Editing and Coaching
for fiction and nonfiction authors and writers
Writing policy manuals, procedure manuals, training materials, and public outreach documents has taught me three principles: know your audience, content organization, and concise explanation. These principles apply to fiction and nonfiction.
Audience
First, ask: “Who is my audience?” Then, ask: “What do I want my audience to do upon reading/hearing my message?”
The first answer will tell you what information to include in your content. The second answer will tell you how to craft your content.
When you know your audience, you will build on what your audience already knows to expand their knowledge.
Content Organization
Every good speech or piece of writing, from short story to novel to organizational report, is arranged according to Action, Background, Development, Climax, Ending (ABDCE).
Action is the hook that grabs audience interest and entices readers to read on and listeners to hang on to your every word. Put action in your first sentence, first paragraph, first page. Keep it short.
Background is the historical information that sets the stage and explains the characters and situations in your story; it’s the conditions that precipitated your report.
Development is the advancement of your plot, the growth of your characters, the solutions and recommendations of your report.
Background and development are sometimes distinct from each other but, at least in literature, often blend together through flashbacks and foreshadowing. Collectively, background and development comprise the vast majority of your total work.
Climax is the eventual outcome of conflict between characters and of plot development. In the business world, the climax is your request for a certain action. Keep it short and simple.
Ending is the dénouement, the wrap-up, the close, the executive summary. In a murder mystery, it’s Sherlock Holmes sitting down with Mr. Watson to explain how the great sleuth deduced “who done it.” In an organizational report, the executive summary is often truncated, placed first, and then repeated later, thus serving as the action hook as well as the ending.
Concise Explanation
Eliminate all unnecessary words.
Delete all passages that don’t advance the story.
Emphasize conflict. The creative adage, "no conflict, no story," is true in both fiction and nonfiction. If there's no problem, there's no action, no story, no need for a report.
Audience
First, ask: “Who is my audience?” Then, ask: “What do I want my audience to do upon reading/hearing my message?”
The first answer will tell you what information to include in your content. The second answer will tell you how to craft your content.
When you know your audience, you will build on what your audience already knows to expand their knowledge.
- For example, if you are writing/speaking about Times Square and your audience lives in New York City, you need only mention “Times Square,” and your audience already have an image of that place (lights, traffic, pedestrians, stores, vendors, and so on). However, if your audience is from a primitive land and has never used the Internet, you may first need to describe the geographical distance between that land and the United States, oceans and continents, large U.S. cities, New York City’s location within the U.S. and its population and demographics, paved streets, automobiles and taxis, massive stores, multi-colored lights, and a host of other foundational details.
- For another example, if you are giving a report to experienced members of your organization, you can skip over or allude to information that, in contrast, is essential for people who are new on the job.
Content Organization
Every good speech or piece of writing, from short story to novel to organizational report, is arranged according to Action, Background, Development, Climax, Ending (ABDCE).
Action is the hook that grabs audience interest and entices readers to read on and listeners to hang on to your every word. Put action in your first sentence, first paragraph, first page. Keep it short.
- My favorite hook: “We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody threw the girl off the bridge.” — opening sentence in Darker Than Amber by John D. MacDonald
Background is the historical information that sets the stage and explains the characters and situations in your story; it’s the conditions that precipitated your report.
Development is the advancement of your plot, the growth of your characters, the solutions and recommendations of your report.
Background and development are sometimes distinct from each other but, at least in literature, often blend together through flashbacks and foreshadowing. Collectively, background and development comprise the vast majority of your total work.
- My favorite book for background and development: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.
Climax is the eventual outcome of conflict between characters and of plot development. In the business world, the climax is your request for a certain action. Keep it short and simple.
Ending is the dénouement, the wrap-up, the close, the executive summary. In a murder mystery, it’s Sherlock Holmes sitting down with Mr. Watson to explain how the great sleuth deduced “who done it.” In an organizational report, the executive summary is often truncated, placed first, and then repeated later, thus serving as the action hook as well as the ending.
- My favorite book for climax and ending: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, a 266-page novel neatly and beautifully wrapped up in the last eight pages.
