Practical Tips for Every Author

Acknowledgements

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Special thanks to the many people who have given me encouragement to complete this book. Three years in the making and to be honest, I never thought it would get done as I never thought I would be able to share everything I wanted to share. That being said, I did the best I could and compiled what I have been told and humbly accepted by me as some of the more helpful hints and tips.

Special thanks to Grammarly, Grammar Bytes, 5-minute English, English Grammar101, Oxford English Grammar Course, The Chicago Manual of Style, The Elements of Style by William and Strunk, On Writing by Stephen King, Grammar Ninja, The English Club, and for all of you out there who have spent the extra five minutes writing down a helpful tip for the aspiring writers.

My hats off to all of you and thank you for blazing the trail for folks like me to follow and hopefully give a little light for others.

Forward

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I’ve been asked by a lot of friends when I might gather all my writing tips I’ve posted over the years and put them in a book, so why now?

Good question. I have an answer to that.

I started writing tips for my fellow writers about three years ago. I did this as I was making friends with many authors and while I was navigating the process of learning, ‘all things mechanics,’ I found many in the same boat as myself experience and education-wise. The more I learned by taking workshops, writing classes and attending writing seminars, the more I wanted to share what I was learning.

Mi casa es su casa, right?

What you won’t find in this book is how to write a best-seller, be adored and loved by millions, go on book-signing tours, or make the rounds on late-night talk shows where they ask you the inevitable: Where do you get your ideas? What you will find, (hopefully) is practical and useful tips, hints and easy-to-remember grammar guides that will help you in your journey to writing your first book, your fiftieth book, edit it and get it edited, formatted, published, distributed, marketed, and all sorts of other neat things that make a book tick. There is no magic formula to what makes a ‘New York Times Best Seller,’ but you can bet your beans there is plenty that will make it more than a handful of points lower than them. Proper grammar, punctuation, composition, prose, and knowing all the internal bits and pieces to what makes the difference between a smooth read and one jarring with errors is in this book and hopefully, put in such a way that makes it easy to learn and if I did what I set out to do, make it sensible and understandable. You can tell me all about what makes the zero integer so valid when placed in a quantum physics formula, but if I don’t know what quantum physics means, it’s all gobbledeegoop to me. Such as the same with grammar.

There is a difference between getting to the practicality of the elements of English for writing, and just being flowery and overly-informative for the sake of stuffing in words with ten syllables each. Writers don’t need to be English professors, but they do need to have a strong grasp of the basics (and beyond). Writing fiction is a creative process that uses non-fiction, English structure facts to tell the story. In other words, you must know how to tell your story, as much if not more so, what the story is about.

Think of it this way, your book is 30% story, 70% mechanics. You may have written the next Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but if you didn’t write it well, all that will be remembered from the few people who read it is the mistakes. Mediocre or sometimes even bad stories still sell, and often sell well. Badly written stories usually don’t. I say that with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek as we all know of exceptions!

So here it is, a compilation of these little tidbits I’ve shared over the years. I tried to be as accurate and factual as I can. If there are any glaring errors or mistakes, they are all mine and I take full responsibility. You, oh gentle reader, are more than welcome to send me an email to point out any errors. Also, I try very hard to give credit where credit is due, so if I missed anyone or any website, please forgive me. Obviously, I didn’t invent the English language or the rules that govern it and when I input my own two cents worth, I try very hard to make that distinction.

With that, I hope you enjoy and get something out of this that can help you on your path in writing, whether it be for journalism, school, manuscripts, or anything else English. It’s a great language with a LOT of rules, so I hardly know all there is to know, but hopefully this helps ya. These are in no particular order and aren’t specifically grouped together by ‘grammar and punctuation’ or ‘formatting and marketing’, as I’ve tried to retain the essence of what people have told me made these tips and hints so helpful to begin with; they are written from an in-the-moment place and followed no particular schedule. Some of them were inspired as I was writing one of my own books, or editing someone else’s, or perhaps a specific question someone asked me. As they’re all related to writing in some form or the other, I hardly consider them hodge-podge, but it is a mixing pot. For a relatively loose guide, I did include a table of contents so if you by chance are looking for anything specific, hopefully it will help guide you to an answer. If you still have a question or something I can possible help with or a question I can answer, my email is always open at steves@foundationsbooks.net

I sincerely hope you enjoy!

