Wednesday, December 31, 2014

End of Year Romance Statistics



According to the 2014 Nielsen Romance Buyer Survey, the top ten tropes for romance books are:
1. Friends to lovers
2. Soul mates/fated mates
3. Second chance at love
4. Secret romance
5. First Love
6. Strong heroines
7. Reunited lovers
8. Love triangle
9. Sexy millionaire/billionaire
10. Sassy heroine

Some facts:
Romance fiction generated $1.079 billion in publisher revenue in 2013.
9513 romance fiction ISBNs were published in in 2013.
Romance ranks #2 in publisher revenue for adult fiction.
40% of romance is ebooks
84% of romance buyers are female.
The biggest single age group of romance readers is 30-54.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.
The photo at the top of this blog was taken in 2008 at a romance convention. These are authors I worked with at the time.


Friday, December 26, 2014

Science Shows Something Surprising About People Who Love to Write



No matter the quality of your prose, the act of writing itself leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms. In a 2005 study on the emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing, researchers found that just 15 to 20 minutes of writing three to five times over the course of the four-month study was enough to make a difference.
By writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events, participants were significantly more likely to have fewer illnesses and be less affected by trauma. Participants ultimately spent less time in the hospital, and enjoyed lower blood pressure than their counterparts.
James W. Pennebaker has been conducting research on writing to heal for years at the University of Texas at Austin. He said that expressive writing allows people to take a step back and evaluate their lives. Instead of obsessing unhealthily over an event, they can focus on moving forward. By doing so, stress levels go down and health correspondingly goes up. From long-term health improvements to short-term benefits like sleeping better, it's official: Writers are doing something right.

More details of the study are at: http://mic.com/articles/98348/science-shows-writers-have-a-serious-advantage-over-the-rest-of-us

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Friday, December 19, 2014

People in thirty countries were asked about their reading habits. Guess who reads the most?




The average Indian citizen reads 10:42 hours per week. Korea fell at the opposite end of the spectrum just below Taiwan and Japan, indicating that the average person there reads 3:06 hours per week. The United States, which fell toward the bottom of the pack, reported that the average person reads 5:42 hours per week.

First of all, countries located in geographic clusters reported similar results. For instance, people in the Asian countries — of India, Thailand, China and the Philippines spend the most time reading.

The southernmost nations, including Venezuela, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and Argentina all recorded similar results: 5:54 to 6:30 hours per week per person.

The Northern European and Middle Eastern countries also reported similar results. Egyptians are reading about 7:30 hours per week and Saudi Arabians are reading about 6:48 hours per week. The Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, France, and Hungary all reported numbers falling in between those of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Another interesting finding was that that group of industrialized, first world countries including Spain, Canada, Germany, the U.S., and Italy reported relatively low rates of reading. The U.S. response of 5:42 hours per week per person tied that of Germany. That rate was also just lower than those of Turkey, Spain, and Canada and just higher than that of Italy.

Finally, the study also showed what genre of books people favor across the world. According to the study, 32% of respondents are reading fantasy books, rendering it the most popular genre

I found this study extremely fascinating. Many Asian nations revere scholars, mystics, intellectual success, which makes it logical that people in those countries read more. Whereas in the west we seem to revere "celebrities" or sportspeople. Presumably, as a group of nations, we're glued to the TV instead of reading.

The full details of the study are at: http://mic.com/articles/52703/can-you-guess-where-in-the-world-people-read-the-most

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

40 books every child should read



This was a newspaper article I saw with suggestions of books for Christmas gifts for kids.
Two of these books I’d never heard of, some are wonderful old favorites, and a few are newer arrivals.
The list is missing one I thought should definitely be there, “Good Night, Mr. Tom” by Michelle Magorian.



'The Lion & the Mouse' by Jerry Pinkney, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $17.99.

'Green Eggs and Ham' by Dr Suess, Random House, $9.99.

'Library Lion' by Michelle Knudsen, Candlewick Press, $16.99.

'Bread and Jam' for Frances by Russell Hoban, Harper & Row, $13.99.

'The Polar Express' by Chris Van Allsburg, Houghton Mifflin Co., $16.99.

'The Mitten' by Jan Brett, Spoken Arts, $15.99

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak, Harper & Row, $17.99.

'Madeline' by Ludwig Bemelmans, Viking Press, $15.99.

'Strega Nona' by Tomie DePaola, Prentice Hall, $15.99.

'A Bear Called Paddington', Michael Bond, Houghton Mifflin, $19.99.

'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $14.95.

'The Story of Babar' by Jean de Brunhoff, Crocodile Creek, $31.95.

'The Magic Treehouse' series by Mary Pope Osbourne, Random House, $34.99.

