Some days ago, I posted about how I got on to Scrivener, at last! I want to build on that theme and let you know what I have been up to and how I have fared. My objective in sharing this is to help newbies (newer to Scrivener than me, which isn’t saying much anyway) with tips so that they don’t make the mistakes I did.
Tag: editing
While it is a lot of fun, there’s no doubt that writing is a lot of hard work too. Fortunately the two are not exclusive and we as writers do get the satisfaction of writing. This could translate to getting for you: money, fame, recognition or self-fulfillment, depending upon why you are writing in the first place. Like any other skill, your writing gets sharpened with practice and incorporating improvements in your style.
A task on hand is the editing of my third thriller ,”Let The Dead Stay Dead.” As I usually do, the first 50,000 words for this came from my successful effort in NaNoWriMo 2011. Here are a few lines from the book:
I wrote about editing my third thriller, “Let The Dead Stay Dead” in my writing blog, ” Writing To Be Read.” Instead of repeating all that I had to say, please see this blog post as an update on what I am currently up to!
My debut novel “It Can’t Be You” started with “The man was dead.” I then went on to develop the opening scene where a body is found. At that stage those who find the body do not know whether the man was killed or killed himself. Many who read the book have commented that it set the tone for what became an absorbing psychological thriller. Continue reading “About Great Starts and Editors”
I remember the time I was editing my second thriller ” Lucky For Some, Thirteen” before it was sent off to the publishers. Each time I went through the manuscript, I would find either an error or a clear opportunity to make the sentence “sound” better. That’s when I decided to “proof speak” rather than proof read.
This blog post in Ballpoint.com tells you why it’s a smart thing to proof speak your work. I found it very useful. The biggest gain is a better understanding of how it would sound to the reader.
Most description should come through dialogue but there are times when you need to find the right words to express the feelings of your characters as seen by others. I came across this list from author Kimberly T. Matthews. Your choice of the right word makes a big difference in your description. Kimberly’ s list should prompt you, as it did me, to add-on to our vocabularies. If we don’t, we could end up using the same old words all the time, novel after novel.
The best way to improve your writing is to actively seek ways of improving it and put them into practice. I believe proof speaking and using the right word to depict expressions are useful tips to any writer.
A project I am working on has over 88,000 words. You would believe I should be happy to have written so much, right? That’s true only in some part. It does gives me satisfaction to have churned out so many words. However, the goal is not to write lots, the goal is to write interesting stuff. Continue reading “Cut Without Remorse”
I am always on the look out for tips to improve my writing. Thanks to Elizabeth Craig’s tweet, I was pointed to “Practical Tips On Writing From 22 Brilliant Authors”. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. Continue reading “Writing Tips”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 