Who reads your manuscript?

Do you edit and read your own work?

The problem with trying to edit your own work is, that you know what you meant to say, but is it what you said? Did you get your point across effectively to the reader?

As the writer, you may be too close to the writing to be totally objective.

Having someone you trust to tell you what you need to hear from the readers POV and not what you want to hear is the key to work that may be what the reader will get.

Unless you are writing for yourself and have no desire being published than don’t worry about editing or having a trusted source tell you what you need to hear to have the reader get what you are trying to say.

If your desire is to be published and have the public read your book, than a writing buddy, or some other trusted source to tell you with honesty what works and what doesn’t in your manuscript will make your writing better and the story more readable.

My wife is my reader and tells me what she sees that doesn’t work, or isn’t clear to her. If I haven’t made myself clear to my life partner, how clear can I be to a reader that doesn’t know me that I plan on entertaining, inspiring, or trying to change their life while they are reading what I wrote?

As an avid reader for more years than I care to admit, I find books with typos, wrong word choice, lack of consistency in terms, and other blatant errors as a reader is a turn off. I only read these books for review and not for pleasure. Reading for pleasure should be enjoyable and not a chore as some authors.

Authors should submit their best work while always striving to make their latest piece better than the preceding one.

The opinions expressed are those of freelance writer, Robert Medak.

Robert Medak

Writer, Blogger, Editor, Marketer, Poet, Proofreader, Researcher, and Reviewer.

Robert J Medak Writing & More

http://stormywriter.com

3 Important Tips to Increase Your Chances of Getting Published

If you’ve been sending out your manuscript for months or even years, you may feel like you’re beating your head against a wall. And it may comfort you to know that you’re not alone. It’s no easy feat to get published these days, but rest assured that hard work does pay off.

You can also use these top three tips to increase your odds of getting published:

1. Spend the majority of your time reading and writing. As a rule of thumb, make it a priority to read more often than you write. How can you expect to become an expert author in your genre if you haven’t read hundreds and thousands of related books? The more that you read and absorb, the better that your manuscript will be. It’s also important to stay informed in your industry so that your work remains relevant and fresh.
2. Write what you know. This may seem like a complete no-brainer, but your work will not be authentic and relatable if you are not writing about what you know. Even though you do need to stay aware of trends in your industry, you can’t follow trends exclusively; a trend will probably be over by the time that you complete your manuscript. If you write what you know and stay true to yourself, you can be a trend starter inside of a trend follower.
3. Submit your manuscript strategically. If you want to see your manuscript in print, be smart about who you submit to. You will probably find that some publishing companies and agents will be interested right off the bat, with strings attached… Don’t waste your time submitted to companies that want to sell you a publishing package or push you into self-publishing if that is not what you are interested in. A good agent or publishing company will be selective and may take time to get back to you. Make sure that you research a publishing company or agent before submitting to ensure that they represent your genre. There is no bigger waste of time than submitting your romance novel to an exclusive publisher of children’s books. All you have to do is do your homework beforehand and submit to agents and publishers that will be legitimately interested in your work. Problem solved!

Bethany Ramos is an author and full-time freelance writer with experience in Internet marketing, social media marketing, and SEO. She is passionate about writing captivating children's books and witty chick lit. For more information, you can visit her blog at chicklit-books.com.

How to Use Adverbs in Your Writing

Getting your work (heavily) edited by a professional publisher can quickly open your eyes to quite a few “blind spots” in your writing style.

For many of us, these blind spots come in the form of the overuse and abuse of adverbs. As most of us are familiar with from grade school English class, an adverb is used to modify a verb - just like an adjective will modify a noun. Most adverbs end in “ly”. If you use too many adverbs in your work, the tone of the novel will feel weak and poorly written. The abuse of adverbs will make the reader feel like the author wasn’t able to find the right wording and substituted in an adverb as a last resort.

In short, overusing adverbs does not equal strong writing.

When it comes to the adverb dilemma, less is more. If your novel is overly descriptive and loaded full of adverbs, it will actually make the reader feel less involved and less attracted to the action and plot of the book.

One example is with the use of the word “quickly”. I have to admit from my own personal experience that this is an adverb that I have used and abused. I have been told by editors in the past that my lead character can’t do everything “quickly”. Instead of overusing an adverb like “quickly”, it’s best to eliminate it altogether and instead show urgency in the action of the character.

Instead of “she replied quickly”, use “she shot back” as a form of reply. This subtle change in wording makes a big difference because it draws the reader into the action instead of using a vague, descriptive term that they have heard hundreds and hundreds of times before.

Taking it a step further, it’s best not to use an adverb in dialogue if at all possible since the written dialogue should support itself. It is perfectly fine to use “he said” or “she said” as dialogue tags or leave the dialogue tag out altogether. When you use “she replied quickly”, you’re taking away from the tone and context of the dialogue that should convey the message to the reader in the first place.

If you’ve already written a complete manuscript and have it ready to submit to publishers, congratulations! But before you begin an onslaught of query letters, go back through your manuscript with a fine tooth comb and cut out as many adverbs as possible. It may seem unnatural at first, but when you read through it for the second time, you’ll notice the difference.

Bethany Ramos is an author and full-time freelance writer with experience in Internet marketing, social media marketing, and SEO. She is passionate about writing captivating children's books and witty chick lit. For more information, you can visit her blog at http://chicklit-books.com