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Write to answer questions: Editor's Notes #339 May 12, 2021 |
| Hello, —Benjamin Disraeli In this issue: 1. Write to answer questions 2. Tickled my funny bone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 5. Letters to the editor 6. My Covid-19 offer to you 1.Write to answer questions Write what you know. This is one of the most common writing tips I’ve read. It’s good advice, but I find that writing is often propelled forward when there are questions that demand answers. Often a question launches the research that produces a book. Questions that lead to research apply to both fiction and non-fiction. Answers to questions often lead to other questions. Some questions bear fruit while others simply linger. Even if you don’t find the answer to a question, you benefit from opening your mind to the topic. Some readers do read simply for entertainment, but even those readers can be beguiled by new insights revealed because the writer had an inquiring mind and shared the result. Whether you self-publish or publish with a trade publisher, your book is better when layered with the answers to questions. Here are a few questions authors have presented to me so far this year. What sustained a Syrian family living through the bombing of their home? Are there ways to foresee unintended consequences? What is added when I consider this story from this writer’s point of view? Is it really true that white people feel a need to explain, and if so, should I keep indulging in this behaviour? Why did Canadian society persist with residential schools so long in the face of the schools’ failure to assimilate the children or to educate them and in spite of the horrific toll on the lives of the children the society was supposed to help? I can’t be sure which questions the authors were asking themselves, but the books, fiction and non-fiction, all grapple with a range of questions, some philosophical, some historical, some factual. All drew me in, inviting me to join a conversation. Whether we start a writing project with a question or come to questions as we write, digging deeper to find answers to questions makes us better writers. Other parts of this issue in Editor’s Notes offer you the chance to ask questions and to hone your research skills. I hope they help. =========== 2.Tickled my funny bone From a student exam: Shakespeare was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. =========== 3. Interesting Web site Today’s page gives tips for using search engines for research and includes links to search engines you may not know about. https://www.lifewire.com/web-search-tricks-to-know-4046148 =========== 4. Writing prompt Choose an event from the link in this section that happened on this day (or another day of your choice). Write one question about the event. A good question can take you on a great journey. How far you go is up to you. Will you stop with the question, or will you do some research, and if so, will you follow up with a piece of writing? I’d love to know where this exercise takes you. https://www.onthisday.com/day/may/12 =========== 5. Letters to the editor As I read your Editor's Notes…, thoughts came to mind re keeping track of names and details of each character: One thing I find very confusing is names that are too much alike. One novel I read, for instance, included names such as Westgate, Northgate, & even a 3rd variation on gate. One was an apartment complex, the others also unrelated to geographical location. I could never remember which was which. In my children's novel I found myself with names that were too similar: Lottie and Laurie, 4 that began with J, stuff like that. So I started a list of my characters, grouped by categories such as "islanders," "classmates," etc. This let me see all the names in one place, & catch & change those that were too similar. After each name I added all the details mentioned or implied in the story: mother, teacher, who was related to whom, hair colour, height, character traits, likes or dislikes, the part he or she played in the play the class performed, etc. This is a permanent list (not to be published of course) at the end of the MS, that I can refer to or add to at any time. And whenever I changed a name I highlighted the old name & made a universal change to the new one. —Sheila Weaver =========== 6. My Covid-19 offer to you I’m writing this on the day my mom got her second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. This tangible mark of progress gives me hope that soon she and I will venture out into society again. I am still planning to hold this offer open until September. I will announce here when I have a more specific time. What follows is a copy and paste from issue number 309. The offer is still in force for you and anyone you choose to tell about it. Along with the health threat hanging over the world, we are facing a huge financial hit. I’ve decided one thing I can do is to make quality editing less expensive during this trying time. For subscribers to Editor’s Notes and their friends, I am suspending the fee for the sample edit to anyone using the code EN19 until I cancel this offer. I intend to keep this offer open as long as the world is in crisis with Covid-19 and its aftermath, so watch this space. I will give a warning here before I pull this offer. You can submit your writing sample at https://www.writershelper.com/sample-edit.html Be sure to click the link below the heading "Promotion Code" to get to the special form for a free sample edit. If you find yourself at a form before clicking the special link, scroll slowly back up the page, and you should see the link for the code (EN19). But it gets better… When I return an edited writing sample, I include quotes for the full range of my editing services. Until further notice, I will give a true quote, but I will not charge writers the full amount. I am discounting my services 50% for subscribers to Editor’s Notes and their friends. I will give a warning here before I pull this offer. Feel free to pass this offer along to any writing friends you think may be interested. As long as anyone uses the code, I’ll honour the offer. This is what I can offer you in this time of crisis. I hope it encourages you as you face possible illness and financial uncertainty. =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html |
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