'Ramona' series by Beverly Cleary, Listening Library, $22.99.

'Sylvester and the Magic Pebble' by William Steig, Simon & Schuster, $15.99.

'Charlotte's Web' by E.B. White, Harper & Brothers, $15.99.

'Captain Underpants' by Dav Pilkey, Blue Sky Press, $10.99.

'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl, Knopf, $13.99.

'One Crazy Summer' by Rita Williams-Garcia, Amistad, $11.99.

'The Black Stallion' by Walter Farley, Random House, $13.99.

'Island of the Blue Dolphins' by Scott O'Dell, Houghton Mifflin, $13.99.

'The Tale of Despereaux' by Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick Press, $15.99.

'Where the Red Fern Grows' by Wilson Rawls, Doubleday, $13.99.

'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster, Random House, $13.99.

'All-of-a-Kind Family' by Sydney Taylor, Dutton, $25.95.

'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton, Brace & World, $13.99.

'D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths' by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire, Doubleday, $39.95.

'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio, Knopf, $16.99.

'Esperanza Rising' by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Scholastic Press, $13.99.

'Smile' by Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $14.99.

'Harriet the Spy' by Louise Fitzhugh, Harper & Row, $13.99.

'A Series of Unfortunate Events' (1999–2006) by Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events, $16.99.

'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' by Judy Blume, Bradbury Press, $19.99.

'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis, HarperCollins, $13.99.

'The Harry Potter' series (1997–2007 by J.K. Rowling, Levine Books, $16.99 each.

'Bridge to Terabithia' by Katherine Paterson, Crowell, $13.99.

'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak, Knopf, $19.99.

'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' by Anne Brasheres, Random House Children's Books, $16.99.

'The Hunger Games' trilogy (2008–10) by Suzanne Collins, $49.99.

'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green, Dutton Books, $19.95.


For the complete list go to:
http://www.essentialkids.com.au/photogallery/entertaining-kids/parenting-and-childrens-books/40-books-every-child-should-read-20141118-3kmid.html#utm_source=FD&utm_medium=lifeandstylepuff&utm_campaign=40books


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Monday, December 8, 2014

The Most Famous Author From Every US State


A few weeks ago mental Floss blogged on the most famous book in every state of the USA (http://helenwoodallfreelanceediting.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/a-book-for-every-state-in-usa.html).

Now they’ve chosen an author for every state. These are authors who were born in that state, not necessarily ones who lived and wrote there. They said, “We considered the authors’ fame in terms of ubiquity, literally acclaim, and financial success — and awarded bonus points if the author showed state pride by setting their works there.”

What do you think? Do you agree with them?

For the full article see: http://mentalfloss.com/article/60316/most-famous-author-each-state

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Writing rules


Whatever blog or textbook or website you look at about writing will always itemize a lot of rules. Sometimes this is done with great seriousness, and at other times somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But the one thing everyone agrees on is that rules must be obeyed.

When it comes to grammar and spelling, this is basically true. Publishers and agents don’t like misspelled books. Readers find them hard to read and even the ones that enjoy the story hidden under the grammatical errors seldom come back to buy a second book by that author.

The same with formatting. If the formatting distracts the reader too much from the story, the book is basically doomed.

Then there are rules that are just plain weird.
Gooseflesh is one word but goose bumps is two words. Backyard is one word whereas front yard is two words

As far as the rest of the rules go, authors can be much more self directed. You might write very slowly or much faster than other people you know. You might start at the beginning and work your way logically to the end, or write scenes from all over the book as they occur to you. You might plot out and diagram every inch of the book or not have the slightest idea what will happen next until the words appear on the screen. You might sneak out of bed at four in the morning to write in silence, or tap obliviously at the keys as your family entertains the entire soccer team in your office.

Whatever works for you is good. Go with the flow. If it’s working don’t mess with the system just because it doesn’t fit into someone else’s mold. In that sense you are the creator and there are no rules for writing. BICFOK* is all it takes.

*Butt In Chair Fingers On Keyboard

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Digging down into deep POV



According to blogger Rhay Christou, readers are begging for deeper POV, and therefore editors and publishers are asking for it as well. But many authors are unsure of how to deepen their POV.

The aim is for the author to disappear, and for the reader to be immersed in the character’s POV.
One way to do this is to eliminate tags and “thoughts”. This can be difficult as instead of ending up with deep POV the author may end up with a wobbling POV. So first the author must know everything about the character whose POV she’s in at the time.

Let’s pretend the hero is cross with the heroine.
“No,” he yelled.

