I've been rereading my book when I could at work but spent a lot of today reading it. I'm still finding corrections and things that need to be changed (like mentioning a particular forum when I'm not with them anymore, believe me, that was changed).
I printed up my book, 2 pages per sheet. And I have a notebook beside me, marking what section needs to be updated or fixed. That way, I can read in my recliner with my feet up.
Upon reviewing my book, I feel like it's missing something. I don't know what it is yet. I know it's missing something. That oomph or spark or something. and it really bugs me that I can't put my finger on it. Does it need more detail? Does it need more explanation? Does it answer any questions in the end? What does it need?
It would be nice if I knew a well published author with years and years of experience who could tell me these things. I suppose agents and editors would help with that too. However, before I approach an agent, I'd like to try polishing my book first. But that brings up another question, when is a book really ready to be shown to an agent?
I'd appreciate any thoughts and comments, advice on this, so feel free to post!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Reading my book
Here I am at work and in between helping people, I have my book on my screen and I'm reading it. I ran spell check and grammar check first and can I just say that the Microsoft Word grammar check is totally off? That grammar check doesn't take the rest of the sentence or paragraph into consideration. I rarely use that grammar check for that reason. If I changed all the things it suggested, then nothing would make sense at all.
However, it did point out a few obvious errors where an extra word wasn't needed. So for that, I'm thankful. I do find it surprising that after I had proof read my book myself several times last year, that are still mistakes. I haven't touched my book since probably January or March of 2008 but I did that on purpose. It is often helpful to leave a work in progress alone for a while and then come back to it with a fresh mind.
So, I begin a new and will read my book again and see what happens. According to the Word program, I have a bit over 62,000 words in my file and it is 281 pages long with 1 inch margins on top & bottom with 1.25 inch margins on the sides and double spaced lines. The Writer's Market book suggests one and half inch margins all the way around but I think that's just a waste of space. Besides, I believe it all depends on what the publisher wants.
Whenever I write, I often wish I had a laptop of my own so that I could read my book, write and create where ever I am. While I do have laptop, it's not technically mine. It belongs to my company, a work laptop. So if I were to get a laptop, I'd consider getting a netbook or a mini. That way, I could carry it everywhere and with the size of the tiny laptops today, It would be like carrying a note pad. I do have my book printed out on regular paper and could always carry that with me, but since it's 281 pages, it would be a hefty thing to carry around. Not to mention a pain in the butt to edit on paper first and then edit it again on the computer.
For now, I carry my book on a 2gb flash drive that I plug into the work computer and then copy the book on to my home computer as a backup. So I may do some research on netbooks. I really only need something that can run a word processing program and a long battery life would be nice too. Perhaps I'll see if any other writers out there have used a netbook of some kind and have suggestions. Of course, price will probably be the deciding factor for me.
Now to get back to work. Until later, Thanks for reading!
However, it did point out a few obvious errors where an extra word wasn't needed. So for that, I'm thankful. I do find it surprising that after I had proof read my book myself several times last year, that are still mistakes. I haven't touched my book since probably January or March of 2008 but I did that on purpose. It is often helpful to leave a work in progress alone for a while and then come back to it with a fresh mind.
So, I begin a new and will read my book again and see what happens. According to the Word program, I have a bit over 62,000 words in my file and it is 281 pages long with 1 inch margins on top & bottom with 1.25 inch margins on the sides and double spaced lines. The Writer's Market book suggests one and half inch margins all the way around but I think that's just a waste of space. Besides, I believe it all depends on what the publisher wants.
Whenever I write, I often wish I had a laptop of my own so that I could read my book, write and create where ever I am. While I do have laptop, it's not technically mine. It belongs to my company, a work laptop. So if I were to get a laptop, I'd consider getting a netbook or a mini. That way, I could carry it everywhere and with the size of the tiny laptops today, It would be like carrying a note pad. I do have my book printed out on regular paper and could always carry that with me, but since it's 281 pages, it would be a hefty thing to carry around. Not to mention a pain in the butt to edit on paper first and then edit it again on the computer.
For now, I carry my book on a 2gb flash drive that I plug into the work computer and then copy the book on to my home computer as a backup. So I may do some research on netbooks. I really only need something that can run a word processing program and a long battery life would be nice too. Perhaps I'll see if any other writers out there have used a netbook of some kind and have suggestions. Of course, price will probably be the deciding factor for me.
Now to get back to work. Until later, Thanks for reading!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Thoughts
All my life, I've wanted to be a writer. So I've read tips from other writers about it. One tip I remember is to write down all your thoughts. No matter how insignificant it may be or how random, write it down. That random thought may just be an inspiration to a story or an idea of a scene.
If I wrote down all my thoughts, I wouldn't have time for anything else. Besides, some thoughts just don't belong outside of my head. Trust me on that.
However, I may start writing some thoughts down. I'd like to get back to writing again but have felt like creativity had left me. Maybe by writing down my thoughts, it will help get some of those creative juices flowing again.
I've ghosts on the brain for a while and really love reading ghost stories, true or fiction. Maybe I can write a ghost story. Or even just write down my personal experiences. I could turn my experiences into a story.
The problem with writing is that when inspiration strikes me, I'm usually at work and can't do the writing I really want to do it and focus my thoughts on it. And when I get home from work, I'm usually too tired and brain dead to do much of anything.
Perhaps I will start using this blog to write down my thoughts. I think it will help and you lucky readers will get a look into my mind whether you like it or not.
If I wrote down all my thoughts, I wouldn't have time for anything else. Besides, some thoughts just don't belong outside of my head. Trust me on that.
However, I may start writing some thoughts down. I'd like to get back to writing again but have felt like creativity had left me. Maybe by writing down my thoughts, it will help get some of those creative juices flowing again.I've ghosts on the brain for a while and really love reading ghost stories, true or fiction. Maybe I can write a ghost story. Or even just write down my personal experiences. I could turn my experiences into a story.
The problem with writing is that when inspiration strikes me, I'm usually at work and can't do the writing I really want to do it and focus my thoughts on it. And when I get home from work, I'm usually too tired and brain dead to do much of anything.
Perhaps I will start using this blog to write down my thoughts. I think it will help and you lucky readers will get a look into my mind whether you like it or not.
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