From Grammarly to WordRake: A Review of 6 Automatic Editing Tools

Writers check it out! Excellent editing tools for those self edits. Use them to edit your manuscript or blog post. But, as the article states,remember:

“An automatic editing tool doesn’t replace a human editor. Because language rules and elements of a good story can be so flexible, human eyes will always be superior to the rigidity of automatic tools.”

The Top 50 Sites for Indie and Self-Published Authors

Excellent list of resources. Comments disabled here. Please refer to original post.

jenowenby's avatarJens Thoughts

I stumbled across this fantastic resource and wanted to share with you. I’d love to hear any feedback.

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Tales of African American History Found in DNA

Very interesting article. Check it out:

“The history of African Americans poses special challenges for geneticists. During the slave trade, their ancestors were captured from genetically diverse populations across a portion of West Africa. Adding to the complexity is the fact that living African Americans also may trace some of their ancestry to Europeans and Native Americans.”

The Snowflake Method For Designing A Novel

I don’t usually use an outline when writing my books but I found this really neat method I’d like to try. While I can’t say I’ll stick to it like glue, it looks like something that will help me to organize my thoughts without the confusion. For my next project I’ll be using The Snowflake Method. Click Here to check it out. After your reading, research, and daydreaming is done (when you have an idea of what the story is about), here is Step #1 from the article:

Step 1) Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your novel. Something like this: “A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul.” (This is the summary for my first novel, Transgression.) The sentence will serve you forever as a ten-second selling tool. This is the big picture, the analog of that big starting triangle in the snowflake picture.

When you later write your book proposal, this sentence should appear very early in the proposal. It’s the hook that will sell your book to your editor, to your committee, to the sales force, to bookstore owners, and ultimately to readers. So make the best one you can!

Some hints on what makes a good sentence:

  • Shorter is better. Try for fewer than 15 words.
  • No character names, please! Better to say “a handicapped trapeze artist” than “Jane Doe”.
  • Tie together the big picture and the personal picture. Which character has the most to lose in this story? Now tell me what he or she wants to win.
  • Read the one-line blurbs on the New York Times Bestseller list to learn how to do this. Writing a one-sentence description is an art form.

Another important point: It doesn’t have to be perfect. The purpose of each step in the design process is to advance you to the next step. Keep your forward momentum! You can always come back later and fix it when you understand the story better. You will do this too, unless you’re a lot smarter than I am.

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Sounds exciting! There is also a book which you can find here. Are you writing a book? Share the method to your madness! How do you stay organized?

Must Reads: Negro Slave Songs in The U.S.

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This is a highly recommended book for African Americans who want to study history. “Negro Spiritual Songs” were not made up babble at random but they were songs that talked about the history of the African American in America. Massa was not just a broken dialect of the word “Master” but it is actually a Hebrew word meaning “Oppressor”. Black people were only illiterate to the extent that they did not read and write English but it doesn’t mean they could not read and write period. What if you were taken to China and dropped off, would you be able to read and write Chinese? Fluently at that?

The point is that if you do not know enough of your history to go back 300 years ago and help your people then, you will not be able to help your people today. If you couldn’t liberate them 300 years ago you cannot do it now.

Don’t allow someone to tell you your history, study your history. If they didn’t treat you right, what makes you think they taught you right?

Click Here To Buy On Amazon. Used Copies Are $0.01!

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – David McCullough

Welcome back to another Segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. This week, I draw inspiration from David McCullough. I wish I could like this in a post over and over again!

 

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So true! Which is why I research as I’m writing :).

About The Author:

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“David McCullough has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback. His other acclaimed books include 1776, Brave Companions, The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, and The Wright Brothers. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.”
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That’s it for my segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I think the quote pretty much speaks for itself.
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