writing

Proofreading: Choosing a Better Word

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 12 Comments

During the final proofreading of a novel, a writer can be tempted to change a word, deciding another word is better. I try not to cave to the temptation at this stage, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

One thing I’ve learned while proofreading is that I need to be very careful during the final reading. It’s easy to introduce a typo, but worse, what if the new word doesn’t fit with the surrounding text?

How to I test this?

First, I replace the word. Then I read the entire scene to determine if it sounds right in the whole context. I often find that I’ve chosen a word already written in a paragraph before or after the one I’ve just altered.

The word change might sound better or it might not, but without testing the scene I wouldn’t know.  To make the process faster, I could search for the word, to find out if it’s anywhere near, but I still think it’s worth reading the scene to make sure the change makes the story better.

Are there things you look out for in the final proofing?

Thanks for reading . . .

Can a Ruler Help You Proofread?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 9 Comments

I’m fascinated by how difficult it is to proofread my work. Why can’t my eye see if on the page instead of reading of – that’s not really there?

What does a ruler have to do with proofreading? Let’s call it the new tool in my toolbox.

When I think my work is ready to send to my agent, I print the final copy and read it, line by line, very slowly.

I place the ruler underneath each line as I read it. This forces my eye not to stray forward to the next line. The ruler stays in place until I’ve read every word.

Out of 80,000 words, I found five typos. They were:

–       a missing quote

–       a missing word (had)

–       a missing period at the end of a sentence

–       you’re instead of your

–       color instead of colour

I don’t think I would have found the mistakes without the ruler. This may seem like a lot of work for just 5 errors, but I believe in sending my best work out. If I don’t take is seriously, why would anyone else?

Do you have any proofreading tips you’d like to share?

Thanks for reading . . .

Swimming with Sharks

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Living the cruising lifestyle presents some exciting opportunities. It only takes a little courage to take advantage.

Compass Cay Marina in the Exuma island chain, Bahamas has a school of Nurse sharks that frequent the marina.

The sharks are used to human interaction, although the marina staff does recommend not putting your hand in a shark’s mouth – duh 🙂

My niece had the guts, I had the camera and off we went. She made me go in the water first. “Just in case,” she said. “It’s your duty as my aunt to sacrifice yourself.”

How could I argue? So I went first, nothing ate me and she came in after.

Here’s the proof we swam with sharks – okay I know they’re Nurse sharks and are harmless, but tell that to the adrenaline rushing through my body.

My brave niece and her new friends.
My brave niece and her new friends.

Point of View: Describing Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

When you are writing in a character’s point of view, can you describe that character’s face or part of themselves that they can’t see?

For example, in a scene written in Ian’s point of view, can the following be written?

Ian blushed and his freckles turned orange.

My thoughts . . . Ian might know he’s blushing from the physical sensation, but how could he know his freckles turned orange?

So if you agree that this isn’t the right way to convey the image, then what?

Perhaps I could:

–       Have another a character make fun of the orange freckles.

–       Have another character say, “I know you’re lying. You’re freckles are turning orange.”

Do you have any ideas how to get around this?

Thanks for reading . . .

How Do You Deal With Thoughts in Your Novel?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

Do you use one of the three choices listed below:

  1. Write the thought in italics.
  2. Write the thought followed by a comma and ‘she thought.’
  3. Write the thought and assume your POV is strong enough for the reader to know whose thought it is.

I’ve listed an example of each option below.

Let me set the scene: Two women are running from an encroaching forest fire and one of them (Nora) is nine months pregnant.

Here are the examples:

  1. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”
  2. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good, she thought. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”
  3. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”

Which one do you think is best?

And can an author use all three within a novel?

I’d love to hear your opinion on this one.

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Cruising and Blogging

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

As we travel through the Exuma islands, we get a lot of this . . .

Bubble Baths at Compass Cay
Bubble Baths at Compass Cay

But not a lot of internet.

I can blog ahead of time and upload my posts — as long as I’m organized.

I can usually find a connection that’s strong enough to support an email connection, but not strong enough to post or reply to comments.

I love to get comments on my blog, and I try to respond to each one, so I have to say it can be frustrating when I receive a comment via email, know it’s on my blog and I can’t respond.

I guess like many, I’ve become accustomed to the immediacy of our lives and when I don’t have it, I feel disconnected.

Then I remember where I am and what I’m doing and laugh at myself. Life is pretty good in the Bahamas.

Thanks for reading . . .

Canadian spelling?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 9 Comments

If you’re a Canadian writer and spell the Canadian, I’d love to know what you do about a forty-two inch flat screen television.

Canadian’s use the metric system, so should it be a 106.68 centimetres? Or maybe 1.0668 metres?

Both seem rather silly to me.

I think using inches is okay in this case.

Any opinions?

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Writing: Speeding up a Scene

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

So you want to put your scene into overdrive? Here’s one way to work on it.

I recently read the opening scene in CJ Lyons’ Nerves of Steel. It’s a fast paced scene that takes the reader along for a bumpy ride.

I wanted to know what made this scene speed along like a comet crossing sky.

I reread the scene, looking at each word very carefully. And it seems to me, the verb choice drives the speed.

CJ Lyons uses action verbs. She doesn’t use uncommon verbs that take a reader out of the story, but she does use specific verbs representing movement.

Here are some of them:

  • Thundered
  • Chopping
  • Gusting
  • Tugged
  • Tore
  • Shredding
  • Ricocheting

You get the idea, so if you think your scene is slow, why not check the verbs and see if they are fast?

What do you do to make your scene rip?

Thanks for reading . . .

Location, Location, Location: Details for a Manuscript

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Do you create your location first or do you write a scene first?

For a novel, I decide on the location before I start writing. My first three novels take place in a fictitious ski resort in British Columbia, Canada. The fourth novel takes place in the Bahamas. I chose the location first because I wanted to write about people who live in isolated places.

Some scenes dictate a location, but for others, I might write the scene and then chose a location. I keep track of locations in a spreadsheet. This helps me avoid using one place to often. Believe it or not, in a ski resort not everything happens on the mountain.

If I have a scene written and haven’t chosen a location, I do this by looking at the mood of the scene. Is is romantic, frightening, funny, awkward?  I think about where in my created world the scene will have the greatest impact. Then I add the details.

When reviewing a manuscript, I check for the empty stage syndrome. Did I get carried away with action or dialogue and not describe the location? If I did, I work on describing the location. Sometimes at this stage I drop a clue or a red herring based on location.

Do you decide on location first or write a scene first?

Thanks for reading . . .

Kickstart Your Writing Session

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Writer’s block? I don’t’ believe it.

Sometimes it’s very difficult to put words on page, and there are too many reasons for this to mention them all.

Here’s one quick trick I use when my brain is stuck.

First I remind myself that if I was at work, there is no excuse for not getting your job done. You can’t exactly say to your boss, “The numbers for the spreadsheet you wanted by three just didn’t appear, so I didn’t create the spreadsheet,” now can you?

So why make excuses for writing?

Having decided that giving myself the easy way out is not an option, what do I do?

I spend 10 minutes working on a crossword puzzle. It makes my brain think of words. They may not be words I would write with, but more often than not, a word triggers an idea, and then before I know if, I’m off and typing.

Doesn’t work every time, but when it does, it’s a good feeling.

Any tricks you want to share?

Thanks for reading . . .