A Step in the Write Direction--July 7, 2014--Editing Tips

A Step in the Write Direction

July 7, 2014

Update: To my disappointment, on the advice of my lung specialist, I had to cancel not only the writing workshop but my whole vacation in Michigan scheduled for June 10-21. I had also intended to visit friends and family, my home church, and camp meeting in which my nephew is having charge of the music. Hopefully I can reschedule the workshop for next year as my ticket is good until June 20, 2015….I’ll be having a lung cat scan on Monday, and then a new test called a “bronchoscopy,” so appreciate your prayers….Am now reading the page proofs of the new Step in the Write Direction and hope to have that back to the publisher sometime this week.

Thought for the Week: “It is easy to surrender [to God] when you know that nothing but Love and Mercy are on the other side” (Richard Rohr, Spirituality and the 12 Steps).

Song for the Week:

            As a chalice cast of gold, burnished, bright and brimmed with wine

Make me, Lord, as fit to hold grace and truth and love divine.

Let my praise and worship start with the cleansing of my heart.. . . .

Let my actions, Lord, express what my tongue and lips profess.”

—Thomas H.  Troeger, “As a Chalice Cast of Gold,” vs. 1-2,

    Glory to God,  Presbyterian Hymnal, 2013, 429.

Laugh for the Week: Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, “Why is the bride dressed in white?” The mother replied, “Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.” The child thought about this for a moment then said, “So why is the groom wearing black?”

Special This Week:

Shelia Shares....
"Frogs On A Log"
In a management training seminar, the executives were admonished to make decisions and act on those decisions. The leader gave an example. "If you had five frogs on a log and three of them decided to jump, how many frogs would you have left on the log?"

The executives were unanimous in their answer. "Two."

The leader explained that they were all wrong. There would still be five frogs on the log. Deciding to jump and jumping are not the same.

In our Christian lives, often it is difficult to make decisions regarding future actions. We don't want to make a wrong decision. But, once the decision is made, do we follow through with actions or do we sit and do nothing? (The Gospel Greats Weekly Newsletter).

Reading the above brought the thought to mind that “deciding to write” and “writing” are not the same. To be a writer, you have to write. (dg)

Writer’s Tips:

Some suggestions I sent to an author whose manuscript I edited this week:

·        The biggest thing I noticed is the overuse of all caps, boldface, and underline. You don't need all of them. Pick up a Bible study book you may have in your library and see how seldom all of these are used. They really detract from the message you so very ably put across, and also break the train of thought for the reader. Delete most of these from one page, print it out, and see how much easier it is to read. You want the reader to see the Lord, not you.

·        Underlines could be used perhaps in subheads, but not in the main title, nor should your title or subheads be in all caps. For example, the word PREFACE would simply be Preface.

·        Since you're putting all your Scripture in italics, if you want to emphasize a word or words, rather than underline them, delete the italic and put them in Roman (normal font).

·        The word EXAMPLE that you use so often could be Example. Just be consistent all the way through.  

·         I don't know who you're sending this to. If it will be self-published, does your publisher require that the right margin be justified? Normally it isn't. You can highlight the entire book, then go to “paragraph” and check on “left” instead of “justified” and it’ll change the whole manuscript. (Note: If you do this, you will have to go back and center the words you want centered.)

·        The other big thing, because this Bible study is all in outline form, if you have an a) you must have a b). If you have a 1) you have to have a 2), and so on. (NOTE: I have an outline format for anyone who wants me to send it to them.)

·        When you get to the last line of a page, don't Line Return all the way down to the end of the page. This makes a lot more work for the editor. Simply Enter once to get to the next line, then Ctrl Enter, and this takes you to the top of the next page.

·         The other thing concerns the versions of the Bible you're using. If you’re using Scriptures from mostly one version, then you can put on the title page: Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture in this book is taken from ­­­_______, then give the credit line for that version. Then you go on and say: Scriptures marked NIV are taken from ______ and give that credit, etc.. (NOTE: I have a list of all the credit lines for the various versions of the Bible which I’ll send to anyone who e-mails me. This information is also included in my Step in the Write Direction book.)

·        Some words that were spelled right but misused are: prophecy/prophesy; assistants/ assistance; board/bored; entrée/entry, and prospective/perspective. Also the word gospel is lower case when referring to good news, but upper case (as also is Epistle) when referring to a book of the Bible.

·        Also, spell out the books of the Bible. Let the publisher abbreviate them in their own style if they wish.

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

  

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"