Show, don’t tell! — part two!

Part Two — Characters

If you have people in your story, they really should have a reason for being there — even if that reason is only to hold up a wall that might fall over if left to itself.

Of course, that is a tad far-fetched, but still, if a character is in there, he or she might as well be useful, rather than merely be ornamental.  For sure,  you’ll have at least two characters – one might be referred to as the hero, and one as the heroine, if they’re a mixed couple. Or maybe they’re the same gender, but there is still one who is the leader and one who primarily follows. The most important thing is that they be more than cardboard.

Physical details are important: height, weight, age, sex, emotions, character, education, occupation, and so forth. Family background and relatives may be useful, too. If you create such a biography for each character, be sure to keep these pages handy. There may come a time you’ll need to verify eye color or some similar detail, and having your reference material ready at hand will be a great time-saver!

Don’t expect your characters to tell you what they’re doing – at least not right at the beginning. I’ve had a couple of books in which the characters deviated so much from the synopsis I’d written to explain their existence, you might have thought they’d just come in from another planet or something. They bore NO resemblance whatever to the characters I thought they were. But it turned out to be a good thing that they didn’t listen to me.  They knew themselves better than I ever could – and the books turned out much better.

Sometimes it’s difficult to create a reasonable background for your character. Depending on the period in history in which this character lives, you might begin by filling out an application for employment for him or her. Or maybe sign them up for a dating service! Oy. That’ll be a test of your creativity, for sure. Just remember not to try and make major changes in the characters in mid-book! It probably won’t work.

One of my very favorite helps in this regard, is to read a detailed, overall summary of the various signs of the zodiac. For example, I am an Aries. Totally. If you read every description ever written of the Aries personality, you’ll have me on that paper in front of you.  It also worked out that way for my kids – my son is a Virgo, while my daughter was Scorpio.  Their Dad was a Leo, and believe me, sparks flew all over the place from that combination!

It’s absolutely essential that the characters are true to the period of history in which they live. If you’re working on a historical novel, try to read some books set in that same time frame and country, so you can get a feel for the language used. It is also important for the characters to act as though they’re at home in the setting in which they find themselves.

Please come back in a couple of week for Part Three of getting started – the all-important plot!

If you have questions about this, or anything on these pages, please do write and ask!   Thank you – Kelly

Bookmechanic@gmail.com

Show, don’t tell! — part one

It’s entirely natural for a new author to want to tell the story. Except that it needs to be shown, not told. The more popular expression is “Show, don’t tell!”  Easy to say, not so easy to explain or demonstrate.

If you can imagine the scene, then you should be able to describe it – at least somewhat! No? For instance, walking into an apartment for the first time. Wow! The possibilities that conjures up to a writer. Is it a high-rise, all chrome and glass with window walls allowing the visitor (or resident) to gaze out over a lake or other body of water? Maybe a forest? A golf course?

Or is it a basement apartment, perhaps, carved out of the underground space in a huge older house? Have you ever been in one? Let me tell you, it’s not a very welcoming place. It’s perpetually dark, No matter how many high-powered light bulbs you may utilize, it’s still perpetually dark, usually with a low-ceiling, and thin walls through which anything else in the basement will easily make its presence known! The windows will be narrow maybe a foot or even less tall, but perhaps two or even three feet wide You won’t see much as they’ll be at head height for an adult. A child may see the sky or the roof of the building next door, but not much else.

There may be cupboards in the kitchen area, but seldom in the bedrooms, so one has very large pieces of furniture – a portable wardrobe/closet and chest of drawers. Maybe even two of that latter. If the basement is part of a two- or three-story home, there will constantly be sounds of water, going in or out. And maybe occasionally loud thumps as something (or someone?) tumbles down the stairs. (Yes I did spend time as a child in one of these arrangements, and I was NOT impressed! Thank goodness, I was only visiting. Yuck.) But they are usually relatively inexpensive, which, at times, can make them very popular.

Can you see how, from these two descriptions, living quarters might well influence the people who live in them?

