A 'Word' in your ear

Editing  - The Wrong Message

I will keep this short and sweet. Every writer, when looking to publish, should be edited. Unfortunately not everyone can afford an editor and even when they can, the chances of getting to a break-even point financially are pretty slim. For those who cannot format or design an eye catching cover the costs go on and on. It is a slog but most of us either pay up or learn very quickly.

So I get very annoyed when I see adverts from so called experts telling us that the only way to success is through the many services they have to offer at affordable fees designed especially for your budget. What a load of rubbish Their services are not as good as they say they are and the fees are outrageous. I would love to hear from anyone who has fallen foul of these companies so I can post their experiences here to warn others. We work hard at our craft for the love of writing – not to line some unscrupulous dick head entrepreneur’s pockets.

My advice is to read other writers blogs, especially writers with several publications to their name. A lot of them offer very reasonable services to boost their income and they provide excellent service. They know what the writer is looking for and appreciate there is a budget.

Here’s one writer and editor I would recommend. Apart from providing great service she has also given me advice and there is nothing like talking and listening to advice from someone who cares about writing.

CEO of The Story Mint - Suraya Dewing - www.thestorymint.com

Want to say something?  Write to me at ray@raystoneauthor.com and let me know what you think.

A Book for the Tool Box

The actual publication of a book is the end product of two to three years hard work by an author and an editor/proof reader and a publisher. During the writing process an author needs advice and practical help on a wide variety of subjects before he or she gets to the point where an edit is required.

Planning and creating a plot, characterisation and dress, scene settings, period, tense, genre, etc. etc. Through each of these planning stages the writer needs information and advice and where to get it. It may take as long as a year to gather and make notes to produce a scene by scene synopsis; a building block from which the story plot takes shape in the author’s mind as he or she starts to write.

Each book reviewed has been selected with one purpose in mind. Keep everything simple and easy to understand.

Book Description from Amazon             Author - Noah Lukeman

Release date: January 20, 2000 | ISBN-10: 068485743X | ISBN-13: 978-0684857435 0

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF REJECTION, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.

The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as

* A weak opening hook

* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs

* Flat or forced metaphors or similes

* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue

* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings

* Uneven pacing and lack of progression

With exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection. The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful – level

Amazon print - $11.89 – also available on Kindle

I have this book sitting on my desk next to the dictionary. It is the only reference book I have nearly worn out. No matter whether you are a seasoned writer or a novice, this book should be on your desk.

Highly recommended

http://www.amazon.com/First-Five-Pages-Writers-Rejection/dp/068485743X/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395936333&sr=1-1&keywords=the+first+five+pages

Follow the serial - these serials are written by authors who follow one another to write the chapters. It is great fun and a great mix of experience and creativity.   

Here is the preface for The Choir. Click on the link below, click on the serial page of The Story Mint. Now scroll down the serial list and choose this or another serial to follow.

The Choir - from The Story Mint writers.

This preface was written by Ken Burns NZ

Being in a choir is the same as being on a soccer team.  The men who sing baritone are in defence. They can see what is coming their way. Baritones have the most fun after drinking and tell loads of jokes.  Tenor is midfield, so are anxious and annoying. Tenors just want a bit of everything. They are the power players. Altos are on the wing and female.  That is the periphery, so they provide the bawdiest jokes to get attention. Sopranos are in a world on their own, like any striker.  Highly strung and attention seeking when everything goes well. Kiri Te Kanawa is the most vivid example.

Frank knows this from his long time friend, Kathy, who invited him into her choir social circle. They sing gospel, R&B and pop.  He’s divorced and has no life outside of fire fighting.  Choir, like sport, is a great equaliser for social networking.  Frank only sees in himself an ability to sing in the shower but found being in a group with people of different abilities gives him more confidence to take on the public persona of a performer.

The choir’s name is, “Come as you Are”.  This is based on a Nirvana song from the ground breaking album “Nevermind.”  The final year’s performance will be at the children’s hospital to raise the spirits of those in need and their families.

