"Covered with" vs "covered in" vs "covered by" 10 Steps for Editing Your Own Writing. By Mark Nichol You’ve done it. You’ve finally, triumphantly, typed out “The End.” Congratulations! Now comes the hard part: revision. Revising is often more laborious than the writing process itself, but it’s essential — assuming, that is, that you want your writing to get published. 1. Oops — hold on. One exception: If you have not written a synopsis or an abstract, do it now, before you revise your work. 2.
Read the entire manuscript without changing anything — or, at the most, make notes about major fixes or other key corrections for later attention. Some people recommend printing your piece out in hard copy because they claim that you notice the details more when you read your work in print, but that’s impractical for a 100,000-word novel, and some people are more comfortable with on-screen reading than others, so take or leave that advice. 3. Focus, one type at a time, on the parts of speech: Notice nouns, and choose more precise terms and employ elegant variation. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter. By Mark Nichol Have you completed one or more short stories, poems, or nonfiction pieces? Perhaps you’d like some motivation — or to take the next step with them.
This post lists writing competitions for 2011 that feature cash prizes of $1,000 or more and, often, publication deals for the winner (plus, for many contests, additional prizes for winners and other contestants). Note, however, that such competitions often require an entry fee (generally $15-$20 per entry), and some require the submitted material to be previously unpublished. The competition can be fierce, but even if you don’t win, the benefits are valuable: Completing and submitting an entry helps you develop word-count precision and deadline discipline. Good luck! Poetry 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Short Fiction 6. 7. Deadline: March 1Type of submission: offlineLength of submission: up to 10,000 wordsPrize: $1,000 and publication for winner 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Nonfiction 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Multiple Awards 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
TheMakingOfALiteraryTranslator. 25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About. David You left out Final Draft, which is the industry leader when it comes to scriptwriting. Frank Cantu Another highly popular writing application is Scrivener, although it’s Mac-only at the moment. Michelle I love using Q10 for writing. It’s a basic text editor that would probably fall under the heading “eliminate distractions” — I like to change the background to black and the font to a green or amber pixilated one that resembles the computer I had in the 80s. There’s not a ton of formatting options, but it works really well for just getting down the words. ( meghnak You have really provided a useful list of writing software, which are very much need for all writers in addition to their pencils and notebooks.
10 Latin Abbreviations You Might Be Using Incorrectly. By Mark Nichol Abbreviations deriving from Latin terms and phrases can be troublesome for us non-Latin speakers. Here’s the long and short of the most common short forms adopted into English from the classical language: 1. e.g. This abbreviation of exempli gratia (“for example”) is not only often left bereft of its periods (or styled eg.), it’s also frequently confused for a similar abbreviation you’ll find below. Use e.g. (followed by a comma) to signal sample examples. 2. etc. This sloppily formed abbreviation of et cetera (“and so forth”) is often misspelled ect., perhaps because we’re accustomed to words in which c precedes t, but not vice versa. Refrain from using etc. in an e.g. list; the abbreviations are essentially redundant, and note that etc. is also redundant in a phrase that includes including. 3. et al.
Also, unlike as in the case of etc., refrain from preceding it with a comma, presumably because only one name precedes it. 4. i.e. 5. fl. 7. per cent. 8. re 9. viz. 10. vs. How to Slash your Writing Time in Half. As a blogger, I need to write a lot of articles. Fast. Not only do I need a flow of good ideas, I also need time to turn the initial ideas into useful blog posts. It’s sometimes a struggle. Do you want to write faster – without losing quality? Here are 10 tips that can help you to slash your writing time in half: Step 1: Maintain a swipe file of good posts Whenever you see an attractive post, add it to a swipe file. The post you save may be about something that’s completely outside of your blog topic, but it may contain elements that you can use for a blog post – and it will trigger new post ideas.
Step 2: Create an ‘ideas file’ I carry a notebook around with me at all times in order to capture ideas. Step 3: Don’t sit down and start writing Don’t write now! Step 4: Put your subconscious to work In order to prime the pump of your creativity, get out your ‘ideas file’, as well as your ‘swipe file’ of posts. Step 5: Let your mind ferment Step 6: Start writing Step 8: Switch on the Editor. How to Nurture Your Creativity. Novel Ideas. 6 Key Steps To Finding Your Passion As A Writer. A guest post by Barrie Davenport of Live Bold and Bloom. By definition, writers are passionate creatures. Your days are spent huddled over a keyboard, tap tap tapping out portions of your soul and nuggets of your imagination. If you don’t truly love writing, it is darn near impossible to be a good writer. As writers, we are among the fortunate few who are actually doing something we love. Yes there are struggles, both financial and personal. But we have the ability and talent to shape words into tangible expressions that can inspire, educate, and entertain.
As much as we love the craft, part of our calling as writers should be to stretch ourselves beyond the calling to write. You can be an exquisite writer by tapping into the passion of being yourself. Writing may define part of you, but it shouldn’t define all of you. Let me present this scenario as an example. An experienced professional dancer is rapturous and heart-wrenching to watch. Know Thyself. Define Your Qualities. 6 Common Resume Questions Answered- Monster+HotJobsCanada. 15 Professional Details that Can Land You More Work. Why Having a Pen Name Can Be a Risky Move.