That’s just one element of how to ‘show’ the reader where the action is taking place. Of course, if the story is a historical one, you’ll need to find spaces that could, logically,  be home to those characters. Every location is unique, just as your characters should be, as well. Not for nothing is the famous real estate slogan “Location, location, location” quoted when determining the selling price for a given property. Some years back, a so-named ‘urban pioneer’ bought an empty lot alongside a very busy city street here in Cleveland, and proceeded to have almost a ‘McMansion’ type house built there.

Everyone who saw it during the construction period had an opinion about this new, obviously expensive home being built mere blocks from what might have been termed a ghetto, although the area hadn’t disintegrated quite that much!  But guess what happened? Within a year or so, more of these larger homes were being built in that very area, and a new neighborhood appeared. The area isn’t quite out of the woods, yet, but inching steadily closer. It takes a very self-confident sort of person to even hatch such a notion, much less follow through with it. The owners won a well-deserved award for their forward-thinking!

Put some thought into the location of your story, and be sure to describe it well enough for the reader to be able to ‘see’ it  in their own minds. Then start on your characters. How will these two elements affect the third major constant – plot?  We’ll discuss these other two things during the next month, or so.

Please do come back. If you have questions, please do feel free to ask.  Bookmechanic@gmail.com   Quibbles and Comments are also welcome!  If you have questions about anything concerning writing, that’s the address for all things books!   Thank you, and I’ll hope to see you back here again in two weeks!

 

To Title or not to Title, or What is a Title, anyway?”

How many times have I been asked, “Do I have to have/know the title of my book before I start to write it?”

Too many. But the notion of writing a book is almost a universal desire, although frequently accompanied by a total lack of comprehension as to what’s involved in the process. I love the old saying ‘Everyone wants to have written a book, but almost no one wants to actually write one.’

It’s a lot of work – writing a book. It requires a lot of effort in various directions, subject to change, depending on the nature of the book. Fiction is vastly different from non-fiction – not to mention that even within those two major categories there are multiple differences. But, of course, regardless of  what you want to write, the first thing is to plunk your rump in the chair in front of a typewriter or computer, or whatever means by which you intend to produce your book.

Nothing happens until somebody writes something. Unless you’re James Patterson, you will never be able to sell an un-written book.  Until the book is completed, you won’t need an agent or a publisher, either. You might, however, benefit from a group of like-minded people who are also interested in writing a book. Or maybe one of them has already finished a book. Or maybe, even has seen one published. That sort of camaraderie can be very helpful to a newbie, provided of course, the newbie doesn’t proceed to tell those who’ve already done it how to do it!

So, how important is the title to your project? That depends on the type of book. Non-fiction titles generally say something about the contents. A book about auto repair or maintenance will be a good bit different from a cook book, even though there are some similarities: how to begin, assembling your ingredients (parts), installing/mixing them all together, and hopefully all will be well when it’s time for a test-ride. Er, bite. Whichever.

If it’s fiction, each genre tends to like different kinds of titles. For the last few years, cozy mysteries have delighted in having a pun in the title. If the subsequently produced groan is too loud, however, I sometimes find myself totally turned off.  Not every time, of course, but more than once even after beginning to read the book. It’s as though the author is so proud of his/her cleverness that the story itself just lies there – flatter than a pancake!

If you’re a just-beginning author, try not to get too attached to your title, because unless you self-publish it, it’s very likely to be replaced by the publisher’s marketing department. The new title may make very little sense, and actually have nothing to do with your book, but – too bad! Marketing departments are the 800-pound gorilla in the TITLES room. It’s truly not advisable to engage in dialogue with them. It’s impossible! Entirely too big to move them around, much less out!

The ideal title will have at least a small connection to the subject matter, and will be fairly short – 3 to 5 words is a good length. Ignore that nudge that reminds you of perhaps the longest title ever: “Oh, Dad, poor Dad, Mama’s hung you in the closet, and I’m feeling so sad.” For real. It was a play and a movie in the late 1960s.

A character’s name or occupation is a good starting point for a fiction book, but would likely be of little help for a how-to manual. Of course, the exception to this rule is “How to Marry a Millionaire” which was indeed fiction!

