Christian Writing Tips, Self-Editing Tips, Christian literature, Writing History and Technique.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Other New Year's resolution that changes the world




My second New Year’s resolution is about patience.* And here are some self-publishing tips to help you get through to publishers before you run out of it…




You may be sending a manuscript many times over, but if it looks unprofessional it will land straight in the slush pile. Here's how to avoid the slush pile:-


Step 1


The difference between a published manuscript and an un-published manuscript is about ten drafts,’ so said a guru in the literary world. While you’re patiently working on those, don’t forget these vital points:-


The editing process takes place with your left brain hemisphere, and it loves to argue with your right! So….


· once the words are down, wait until you are sufficiently out of your creative brain and can come to your work with new eyes. The experts suggest six weeks later!

· Ensure formatting is consistent. The first paragraph in a creative work is flush left. The rest are about 3 Em’s in.

· Your Header should contain the name of your work and page numbering. The Footer should say ‘mf’, short for ‘more follows’.


· Your title page should contain the genre in the LH corner and your name & address top right; the title is centred with ‘by’ & your name. Rights requested are at the bottom left and word count bottom right.


More on self-editing at my other blog:- www.scribewm.wordpress.com


*Why Patience?

As Thomas Edison said, "Life's greatest accomplishments are those that at first seem impossible."

(Wendy McNeice is a writer, editor, inspirational speaker and tutor and a one-time history teacher and information adviser. Find more writing tips at http://www.scribeofspirit.com . Read her latest book As the Eagle Flies the King, based around the remarkable true story of the release of the Israelites from ancient Babylon by a Persian king. http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60604-339-4 . http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Flies-King-Wendy-McNeice/dp/1606043390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223864553&sr=8-1 )
Permission is granted to distribute this material provided the following statement appears on any distributed copy: © W. McNeice http://www.scribeofspirit.com
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Dec 7th…

is Good Neighbourliness Day in Turkmenistan. Hey! you say, is there even such a word as Neighbourliness?

According to the Cambridge International Dictionary, “the lack of ‘good neighbourliness’ has led to a breakdown in the traditional life of the community.”

Is this a word doomed to become obsolete?


Old Words still in Usage
Words relating to social manners have always had nicknames with each new generation. Here are a few words used as far back as the 14th century and still in use by our elders today.

Rabble…tumultuous crowd of people (1513)
Rascal…people of the lowest class (1330) Today: a term of endearment by elders
Crush…infatuated with (1884) “Have a crush on” (1913)
Shirty…disheveled, as in anger, bad-tempered (1814)
Hot-headed…ungovernable (1616)
Beau…suitor (1665)


But would you dream of using the word ‘neighbourliness’ in a sentence?


Where to Find your Best Words



The definitive online source to go to if you had to check is the Onelook Online dictionary http://www.onelook.com/ .

  • Dictionary Indexes
    Michael Quinion has the best index I’ve seen of online dictionaries at http://www.worldwidewords.org/wordlinks.htm including such gems as the Australian National Dictionary, The Jargon File (for net heads) and The Luciferous Logolepsy for obscure words and various slang dictionaries.



    By now you would have discovered that neighbourliness is in fact a word in usage. But for how long?



    Perhaps we need a sociologist to answer that one! Social Scientist Alvin Toffler says we’re on the cusp of a new civilization. But in a new civilization where communities are full of people (online) you may never meet, has the very concept of neighbourliness gone out the door? Think about how you can change that today!


    PPST! Here are a few Christian writing communities you could join in the meantime—


Christian Writers Networks Online


International

http://christianwriters.com/forums/usercp.php
http://www.faithwriters.com/
http://www.xalt.co.uk/index.php?i=108&prev=1 (UK based)

For a more complete list, see my next blog...

For more writing tips go to my website at http://www.scribeofspirit.com/

Permission is granted to distribute this material provided the following statement appears on any distributed copy: © W. McNeice www.scribeofspirit.com
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Blogging - History and art

Welcome to my Ceilidh...
We writers are the ultimate tinkers. We constantly borrow and rearrange words, images, sentence constructions and whole styles just as the nineteenth-century tinker created implements, pots and pans and all manner of iron, silver and brass objects, often from recycled materials.
It may surprise many, but the majority of twenty-first-century writers have simply tinkered with either Ernest Hemingway’s sentences, or, in the case of the more idiosyncratic, James Joyce’s stream of consciousness.


Because Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce set the benchmark for modern writing.


And every twenty-first-century blogger is not just simply redoing what Justin Hall first did with his personal tours of the web in 1994 [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Hall ; we bloggers are also recreating an ancient tradition in a new way—the art of ceilidh…as my Irish and Scottish ancestors call it—of gathering together and telling stories by the new web-hearth.
Join my ceilidh.
So what makes a good blog?

  • Blogs should be current


  • Blogs should have good research


  • Blogs should be personable in style.

I'll try to be..."all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 1 Corinthians 9:22.


http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60604-339-4 . http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Flies-King-Wendy-McNeice/dp/1606043390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223864553&sr=8-1
Permission is granted to distribute this material provided the following statement appears on any distributed copy: © W. McNeice, mentor, tutor, editor, http://www.scribeofspirit.com/