adult nonfiction. Read the best authors – over and over. If you can, take a class in children’s literature or writing for children.”
For more tips on writing children’s books from Mary Rodd Furbee, click here.
[found on http://www.wvculture.org/arts/Artworks/Fall01/childrens.html]
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Poetry Styles
To see the (more) complete list, with a further seventy-four types of poetry, click here.
[found on poetryfoundation.org]
“Acrostic
A poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically. See Lewis Carroll’s “A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky.”
Alexandrine
In English, a 12-syllable iambic line adapted from French heroic verse. The last line of each stanza in Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain” and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “To a Skylark” is an alexandrine.
Anagram
A word spelled out by rearranging the letters of another word; for example, “The teacher gapes at the mounds of exam pages lying before her.”
Aubade
A love poem or song welcoming or lamenting the arrival of the dawn. The form originated in medieval France. See John Donne’s “The Sun Rising” and Louise Bogan’s “Leave-Taking.” Browse more aubade poems.”
[found on http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=forms-and-types]
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Gather Courage
“If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.”
― Roopleen
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Fiction — The Highest Autobiography
[found on nytimes.com; by COLSON WHITEHEAD]
“Write what you know. Bellow once said, “Fiction is the higher autobiography.” In other words, fiction is payback for those who have wronged you.
When people read my books “My Gym Teacher Was an Abusive Bully” and “She Called Them Brussels Sprouts: A Survivor’s Tale,” they’re often surprised when I tell them they contain an autobiographical element.
Therein lies the art, I say. How do you make that which is your everyday into the stuff of literature? Listen to your heart. Ask your heart, Is it true? And if it is, let it be. Once the lawyers sign off, you’re good to go.”
For more excellent tips on writing from Colson Whitehead, click here.
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