Writing is not easy. As a developmental editor I have had the pleasure of working with fine artists, storytellers, public speakers, radio journalists, scientists, and college professors on book projects.For many, their authority as an author is based on skills and talents other than writing. Here are some tips I gathered from other professionals that may help others stand on their authority based on expertise and/or experience: Fine artists. The media may be different, but writers and fine artists use composition to organize the elements in a work. Writing, like art, begins with point-of-view as the organizing principal for conventional compositions. The subject comes into focus and the artist must lead the audience’s eyes around all elements before leaving the work. Writing a book manuscript is a hefty composition and requires organization to guide the reader. Sketch your composition, create the outline, and consider what you want the audience to know and in what order. Storytellers. The oral performance of an original story can be a magical experience. But the transcription of an oral performance rarely translates directly to the page for the reader’s eye. Storytellers write for the ear. They work on the craft by listening to their own voice and perfect it for the ears of an audience. To turn those stories into the printed version, there is a translation needed for the deaf eyes of readers. The hand gestures, the tone or volume of vocal delivery, and the intensity of a live performance are lost on a printed…
First there was an earthquake. Then came the tsunami. Floods. Loss of power. The Fukushima nuclear plant released radioactive contaminants in Japan in March 2011. I first heard about the evacuation listening to National Public Radio and recognized the reporter’s voice. Doualy Xaykaothao had been a journalism student whom I had advised when I was a college professor. Stationed in the Seoul Bureau of National… [Read More]
Filed Under: Behind the White House Curtain, Fukushima nuclear plant, Harold Holzer, Japan, National Public Radio, radio, Radio Journalists, Scott McClellan, Steve Herman, Steven L. Herman, The President vs. the Press, Voice of America
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Last year the Department of Justice won the anti-trust lawsuit against Penguin Random House when it had tried to acquire Simon & Schuster. The financial penalties led PRH to eliminate a good number of people from top executive positions. Not surprisingly, some of those great minds decided there might be a different business model for book publishing worth investing in and have started Authors Equity…. [Read More]
“I am looking for authors with a distinctive voice.” [on an agent’s website] “Great premise but I couldn’t connect with the writer’s voice.” [publisher’s rejection] “The voice isn’t strong enough in the first ten pages to make me keep reading.” [agent rejection letter] So what do editors mean by “voice” when they talk about the craft of writing? Voice is the individual writing style of… [Read More]
Wondering what to gift the avid reader in your life this holiday season? Look no further! Here are some creative gift ideas for bookworms that are sure to delight. Blankets and cozy socks There’s nothing quite like curling up with a good book, and these warm, fluffy gifts can make every reading experience even more comfortable, especially in these cold winter months. These blankets from… [Read More]
Filed Under: book gifts, Bookshop, Bookshop.org, Etsy, Litographs, Lumio, Novel Tea Literary Blends, Out of Print, Uncommon Goods
Memoir allows readers a glimpse into the lives of others, the struggles they’ve gone through, the lessons they’ve learned, showing the width and breadth of the human experience. And with the added visual element, graphic memoir brings another dimension to the story and pulls the reader into the setting without the need for prose description, visually transporting readers to lands and perspectives different from their… [Read More]