Don’t let the desire for a title hang you up to the point that you put off the writing! NO!!! That is a must NOT do item, truly!  Just call it ‘Project X’ or “Baskets of Words” or something similar. THEN, plunk your rump in that chair and start writing. You’ll be happy that you did! If you really have a clue about your book idea, at some point during the writing, the title might just jump out and say “here I am!” That’s happened to me several times, especially with my plays.

if you have questions about anything concerning writing, please write to me at bookmechanic@gmail.com That’s the address for all things books!  (Should you wish an autographed copy of any of my books, that’s the address for that as well.) Thank you, and I’ll hope to be back here in two weeks with a ‘how to get started’ article for those who really, seriously, want to write a book!   Happy Writing!

New beginnings – again!!

Of course, a beginning is always new, isn’t it?  But the first beginning of this BookMechanic blog was April 27, 2010. Eegads!

The reason that I started it dates back to the summer of 1993, when my first novel was published. For some strange reason, that action bestowed an additional accolade on me – I seemed to become an instant expert on ‘how to write a book’. Personally, I don’t quite understand why having one’s first book published at the age of 59 translates that way. But, seldom able to resist a challenge, and thanks to my eidetic memory, I discovered that I did know a fair bit about the topic. Still I was 51 when I wrote that first book, so it seemed to me that what I most demonstrated was patience. But that wasn’t quite right, either. I’m not exactly known for my supply of patience!

I was all too easily distracted. Still am, for that matter. But I really did take to the notion of ‘how to write a book’, and couldn’t find any that really told me much of the nuts and bolts of the process. And that’s how I came to start this blog back then. To my dismay, however, I quickly discovered that it’s a long, drawn-out, complicated process – that of writing a book. It is NOT an easy thing to do. It isn’t just the time spent actually writing. No – it’s the thought and the plotting and the research necessary to produce something readable that is the real time-consuming portion. And then, once it’s done, the author immediately thinks of several dozen other things that should have been included, and thus there is a sequel. Or two. Or three. Or maybe even a prequel!

That original blog topic quickly got away from me, and of course, to the delight of any author, there were questions from readers that provides even more food for thought! It is not an easy thing to undertake – writing a book. There is always something just out of reach that baffles the writer. And sometimes the reader, as well. But at times it really works, and the author becomes an extremely happy person. Even if the book doesn’t do a darned thing, once it’s out there, it’s still OUT there, and produces joyful memories. And the author is then allowed to say those two fabulous words, sometimes to the extreme annoyance of anyone in the area – ‘my book’. Those words are all too easy to insert into almost any sentence. Not only do they guarantee a certain cachet to the author, but sometimes they even generate small amounts of money!

I remember very vividly being told this story by my then-daughter-in-law, when that first book was published and available in K-mart stores everywhere. My adult (married) son saw a copy in the store and yelled (without amplification) “Hey! Mom’s book is here!” Believe me, it never gets old, either. I now have five books in print under my own name, and four, from my Regency alter ego, Hetty St. James. Plus there are four novellas, as e-books. Of course, this is due to the previously wonderful CreateSpace entity of Amazon.com. I’m not yet convinced of the wonders of KDP, sorry, but the two most recent books gave me more head- and heartache than the previous seven titles all put together! I nearly gave up.

However, these last two books are those about which no  one seems to know as yet. But yet they’ve both garnered fabulous reviews, so I’m hopeful. First was Brief Interludes, a collection of eighteen short stories, ranging from 423 to 6694 words, on a variety of topics.

 

But the most recent book is the one closest to my heart – it’s my life story, set around the framework of my eightieth year, beginning on that big #80 birthday.

Reasonably enough, it’s title is simply Eighty! and it, too, is now available on Amazon.Com and all its international sites as well. Print editions are available in regular and large print. Plus there is a Kindle version of each. I hope you will at least investigate them, and consider reading one or both, or all nine, for that matter!  (Should you wish an autographed copy, please write to me for details. (bookmechanic@gmail.com) Or if you have questions about anything concerning writing, that’s the address for all things books!   Thank you, and I’ll hope to be back here in two weeks!

 

Zowie – I’m famous! – Part Two.

In October, 2016, I sort of stumbled into a fabulous part-time job. Considering my age, this was nothing short of miraculous, in my opinion, but it was the work itself that was so intriguing! To this day, I think it’s the best possible job to utilize my very idiosyncratic skill-set.