If you know how he’d react in anger you could go deeper, deleting the tag and adding his reactions.
“No!” He stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

Now the author has the opportunity to go deeper still. Instead of describing how he’s thinking or why he’s upset, that can be shown in his next actions as long as he remains exactly true to his character.
Would he throw something and smash it? Race to the bathroom about to be ill with the pain of yelling at her? The next few lines showing his actions could be genuine deep POV.

To read Rhay’s helpful explanation, see: http://writersinthestormblog.com/2014/10/diving-deep-into-deep-point-of-view/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Thursday, November 13, 2014

A book for every state in USA




Business Insider has chosen what it considers to be the most famous book from each state in America.
I don't think too many people would argue about "Gone With the Wind" or "To Kill a Mockingbird".
But what about some of the others? What do you think?


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Oxford Commas


Back on 29 June 2011, the University of Oxford Writing and Style Guide decided that writers should, “as a general rule”, avoid using the Oxford comma. Have you missed the good old fashioned serial comma at all?

Here’s an explanation from the style guide: “As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write ‘a, b and c’ not ‘a, b, and c’. But when a comma would assist in the meaning of the sentence or helps to resolve ambiguity, it can be used – especially where one of the items in the list is already joined by ‘and’ [for example]: They had a choice between croissants, bacon and eggs, and muesli.”

But although I have Googled far and wide, I find editors, journalists and writers don’t miss it at all. In fact most newspapers and popular fiction killed it off long ago.
But just in case anyone cares…




Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com
Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Reader statistics 2014



The Romance Writers of America commissioned Nielsen to survey romance readers.

Some key things they learned are:
84% of romance book buyers are women.
The largest group is ages 30-54.
64% read romance more than once a month.
53% of print readers and 48% or ebook choose romantic suspense. Contemporary romance is the second biggest category (41%/44%). Historical romance is 34%/33% and erotic romance 33%/42%.

Most important factor when deciding on which romance novel to buy:
(1) The story
(2) The author
(3) Price

Ways romance buyers are most likely to discover new romance authors or titles to read:
(1) Browsing in a bookstore/ online book sites
(2) In person recommendation from people you know

In the last six months, the top activity done in regards to romance reading is searched for a new romance author to read, followed by: received social media updates from favorite authors through either Facebook or Twitter, shared author or book information on social media, offered feedback on romance to others, and participated in discussions online about romance books.

More details about the survey are at: http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=582

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Do you know what these words mean?


Here are some words from everyday speech that are often used incorrectly.

Literally: means something that really happened.

Regularly: something that happens at fixed pre-planned intervals

Factoid: A fun fact that is wrong

Invariably: Something that never changes

Enormity: The extreme scale of something that is bad or wrong.

Refute: To prove something is wrong

Now here are some others that the author might have meant to use correctly but that spellcheck won’t find for you:

Reign/rein
Founder/flounder
Palate/palette
Form/from
Than/then
Casually/causally
Loose/lose
Definitely/defiantly
Juncture/junction

If you need a dictionary to understand what I’m saying, there’s a good one at: www.onelook.com

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

World Dictionary Day


October 16 was World Dictionary Day, and in honor of that momentous occasion “The Huffington Post” published an article about Noah Webster, who they described as “the foremost lexicographer of American English”.

His “American Dictionary” published in 1828 took him twenty-eight years to complete. In preparation he learned twenty-six languages, including Old English, Ancient Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit. The final draft listed and defined seventy thousand words, more than any other dictionary in history. One in every six of Webster's words had never been listed in a dictionary before. He included a whole new vocabulary of emerging Americanisms like squash, skunk, hickory, chowder and applesauce for the very first time. And he took the opportunity to push through his ideas on English spelling reform - some of which took (center, color, honor, ax), and some of which didn't (dawter, wimmen, cloke, tung).

The article lists twenty-six of his more interesting inclusions, one for each letter of the alphabet.

This fascinating story includes daggle-tail, nuncupatory, tardigradous, and rakeshame which I actually recognized from reading Georgette Heyer books.

Okay, click on the link. You know you want to read the rest of these words.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/forgotten-words_b_5985494.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000043&ir=Science

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The passive voice - by zombies



I’ve written about the passive voice before. Here’s a recap for you:

A writer is said to be using passive voice when the subject of the sentence is who it happens to, rather than who dun it. Very occasionally this may be a good way to build up tension in the story, but as a general rule, it slows the story down and lifts the reader out of the action. Therefore it’s best to avoid using it.

The door was opened by the hero as he entered the room.
Seriously, that’s a pretty boring sentence. It’s passive.
The hero opened the door and entered the room.
That’s better.

