I couple days ago, I discussed Painting with Dialogue, which involved changing text where you are telling to text where you are showing using dialog. However, what if the text that you need to change is already dialog. How do you paint the dialog itself? Consider two people conversing. When they talk, do they hold perfectly still? […]
This article is part of a fictional novel. Events are not real. The Jordan Valley Medical Center released the results of its investigation into the missing body of Jacob Stevens, claiming that it had been sent by mistake to the University of Utah Medical School to be used as a cadaver. Attempts at locating the […]
This article is part of a fictional novel. Events are not real. Last year’s prep football player of the year, Jacob Stevens, was shot in what police are calling a drive-by shooting. He survived a few hours, allowing his mother and sister to say good-bye, but unfortunately, his father, John, never got that chance as […]
So when I saw a panel session on humor at the Life the Universe & Everything conference, I knew I had to attend. There was a great list of panelists: Berin Stephens, Craig Nybo, Eric James Stone, Platte F. Clark, Robert J Defendi, and Larry Correia. I couldn’t miss this. I just didn’t know what was […]
Have you ever saved your document only to realize that you have accidentally deleted a section of you novel? Or maybe you changed something and now regret the change and you want to go back? Well version control systems are for “techies” (yes, I am a techie but most authors are not) and so most […]
Hello all. I just got back from the Life the Universe & Everything conference. Just before the conference I hired an editor, Sarah Bylund, to edit my novel. Sarah was referred by Brandon Sanderson’s assistant. I started her out with the first two chapters, loved her editing, and will be using her for the rest […]
This article assumes you have used Microsoft Word to create your manuscript. Step 1 – Prepare your word document Things to note Find all instances of space quote (a single quote before a word) and write them down so you can find them again. I found these in my novel. Days of ’47 ’cause Find […]
If you want a great high quality ebook, then I recommend you use Sigil. It is free and open source and works quite well. Note: I recommend that you wait until your manuscript is done before you move it to Sigil. Use Microsoft Word to write your novel and edit your novel. Only once it […]
When you publish an ebook, you should never have an empty line. There are places where you may use an empty line. Chapters The wrong way Pressing Enter (sometime called carriage returns). Never, never use the enter key to add new lines until you are at the next page. These new lines will show up […]
Ok, so I have been reading a lot of ebooks since I purchased my Kindle Fire last year. I have even been reading a lot more indie books. One of the problems I have seen in indie books is the way the author writes the Ellipsis. Ebooks are usually justified, and so this is even more important […]