Vlog: Ask An Editor - Repetition

In today's vlog I talk about three types of repetition to check for in your manuscript.

Understanding Archaic Language

Today I have decided to take a quick look at some aspects of archaic language. I see people mix these up all the time, and it comes down to a lack of understanding of the grammar.

Thou is nominative (subject form), thee is object form, and thy/thine is possessive form.

The use of thy/thine depends on the object of which you are speaking. A good general rule is that thine goes before words beginning with an h or a vowel. The same holds true if you are choosing between my and mine.

Here are some examples:
Thou art a fool.
All my foolishness I give to thee.
Thy foolishness offends me.
Thine eyes are full of mischief.

And here is a quick glossary of some other archaic terms you may come across in both historical works and historical fiction.

Henceforth: from now onwards
Hither: to/towards this place
Hitherto: until now
Thither: to that place
Wherefore: why
N.B. Many modern readers seem to misunderstand Juliet's balcony scene. When she asks 'Wherefore art thou Romeo?' she wants to know why he has to be Romeo, her enemy. She's not asking where he is. :)

Common Word Confusion Part 4/4

In today’s blog post I’m going to share a few editing tips regarding common mistakes linked to pronouns and possession. Perhaps these will seem obvious to some of you; however, you’d be surprised how many times I see them confused in fiction manuscripts.

Their/There/They're
Their = belonging to them
E.g. They opened their books.
There = a place/destination
E.g. Put the books over there.
They're = they are
E.g. They're eager to start reading the book

Your vs. You're
Your is possessive.
E.g. Your button is undone.
You're is a contraction of 'you are'.
E.g. You're always pointing out my faults.

Me vs. I
Lots of people have their own way of thinking about this. For me, it comes down to what makes sense without the 'you'. If deciding between 'you and me' or 'you and I', say the sentence aloud just with the 'me' or 'I' to see which makes sense.
E.g. You and me both like books.
Take a look without the 'you' and you'll have 'Me (both) like books'. Clearly this makes no sense; therefore, the sentence should be:
You and I both like books.

Who vs. Whom
This is another one that relies on verb form, but there is a quick way to decide which it should be.
The man who he loved.
Reverse the sentence and see which fits best: 'He loved he' or 'He loved him'. We can tell at once it should be him; therefore, the correct wording of the sentence would be:
The man whom he loved.
If you'd say 'him' rather than 'he' (or 'her'/'them' rather than 'she'/'they') then you know it will be whom.

Editing to Remove Filler Words & Overused Words

In this month’s editing tip I am going to talk about filler words and how to weed them out of your final draft.

Filler words creep into everyone's writing. It's hard to avoid them in first drafts, when you're intent on getting the story down, but you should remove them as you edit.

What I mean by filler words are those little ones like just, very, really, a little and quite. Removal of these words will strengthen your prose and make it seem more confident.

One way to do this is to take your manuscript and run a 'find and highlight' search. You'll be surprised, I'm sure, at how many come up. And how many you can remove.

Now, I do not advocate removal of every single one, because occasionally they are needed. Simply read each sentence where they appear and ask if they are required for the sentence to make sense. If the answer is yes, leave them be; if the answer is no, delete.

The same holds true for repetitive vocabulary. If you know you have a penchant for a particular word, plug that into the search too. Should the search highlight the word several times in the same paragraph or on the same page, consider whether you can change a few out for synonyms or rephrase a sentence here and there.

Common Word Confusion Part 3/4

It’s time for a few more editing quick tips for fiction writers. Here are five pairs of words that authors tend to confuse.

Advice/Advise
This one is a simple case of noun vs. verb, as follows:
He asked his mother for advice. (noun)
His mother advised him to forget about it. (verb)

Enquiry/Inquiry
Enquiry is when you ask about something/request information
Inquiry is a formal investigation.
Thus....
He made an enquiry regarding the book he had ordered.
The inquiry into the missing funds continued for several weeks.