Better still would be actions showing us how the hero entered the room. Most people open the door first. Did he kick it down? Slam it open? Peek around the corner first to see if the heroine was inside? Any of those would not only be active voice, but much more interesting to read.
Also they show us what happens instead of telling us, which is what the author should be aiming for.

The hero opened the door. He was angry.
Yes, so what.
The hero kicked the door open and raced into the room, fists clenched.
Ah, now we’re with him, wanting to read on.

And now, here’s a neat trick to find out if you’re using the passive voice or not. Rebecca Johnson (no, I don’t know who she is, but she’s amazing!) tweeted that if you can add “by zombies” after the verb, it’s passive voice.

The door was opened… by zombies. Passive voice.
The hero kicked the door open by zombies. No, by zombies doesn’t work, so it’s active.
Thank you, Rebecca!

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com
Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Proofreading





Proofreading is an important step before submitting your book, your report, your synopsis or even just an important email.


An author may be part of a wonderful crit group and be certain there are no consistency errors, POV mistakes or plot holes. But there are still likely to be annoying spelling or grammatical errors that spell check won’t find, and the human eye tends to gloss over. Competent readers tend to see the word they expect to see, which makes it harder to find glitches.

It’s very easy to write a run-on sentence when the book is full of drama and action. But the proofreader slows down her reading to ensure clauses match and modifyers aren’t left dangling. She also checks for comma splices and sentence fragments and other nitty gritty things that may antagonize a reader and take the shine off an otherwise good book/document.


In the olden days a professional proofreader read a document from the bottom of the page to the top. That way the eye isn’t misled into thinking it’s seeing what it assumes will come next. The brain has to actually read the sentence properly.
Another trick is to print out and read a digital document in hard copy, or to scan a hard copy document into the computer and read it electronically. Changing the format helps the brain to engage.

Whatever means you use, do ensure your important document or book is given this final polish before sending it into the world.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Sunday, October 5, 2014

Read the Contract: Caveat Emptor


There's been some trouble in the publishing industry lately and authors discussing contracts so I'm reposting this blog.



Caveat Emptor: Latin, Let the buyer beware. A warning that notifies a buyer that the goods he or she is buying are "as is," or subject to all defects.

Nowhere is this warning more important than when an author signs a contract to publish their book. Now I know that for an author who has been struggling for years to be published, the euphoria of actually being an offered a contract for their book may be overwhelming. So sing, dance, get out the champagne. BUT before you sign the contract READ it. Read every single word. Look at what is there and what isn’t there. Just because your good friend talked her advance up from $1000 to $3000 doesn’t mean you will. Just because she increased her percentage of royalties from 35% to 50% doesn’t mean you will do that either. Especially if you don’t have a dozen bestsellers under your belt already.

Does the company help you promote your book? Do they challenge book piracy? Who pays for cover art and editing? How often do they send out your royalties? Have you heard stories about authors not getting their checks regularly? What happens if the company goes bust? This is very important as companies go belly-up with distressing frequency. Do you automatically get your rights back or not?

Google the company and do some research. You really should have done all this before you submitted your book to that publisher, but if you didn’t, at least do it now before you sign the contract. And if you can’t understand the contract, warning lights should be going off in your brain. Get someone to explain it to you. Whatever happens don’t just sign it and hope it’ll be okay. It’s much better to submit the book somewhere more reputable, or self publish it.

For more details on this topic, check out Writer Beware: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com
Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Words to delete or replace



1. Really.
“She really tightened her sentence.”
“Aw. He’s really the cutest frog ever.”
Deleting “really” doesn’t change the sentence at all. So delete it.

2. Things/Stuff
“I went to the shops for some stuff.”
This tells the reader nothing. Either “I went to the shops” if the shopping is irrelevant to the story, or “I went to the shops and bought bananas.” So now we know the hero likes bananas. Or possibly has a pet orangutan.

3. I think/feel/know/believe
These weaken the sentence. If we’re in someone’s POV we know it’s them doing the thinking and don’t need to be constantly reminded.
“I think you look good in green.” This is weak and tentative.
“You look good in green.” This is a much more powerful sentence.

4. The verb “to be” in passive voice.
This is weak and overly wordy.
“The lily pad had a frog sitting on it.”
“The frog sat on the lily pad.” This is shorter, sharper, better.
Or even
“The frog was sitting on the lily pad.”
“The frog sat on the lily pad” is still better.

5. Very
Very is often used to intensify a weak word. Save yourself the trouble and use one strong word instead.
“Today is very hot.”
Maybe, “Today is scorching.”
Other times it serves no purpose at all and should be deleted.
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” — Mark Twain

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

True heroes do not smirk!



This is a repost of a previous blog because I'm still seeing this word all over everywhere it ought not be.

Warning rant ahead.

