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Monday, July 9, 2012

Nuts and Bolts to Writing a Novel

First, comes conception and then the writing. *duh*

Next, the nuts and bolts. 

Editing. *shiver*

Bottom line, you do not have the necessary eye to judge your MS. You’ve lived the world you’ve created, every word burned into your consciousness. The path is too familiar.

Editing comes down to this:
Reading the words is different than Seeing the words.
You don’t notice the echoes or adverbs. You are blind to the use of your favorite words. Over-written? Phttttttttt.

Help is available, on this blog and other websites.

Creative writing software will catch some of the mistakes, highlighting overused words, dialogue attribution, and adverbs misuse.

Go to www.ravensheadservices.com for a free download of Write It Now.

Whether it helps you or not depends on where you are in this career; just learning the definition of ‘dialogue tag’ or agented and looking for a publisher.

Creative writing software is available. Go to www.dailywritingtips.com for a comparison. This website has priceless nuggets of writing advice.


Need help with facial expressions? Nearly every writer is aware of The Bookshelf Muse. This blog gives physical examples of anger, worry, confusion, and passion. The website’s authors also published a self-help guide, easy to thumb and find just the right open mouth, squinting eyes, sigh, and flipped fingers. The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is available through Amazon or as an Ebook on their website.

Other books are available to parse the phrase and edit the annoying dangling participle. Books such as Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. Stephen King’s On Writing is a winner also.

And last Critique Groups like Unicorn Bell, Betas and Critique Partners. The road to Published must include these fueling stations.

Remember, you are not alone. We are traveling the same highway, learning, exploring, and aiding. Keep on Truckin’, folks.

Do you have a favorite site for writers? Please share.
 


13 comments:

Charmaine Clancy said...

The Bookshelf Muse is great, there are loads of wonderful blogs and sites for writers, I do like checking out the Writer's Digest site sometimes, and Book Cover Cafe have great advice too.

Huntress said...

Oh, excellent! I love new sites.

http://www.bookcovercafe.com/

This one gets bookmarked :)

LD Masterson said...

May I recommend Janice Hardy's blog The Other Side of the Story, http://blog.janicehardy.com/ Excellent advice on writing and editing.

mshatch said...

I just received by copy of THE EMOTIONAL THESAURUS and have already begun making use of it! I also like Janice Hardy's The Other Side of the Story. Lots of excellent advice there :)

Huntress said...

The number of helpful blogs blow my mind. Another great site.

Huntress said...

Ha, beat you by about three weeks. I ordered the paper and glue book because it's easier to flip through to just the right spot.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Just got my copy of "The Emotion Thesaurus" on Friday. LOVE it! I hope they follow up with some other books.

Liz A. said...

Another thing that helps is to read what you wrote on paper. I don't know why, but mistakes pop out better.

I should get a copy of that book. Well, I have a birthday coming up...

Unknown said...

Thanks! I'd forgotten about The Bookshelf Muse, and they may be just what I need to bring my revision to the next level (and keep me from curling into a fetal position and hiding in bed...).

Anonymous said...

I'll have to add these books/sites to my queue. I'm just starting my first draft and I'm trying not to get slowed down by the 'nuts and bolts' but it's hard to shake this underlying feeling that I'm changing tenses or writing too much description, and dialogue attribution makes my head hurt. There's so much that I need to see and fix that I'm afraid I'll forget half of it or get discouraged and give up. Thanks for the info!

Huntress said...

Oh Heavens! You are singing my song. In fact, it’s the whole chorus for the writing community.

“If it was easy everyone would do it” comes to mind. Trite and dated but still true. Feeling discouraged and wondering if you have the talent is every writer’s curse, from established author to those just starting out.

But the best part of this community is the support and friendship that leaves me speechless with wonder. And I’m a writer, lol.

And you are a writer. We are all learning traveling this road with all its side streets and alleys. Keep learning. Never stop educating yourself.

Because you are a writer.

Huntress said...

Oh, okay. Can I have the closet? And the chocolate? Move over, LOL.

Alicia Willette-Cook said...

Yup. Saving my pennies for a Physical Copy of this one! I love their site.