Awhile/A while
Awhile is an adverb whereas a while is a noun. Here are some examples:
It has been a while since he last read a book.
Go read awhile
NB: If you have a 'for' in there, it will be a while e.g. Go read for a while.

Peel/Peal
For this one, just think two 'e's for oranges.
Peel is the rind/skin of a fruit.
Peal is the sound of laughter or bells.

Peak/Peek
For this one, just think two 'e's for two eyes!
Peek is when you look at something.
Peak is the top of a mountain or the utmost limits of something.

Vlog: Ask An Editor - Common Writing Mistakes

In today's vlog I discuss some common writing mistakes, and how to fix them.

Using Dialogue Tags in Fiction

Today’s editing tips topic is dialogue tags. In fiction, it is generally considered good practice to dispense with these completely if it is clear who is speaking in each line. Naturally, if there is a room full of characters and they are all involved in a conversation, you’ll need tags (or some sort of descriptive action) to differentiate between the speakers. However, in a simple back and forth between two people, it’s best to keep them to a minimum and simply show the dialogue, along with any necessary actions.

In cases where you do need to use them, try to stick to a plain verb as much as possible, rather than adding too many adverbs. Here are a couple of examples:

1) He said softly
This could be rendered as 'He murmured' or 'He whispered'.

2) He walked quickly
Here you could go for He dashed, He hurried, He hastened, He strode etc.

See how the single verbs pack more punch and add some flavour to the narration? The choice of verb is important. Think of the different sense of the scene you get by choosing 'he dashed' over 'he strode'. The first has a feeling of urgency; the second imbues him with purpose.

Common Word Confusion Part 2/4

It’s time for a few more editing quick tips for fiction writers. These are words that authors tend to confuse.

Born vs. Borne
The only thing to remember here is that born is used for anything relating to birth and borne is for everything else.

He must think that I was born yesterday.
After all that he had borne, he was exhausted.

Farther vs. Further
The key point to remember here is distance. If any kind of travel or physical distance is involved, it is farther. If you are meaning something 'additional' it is further.

He travelled farther than he had intended.
He looked for further information on the forest walks. 

Lay vs. Lie
The trick here is to remember that lie is for reclining and lay is for setting something down. Once you have those straight, just follow the correct conjugations.

Lay
I lay the book on the table (Present)
I laid the book on the table (Past)
Laying the book on the table, I stand (Present Participle)
I have laid the book on the table (Past Participle)

Lie
I lie in the bed (Present)
I lay in the bed (Past)
Lying in bed, I fall asleep (Present Participle)
I have lain in bed for hours (Past Participle)

Common Word Confusion Part 1/4

Today I’m sharing a few of those little words that tend to catch authors out, and some tips on how to remember the difference between them.

Set vs. Sat
If you are placing something down you use set. If you are taking a seat, use sat.
Here are some examples to clarify.

He set the book upon the table.
He sat on the table.

Rise/Stand/Wake (up)
There are several verbs to which writers often wish to add 'up'. However, in most cases it is unnecessary and can be removed.

He rose up  sb.  He rose
He stood up sb. He stood
He woke up sb. He woke

Ask yourself if you would ever say 'down' instead. He rose down? Clearly not. Therefore you don't need the 'up'. An exception is stand, because you can stand down; however, this has an entirely different sense and if you simple say 'stand' everyone will assume the 'up' unless you tell them otherwise.

Weary/Wary
Weary is when you are tired.
Wary is when you are uncertain.

He was weary after a long day at the office.
He was wary of entering the haunted house.

US Versus UK Spelling: A Quick Guide for Authors

As an author, you often have to write for a particular market, so today I will highlight three of the key spelling differences between the UK and the US:

OU vs. O

S vs. Z

RE vs. ER

If you are writing fictional works (or, indeed, non-fiction too) for a publisher outside your country, check their spelling requirements prior to submission to avoid either outright rejection of your work or, at best, a lot of fiddling come editing time. As an author, you want to give your story the best chance of success right from the outset.