Smirk: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/smirk#smirk_4: to smile in an unpleasant way because something bad has happened to someone else, or because you think you have achieved an advantage over them

Now if you don’t believe me, please feel free to go to: http://onelook.com/?w=smirk&ls=a where 36 other dictionaries will all tell you a smirk is a cruel, unkind, nasty kind of smile.

Yet in every second romance novel I read, the hero smirks at the heroine. Often he smirks at her in almost every chapter of the book.
Ladies, read that definition of smirk.
Now, would any self respecting heroine want a hero like that?
I think not.
A true hero smiles.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/smile#smile_4: to raise the corners of your mouth when you are happy, pleased, or being friendly, or when you think something is funny

If you need a synonym try grin, laugh, or even beam, or look amused. But please, save all that smirking for the villain.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com
Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Why writers make bad decisions



At RWA a few months ago Sylvia Day gave a keynote speech entitled, “Dream Big. Plan Smart.”
She began by listing the changes to the industry over the past decade. Most writers can recite a list of publishers who’ve failed or quit, and of authors caught in the middle. She also pointed out something that I think is vital.
Writing is a business. Authors need to treat their writing as professionals. That means the decisions an author makes need to be done with her head. An author writes with her heart, but she needs to manage her business with her head.
Then she gave three reasons why writers make bad decisions. (The key points are hers. The examples and explanations are mine.)

1. They’re afraid of failing, of success, and of making changes. The world is continually changing and authors need to accept that. I don’t care if your second grade teacher told you good handwriting would get you anywhere. I guarantee that if you send in a handwritten manuscript it’ll be rejected.

2. Writers want everyone to like them and their book. No matter what you write someone is going to hate it. Write what you want to write.

3. If you write good books and learn from your mistakes you’ll bounce back every time. There’s more than one way to WRITE a book (plotting, pantsing etc). There’s more than one way to PUBLISH a book (print, digital, audio, indi etc).

She closed with, “Dream big. There is no dream too big. Read often. Write well. And plan smart.”
That’s excellent advice.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Friday, September 12, 2014

Self editing checklist



Grammar Girl has posted a blog with a list of things writers should check. It’s excellent. Well worth paying attention to.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/grammar-girls-editing-checklist

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Seven Books Every Writer Should Read




Allison Vesterfelt has written a great blog on what she considers are the seven books every writer should read. A couple of them might surprise you. One of them is one of my particular favorites, by Grammar Girl (aka Mignon Fogarty).

The books she lists are; “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron, “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott, “Thinking Write” by Kelly L. Ston, “Why We Write” edited by Meredith Maran, “The Story Within” by Laura Oliver, “Zen and the Art of Writing” by Ray Bradbury, and “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Every Writer” by Mignon Fogarty.
For her reasoning and the full article, go here: http://allisonvesterfelt.com/books-every-writer-should-read/


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Five story mistakes to avoid


1. Overdoing symbolism or themes. Let them speak for themselves. Don’t hit your reader over the head with them. Your theme doesn’t need to be underscored in very chapter or by every character.

2. Trying too hard. You’re writing a book. You want the readers to be hooked by the plot and the characters, not having to stop and look up a dictionary to find out what words mean.

3. Plot flaws. Every scene should move the story forward. There needs to be a reason for it and the reader needs to be able to understand that reason. On the other hand, if a particular item is going to be needed later in the book, make sure you’ve already mentioned it earlier. Don’t let it just magically appear in the nick of time.

4. Hook not gimmick. Your opening hook should not just be a gimmick. It should be an intrinsic part of the story.

5. Don’t hide key information from the readers hoping to create suspense. They need to understand what’s happening to remain interested in the book.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Sunday, August 24, 2014

The blurb is all about the hook



Michaelbrent Collings said it well: The only purpose of the back blurb is to raise a question that can ONLY BE ANSWERED when the reader BUYS and FINISHES the book.
It seems as though I’ve read far too many blurbs lately that tell me too much. They name too many characters and give me way too much information on how the plot will turn out. We all know that a true romance story always has a happy ending. But the readers still want the hint, the possibility, the fear that in this book these characters won’t be able to solve their problems before time runs out.
The whole point of the blurb is to hook the reader, not to tell the story. The book tells the story. Blurbs should be short. In the olden days they were three very brief paragraphs. One about the heroine, one about the hero and the third about the plot. These days they might only be one paragraph.
The only things you need in the blurb are the genre (readers get cross if they think it’s a paranormal and it turns out to be historical), the mood (spooky, suspenseful, lighthearted), and the hook (that’s why they’ll buy the book).


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The death of grammar and punctuation?