Kathy has always been a doer not a talker about getting things done.  The debate about an end of year gig just got her into action.  Her everyday philosophy of “less talk, just do it” made her contact the hospital via email.   The children’s ward is more than happy to let “Come as you Are” bring their joy.  This is a location Frank is looking forward to.  He is a big fan of children and families but a bigger fan of women in uniform: like nurses.  Nurses are also great fans of fire-fighters.

The choir practices every second Monday with the location shared around by the members’ houses.  Kathy loves being in someone else’s place, looking at how they live and what they have for everyday life.  Today it is Frank’s turn.  Never anxious about keeping a tidy house, Frank feels a bit pressured while doing the vacuuming and dusting.  Cleaning the toilet is his least favourite activity but he knows he has to do it for Ruth, who runs the choir.

Never one to operate by committee, Ruth loves to be in charge and hates being challenged.  As a soprano, she can sing well but is a bit mental like the other highly strung singers.

Frank puts wine glasses on the table next to the water jug and tumblers.

There is an almighty crash as his house shakes.  Fifteen  seconds later, Ruth barges into the lounge, takes Frank by the shoulders and with her very beery breathe says

“I’ve just smashed into the back of your car. I’ve dodged an alcohol breath testing bus just around the corner.”

By Ken Burns NZ (Writers: . Cocobaby 2. Ken Burns  3.  roseyn 4. Blogcrossroads 5.Ray Stone  6. Ayjay  7. Iliena Bosu  8.  Suraya Dewing)

Start reading

:http://www.thestorymint.com/serials/choir#sthash.Im6YqKQg.dpuf

THE WORD

Infix    Audio Pronunciation\IN-fiks\

DEFINITION

 noun

 : a derivational or inflectional affix appearing in the body of a word

 EXAMPLES

The Philippine language of Tagalog adds infixes such as "-um-" and "-su-" to verbs to convey different tenses and voices.

 "As Mark Peters writes, [The Simpsons character Ned] Flanders is 'hyper-holy,' and his infixes sanctify a typically profane process. He is also gratingly cheerful … and diddly perfectly conveys his sunny attitude: murder and dilemma sound a lot less forbidding when infixed as murdiddlyurder and dididdlyemma…." — From Michael Adams' 2009 book Slang: The People’s Poetry

DID YOU KNOW?

Like prefixes and suffixes, infixes are part of the general class of affixes ("sounds or letters attached to or inserted within a word to produce a derivative word or an inflectional form"). Infixes are relatively rare in English, but you can find them in the plural forms of some words. For example, "cupful," "spoonful," and "passerby" can be pluralized as "cupsful," "spoonsful," and "passersby," using "s" as an infix. Another example is the insertion of an (often offensive) intensifier into a word, as in "fan-freakin'-tastic." Such whole-word insertions are sometimes called "infixes," though this phenomenon is more traditionally known as "tmesis."

The tourists are back

Yes, the sun is out and the warm weather is turning once again to the upper 70's - low 80's. I have a spot marked out on the balcony where I know the breeze will miss me and the sun will not get in my eyes. I have the table and chairs ready and a power socket close by for the computer and a fan. Writing is a lonely vocation but that should not mean we do not enjoy the scenery or the comfort of Scotch and ice on a balmy afternoon while being creative. For the next few months the island will echo to the laughter and late night nightclubs (Elvis impersonators included) and the hoot of the small electric train engines that tow carriages of tourists around the town. Just off the shoreline, fishing boats will be gathering nets and filling the holds of factory ships taking baby Tuna back to Japan. Summer here is a busy period that keeps the Republic's treasury topped up with some of the island's main source of revenue. All in all this si a wonderful little place to live and I wish we could use it as a template for the rest of the world. Malta, despite your growing pains within the EU and all the faults you have with bureaucracy, I love you.

For submissions of articles or fiction, please contact ray@raystoneauthor.com