The Top Ten Checklist to Edit Your Own Writing

Judy Cullins c. 2007

Whether you are writing a book, an article, or your web site salescopy, you need to know that your words speak well for you. Power writing isnot easy for most writers, yet when you know that the benefits ofsmart editing =more clients and customers, you will want to use the 10-itemcheck list below.

Use This 10 Checklist to Edit your Own Work

1. Start your book, article, or chapter ntroduction with a question orstartling fact. You must hook your readers with something that reaches their emotions. Make it "you" centered. Include a few key words in your first sentence to attract the search engines.
2. Make your introduction only a few sentences. Your readers want abenefit early on so they will want to read more. Make the rest of yourarticle support your thesis and first paragraph that includes the hook.
3. Make all of your sentences short. Since standard sentence length is15-17 words, make most of your sentences under that number. Complexsentences and multiple phrases make the reading tougher and slower. Makeit easy for your readers to get the point fast.
4. Avoid dull, slow passive sentences. Start them with a subject, thenfollow with a verb to avoid passive construction. "The coach marketedher business and books through submitting articles online" is an activesentence. "The coach's books were marketed online through submittingarticles" is passive. Drop linking verbs such as "is," "was," "seemed,"or "had." Replace them with power, active verbs. Instead of "she isbeautiful," you could say,"Her beauty compels you to stare at her".
5. Aim for compelling, clear copy. Write for the 8-10th grade reader.Always think "What's in it for them?" Your reader wants to get to theheart of your book chapter, article, or Web copy fast. While a shortstory is fine, make all you write clear and easy to read. That's what makesreaders finish a chapter and want to read more. That's what makes theweb visitor stay with your site more than 10 seconds.
6. Use specific nouns and names. General references don't engage yourreaders' emotions. Let them see the size, color, shape. Rather than say,"Write your book fast to make lifelong income," say "Write and finishyour book fast so you can take that long vacation to a Caribbean islandsuch as Tobago." Money isn't a specific pull, but a vacation is.
7. Let go of adverbs. Words like very, suddenly, and sparingly thattell instead of show. People want to see and feel and don't pay muchattention to adverbs. Use adverbs only at Christmas.
8. Don't use pompous words. Use the shortest, most well-known word.Instead of "utilize," try "use." The more syllables in a word, the harderto get the point across. Let go of unneeded adjectives. Instead of"Kathy is a super-intelligent person, you can say "Kathy, a genius, cansell a bikini to an Eskimo."
9. Appeal to the senses of sight, sound, and emotions. Telling is notan effective. Instead of "Buy this book today because it is so useful,"say, "Would you like to double, even quadruple your business income infive months?"
10.Cut redundancies. Don't talk down to your reader with too muchrepetition. Be willing to part with your "precious" words. The first editusually reduces your words by ¼ to 1/3.

If you are a professional who wants your writing to reflect that, besure to follow the editing tips above. With active, thoughtful writing,you'll gain confidence that your writing will attract and sell.

Flashbacks and Foreshadowing

Flashbacks and foreshadowing are tools that we can use to add dimension to our writing. Flashbacks give us the ability to see into a character's past in real time. Foreshadowing drops hints of what may happen in the future. Are either one required in order to tell an effective story? No. However, there are times when they can add depth to our characters or suspense to our plot, and trust me, we can use whatever help we can get.

Flashbacks interrupt the current action of the story to show a scene from the past. As such, we must always weigh the advantages to the disadvantages. Are the benefits we receive worth leaving our characters dangling in time while we go into the past? If so, don't hesitate to use a flashback. If not, continue with your story line and find other ways, such as exposition, discussion, etc. to entwine the past with the present.

If you choose to use a flashback, you must tip the reader that you are leaving the present. This can be done with a transition statement such as, "John remembered the day his father died." Then, use past perfect ("had") two or three times to complete the clue that we are entering real time in the past. And you are in the past. Act out your scene with action and dialogue, and when you are finished, clue the reader that you are returning to the present by using past perfect once or twice, and, if necessary, another transition sentence ("But that was then and this was now, and John had to let the past stay in the past."). Here is an example:

Danny remembered more about his mother's death than he'd ever told anyone. The day she had died, she had called each of her sons to her bedside individually.