For all of you who hate the pedantic type of person (like an editor for instance) who insists on inserting a comma before a vocative (a what?) and correcting you when you misuse their/there/they’re, The Big Idea has an article suggesting we clean up the English language and remove all these confusing words and those people continually use wrongly or misspell.

To read some pros and cons on this idea go to:
http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/trends/blogs/the-big-idea/the-death-of-grammar-and-punctuation-20140606-39mdv.html

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

A writer’s exit strategy


An extremely punchy article every author or aspiring author needs to read.

http://www.theauthorshipprogram.com/2014/07/what-every-writer-should-do.html


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Sunday, August 10, 2014

More commonly confused or misused words


Irregardless and unthaw: These are not words. The words are regardless and thaw.

Bring and take: People bring things toward you and take things away from you.

Loose and lose: Loose means not tied down. Lose is when you can’t find something.

Borrow and lend: The person doing the giving lends and the person receiving something borrows it.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Smashwords’ advice for Indie Authors



The full article is here, with links to download their slideshow.
http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/07/2014-smashwords-survey-reveals-new.html

But if you just want the headlines they are:

$2.99 and $3.99 are the sweet spots for most of the bestsellers. Free still works great, but it's losing some mojo.

Readers prefer longer ebooks.

Preorders yield sales advantage.

Series yield sales advantage.

Best-performing series have longer books.

Series that have free series starters earn more money for authors than series that do not.

Non-fiction earns more at higher prices.

Be cautious. Survey results are based on averages.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Things that will doom your book



Waiting for inspiration: Solution: The only way to get a book written is with BICFOK (Butt in Chair. Fingers on Keyboard) Just write. You can’t fix a blank page!

Fears and doubts: Solution: Yes, your book might be rejected, but first you have to write it. BICFOK works well here.

Spelling, grammar and punctuation are boring: Solution: So ignore them until you’ve finished your first draft. Once that draft is down then tidy it up.

If your book is rejected tell everyone how horrible the agent/publisher/critic is all over social media. This will guarantee any other book you write is also rejected. Solution: Always act professionally in public. Feel free to yell, cry and eat chocolate in private. Then fix the book and resubmit it.

Self-publish your book the day you finish writing it: Solution: Or you could be sensible and get it critiqued, edited and polished first. Everyone needs a critical eye on their work before putting it out in the world.

Give up: Solution: Most successful writers were rejected many times before they were published. BICFOK and keep writing, polishing and submitting.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Writing by hand helps learning to read



Research suggests handwriting skills help children to read by “writing down” what they are learning in terms of spelling and sentence construction, similar to note-taking in other subject areas. It is “learning by doing” to an extent not possible with phones and tablets that auto-complete and auto-correct on behalf of the user. From a typographic perspective, handwriting provides us with the ability to see letters as shapes with form, weight, texture and space and this facilitates ease of reading by being able to form and identify letters that are clearly distinguishable from each other.

US psychologist Karin James at Indiana University found that the “doing” part of drawing letters by hand increases activity in three areas of a child’s brain that adults use when they read and write. Handwriting enables children to generate more words and more ideas.

Since children also need to know how to use technology, handwriting shouldn’t be seen as an either/or situation but both are needed equally for children to develop.

For the full study see: http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/07/why-handwriting-still-matters-in-the-digital-era/


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Word crimes

Are you still confused about grammar? Here's Weird Al Yankovic's take on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc&feature=youtu.be


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

How to avoid clichés and melodrama



Each book you write should be fresh, new and different. If you have ten books they should not be the same story told ten different ways.

Resist the lure of stereotypes. Real people are much more interesting, and much harder to write.

Tell your own story. Don’t try to rewrite someone else’s.

You do have to keep the story moving, but don’t rush. Give the reader detail so they understand and relate to the characters and the situation.

Conflict doesn’t have to be sensational. Ordinary lives with the problems set out so the reader relates to them work fine. Avoid gratuitous violence and melodrama.

Your characters need to grow, develop, and change. The reader needs to see this happen and understand how and why it happens. That makes them want to keep reading.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.



Monday, July 7, 2014

Resume writing


In my freelance editing, from time to time I edit CVs, resumes, and other professional documents. Here are some tips.

It’s not all about your grade average. You need to showcase all your strengths and abilities.

Keep it to under two pages. One page might not be enough to do it properly, but more than two probably won’t be read.

Link your accomplishments to your experience. Let them see what you did.

Don’t just write a resume and send it to everyone. Target your resume and your experience to each job you’re applying for.

Be aware potential employers are likely to check your Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc. Make sure employment dates and so on all match. Also consider taking down those pictures of you at a party drunk and half naked.

Employers value integrity and honesty. Don’t add in white lies (or big lies either) as they may well come back to bite you.