Concise Explanation
Eliminate all unnecessary words.
Delete all passages that don’t advance the story.
Emphasize conflict. The creative adage, "no conflict, no story," is true in both fiction and nonfiction. If there's no problem, there's no action, no story, no need for a report.
Services Offered
Working with emerging and established authors as well as writers or content experts within corporations and organizations to coach, motivate, manage and organize content, edit, proofread, ghostwrite, assist with style and voice, and provide publishing information.
If you are looking for these services,
contact me.
________________________
Working with emerging and established authors as well as writers or content experts within corporations and organizations to coach, motivate, manage and organize content, edit, proofread, ghostwrite, assist with style and voice, and provide publishing information.
If you are looking for these services,
contact me.
________________________
Tips for Writers and Speakers: who or that
The impersonal pronoun that refers to an object.
The personal pronoun who refers to a person or a group of people.
Incorrect: The player that fumbled the ball later scored the winning touchdown.
Correct: The player who fumbled the ball later scored the winning touchdown.
Incorrect: The relatives that came to the reunion were his mother’s family.
Correct: The relatives who came to the reunion were his mother’s family.
To be correct, remember that people are not things.
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The impersonal pronoun that refers to an object.
The personal pronoun who refers to a person or a group of people.
Incorrect: The player that fumbled the ball later scored the winning touchdown.
Correct: The player who fumbled the ball later scored the winning touchdown.
Incorrect: The relatives that came to the reunion were his mother’s family.
Correct: The relatives who came to the reunion were his mother’s family.
To be correct, remember that people are not things.
________________________
Tips for Writers and Speakers: what
Relate the Five Ws in order of importance: who, what, where, when, and why,
then how.
The reason: Your readers and listeners want to know who did what, where, and when. Then, they want to know why (motive) and how (technique).
________________________
Relate the Five Ws in order of importance: who, what, where, when, and why,
then how.
The reason: Your readers and listeners want to know who did what, where, and when. Then, they want to know why (motive) and how (technique).
________________________
Tips for Writers and Speakers: where and when
Your initial audience may be local and immediate, but your extended audience could be international and in the future. For them, include the state, province, or region and country name (not abbreviated) as well as local information; include the year as well as the month and date.
When clipping articles, include the publication’s masthead, date, and issue/volume numbers.
When writing dates, spell out the month and use all four year digits. February 6, 2008 is precise. 02/06/08 or 02.06.08 can be misinterpreted.
________________________
Your initial audience may be local and immediate, but your extended audience could be international and in the future. For them, include the state, province, or region and country name (not abbreviated) as well as local information; include the year as well as the month and date.
When clipping articles, include the publication’s masthead, date, and issue/volume numbers.
When writing dates, spell out the month and use all four year digits. February 6, 2008 is precise. 02/06/08 or 02.06.08 can be misinterpreted.
________________________
Tips for Writers and Speakers: why and how
The basic facts of a story or report include who, what, where, and when, but your readers and listeners also want to why (motive) and
how (technique).
________________________
The basic facts of a story or report include who, what, where, and when, but your readers and listeners also want to why (motive) and
how (technique).
________________________
Tips for Writers and Speakers: creative mind, editing mind, and placeholders
Writing involves your creative mind and your editing mind -- but not necessarily at the same time. In fact, when crafting your first drafts, turn your editing mind off and fully engage your creative mind. Resist the temptation to interrupt your creative flow to check a detail. Instead, insert a temporary placeholder and fill in the blank later.
For placeholders, I use QQQ. The letter Q is conveniently located on the upper-left corner of the keyboard. Three of them together are readily apparent when visually browsing later. And your spellchecker will find any that you miss.
Writing involves your creative mind and your editing mind -- but not necessarily at the same time. In fact, when crafting your first drafts, turn your editing mind off and fully engage your creative mind. Resist the temptation to interrupt your creative flow to check a detail. Instead, insert a temporary placeholder and fill in the blank later.
For placeholders, I use QQQ. The letter Q is conveniently located on the upper-left corner of the keyboard. Three of them together are readily apparent when visually browsing later. And your spellchecker will find any that you miss.