To be sure, I’ve been busily (and happily) writing since grade school, and even flirted briefly with many other careers since then. The 1990s were my big writing years, as my first two books were published, and I was busily writing more. Eventually, all five of my books were published by traditional publishers. (I’ve since self-published all of them when the original rights reverted to me. )

From 2002 until 2012,  I did a LOT of writing: mostly about classical music and opera, plus women’s sports. So there were two of the three big things in my life. I’d done a piece or two about the third thing — cars and or racing, but not much.

So, here I was interviewing at a  local manufacturer of automotive aftermarket gauges and such – a perfect match for my goofy background! Of course, these were gorgeous digital LED instruments – a far cry from the plain old-fashioned needle type gauges that were in the vehicles I raced or drove or sold or whatever. The company is Intellitronix and is based in Eastlake, Ohio.

They wanted me to write the installation instructions for their various products, which suited me to a T! During the interview, the owner asked if I’d be willing to appear in videos for their products. Well, of course! Why not?  I’ve had a lot of audio experience, including radio and taping books, so microphones held no fear for me.

As far as I knew, there was no reason to fear a camera, either. (I’ve never scared a horse, after all!) As long as they didn’t intend for me to be silly or goofy in any way.  No worry on that score, the owner thought that ‘Grandma’s Garage’ might be just the thing! So we did it. This one is not for a gauge, but for an Ignition Box. Mind you, I’m not sure exactly what it does, but I don’t really need to know, either. It was great fun, and I’m hopeful of doing more of them!  So, as they say – without further ado – here it is!

Grandma’s Garage — Opus One!   

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1FFaUkDDLR5QktGcHRXOVp0SWM

(click on the above link)

Happy Holidays to all of you! Wherever you are. I wish you Peace and Joy!

 

Put your words where you want them — In a book!

bookmechanic@gmail.com 

 

The ‘Howevermany’ Commandments for Writers

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a first-time published author will automatically become a source of magical information to all his/her writer wannabe friends – so that they, too,  may become published ASAP!  With all due respect to Jane Austen who wrote a similar opening sentence to one of the BEST books ever published  – Pride and Prejudice  –  for the revised version above, which I first put on paper in February, 1996. Yep. 1996. My first book had been published some 2½ years previously, and for some reason that seemed to gain me ‘instant oracle’ status in my writing circles.

So, my first thought then (as it still is today) was ‘I could write a book about that.’  I did start one, too, and have been playing with the notion since then.  One thing that’s not changed in all the intervening years is the title for this gem: The “How to Write a Book” Book.

I was then, and still am for that matter, totally amazed by how many people approach me to say they want to write a book, but don’t know how to get started. It always seemed easy to me, even if I didn’t do it myself all that often. You plunk yourself down in front of a (then) typewriter or (today) computer, and have at it!  Sure beats writing with a feather, as the Sainted Jane did two hundred years ago!

My original thought was along the lines of ‘The Ten Commandments for Writers.’ That didn’t last very long, as my list almost immediately expanded to Fifteen Commandments.  Finally, I settled on ‘howevermany’ as the best description. And I’m going to stick with that!  I’m still working on this book, but of course, the almost twenty years since I started it have seen a revolution in not only writing instruments and methods, but also the publishing world.

However, no matter how you slice it, there are still many very basic and important things that have not changed one little bit.  (By the way, I’m still working on this book, and it will see daylight in 2016, or else!)  Actually, when I started this blog in April, 2010, it was with the intention of using some of the blog posts for the book.  Following is the list I comprised in 1996.  What do you think?

First Preliminary Outline for Contents of: The “How to Write a Book” Book     2-4-1996

The 15 (or howevermany) commandments for writers. Or, how to produce a salable manuscript, assuming, of course, that you really can write.

(Not necessarily in this order, either.)

1  Learn to write in English. If you live and write in this country, or intend your work for an English-speaking country:            grammar, spelling, punctuation, plurals / possessives, to use or not to use?  The dangers of dialects!

2.  Figure out what you want to write, then read, read, read, and read, some more. Read all varieties of things, but especially in your chosen area.

