ASQUITH PRESS. The Three Types of Edi.ng. Substan.ve Edi.ng. Editing Your Book for Publication on Asquith Press

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1 ASQUITH PRESS Quality, Affordable Paperback Book Printing Editing Your Book for Publication on Asquith Press The Three Types of Edi.ng Substan.ve edi.ng Stylis.c edi.ng Copy edi.ng Theme Structure Se;ng Substan.ve Edi.ng Character Plot Pacing 1

2 Stylis.c Edi.ng Logic and flow from paragraph to paragraph Tone Language level Variety of sentence structure Style Clarity Consistency Correctness Copy Edi.ng Before you begin... What is your book about? What is the purpose of your book? Who is your audience? Now you can begin edi.ng your work into sharper focus! 2

3 Ac#vity Take five minutes to write a short paragraph describing what your book is about. Theme A topic for a discourse, discussion, composi.on, sermon, or medita.on; a unifying or dominant idea, mo.f, or field; in music, a principal melody. The Oxford Companion to the English Language. What is my core idea (or message, or angle, or moral)? Themes Fic.on Universal experiences: Good vs. evil Flee.ng or enduring love The importance of family Perseverance of the human spirit Cookbooks Comfort food Easy recipes Memoirs Triumph over adversity Business books People, technology 3

4 Structure The what and the why of your book make it appealing; the structure makes it accessible and effective. Structure Linear structure Chronological storytelling, or historical recoun.ng Point of view changes that are temporally in sync Non- linear structure Flashbacks Thema.c subject treatment Point of view changes that are not temporally in sync Se;ng Can your reader place him- or herself within the scene? Does your character interact with the se;ng or just move through it? Watch for scene blocking Watch for too much se;ng! 4

5 Character Do your characters have likes and dislikes? dis.nct ways of speaking? emo.onal reac.ons that a reader can relate to or understand? something to lose? Plot Are the stakes high and the obstacles numerous? Do your plots and subplots resolve? Watch for dropped threads! Non- fic.on: does your argument flow logically and conclude? Pacing Are your chapter lengths even? Accelera.ng? Ask pre- readers to tell you where your book drags and why Does each chapter contribute to the plot or thesis of the book? 5

6 Stylis.c Edi.ng Examine your book paragraph by paragraph for: logical progression of thought overlap repe..on dead wood Tone Scholarly vs. layperson casual Objec.ve vs. personal Serious vs. humorous Dark vs. light Wri.ng Style Vary sentence length and structure for narra.ve rhythm Don t underes.mate the power of plain language 6

7 Powerful Verbs vs. Adverbs She ran quickly = He ate eagerly = It rained really hard = She.ptoed lightly = He sat down heavily and wearily in the chair = Verbing: the crea(on of a new verb from a noun. O]en, a perfectly good verb already exists! 1. What we favour ß no less awkward than What we re favori.ng 2. Our favourites Verbing Check out this great ar.cle in your materials YOU'VE BEEN VERBED Anthony Gardner, Intelligent Life magazine 7

8 Nominaliza#on (or nouning): the crea(on of nouns from verbs or the use of a noun in a verb s place. O]en, the verb the noun is derived from is ac.ve, concise, and much beier suited to the job! 1. An analysis of this quarter s results was performed. (8 words) 2. We analyzed this quarter s results. (5 words) 3. Let s layout that. 4. Let s lay that out. Style vs. the Style Guide Rules can be broken for style and emphasis A liile goes a long way don t overdo it! Wri.ng for Your Readers You can evaluate your text s readability using these tools: Flesch- Kincaid Reading Ease Flesch- Kincaid Grade Level Coleman- Liau Index SMOG Gunning Fog Index 8

9 Ac#vity Enter your text sample into the text evaluator on your computer. If you did not bring a sample, cut and paste some text from the internet. Copy Edi.ng For Consistency, choose a dic.onary and style guide. For example: Oxford Canadian Dic.onary The Chicago Manual of Style Track Consistency Numbers Spelling Hyphena.on Punctua.on Capitaliza.on Acronyms Character names Place names à Track them all on a stylesheet for quick reference! 9

10 Create Harmonious Chapter Titles Capitalize first and last words, and all words except conjunc.ons (and, but) preposi.ons shorter than 4 leiers (for, on) ar.cles that do not begin the.tle (a, the) Spelling Table of Contents How the Cat Got on to the Roof Why I Called the Fire Department à When in doubt use numbered chapters! Ensure your document is navigable by using clear, consistent forma;ng. Consistency Clarity Reduce ambiguity through careful pronoun use. When using pronouns (he, she, it), make sure the reader will know who you are referring to. Sally asked Lisa to go to the auc.on with her. She couldn t believe the prices. [who is she?] Good bosses are hard to find. It s a skill. [ It refers to nothing here.] 10

11 Clarity Reduce ambiguity through careful placement of modifying words and phrases. Maggie sat at her desk, full of great examples. [Is the desk full of examples or is Maggie?] The lion was in the pen. As he approached the fence, it started roaring. [Who is he? Is the fence roaring?] Clarity Reduce ambiguity through careful punctua.on. While ea.ng, babies look happy. While ea.ng babies, look happy. Clarity Reduce confusion during dialogue scenes using careful paragraph breaks, punctua.on, and airibu.on. Each character s dialogue should be in a separate paragraph (along with his/ her ac.ons). Airibute dialogue through frequent speech and ac.on tags. See the dialogue cheat sheet for punctua.on use. 11

12 Use your tools! If in doubt, look it up. Correctness Correctness Libel is a form of defama.on (damage to a person s reputa.on) that is las.ng, generally through printed word. Slander is generally a spoken defamatory comment. Individuals can sue for defama.on. Find out more in your handout from Permissions Always obtain permissions for artwork and excerpts. Plagiarism is generally considered to be 5 consecu.ve unaiributed words, or 7-10 words across several sentences. It can also be the use of another s idea without airibu.on. 12

13 Copyright The sole right to produce or reproduce a work or a substan.al part of it in any form. An author has copyright simply by crea.ng a work, or can register copyright through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Don t forget to proofread! Watch out for: new text added and the original text le] in text deleted but the sentence or paragraph not reworked missing words doubled words Sources Etsy screenshot: hips:// VW1IVWdSZ2J0Z3Y3M09naWYycDMyRmE0aDE3TWx6VkJpaGROa0dLbDZXbz0uLjE0MTIxNDE3NDk=? campaign_label=new_at_etsy_rbn&utm_source=adhoc&utm_campaign=new_at_etsy_rbn_093014_ _0_0&ut m_medium= &utm_content=& _sent= &euid=4eb96ha4kplrzvjczxlpgkt6awmj&eaid= & x_eaid=5aae09dce3, Accessed October 1, Verbing Gardner, Anthony, You ve Been Verbed, Intelligent Life magazine, Winter, hip://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/anthony- gardner/youve- been- verbed, Accessed October 17, Libel and slander: Copyright: 13