Skip to main content

Style Manual - Any burning questions?

Today is a good day for the editor in me. It is the day my style manual has arrived.

As I am hoping to start freelance editing and working in a publishing environment soon, this book will become my bible. Should you use a comma there? Let me go grab my style manual and settle this. Google will thank me for the load I am about to take off it.

I have chosen the New Oxford Style Manual published in 2012. Nice and up to date as well as originating from my home county.

Here’s the big question – do you have a question?




It can be anything related to writing. If it’s to do with grammar, punctuation, formatting a book (self-publishing), or about the publishing process then I’ll get to use my new manual (as well as search the depths of the internet)! If it’s something more subjective then it might be a future writing tip, so still ask away.

You can post here. You can contact me on figment, wattpad,or authonomy. This will be open for as long as I blog. I want to write useful articles which will give you tools to polish up your novel. So let me know which tools you don’t have and I’ll see if I can help with that.

Cheers!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown24 January 2014 at 08:03

    What are your opinions on said versus other dialogue verbs? I've heard from a few places that said should be used in the majority, or even totally, because it's a word that becomes invisible to the reader. Is there any evidence on that (I'm kind of interested in the psychology of language)?

    I can see the need to use dialogue verbs and modifiers sensibly (no silly ones like vocalize, and no whisper softly or scream loudly), but that really goes for anything. It just seems odd to want to cut out a chunk of words from a book's vocabulary outright.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Scookie25 January 2014 at 19:41

    Interesting question. I definitely have an opinion but I'll do some more research into this to give you the best answer I can.

    Cheers for the question!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Your Best Character: Quiz and Contest

The best characters are put through hell and yet can still carry the story forward on their broken shoulders. Your plot will fall flat if your characters are one dimensional and strong characters can make a cliché story really shine; characterisation takes work and thought. The key to character development is to ask questions. Maybe spend time thinking about the scenarios that have happened to your character which won’t make the final cut of the novel. The questions below are designed to test that (to some degree). [NOW CLOSED, REVIEWS PENDING] Answer at least 5 of these in a comment with a link to your story and I’ll give you an in-depth review. Reviews are approximately 1000 words and take me well over an hour, so if you’re looking to polish up your manuscript then don’t miss out. Also, the opening chapter with the most interesting and well-developed character will be featured on this blog! Feel free to write about anyone as long as they feature in the same story. You can ans...
9 comments
Read more

Opening Chapter: Quiz and Contest

The opening chapter is pivotal. It needs to draw in an intended audience – it needs flare and promise of things to come, with writing that earns the reader’s trust, luring them into the next chapter.  I’ve made a quick quiz to test whether your opening has what it takes. You don’t need all of these things for a good chapter. Hell, I bet there are a few I’ve forgotten too! Answer each of the following using evidence from your opening. If you can’t, then maybe you need to spice up the chapter. 1) Is your opening line unique, scene setting, or hooking? 2) What makes your character unique? 3) Pick out your best line of description. 4) Pick out your quirkiest line. 5) Is the genre and sub-genres obvious? 6) Is it clean from silly mistakes – have you read through more than 10 times? 7) Does it end on a cliff-hanger? 8) What makes it different from other novels in that genre? 9) Does it start close to the action? 10) Are you happy with it?...
6 comments
Read more

Show Vs. Tell: Round 1

Hands up if a critic has told you ‘show don’t tell’ (SDT). Keep that hand up if you found it rather unhelpful at the time or if that critic didn’t elaborate much. Yes, it’s a pesky phrase. Showing rather than telling can be a pretty powerful tool, and here's what it really means: Showing brings your words to life, creates imagery, and lets the reader know exactly what’s going on. It doesn’t tell you facts explicitly, but builds an idea in your head so that usually you understand it in far more detail than you would have. Good writing makes you realise a fact without being told it straight. As a writer it forces you to explore your imagination further really think about your story and your characters. It adds depth. *But showing is not always better than telling.* Telling adds pace. It moves the story along and sums up ideas that may be unclear if let to just showing. It doesn’t try to add detail to a relatively boring fact. It lets you know what piece of information is imp...
3 comments
Read more