Managing your language when writing

Even if you are an author who writes just for his/her self, there are still some aspects of writing which could be improved using the following tools.

Word Frequency Count

This applet reads through your submission – even full length manuscripts – and then reports how many times you’ve repeated a word. Doesn’t sound like much, but sometimes word repetition can become tiresome to your reader, especially when the words being repeated are unusual or remarkable. Use this tool to hone your writing skills by finding which words you favour too often. Then, open up your manuscript and run a search for those words, using your thesaurus (or brain!!) to replace them. Especially watch for the dreaded ‘that’ which is usually unnecessary! And when writing, look for expressive verbs instead of using adjectives, then you won’t have so many adjectives show up in your repeat count.

The Phrase Frequency Counter
Same reasoning as above. Amazon has a feature called ‘Statistically Improbable Phrases’ active with their Search Inside the Book feature, which tells prospective purchasers what strange and unusual phrases you might have in your book, but having those wierd phrases repeated too many times might turn a reader off. Thanks to Mathew Ferguson over at Kindle boards for those two.

Readability Index: Who is your target audience?

If your novel is going to target children or young adults, then readability tests will ensure your are not speaking way above their heads! I’m not saying our kids aren’t smart, but if your narrative is reading at a fourth year university level, you may have some trouble engaging those twelve-year-olds. When selecting a textbook for science class, we sometimes use the SMOG index to determine which works for applied verses academic students.

Finding My Voice.

As a newcomer to the world of writing, I sought feedback for my first draft of Regression from a variety of sources. With time being a limiting factor, most of my interactions were through online communities for aspiring authors instead of real life writer’s groups. Authonomy, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, and others offered the opportunity to connect and consult with people who were both readers and writers. I learned quite a bit from those interactions, but the main lesson was to believe in myself and not be afraid to say ‘No, I don’t think I can do that.’

I solicited advice from those who took in-depth, critical looks at the work being posted for review on the writer’s communities, and also carefully read the critiques of other author’s work. At first, I frantically made changes to my worked based on the comments of my readers, trying desperately to make every potential reader happy. What I found was that there were as many different opinions about writing techniques and styles as there were authors offering opinions, and what one person wanted me to change or remove, another wanted me to expand upon or develop. I finally ended up explaining to one especially opinionated critic that as much as I appreciated her suggestions and efforts to provide feedback on my novel, the style she was attempting to lead me toward was a style she herself appreciated but one I could never see myself fitting into. I want to write like Kathy Bell, not Jane Austen. I Write Like I Live.

This was most clearly exemplified during my attempts to secure a traditional publishing contract. I submitted my manuscript to multiple publishing houses, and two of them expressed serious interest in my work. But, both of them had a list of changes they wanted to see happen before they would offer a contract. Imagine my chagrin when Publishing House A wanted me to change the exact opposite to what Publishing House B wished to change! I have had many people state one should not change a manuscript until a contract is signed, but of course I didn’t hear that until after I worked for weeks trying to adjust my writing style and story to make the possible book deal(s) happen. Unfortunately, neither lead panned out but the juxtaposition of the editorial commentaries made me realize just how subjective reading is, and just how much guesswork goes into editorial choices. Editors must guestimate the likelihood any given manuscript is going to meet the interests of the widest audience, and yet their guess is likely as good as mine in the changing landscape of the reading consumer. With ebooks making such an incredible array of books available, the final choice really is in reader hands and now we writers can write for ourselves instead of trying to meet the demands of an editor.

There are obviously some aspects which should be acknowledged in making a solid science fiction novel. Ensuring that action scenes are ‘experienced’ and not ‘told’, having continuity and validity, especially in your scientific concepts, making the entire thing make sense. But, these are generally objective aspects for the most part, not subjective. Even so, the objective facets of writing are malleable to a degree.

