I wasn’t an English major, but I never had a problem with stringing words together and making coherent, easy to read sentences. I know most of the rules, but I also know those rules are meant to be broken, especially if you are writing fiction.

The purpose of English Teacher grammar is to understand how to create sanitized, standardized, easy to understand, impersonal, inoffensive writing. If you’re looking for a job writing pamphlets for the government, instructional manuals, or news reports, then that’s the way to go.

These rules aren’t meant for fiction. That does not mean your story shouldn’t be grammatically and structurally sound. We are talking about styles here, not mechanics.

Fiction writing is nonstandardized, complex, personal, and occasionally offensive. It is the best way to reach into your readers head and show him your words. In order to bring your voice to life and get your world on the…

It’s A Beautiful Ending

Regina Puckett

I’ve always looked forward to Christmas Day

All of its hustle, bustle and maddening fray

I love the happiness on my loved ones faces

I love the gift giving and all of its many graces

I love the lights twinkling and jingle bells ringing

I love the children’s laughter and off-key singing

I love the joy of gathering the family together

I love the frost covered trees and cold weather

But above all – I love the way we all become one

It’s a beautiful ending to when the old year is done

Writers all have their own quirks. They all have different ways of coping with stress or “writers block”. For me, writers block has never been a real thing in a way that I couldn’t write anything at all, but it has been a thing insofar as what I could write joyfully. I love writing non-fiction and I love research, but writing fiction has always been the thing that I do that makes me happier than doing anything else. Fiction writers hold the universe in their hands, and they can literally do anything with it. I think it comes with a responsibility though. Good fiction can change minds, and sometimes it can change lives.

I’ve always had a broad spectrum of genres that I enjoy to read in both fiction and non-fiction. History, good literary works, humour, and horror. In my teens there was a short sojourn into soppy romances but…

by Daniella Levy

There it is.

That feedback you’ve been so terrified to receive. The one that makes all your self-doubt demons shriek: “YOU SEE?! WE TOLD YOU SO!!!”

You know which one I’m talking about.

Your manuscript needs to be perfect. There is no place for misspellings, grammar errors, poor formatting, or plain sloppy writing. Once you’ve corrected the problems, present your manuscript in the standard industry format.

Those of you who have been around for a while know what I’m talking about. Newbies, not so much. So here’s the deal.

• Double-space.
• Use a 12-point, Times New Roman font.
• Use 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and both sides of the page.
• Use white paper; do not bind it (if you’re submitting a physical copy).
• Make sure your last name and the page number are on each page.
• Do not include illustrations.
• Put the name of your novel, your name, and your contact information (phone number and email address are sufficient) on the title page.
• Don’t bother with a copyright notice–it’s meaningless and the mark of an amateur.
• Submit your manuscript electronically as a PDF…

on Just Publishing Advice:

There are many reasons you might to want to convert epub to pdf

While there are many free online converters, there is a much better way to convert any ebook file format to a pdf file.

Online ebook converters generally give you only one file format you can upload for converting. On top of that, the quality of the conversion may not be perfect.

Wouldn’t it be better if you could convert all of your ebook formats and get a perfect pdf file every time? Well, you can, and you can even edit your ebooks before converting.

And it is free to convert all these files and more.

Continue reading HERE

Hi, SE Readers. Joan here today. I’ve been in the editing mode of late. It never ceases to amaze me how many mistakes I find. I edit, then I send pages to my critique partners thinking I’ve got a pretty clean copy. They find other things I’ve missed. So, I edit some more.

Whether you are traditionally published or an Indie author, self-editing is an absolute must. There is no substitute for hiring a professional editor, but there are a few tips writers can do before submitting that manuscript to an editor, publisher, or even beta readers.

Look for “crutch” words

Every author tends to rely on what I call crutch words. These are different for every writer, but reading through your finished manuscript will enable you to become familiar with your own. As you review, look for repeated words or phrases. Some of my crutch words are well, perhaps…