"Pour me a cup of fresh water, please," she said, her voice thick with the Polish accent that decorated her words when she was tired or sick.

Danny filled the cup, careful not to splash it on the bedside table.
"Now, hand me my lipstick."

But he didn't leave. He stood in the doorway and had watched as she had swallowed the pills, three at a time, until they were gone.

Even now, Danny felt responsible for her death. He looked at his father and swallowed hard . . .
Note that once we entered the flashback, we stopped using past perfect ("had") and just acted out the story. Otherwise, the "hads" weigh down the prose and suck the action out of the words.

Foreshadowing is even easier to use. It usually consists of only one or two sentences, and is especially effective when ending a scene or chapter. An example of foreshadowing:
Sam wished he could rid himself of the sick feeling in his gut that told him something terrible was going to happen, and happen soon.

Study what works in fiction you admire. Notice the tools the author uses to enter the past or foretell the future. Unless you are a writer, these techniques should appear invisible and smooth. But as a writer, you must learn to use these techniques to add punch to your own work. Good luck.

The Elements of Plot Development

If an author writes, "The king died and then the queen died," there is no plot for a story. But by writing, "The king died and then the queen died of grief," the writer has provided a plot line for a story.

A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot draws the reader into the character's lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make.

A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. For example, in a mystery, the author will withhold plot exposition until later in the story. In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" it is only at the end of the story that we learn what Miss Emily has been up to all those years while locked away in her Southern mansion.

Creating Dialogue in Fiction

All fiction writers know that a strong story shows more of the elements of its story than it tells. This is important to draw a reader in and keep him or her reading until the end. A fiction writer wants his or her story to be dynamic and interesting enough that the reader wants more and would like to read more of that writer's work. The tricky part is knowing exactly what is considered showing and what is considered telling.

One very important aspect of showing your reader who your characters are is the dialogue you give them. Their voices speak loud and clear to your readers about internal conflicts they may be going through. They can also convey their belief system and their moral character through their conversations with the other characters. What they say mixed with what they do will determine the validity of each of them. The question remains, however, as to how this dialogue can be constructed so it comes across as genuine and believable.

The first thing to remember about dialogue is that it needs to sound like a person is really talking. It is a good idea to read all of your conversations out loud to yourself to make sure they actually do sound like a normal conversation. What sounds great in your head just may sound completely unreal when spoken out loud. You will recognize clichés a lot faster when you read your writing out loud, also.

When beginning a conversation between two or more of your characters, keep in mind exactly how you wish these characters to be portrayed. It is a good idea to do a character sketch on each personality portrayed in your story before beginning. This will help you develop the proper dialogue for each of your characters. Keep these character sketches filed with all of your research and other pertinent information you need while writing your story.

Know exactly how your characters are feeling during their conversation. Keep a running tab on changing emotions. You don't want a happy college graduated growling at the university dean who hands her her degree. Save that for the college graduate that suffered sexual harassment at the hands of the dean. Keep the dialogue in keeping with your character's emotions. An old man that has had his farm taken away from him is not going to go into beautiful poetic prose about the sunset behind the tree line he used to own.

Make the actions match the dialogue, unless your character is hiding something. You don't want a blushing bride who is beaming about her beautiful dress to be slumping her shoulders. Of course if your husband, who is returning from a business trip and is trying to hide an affair, he may not be as excited about the $5,000.00 bonus check his company gave him, as he would be if his conscience were clear. Therefore, it is important to remember that all the elements of your story should be taken into consideration as you write the words that will be coming out of your characters' mouths.

Dialect can be a very strong tool in identifying personality traits of a character. However, it is consequential to remember not to overdo dialect. You very may well know someone who sounds exactly like the person you are trying to portray, but your readers are not going to be happy about having to translate his or her meanings. Lace your dialect with proper spoken words and it will be just as strong an indicator of your character as his or her actions.

A good rule of thumb is to let other writers read your work. Find people who love writing as much as you do, but are not going to be biased about your work. Let them read your work and ask them for suggestions. Be willing to take constructive criticism in a professional manner and you will be on the road to perfecting the art of creating dialogue.

Ten Tips on Creativity

by Emily Hanlon

1. Don’t think. Creating a story or book has little to do with the intellect or language when we first begin. Our best ideas will emerge as a spark or image. Like dreams, they will make little sense. Followed, they will hold the key to the creative unconscious.

