 Action/Adventure: December 24, 2008 Issue [#2787] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: Vivian  
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Here I am again, writing an editorial for Action/Adventure lovers, writers and readers. Well, actually, I guess this one is mainly for writers, tips to help each of us write better and more correctly. Just a few odds and ends of ideas.
I searched my notes, lesson plans, and text books for ideas adventure/action writers could use. I searched my archived copies of The Writer and Writer's Digest and found a copy of each on the topic, both November 2005 issues. I found many items in the magazines that matched what I used in twenty-five years of teaching.
The tips are in no particular order of importance, just listed for your information, to help you make your heroes and writing stronger, better, and more powerful.
Merry Christmas from Vivian
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Tips To Help Be a Better Writer
From Writer's Digest, page 12, a quote from G.K. Chesterton sums up the purpose of this newsletter: "A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author."
Although, the quote mentions a novel, any fiction writing can be inserted. Let's look at some things that help our writing tell the truth about its hero and not about the author.
Use correct grammar, including punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. One area where the lack of the author appears is the way quotation marks are used or misused. Note the following tips:
1. Quotation marks set off dialogue. A quote within a quote uses single marks: "John said, 'You're all wrong.'"
2. Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks, whether single or double marks: "I really don't understand what you mean," John replied. "Mary said, 'You left the door unlocked.'"
3. If dialogue from the same speaker continues from one paragraph to the next, do not use end quotation marks until the end of the final paragraph of speech. Do use opening quotes at the beginning of each paragraph of dialogue. Remember that each time a different person speaks, a new paragraph is needed.
That just a few tips concerning quotation marks. A good reference for punctuation should be checked for others. According to Writer's Digest, November 2005, "Written dialogue and nonfiction quotes need structure so your readers can easily follow the story - and using quotation marks incorrectly can cause a lot of confusion."
Another area of grammar that often is misused is the prepositions between, among, and amongst. One of my pet peeves is hearing or reading "just between John and I" or "just between you and I." Between, just as among, is a preposition used between two people or objects, requiring the object form of a pronoun. Therefore, the correct usage is between John and me or between you and me. Among requires more than two objects or people. Amongst is archaic, meaning it's no longer used. Between or among should be used instead.
Avoid those exclamation marks! They should be used rarely, seldom in fact, and only in dialogue. If a author has written well, then no exclamation point is needed to announce strong emotion.
I've been asked why an author shouldn't use cliches, generalities, or stereotypes in writing. According to William G. Tapply, in "Don't be a SHOWOFF," The Writer, November 2005, page 20: "Cliches . . . . call unwarranted attention to the lazy, uncreative writer. Banish them from your writing."
Not only do strong active verbs add to one's writing, but so do nouns that create strong images, colorful ideas, and/or precise people, places, and things. (Constance Hale,The Writer, November 2005, page 38}.
I hope the tips I've given help you make your heroes and writing stronger and better. Writing in itself is full of action and adventure.
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Comments from Readers
Briar Rose 
Thanks for a great newsletter. I enjoyed the excellent summary of how to create believable and compelling characters.
I'm glad you enjoyed the newsletter, and I hope you found some of it helpful.
legomaster
Not a bad issue! I'm all about hero/villain stories, so this might help me make them better! I send my regards!
Thanks. I hope something I wrote does help you.
May the meaning of the Season
find its way into your life.
Happy Holidays
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