Steve Soderquist – Brandon, Mississippi 2017

Dedication

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To my blueberry, who has taught me as much about the English language as any ol’ seminar or workshop I’ve attended.

Table of Contents

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Acknowledgements

Forward

Dedication

One - How to Get ‘Un-stuck’

Two - Homonym - Homophone – Homograph

Three – Giving Support

Four – The Importance of Proper Researching

Five – Keyboard Shortcuts

Six – The 101 on how to put a book together

Seven – It’s a Seller’s Market

Eight – Unraveling the Mystery (Formatting)

Nine – When to use caps and why

Ten – Commas

Eleven – First Drafts

Twelve – What is a Dangling Participle?

Thirteen – Editing/Proofing Your MS

Fourteen – The Articles A, An, The

Fifteen – Staying True to Your Style

Sixteen – Writing Characters

Seventeen – Has, Had, Have

Eighteen – Perspective Writing

Nineteen – Test Time!

Twenty – What’s the Secret to Success?

Twenty-One – Writing Realistic Dialogue

Twenty-Two – Some Eye-Opening Stuff

Twenty-Three – Formatting Your MS

Twenty-Four – Fragmented and Passive Sentences

Twenty-Five – Adding Headers/Footers/Page Numbers

Twenty-Six – Deaus Ex Machina

Twenty-Seven – The Ending Chapter(s)

Twenty-Eight – Metaphors and Similes

Twenty-Nine – All ready - Already

Thirty – Writing the Trailer (Teaser)

Thirty-One – Write, Edit, Repeat

Thirty-Two – Making it Real

Thirty-Three – Back to Basics

Thirty-Four – Tense

Thirty-Five – To Hyphenate or Not, that is the Question

Thirty-Six – Perspective Writing

Thirty-Seven – Writing a Book

Thirty-Eight – Co-Writing

Thirty-Nine – POV (Point of View)

Forty – When to Use Numbers or Spell Them

Forty-One – Conjunctions

Forty-Two – Sell Your Book

Forty-Three – A, An, And, Periods, Commas

Forty-Four – Subject and Character Building

Forty-Five – Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts

Forty-Six – Finding Time to Write

Forty-Seven – Where to Draw the Line

Forty-Eight – Proper Use of Comma’s

Forty-Nine – Staying in Character

Fifty – How to Finish a Novel

Fifty-One – Writing the Opposite Sex

Fifty-Two – The Importance of Metaphors/Similes

Fifty-Three – Time for Fun!

Fifty-Four – More on Tense

Fifty-Five – Finding Your ‘Voice’

Fifty-Six – Writing 3D Characters

Fifty-Seven – Finding an Editor

Fifty-Eight – Commonly Misused Words

Fifty-Nine – Getting Reviews and Interviews

Sixty – Use of ‘Ingly’

Sixty-One – Active Voice versus Passive

Sixty-Two – The Most Humorous …

Sixty-Three – Character Development

Sixty-Four – Genre: A How-To

Sixty-Five – More Character Development

Sixty-Six – Learning the Biz

Sixty-Seven – Creating the Plot

Sixty-Eight – Writing the Synopsis versus the Blurb

Sixty-Nine – Even More on Editing

Seventy – Where to Put Capitals in a Sentence

Seventy-One – Increasing Word Count

Seventy-Two – Story Versus Mechanics

Seventy-Three – Then and Than

Seventy-Four – Making a Novel

Seventy-Five – Protecting Your Work

Seventy-Six – How to Write a Query Letter

Seventy-Seven – Writing Passionately

Seventy-Eight – More and More Tense

Seventy-Nine – Finishing Your Novel

Eighty – Mechanics Versus Plot

Eighty-One – More on Selling Your Novel

Eighty-Two – When to Use a Period or Comma (before quotes)

Eighty-Three – Cleaning Your House

Eighty-Four – Marketing

Eighty-Five – Dedication

Eighty-Six – Getting to the End

Eighty-Seven – Sharing Your Work

Eighty-Eight – The Tagline

Eighty-Nine – The Concordance

Ninety – More on Character Development

Ninety-One – Properly Using Past/Present/Future Tense

Ninety-Two – Famous Writers with Disabilities

Ninety-Three – Staying True to Your Style

Ninety-Four – Repetitive Words

Ninety-Five – Writing from Start to Finish

Ninety-Six – Motivating You

Ninety-Seven – Writing ‘Real’

Ninety-Eight – Why King and Rowling Don’t Do Facebook Parties

Ninety-Nine – The Benefits of Workshops

One Hundred – A Final Word on Words

About the Author

WRITING TIP ONE:

How to Get ‘Un-stuck’ in the Middle of a Manuscript (MS)

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We've all been there... oh yeah.