3. Show, don’t tell. Keep the reader as an active participant.

4. Viewpoint. Who’s telling this story, anyway? (Viewpoint has nothing to do with tense, or voice.)

5. Homonyms. One of two or more words that have the same sound, and often the same spelling, but differ in meaning.

6. Styles. This can be a rather tricky one, but many writers wouldn’t think of putting a word on a page without a manual of style readily at hand.  Each publisher has its own style regarding punctuation, grammar and continuity.  So, if you gear your work toward one publisher and end up going with another, you may have to make lots of fixes, depending. Sometimes the difference is in words: toward  and towards being a common glitch. Fiction and non-fiction may also differ, but not usually within the same house. Some of the more common manuals of style are:  Chicago Manual of Style, New York Times Manual, AP Manual and The Elements of Style by William Strunk.

7. Reference material, research, resources. How and where to find what; how to use what you’ve found, and how much to use.

8. Basic presentation – putting it on the page. Plus – what’s the difference between a synopsis and an outline, and which do you use when?

9. Using real people in your fictional world.

10. Writer’s groups. Finding the right one for you, and just how helpful can they be, anyway?

11. Sense(s) and sensibilities:  touch, taste, sight, sound, smell.  Mixing genres. Details, details and more details.

12. Editor turn-offs and pet-peeves.

13. Do you really need an agent? How do you find one?

14. Suspension of disbelief. Yours, ours, theirs.

15. Other markets and types of publishers.

Non-fiction

Poetry

Script-writing

Commercial publishers

Subsidy/vanity publishers

Self-publishing

Epilogue – a Reminder –

What’s past is prologue,  now it’s up to you!

That last has NOT changed.

Questions?  Additions?  Comments?  Write to me at: bookmechanicATgmail.com   Thanks

A new book-of-the-month plan?

I nearly fell out of my chair earlier this month when I saw this cartoon (FREE RANGE by Bill Whitehead ©2015, distributed by Creators.com) in our local paper. Why? It brought back the memory of a letter I wrote in June, 2001. (Yes, 2001.) Before the ubiquitous cell phone and/or e-book/reader, etc., proliferated to the point that many people have multiple devices at hand on which they can read a book, listen to music or watch TV or even a movie! Obviously some things have changed: some have not. My sentiments have not changed in any way. I meant it then and I still mean it today.

This particular letter came about because of a dispute between The Association of American Publishers (to which it was sent) and public libraries regarding the copying of copyrighted materials.  But at least libraries pay for the material they acquire. If anyone is concerned about copying material, then all copying devices of whatever variety—book, audio/video cassettes or any other facsimile—should immediately be outlawed.

Back then, I was on my high horse about the abundance of Used Book Stores – the kind that advertised a book for sale as used, the very day it was released by the publisher. Or maybe even the day before! My campaign at that time (which I still propose, by the way) is that no book should be sold as ‘used’ before it’s at least a year old. Why?

Simple. People seem to lose sight of the fact that the author/writer(s) of the book, who have literally exuded blood, sweat and tears plus sleepless nights over the production of their progeny make not one penny on the sale of a used book, in the United States. Other countries are more protective of their creative artists, and ensure that at least a token payment is granted to the creator of the sold item.  In addition, in the UK, for instance, authors earn a royalty from every book borrowed from a library.  Imagine that! Why can’t we do something like that in this country? Don’t tell me that it’s too hard to keep track of things. Believe me, there’s a computer program for EVERYTHING imaginable. Or maybe it’s an App. Who knows?  I refuse to believe that one or other of these so-called Smart Phones couldn’t do this, with one hand tied behind it’s back!

I just really think the author should be entitled to his/her share of the book sales at least until the book has its first birthday. After that it will probably not sell enough copies to be harmful.  After all,  just consider please – without authors, there would be NO NEED for publishers, editors, cover artists,  publicists and the myriad other employee categories created to share the author’s work with the rest of the world.

Well, that was then. This is now, and not everything has changed.

Of course, publishers also suffered through that ‘used book’ craze. And the publishers would have been right to protest. But they didn’t. They went in another direction. In order to jack up the sales, they started paying mega-bucks as an advance, and higher royalties, thus making it even more difficult for the author to earn out.