Ensure there are no typos and spelling errors. An employer will think if you can’t even get your CV correct you won’t care enough to do his job properly either.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Spelling bloopers


For those of you who think spelling doesn’t really matter, everyone makes errors, no one cares, to some extent you’re right. Plenty of people don’t care, or maybe they don’t know what you wrote is wrong. But there are still others willing to post your errors over the internet. Which will give those of us who can spell a laugh.

WARNING: Swearing and bad language as well as typos and idiocy.

For example:

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2014/05/21/the-25-worst-best-spelling-mistakes-on-twitter/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/19-people-who-took-on-the-english-language-and-lost?bffb

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Punctation marks you never knew existed

Okay authors, raise your hand if you’ve ever wished for punctuation marks that don’t exist. Now raise those hands for all the times you’ve written ?! (or !?) and the editor has put a red line through it or a comment bubble telling you to “Choose one. You can’t have both.”
Well there is a thing called an Interrobang which is both. It’s just that modern keyboards don’t include it. However I suspect most editors won’t accept it. But you could always give it a go.


How often have you written a text message or a Facebook comment and wished there was a sarcasm font? Well there is. There’s a punctuation mark called the Snark which has been around since the sixteenth century. I reckon it’s time to dust it off and start using it again.


For a whole bunch of weird punctuation marks you never knew existed go to:
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/punctation-marks-you-never-knew-existed/story-fniym874-1226770668091

Have fun

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Overusing superlatives



The whole point of a superlative is that it indicates this is as extreme as the situation can be. Take that old trio, good, better, best.
Green is good. Frogs are better. But green frogs are the best. You cannot have bester, or more better. Best is as good as it gets. And for wordsmiths among you, the literal translation of the archaic word “bettermost” is “best”.

Littering your writing with superlatives just erodes and devalues their effect. “Everything is Awesome” might be a catchy title for a kids’ movie, but even in fiction if everything is awesome, awesome starts to translate as pretty average.

Now think of words like amazing, staggering, flabbergasting, iconic, unique. Would your hero really be staggered (lose his balance, fall over with shock) if your heroine enjoyed eating chocolate? Probably not. It wouldn’t be any of the other superlatives you could think of either, although your hero might be happy he’d thought to give it to her.

Tone down the superlatives. Save them for occasions that truly are outstanding. SHOW the readers how happy/surprised/or whatever the characters are instead of eroding the language into a place where everyday ordinariness is coated with wanton hyperbole.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Bob Mayer on writing for a living



Bob Mayer has written an absolutely brilliant article about making a living by writing. It ought to be compulsory reading for every writer, aspiring writing and reader.
Go. Read it. Now!

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/so-you-want-to-make-a-living-writing-13-harsh-truths/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Pronunciation Part 2: For Advanced Pronouncers



Here's a challenge for you:

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!
– The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

And for those who love place names, how many of these can you get?

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/tonguetwisting-towns-of-nsw-can-you-pronounce-pallamallawa-bermagui-or-nyngan/story-fnii5s3x-1226945720927

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.



Saturday, June 7, 2014

Pronouncing words


If you can’t pronounce it correctly, you probably won’t spell it correctly either.

Remember Sarah Palin’s “refudiate”? But there are a lot of words people commonly mispronounce, and if they’re spoken incorrectly, most likely they’ll be spelled wrongly as well.
How many people do you know who say “aks” instead of ask, eckspresso instead of espresso, and eckcetra instead of etcetera?

Here are some other commonly mispronounced words:
Affidavid instead of affidavit
Cannidate instead of candidate
Irregardless instead of regardless.
Libel when you mean liable.
Miniture instead of miniature
Perogative instead of prerogative
Revelant instead of relevant
Triathalon instead of triathlon (many people add an extra “a”)
Upmost instead of utmost
Pronunciation is often mispronounced as “pronounciation”.
Hyperbowl” rather than Hyperbole
And for Melbournians Essadon instead of Essendon for the suburb and football team.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.



Monday, June 2, 2014

11 Book Sequels You Probably Didn't Know Existed


Sometimes after you finish reading a book you just can’t wait to read the sequel, or the next one in the series. Finding out it’s a year away from publication, or even worse, that the author hasn’t written it yet, can be horrible.

Even worse, of course, is when Hollywood makes a sequel or a spinoff that is so bad you wish you could unsee it.

Mental Floss has compiled a list of eleven sequels to famous books, but these are sequels that either people have seldom heard of, or that pretty much no one read.