I doubt there has been one thing I’ve written whether it's been a novel length manuscript, novella or short story that at some point I didn't pause to look for some elusive plot point that needed to be in there to tidy up a chapter, save the hero or heroine from a sticky situation, or some damn thing that has caused the WIP (Work In Progress) to come to a screeching halt faster than an 8 foot truck going sixty mph and hitting a bridge that's only got seven feet of clearance.

Whammo!

It would be wonderful if there was such a thing as that ever-elusive and fabled ‘idea dump’ where the light switches were always at the ready and attached to 200-watt idea bulbs, but this is real life, honey-boo. Often, the reasons we get stuck are for practical reasons, not a lack of imagination. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that even Green Eggs and Ham had a few tough spots for Dr. Seuss.

The goal is the same for all of us: Figure it out.

How you accomplish this is may not be the same way you figured it out the last time. Different situations call for different approaches. Here are a few that have worked for me:

• Go for a walk

• Go walk around a store

• Go watch television

• Go play a game

• Go take a nap

• Go make food

Seeing a theme here? Get away from your desk. Stop thinking about it so dern hard. Believe me when I tell you that if you're capable of knocking out a 20, 50, 100k story, this little hiccup is no biggy. It's your chalkboard and you get to make the story up as you see fit. Now is not the time to think about editing grammar, punctuation or any of those doo-dads that make your story really click smoothly. That stuff is for later. Nothing will kill creativity faster than prematurely wondering if your periods and commas are in the right place.

Write your book for you first – edit for the public later.

There is nothing wrong with talking to fellow writers, but try to avoid looking to them for answers, unless you're perhaps co-writing the story. It gets to be a habit and one that’s hard to break. Others in the biz make great cheerleaders and nothing can by-God make us happier than knowing someone else is suffering like we are… but learn to be self-reliant when it comes to your own stories. That’s your name on the cover, cupcake.

Don't quit. I can't stress that enough. If the only thing stumbling the manuscript is if Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So are bumping uglies and one of their better half's come home early—work it out. If a character killed someone in a crowded restaurant and you need them to get away with it for now or you'll have a fifteen-page book—work it out. You finishing your manuscript will do tons for your self-esteem and who knows, it may be the greatest thing you ever wrote.

WRITING TIP TWO:

HOMONYM - HOMOPHONE - HOMOGRAPH

(Words that are spelled, look, or sound the same but aren’t)

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Here is the breakdown in the simplest of terms:

• Homonym – Multiple meaning words, as in: Suit yourself – He wore a suit.

• Homophone – Words that sound alike, as in: I want to go – I like it too – One plus one is two.

• Homograph – Same spelling, different pronunciation, different meaning, is in: Bass – Fish — Bass – instrument.

This is one of the resource websites I use when I am not 100% sure on a homonym.

https://www.spellingcity.com/homophones-and-homonyms.html

Normally, the point of my writing tips is to break down what is usually explained in such technical terms that it confuses more than helps most writers, but I cannot put the explanation on this subject any better, and certainly would not be able to give better examples or a more comprehensive list than what vocabulary.com has.

This subject is another reason I am not a fan of editing software compared to a solid education in English and the use of the human brain. There are only a handful of other examples where software such as spell check can fail you so completely. Hell, I double-check spell check.

WRITING TIP THREE:

Giving Support to The Writer in Your Life:

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This tip is not for you, writers, but for your significant other and/or family members who are blessed to live among you. Yep, you can even tear these next six pages out and hand it to them, put it on the fridge, or staple it to their forehead if that helps. (Okay, don't do that, there are too many out there who just might!)

Having a writer in your life, whether they are full-time, weekend-warriors, nightly workers who wait until everyone is in bed, or trying to catch a few moments