If this practice is allowed to continue, here is a little peek into the future. Let’s say it’s now June, 2010.  (Sorry, I was a bit ahead of myself with that date!) The new load of book is now available at the bookstore. Yes, that is book. Singular. So which author is the author for this month? It is certain to be one of these or the newer version thereof; Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, Sue Grafton, Danielle Steele, John Gresham, and others of that ilk. There will, of course, will be only one publisher, publishing one (paper, not e-type) book per month. Genres will take turns: one month, mystery; the next suspense, etc. One month of the year might be devoted to non-fiction, such as biography. All of these will naturally be in hardcover.

The price for this book will be a minimum of $100. (US) of which the author may get a whopping $2.50, because, of course, the distributor for these books will demand a discount of 75% off the cover price, leaving the publisher the pitiful balance, out of which must be paid the acquiring editor, who will probably be the publisher, himself. There will, of necessity, be no editing or proofing done, as it isn’t cost-effective to do so. Disgusting, to put it mildly. Since there will be only one book per month, there is no need for cover artists or promotional staff. The text will go straight from the author’s computer to the type-setting computer, thus eliminating several more persons from the chain. There is probably no need for bookstores either. Libraries will, however, still function, and still be buying books, probably hundreds or more copies of each title, to satisfy those readers that are still left out there, but who can’t afford to actually buy a book. Imagine the waiting lists!  Eegads.

But. Out of the ashes of this fiasco, there are sure to be rebels who will fight and resist and go back to doing things the old way. The old way, in which the reader was the most important element in the process. Books are published for readers, after all. Aren’t they? Wouldn’t it be great if all these organizations found their way back to reality? And treated authors with the respect they deserve? After all—no authors equals no new books. What an awful world that would be!

And finally, I would be very wrong to not mention the Kindle Library that is available through Amazon.com.  When you publish your book as an exclusive Kindle e-book, and allow them to put it in their library system, you will earn royalties as people borrow your book to read. This is as close to the UK library system as anything I’ve seen in the last few years, and I freely admit, I’m all in favor of it.  Now, if only Amazon would stop with the used print books before their time, I’d be almost entirely happy with the behemoth.

Comments, quibbles or questions?  Please write to me at  bookmechanic AT gmail.com

Projecting confidence —

I think by now y’all know I am a big-time sports fan. Even if I really don’t know much about them, or understand their reason for being, I can still appreciate the time, money and energy invested in the effort to be the best in the world at whatever it is that you do. This applies in life, too, especially for someone in a creative endeavor.

You cannot succeed in any measurable fashion without such an investment. Of course, you don’t run around telling anyone who’ll listen “I’m the BEST!!” Well, unless you are, of course. But you’d better be able to back up your statement.

In 1992, when I was a member of Romance Writers of America, their national conference was held in Chicago. I was pleased beyond words to have a ribbon attached to my badge that said “First-time author” or something similar. Maybe it was “First Sale”. As I walked through the Literacy Book Sale (which I hoped to attend the next year, with my own book for sale) I stopped to buy a book from Nora Roberts.

I will never, ever forget her attitude when she saw that ribbon on my badge. Her face lit up as she smiled and said “Hey, Congratulations on your first sale! What kind of book is it, and when will it be available?” Holy cow! The queen of romance was interested in me – and my book? Well, if she wasn’t really, she was certainly a top-notch actress, as her enthusiasm surely seemed genuine. I literally floated through the rest of the conference. I know I stood straighter after that, and walked the same way. Ms. Roberts made me feel as though I’d just been nominated for a Pulitzer!

My Mama would have been proud, had she been able to see me, after all her years of admonishing me to “stand up straight!” Ms. Roberts gave me a wonderful gift that day. She instilled in me a sense of confidence in myself as a writer. I’m not sure it had really hit me yet, that by next year’s conference I’d have a book of my own to sell.

I’m forever saying that even just writing a book (and finishing it!) is not easy. Getting it published is even more of a task. But you have to believe in yourself and what you’re doing or you’ll never succeed. Has everything I’ve written been published? Mostly, yes. Those books or stories that I’ve finished, have been published.

Last weekend, ESPN was all about a fight between two women for a major title. The expected winner certainly did just that. In 34 seconds this time. Her last four fights have totaled exactly 130 seconds from start to finish. Eeegads! From looking at her, you can easily tell that she’s very serious about her training, etc. She’s also drop-dead gorgeous, but that’s beside the point.