Set your document to UK or US spelling (as appropriate) from the start as this will highlight most of the errors. However, watch out for RE vs. ER as Word’s spell check does not always pick up on that one!

Vlog: Ask An Editor - Editing Historical Fiction

In today's Ask An Editor vlog, I discuss how to go about editing historical fiction.

Three Cuts to Streamline Your Prose in Works of Fiction

When writing a novel, what an author needs is clean, concise prose. This is unlikely to happen when you pen the first draft, but there are things you can do during edits to tighten your language. Today I’ll look at three phrases in particular to consider cutting. Removal of these will help add punch to your prose.

1) Felt/Feeling
Although there are certain situations that call for people to feel something, in many cases you can eliminate the word itself.

Compare ‘She felt a deep love for him’ with ‘She loved him deeply’.

Both these sentences say the same thing, but the second option has far more impact.

2) Thought/Thinking
The same holds true for things a character thinks.

Compare ‘She certainly thought it was unusual’ with ‘It was certainly unusual’.

We’re already in the character’s POV; therefore, we know that she’s the one thinking ‘it’s unusual’ without needing to be told so in the prose.

3) Started to/Began to
In some cases it does make sense to use one of these phrases. For example, they are necessary if you plan to interrupt the action the character is performing before they have completed it. However, most of the time they aren’t needed.

Compare ‘She started to run down the corridor’ with ‘She ran down the corridor’.

Both are true, yet the second has more immediacy and suggests a greater urgency to the action. I would only use the former if you plan to continue the scene with something along the lines of 'but after a few steps, she tripped'.

A Fiction Writer's Guide to Epithets

The topic I would like to discuss today is the issue of epithets in works of fiction, as this is something I see in manuscripts from authors across genres, sometimes with such prevalence that barely a paragraph goes by without one popping up.

Perhaps some of you are thinking, “What is an epithet?”

Basically, it is an adjective or phrase that describes a person or thing by their/its key characteristics. Examples often seen in works of literature include ‘the young man’, ‘the blonde’, ‘the taller man’, or ‘the petite woman’.

Epithets are often a sign of lazy writing and you should avoid them like the plague. The exception is when you introduce a new character whose name we don’t yet know. Then ‘the old man’ or ‘the stranger’ is fine. Otherwise, stick to the character’s name or relevant pronoun.

Why? Because using epithets makes no sense, especially when you are in a deep POV. Imagine yourself in bed with your partner (a time in stories when epithets are prone to run rampant). Things are getting heated. You look into each other’s eyes. Do you then think of that person as ‘the blond’? I doubt it. You’d think of them by their name or a nickname/endearment.

Even in a more removed POV, epithets only serve to create further distance, limiting the reader’s connection to a character, and there really is no need for them. Most authors who use them do so because they’re worried that too many ‘he’s and ‘she’s will be confusing. But, honestly, if you write clear and concise prose, readers should have no difficulty keeping track of to whom each ‘he’ or ‘she’ refers.

Top Five Self-Editing Tips for Authors

Today I'd like to share my top five self-editing tips. Although some of these pertain more to fiction writers, several are relevant in all written works.

1) Passive Voice
This construct has its place and uses, but you should avoid employing it too often as active language will give your prose more punch.

2) Repetition
Keep watch for a lack of variety in your prose. If you use the same word on a regular basis, particularly within a single paragraph, consider changing a few out with synonyms.

3) Filler Words
You can utilise the Find function in Word to locate filler words such as really, very and just. Then remove them in every instance where the sentence makes sense without them. Often changing the proceeding word will also help. E.g. If you've written very scared, amend to terrified.

4) Dialogue Tags
Remove dialogue tags wherever they aren’t needed to know who’s speaking. This way you can avoid a string of he said, she said.

5) Consistency
Check your manuscript for consistency in spelling, grammar, formatting and descriptions (e.g. a character should not have blond hair on one page and brown on the next).