2. Creativity is cyclical. You cannot and will not be creative all the time. What is full must empty and what is empty will fill. Creativity has its own internal rhythms. Learn to listen to yours.

3. Nothing kills creativity faster than criticism. Don’t share your work-in-progress with people who are critical or those whose opinions leave you vulnerable, no matter how much you love them. Good critiquing should leave you inspired, not deflated.

4. Spend time listening to your inner critic. He or she is not comfortable with the risks demanded by a creative endeavor. By becoming aware of the foul jabber of your inner critic, you can see how your own mind puts up roadblocks to your creativity.

5. Being a creator is risky business. Don’t underestimate the tremendous emotional and psychic risks the journey demands. Learn to push ahead even when you are afraid. Learn to love the risk.

6. Don’t be afraid to fail. Every successful creator has failed hundreds of times. Failure is an integral part of creativity. It doesn’t mean you’re wrong or stupid. It only means you’ve uncovered a path or technique that does not work.

7. Don’t be afraid to write garbage. Every successful writer writes mounds of garbage. Give your work time to percolate. Play the What If game. For example, if you’re writing fiction and a characters is sweet and loving and you’re stuck, have the character mean and hateful. In the world of the imagination, anything can happen.

8. Nurture your creativity. It is as fragile as a budding flower. Open to the dance. Listen to music that makes you feel like flying. Go for a walk. Laugh with a friend, child or lover. Creativity is about feeling.

9. Be passionate. Creativity is passionate. Passion is always creative.

10. Learn your craft. And write, write, write! The more you write, the better you will get. Discipline yourself. Successful writers are disciplined writers.

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© 2005 Ten Tips on Creativity by Emily Hanlon may be used on your website or blog
so long as there is a link back to www.thefictionwritersjourney.com.
You must email emily@emilyhanlon.com advising her about your usage.
Emily Hanlon
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By Sophfronia Scott, "The Book Sistah"
Copyright is the writer's security blanket. It just makes you feel better to know your words are protected. I once knew a writer who was so scared his work would be stolen, he never sent it anywhere. Talk about counterproductive! But if you can understand these four simple copyright keys, you can rest easy and submit at will.

1. Create!
That's all you have to do to copyright something: write it. You don't have to publish it and you don't have to register it with the United States Copyright Office, although there are certain advantages to registration (see below). The moment a piece is written down, it automatically gains copyright and that copyright is owned by the author.

2. Give Notice.
That's when you put that little encircled "c" on the work. You can also use the word "Copyright", then your name and the year of first publication. For instance, this newsletter is "Copyright 2006 Sophfronia Scott". It tells the world that the work is protected so someone can't show up in court and claim they didn't know it was. Speaking of court...

3. Register Your Copyright.
Again, registering with the United States Copyright Office is really just a legality. You don't have to do it. But you do get a few benefits for the $30 fee that are worth considering.Registration makes your copyright a matter of public record and--get this--if you register and someone later infringes on your copyright and you take them to court, you will be able to sue for "statutory damages and attorney's fees". With an unregistered work you can only get an award of actual damages and profit. To learn more on how to register your literary work go to http://www.copyright.gov/register/literary.html.

4. Send Copies to the Library of Congress.
Once your book is published, you're required to send two copies to the Library of Congress. It's called a "mandatory deposit of published works". If your book is produced by a traditional publisher, the people there will do this for you, but if you are self publishing, keep in mind that you have to do this yourself. You have three months after publication. It doesn't hurt your copyright if you don't do it but, according to the Copyright Office, "failure to make the deposit can result in fines and other penalties." That's it! Pretty simple, really, but all the more reason why it should not become an artificial roadblock to your continuing and submitting your work.

One last note: you can't copyright an idea. I have heard writers say they submitted a story or book proposal and someone else came out with a book just like it, so the agent/editor/writer must have stolen their idea. Well, not quite. It is highly likely that someone else just had the same idea. It does happen. And yes, it is possible for someone to steal your idea--just make REALLY sure that they have done so before you make the accusation. © 2006 Sophfronia Scott

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?See Sophfronia's The Book Sistah Blog, category "Articles". Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah"

TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com