How many books about Tom Sawyer do you know about? Have you read the sequels to “Little Women”? Find out all these and more at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/12764/11-book-sequels-you-probably-didnt-know-existed

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Fascinating British slang terms



Thirty-six fascinating British slang phrases with their meanings. Some date back to Roman times, to the navy, Aesop’s fables and Shakespeare. Some you will recognize, some you may guess, but it’s well worth a read.
Blackmail, Go with the flow, Let the cat out of the bag, and many more.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/36-unexpected-origins-of-everyday-british-phrases


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The rise and fall of Harlequin



This is an incredibly fascinating article and about the rise and fall of Harlequin. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/05/what-happened-to-harlequin-romances.html

The line that says it all to me is, “Still, according to Digital Book World, in 2013, there were ninety-nine self-published e-book best-sellers. Harlequin, in comparison, only had twenty-one.”

Will Harlequin reclaim its top spot? I don’t know, but like millions of other people I’ll be watching to see.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Sunday, May 18, 2014

Misplaced Apostrophes



Misplaced apostrophes is one of the biggest peevs employers complain about in CVs and resumes. It’s also a big problem in books as well. Maybe some editors don’t know the rules or maybe the mistakes are so widespread authors, when told of their inaccuracies, refuse to fix them.

There’s even a website, http://www.killtheapostrophe.com/, by people who hate them because so few people get them right. But instead of blaming the poor helpless little apostrophe, why not learn how to use them correctly?

The rules are very simple. There are only two places where it is correct to use an apostrophe. First, to indicate a missing letter (or letters), and second, to indicate possession.

John’s hat. (possession).
We’re (we are).

Dates are not possessive and there’s nothing missing, therefore it is the 1780s, NOT 1780’s.

Plurals never require an apostrophe. Apples, pears, cherries, all plural just add s. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the Smiths. Just add an s.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Thursday, May 8, 2014

Terms to avoid



There are terms or catch phrases that once had a specific meaning, which have become incorporated into everyday speech. Unfortunately most of them have now become overused or virtually meaningless. If you find your characters using these terms, it could be good to use a more specific, meaningful phrase that won’t annoy your readers. Unless the person using the jargon is the villain, of course!

Going forward – because your boss usually expects you to go backward?

To 'action' something – why not use a verb that shows the action?

Touch base – as a promise, about as likely to happen as “doing lunch”

Circle back - as above

Blue-sky thinking – because green sky is so 1990s?

Brainstorm – the term has actually been banned as politically incorrect

To take something offline – why not use explicit words – phone? Talk?

Low hanging fruit – because the easiest option is always the best one?

Get the ball rolling – why not just “begin”

Drill down – makes me think of the dentist

End of the day - which day? And when? close of business? Midnight? Or did you mean when the government changes?

World-class: because we know exactly how it’s done in every other nation

Best practices - as above

I’m sure you can think of many more.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Friday, May 2, 2014

99 Book Nerd problems





How many are true for you? (Yes, I ticked most of them too.)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/99-book-nerd-problems/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Friday, April 25, 2014

13 words that don't mean what they used to


I came across this fascinating article about words whose meaning had changed a lot since the old days.
We’re all aware of how terms such as “chip” and “gay” have evolved, but some of these ones might surprise you.
What do you think artificial, charisma, buxom, and myriad mean? And please note. It is never “a myriad of” It’s just “myriad”.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/words-that-dont-mean-what-they-used-to/story-fniym874-1226815605552


Enjoy,

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Advice from Stephen King


Author Stephen King is well known for his advice about hooking the reader with the opening line of a story. It’s one of the best pieces of wisdom out there. Readers are too busy nowadays to keep reading for long if the book doesn’t grip them right at the start.

In a recent interview he’s listed twenty pieces of advice for writers. Some of them are rather similar to each other, but they’re worth reading. Instructions such as write for yourself, keep reading, eliminate distractions and more are all worth absorbing.
The article is here:
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/stephen-kings-top-20-rules-for-writers.html

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Why editors hate adverbs



One reason editors get their red pens out and viciously delete adverbs from an author’s work is because they do nothing to aid the story. One of my pet hates is visibly.

She shook her head visibly.

Okay. Have you even seen anyone shake their head invisibly? No. So why add visibly here? Why not use a useful word: Violently? Slightly?

Modifying superlatives. The whole point of a superlative is that it’s the biggest and best word there is. Modifying it is just a waste of ink.

For example, unique. Unique means one of a kind. If it is a unique bowl and you want to tell us more about it, saying it is very unique or most unique tells us nothing. Tell us it’s green or big or something else.

And while I’m talking about just, very, nice, etc most of them can be deleted without changing the meaning at all. Try looking for a useful word that tells as more about the thing you’re describing.

Adverbs can actually be very quite helpful. Just make sure the ones you use are relevant.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.