One of the trickiest kinds of writing imaginable is translation. For while there is a creative element in that the translator must decide the exact wording involved, it is more restricting in that they are still someone else’s words he is working with. And then of course there’s the fact that one has to know the original language of the work in the first place! Here I shall attempt to summarize the main points of translating works, on the off chance that you end up in such a line of work.Continue reading “The Art of Translation”
Happy Mother’s Day!
To all you hard-working mom’s out there, thanks for everything you do. May this day be a good one for you.
Writing Dialect
Picking up on my topic of world-building from last month, dialect is one of the best (and in some cases trickiest) ways to add realism to your dialogue. After all, nothing indicates that a particular person is from elsewhere like a strange way of talking. But how does one transliterate another’s way of speaking into written form, especially when that one doesn’t talk that way himself? That is something I will attempt to answer here.Continue reading “Writing Dialect”
Plans for May
April was every bit the month I’d hoped, at least as far as writing was concerned. I completed the final review of my book series, drew a more complete-looking map to accompany it via some mapping software (future post topic for sure!), and continued to work on another rough draft. I also reviewed for one last time my middle grade animal anthology, Woodland Tales, which I’m pleased to say is now available for pre-order!
This month I shall continue my current rough draft, give the final review to my next novel (coming in August), and make a couple maps to accompany them both. I may also continue rough draft work on an older project and begin the research process for a nonfiction book, which I hope to release either late next year or else in 2023!
Formatting a Fiction Manuscript
This one’s been done to death I know, but there’s no harm in going over it one more time. When you give your work to a publisher, the editor will almost always expect you to follow certain conventions regarding the format of your manuscript, and in some cases it can make the difference between acceptance and instant rejection. Therefore, I’ve come up with this straightforward guide to tell you what you ought to look for.Continue reading “Formatting a Fiction Manuscript”
The Process of Self-Editing
Editing and revising can be the most tedious or the most exciting part of the writing process. On the one hand, you’ve completed your rough draft (a stage many people never make it to) and are well on the way to finishing up. On the other hand, going over the same material again and again can be time-consuming (if done properly) and mind-numbing. But if you’re not going to hire a professional for whatever reason, then there’s really only one option left, and that’s to do it yourself.Continue reading “The Process of Self-Editing”
Ten Problems with ‘Watership Down: the Series’
Having recently reviewed it, perhaps the worst small screen adaptation of a book I have ever seen is the 1999-2001 series Watership Down by Alltime Entertainment and Decode Entertainment. I’m not speaking in terms of production, of course. On the contrary, the animation and voiceovers were on the whole quite good. However, as far as keeping true to the original story and logical consistency in the plotline goes, I’d have to give this one an F-. Here are some of the biggest reasons why:Continue reading “Ten Problems with ‘Watership Down: the Series’”
Happy Easter!
He is risen!
Happy Easter Sunday, all. May the promise of salvation and eternal life ever be a ray of hope in troubled times. Have a blessed day.
Plans for April
March was a fine month. Certainly better than February, and possibly more productive than January. In it, I continued my ongoing rough draft, reviewed a couple more novels from my main series, and finished some interior illustrations for my anthology coming later this spring. I also found out that I had an article published back in February I was not even aware of!
April has the potential to be even better still. I intend to finish reviewing my primary series, continue working on my rough draft, and prepare my animal anthology for release next month. I would also like to create a definitive map for one of my series, but we will see about that.
World Building
The most important aspect of any book next to character is setting, for without it there would be no context for the story to exist. I would go so far as to say anywhere from one third to half of any story has to do with establishing the surroundings in which the action can unfold, depending on how familiar the setting is to the intended audience. The process of world building is going to be different for each author, but here I’ll offer what advice I can from my own experience.Continue reading “World Building”