Write Now Editing

Floating Body Parts: Yes or No? by Karen Saari

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“And the wrench is still there. What would it be like to operate with a professional team? I wouldn’t know that’s for sure. Give me more suction.”

Eyes rolled around the room.

I wrote this a few years ago and never gave it a second thought. But when I read it over yesterday, trying to determine if it was suitable for a contest entry, all I could see was eyeballs rolling around the room like they were on little roller skates. Now that’s a floating body part (FBP)!

I think you know what I was trying to say – everyone in the room rolled their eyes at the Doctors comment on professionalism. But that’s not what I wrote. There is nothing wrong with using the phrase rolled her eyes, as long as it’s connected to a person.

“Trying not to laugh, she rolled her eyes at his antics.”

We all know what that means. A writer could get super technical and write, “Trying not to laugh, she looked up and down quickly, at his antics.” That’s ridiculous. I wrote the sentence and I don’t know what it means! The sentence doesn’t qualify as a FBP because we understand the idiom. And the alternate, about looking up and down, will stop the story.

How can you tell which eye rolling is a FBP? In the second sentence those eyes are attached to a she. In my original sentence — Eyes rolled around the room – those eyes are rolling free!

Floating body parts are easy to spot. Every time a body part is mentioned it should be attached to a body. Referring to any body part without the stability of a whole body behind it, sets it afloat. Let’s look at a few.

He dropped his hands. My literal, visual brain sees a man standing, and his hands drop off his arms. What could you write that conveys the same feeling of frustration or giving up? His shoulders drooped. Or He slumped in the chair.

She slammed on the brakes and her arm shot out. This is a cause and effect situation. As adults, nearly all of us have reached out without thinking to protect our passenger. But the way this is written it sounds like the brakes caused her arm to shoot. She slammed the brake pedal and instinctively her arm went across the empty passenger seat. Because I used the word slammed, speed is suggested and we don’t need words like shot or flew.

There is a fine line between nabbing all apparent FBPs and recognizing an idiom. The determining factor should be – does it stop the story? If not, then carry on. If yes, then rephrase it.

Karen Saari loves to play with words, whether it’s writing or editing. She is a Christian, wife, mother and grandmother. Karen is currently working on her BA in English and Creative Writing. She writes contemporary Christian women’s fiction, and is working on a new book – The Neighbor’s Club.

An avid reader, she also sews and knits and is learning to draw and paint with watercolors. Yard sales and thrift stores are her favorite shopping places, besides craft stores. She lives with her husband, Robert in the mountains of northern California. They enjoy traveling the Oregon coast and photography.

Karen blogs at http://karensaari.com

4 Tips to Creating a Cleaner Manuscript By Sue A. Fairchild

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Last year, I began doing proofreading work for a publisher. Proofreading examines a previously edited manuscript to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling.

At the proofreading stage, the manuscript has already been thoroughly edited by other industry professionals. This means I rarely find too many mistakes—only minor errors here and there. This is great for me because it’s almost as if I’m simply reading a book for enjoyment!

Although I had previously been more of a content editor, I love the proofreading work. In addition, it has assisted me in other areas of my editing business because it helps me understand how added spaces or incorrect formatting can affect a final manuscript. Since I’ve started proofreading, I’ve noticed I look for these types of errors while I’m completing other edits as well. I pass these corrections on to my clients so they can ensure their manuscript is ready for publication.

Here are a few items to look for and correct within your manuscript.

Additional spaces after a period. This one is standard and should be done by every editor, in my opinion. Most writers type more than one space after a period at least once in their manuscripts. Additional spaces can be easily found and corrected using the Find/Replace tool in Word.

Spaces before a paragraph return. I have discovered that almost every author (or at least the ones I’ve worked with) will sometimes press their space bar before the enter key when they want to start a new paragraph. This can cause some issues with formatting so I will utilize the Find/Replace tool again in Word to find this issue throughout the document and correct it. Simply click the “special” pull down menu within the Find/Replace menu and choose “paragraph mark.” In the Find section, you’ll see a caret before the letter P. Put a space before that and Word will find all the spaces before any paragraph marks in your document.

Chapter headings. Most of the publishers I work for do not want the manuscript’s chapter headings to have any indent. I choose each chapter heading and ensure I set it to left justified without any indents.

The red underline. In Microsoft Word, misspelled words are underlined in red with a squiggly line. It’s easy to skim through your document and catch those words thanks to that red line. Remember, it might just be a word that the program is unfamiliar with or one you’ve made up (especially if you’re a fantasy writer), so make sure you know which word you truly want. Utilize Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary to check any words of which you’re unsure.

Editing encompasses so much more than these four things, of course, but every author can take these small steps toward creating the cleanest manuscript they can before sending it off to an editor. But even if you do, I’ll still check!

Sue started out as a devotion writer, but now also claims the titles of editor, proofreader, webmistress, and blogger. She has written and self-published three books as well as helped a variety of authors get their manuscripts into readers’ hands. Sue loves working with clients who are working toward the greater good of sharing God’s message in this world. Email sueafairchild74@gmail.com to discuss a free sample edit. Check out her website for testimonials: suessimplesnippets.wordpress.com

Bad Writing is NOT Your Author’s Voice

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Aerial view a woman using a retro typewriter

Purple prose. Telling. Large sections of backstory.