One of the many fringe stories about her was her support group – they were labeled ‘the four horsewomen’, in a photo. Even with no caption, it’s easy to pick out the champion. Her bearing, her posture shout it out. She really is the best in her world right now, and I expect for the future, as well. Her confidence radiates from her, and why not?  What do you think? Which one is the champ?

So, start thinking about yourself and what you do. Are you successful? If not, do you want to be? Think about it for a while, then put your shoulders back, and your chin up, and look at the world head-on. Stand in front of a mirror and tell that image, “I AM good.” The sooner you believe yourself, the sooner you will be just that. (You can substitute the word ‘great’ for good in that statement, if you wish.)

Questions? Comments?  Please write to me at: bookmechanic AT gmail.com

P.S.  Ronda Rousey is on the right in the above photo. The other UFC fighters are from left, Marina Shafir, Jessamyn Duke, and Shayna Baszler. (Screen shot taken from ESPN.com – photo credit: Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News.)

Punctuation: friend or foe?

Last time out, I talked about re-reading something I’d written a long time ago, and my astonishment at what I’d written.  Then, I ran into a slight road-block on my way to re-publishing this book by its original title That Room at Ardenwycke rather than the shorter title selected by the publisher that first time around: Ardenwycke Unveiled.  I needed a new cover, and couldn’t think of one. So I went to the second of the two books  – this one being the first book I ever wrote (and completed – important distinction, that) Bertie’s Golden Treasure.  It’s a Regency Romance, and a cover illustration popped into my head almost immediately, so I decided to go with that one first, and then come back to Ardenwycke.

A funny thing happened as I re-read Bertie, using the file from which the previous print book was made. I have always been profligate with punctuation, especially commas. To my distress, there were almost no commas in this book! Sentences were either really short, or ran on for seemingly forever before they finally came to a full stop. I put a lot of commas (and some other punctuation, as well) back in there.

It dawns on me that very likely the use of punctuation is an ‘age’ thing. Most older folks learned how to speak in an understandable fashion (not at a rate of 500+ words per minute) and write comprehensibly, because they  also learned the proper use of punctuation. Then the minimalist trend hit. ‘Why is that comma there? It isn’t needed, so get rid of it!’

To me, however, it is needed there. For someone who reads aloud, or is on radio or even TV, punctuation is a necessity! It tells you when to breathe! It’s that simple. No wonder many of us older folks are continually telling all-too-many  younger folks to ‘slow down, please’ or ‘I’m sorry, could you please repeat that?’  (Hopefully, us older folks also know the value of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, when used appropriately.) And yes, I do believe that last comma there is in the right place. Commas do not always go inside quote marks.

(As a for instance here. For fifteen years, I read for the Cleveland Sight Center, which operated a small, closed-circuit Radio Reading Service for the visually-handicapped community. For two hours each Wednesday evening, with a partner, we read from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Shortly after beginning this venture, I also began to record books for the Library of Congress Talking Books Program – and at least one of them is still there!  Through those years, I taped more than 100 books for the Sight Center and Cleveland Public Library. Also for a while, I was the Saturday announcer on our local classical music station. Later, as a writer, I was selected to be one of five or six reviewers chosen to attend classical music performances in the area, and then write a review, which would be taped the next day at the station for broadcast during the coming weekend. It took me little time to learn that – at my reading speed – 475 written words equaled just less than 3 minutes pf spoken words – the max limit. Actually they were to be 2 minutes, 57 seconds worth.  Believe me, the value of punctuation was never more apparent than during this exhilarating adventure!)

If you write mainly for yourself, you may, of course, do whatever you wish, even if you self-publish. If you wish to be published by a commercial publisher, however, that publisher will have already established its own ‘style’ of punctuation and other elements of the written word. This may include font, font size, spacing on the page and whether headers and/or footers are used, etc. In this case, the publisher wins the argument, and a wise author will agree.  It’s really quite simple. If you don’t agree, you may forfeit the right to be published, or possibly, the changes will be made without your knowledge or consent. Not fair, but thems the rules!

Just for fun,  the cover for Bertie, which I hope to have available at Amazon’s Kindle site later this week – or early next is shown at the top of this post. Ardenwycke is still in the proof-reading/create-a-cover process.

As always, questions or quibbles should be sent to me at: bookmechanicATgmail.com     Thank you!