Now when I read through Regression, my first novel, I see a lot of elements I do not like. Compared to the first draft, the narrative is drastically different, and not always in a way that I think reflects who I am or can be as a writer. I changed it to meet the expectations of others. The retail version of Regression is about the eightieth draft! But, Evolussion is the complete opposite. I think it very truly reflects where I want to be as a writer, and (hmm, should I admit this in public?) is quite literally the second version of the story…much of the manuscript remains unchanged from the moment I put fingers to keyboard. I hope that the positive responses to the tale continue, because then I know that my own instincts about how to write a gripping, moving story were reasonably accurate.

Why 11/11/11?

Why would I start my Infinion Series on November 11, 2011? And why have that number take on such importance?

It stems from the reason why we paused for a moment of silence today at 11 am. To remember those who have gone before, those who have sacrificed to secure the freedom of their friends and family. And, Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, Veterans Day, or whatever your country may call it, is also the time to hopefully ponder the mistakes of the past to ensure they never happen again.

For a novel about people dedicated to fixing the future through changing the past, starting with Remembrance Day made sense. And, it gave me the opportunity to honour fallen soldiers in my own little way, by incorporating memorial services into the novel. And getting in a mention of the Highway of Heroes here in Ontario in Evolussion.

I am blessed by the fact I have not been personally affected by war. I am thankful that there are men and women willing to risk their lives so I can have the opportunity to write without fear. I am a participant in Operation eBook Drop, which provides free Kindle books to deployed soldiers. If they can find a little bit of distraction from their resonsibilities by reading one of my books, then I am pleased to offer it as a way of thanking them.

Today we have very few veterans of the Great War around to share with us the absolute horrors of the conditions during World War One. Soon, there will be few survivors of the Second World War. But, I can only hope that we never reach the point of having veterans of a Third World War.

To all the in-service soldiers, and those who have served before them, I wish you well.

My Ridiculous Life

Most people have heard of Murphy’s Law. “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” Murphy’s Law does not apply to me. You see, in my life I have ‘Bell’s Law’. “Whatever you could not possibly imagine happening in a million years can and will take place at the most inopportune moment when at least one other incredibly unbelievable event is also happening.”
Since I plan to someday write a book about these experiences involving stalkers, appraisers, bank managers, murderers, tow truck drivers, couriers, dentists, cable guys, and various other supporting characters, I would hate to spoil the surprise by telling too much right now. Suffice to say that although the absurd situations I face on a regular basis are not necessarily laughing matters, laughter is about the best way to remain sane! From window frames randomly falling out of walls and hitting me in the head to bank employees quitting on the day I filed my mortgage application and throwing said application in the shredder while deleting all electronic files, or from mistaken identities in restaurants to having my home phone number erroneously printed on a sales flyer which had a circulation of thousands in another country, the outrageously stupid happens to me frequently.
The regular occurrence of the completely ludicrous is such a part of my life that my co-workers pry me almost every week to find out the most recent entry in the curious chronicles of my life. I have heard the phrase “You need to write a book about that…” more times than I can count. All of these crazy events are always beyond my control and it makes me wonder if I am the subject of some reality show attempting to determine the breaking point for a relatively normal human being. How did they get the cameras inside my head? Can anyone say book idea? Guess my next project will be a thriller!
I will say, what allows me to keep my sanity in the face of my curse of the ridiculous is I am so incredibly blessed with the bright points in my life which seem to balance out the burden of the negative and utterly incredible. My four amazing children and husband, my wonderful farm, the serenity of our pastoral setting. To be relatively healthy and financially secure. To have written a book and see it not only in print, but on a bestseller list. To have bred the top bulldog in Canada two years running. The list of my happy places goes on and on. Thank goodness.
I have to think of a title for the Chronicles. Curse of the Ridiculous? Lamenting the Ludicrous? Anecdotes of the Absurd? Inking the Idiotic? There are already enough entries to fill a full-length novel…and I’m not even middle-aged! Here’s hoping that soon the curse of the absurd will ebb away and leave behind nothing but words on paper. Thanks for listening to my lament, and look for it on the shelves of a bookstore some day in the future.