More and more often I find these literary no-no’s popping up in published works. In fact, it happens so frequently that I’ve started to question myself—are these now in vogue? Are we reverting back to these writing styles? Is this what I should be teaching my clients and students? As an editor and teacher, I need to make sure I’m giving correct information!

After some inquiries and research, I’ve discovered this disturbing trend: these are still considered writing issues to be corrected, but editors and authors are now embracing bad writing as “author’s voice.” Why? Because well-established writers do it. Because every now and then someone who writes that way gets nominated for an award. Because (in my opinion) it’s easier. Because it’s the “authors voice.”

I’ll see your argument and raise you one truth: it’s not voice, it’s bad writing.

When it comes to authors who self-publish, I realize there’s nothing freelance editors can do to convince an author to take our suggestions; however, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be making those suggestions. It seems that there are editors out there who no longer suggest correcting these types of issues. Instead, they shrug it off as author voice, then carry on.

Imagine if we embraced this standard in other areas of our lives.

Would you hire a house painter who leaves streaks and paints things he shouldn’t just because someone else did it once and no one complained? Would you hire an accountant who doesn’t double check his work because he hasn’t had a problem yet so he probably won’t have one with your taxes? How about a mechanic who doesn’t tighten every bolt because there’s never been an issue in the past? Or would you rather work with the person who paints completely and cleanly, who checks his math, and makes sure every belt, bolt, and screw is secure?

As editors, our standards shouldn’t be whether or not someone else got away with something but whether or not something’s right. Can we force our authors to accept and incorporate these changes? Of course not. Should we point out the issues anyway? Absolutely! Is there going to be push back from the authors? Count on it.

I get it. No one wants to be told that their work is bad, and it’s not always easy to share that truth with others (especially when it’s really bad), but that’s what editors are paid to do. It certainly is easier when you’re a copyeditor or proofreader and you can point to style guides to show why something is grammatically incorrect (thank you Chicago Manual of Style). In my opinion, it’s significantly more difficult to tell someone their word selection and phrasing is confusing and lackluster, but that’s why authors hire us. Sure, there are some people out there who just want to get a book published, but other writers want to produce good books, and their editors are failing them.

This is my plea to editors everywhere:

Speaking as an editor, please stop sugar coating bad writing. Call it what it is. If the author wants to keep it, fine, but make an effort to stop the madness.

Speaking as a reader, please stop sugar coating bad writing. It produces mediocre, barely engaging books that could have been great if the authors had tried to work through their issues to strengthen their craft instead of believing good enough was good enough.

Do you need to brush up on the industry standards for fiction? Check out Substantive Editing for Fiction—this four-part class will walk you through the foundational elements you need to know to provide a comprehensive substantive edit. The first class—SEF 101—start today!

My debut novel—Summer Plans and Other Disasters—is now available on Amazon! Sign up for my monthly newsletter and you’ll receive the unpublished prologue: find out what inspired Calista Stephens to make those summer plans. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for writing tips, updates on Guiding Light, and more!

Making the Switch – Write Now Editing!

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If you want to succeed in business, it’s important to know your audience – who are they, what do they want, and how can you help them. As their needs change, you have a choice to make – change with them or let them find someone else who will help them.

For the past several months I’ve been noticing the changing tide. Fewer people contact me regarding content writing. More people want to know about book writing and fiction editing. Roughly 80% of my income now comes from editing, teaching, and other book-related work … so what does it mean for Write Now Editing & Copywriting Services?

Good-bye “Copywriting Services,” and welcome to Write Now Editing!

That doesn’t mean I’ll never be available to write content for anyone, nor does it mean I’ll stop helping businesses and organizations create more effective copy, but I need to connect with my clients, and those clients are currently in the fiction-writing realm.

What does that mean for this blog?

There will still be social media and design tips (thank you Leslie Krukowski and Sierra Kellermeyer!) because authors need to know those things too! But you’ll notice a difference in the rest of the content – not as much business writing and more emphasis on fiction writing and editing.

I had planned on making this switch later in the year/early next year, but my first novel releases September 1, so I feel like this is the time to transition. It’s going to be a gradual transition; you may have already noticed some of the new tabs and updated links on the page. By the end of the year, the blog will fully convert and new fiction-focused resources will be available.

I’m addicted to content writing, though, so you’ll still find me tweeting about it and sharing some of my favorite tips on LinkedIn. And just because you won’t necessarily find me writing about it here, your questions are always encouraged! If I can’t help you, I’ll find someone who can.

So, here’s to the transition – moving toward my original passion (fiction) while embracing my love of helping others (editing and teaching!). Welcome to Write Now Editing: Editor. Teacher. Speaker.

Are you interested in learning more? Would you like to receive tips and special offers sent directly to your inbox? Sign up for my newsletter!

ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

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Copywriting

Karin understood my advertising and marketing writing needs and accomplished the project in record time. She asked all the right questions up front to equip herself with enough … [more]

Editing

Substantive Fiction Editing: A substantive edit looks at the big picture. Start here to tackle the big issues before moving on to the nit-picky details. Substantive edits not only point out … [more]

Author Page

Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.

Resources

Fiction: Substantive Editing Classes Substantive Editing for Fiction 101 In Substantive Fiction Editing 101, we’ll look at the basics of a well-written novel and learn how to help our … [more]