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Blog by Ron Do You Watch Your Word Usage

Do you watch your word usage?

Word usage plays an important role in writing. Consider the following:

  • Short words tend to speed up a story
  • Long words tend to slow down a story
  • Some words are more difficult to understand; use clear, concise words
  • Some words have different meanings in different contexts
  • Some words are more difficult to pronounce than others
  • Use verbs and adverbs wisely (check grammar book)
  • Don’t use long sentences unless necessary
  • Short sentences tend to speed up a story
  • Normally try to stay at or below 8 sentences in a paragraph
  • Check your spelling

More on this subject after the break.

T&R Independent Books brings you this blog post to keep you informed on the issues of today. Authors need to stay informed so that they can relate to their readers facts as well as entertain them with their imagination.

It’s Your Business is a Basic Writing Course that explains and guides you into becoming an author. Powered by video along with PDFs and Coaching you learn the basics of writing. Sign up is Coming Soon and Class will start shortly afterward. Watch for the headline ‘Authors Basic Training Open for Registration now’.

To discover how you can be the writer you want to be, write to us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. We will respond.

Now, back to the subject of Word Usage.

Word Usage means more than Grammar

While grammar and spelling are important factors, you should consider other things as part of word usage. For instance, keeping track of a character’s speech characteristics.

That may sound odd, but if a character first appears as one who stutters, then you need to have that character stutter throughout the book. Which means, you will need to track the character’s speech to make sure he or she always stutters at least up to the point to where the stutter is cured.

What else should you track? How about a character’s:

  • Favorite slogans
  • Difficulty pronouncing certain words
  • Use of slang
  • Overuse of words and/or phrases

These may seem minor, but getting them right can make all the difference in your writing.

VISIT MY AUTHOR’S PAGE TODAY: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

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Company information:

T&R Independent Bookstore is a division of T&R Independent Books founded in 2014 by R. Frederick and Tess Riddle. TR Ministry, aka Ministry Services, is both a charge and an exciting outreach to the Christian Community.

If you would like to review any of our books, contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. An example of an appropriate subject line would be: ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ In the email make sure to indicate your email address, and your name, and we will send a PDF of the chosen book to you.

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Blog by Tess – Why Editing of a Book is Necessary

Teresa (Tess) Riddle

Just as writing a book is time-consuming, so is editing a book.  I’m not one who likes to edit books, but the task must be done.

Why is editing a book so important?

The first draft I do on a book is not usually my best. It’s usually off the cuff. I find that each time I edit a particular chapter, the better I can structure my sentences and paragraphs in a way that will keep my readers interested in the book.

Editing the First Chapter

That first chapter is important. We want to catch the interest of the reader within the first couple of pages of the first chapter. When I’m looking for books to read (library or at a bookstore. etc.) I often put the book I picked up back on the shelf because the writer didn’t catch my interest in the first few pages.

Editing Grammar

We must make sure that our grammar and spelling errors are cleaned up.  The English language has words (Homophones) that sound alike but are different in meaning or spelling.

Examples of Homophones

AcceptExcept  IEye ThereTheirThey’re
AffectEffect  MerryMarry ToTooTwo
AloudAllowed  PearPair Read Red
AreOutHour SeeSea Sell Cell
BearBare  SonSun    
BreakBrake  WeatherWhether    
BuyBybye WhichWitch    
CapitalCapitol  PrinciplePrincipal    
FlowerFlour  WonOne    
HereHear  WrightRight    

More on the other side of this break.

T&R Independent Books brings you this blog post to keep you informed on the issues of today. Authors need to stay informed so that they can relate to their readers facts as well as entertain them with their imagination.

It’s Your Business is a free video service to help authors learn how to set up their business. We provide free video training where you learn why you, as an author, are already a businessman or businesswoman. You also learn basics for structuring your business. Along with these videos is Learning to Write with the basics you need.

To discover how you can be the writer you want to be, write to us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. We will respond with a free copy of our Guide to Writing.

Check us out and get your career moving.

Now back to the article.

Self-Check Grammar

It’s important to self-check all grammar and spelling in the book we’re writing. Sometimes the program we’re using will skip over words or sentences.

Exception of Rule

Now the exception to the rule is this:  If you’re using a Bible program (King James Version, for example) to cut and paste verses into your document, you don’t need to edit it. In the case of the KJV you want to retain the language and the spelling for accuracy. 

Have a wonderful week.

VISIT MY AUTHOR’S PAGE TODAY: amazon.com/author/Tessriddle.

Don’t forget to comment below. We are always interested in your opinions. And to make sure you get our blogs, simply check the box that says, Notify me of new posts via email.

Company information:

T&R Independent Bookstore is a division of T&R Independent Books founded in 2014 by R. Frederick and Tess Riddle. TR Ministry, aka Ministry Services, is both a charge and an exciting outreach to the Christian Community.