While the finale of the Game of Thrones left many fans feeling upset and disappointed, there is one thing that we can all agree on: Ser Davos being dubbed “Master of Grammar” by Bronn was pure magic!
As writers who are frequently accused of being “grammar
police,” we found this title to be perfectly fitting. And, it turns out we are
not the only ones.
Ever since the airing of that final GOT episode, people all
over social media have been talking about the “Master of Grammar.”
From hysterical memes like these:
With millions of Facebook and Twitter posts, the internet was ablaze with talk about this new term.
This
article from Huffpost.com describes that now-famous scene, and highlights
some of the best responses from fans on Twitter, who also had a great
appreciation for the term “Master of Grammar.”
But, perhaps the most telling of the term’s popularity, is the fact that Amazon has hopped on the “Master of Grammar” train, and has been cashing in on the term with the sale of T-shirts.
These shirts are available in Men’s, Women’s, and Children’s
sizes, and come in 10 different colors. – Perfect for the Masters of Grammar in
your lives! (And, dare we say, these would make GREAT TWFH uniforms!)
Your book draft is finally finished! Congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back and a much-needed break—at least for a few days, anyway. You accomplished something most people will never do!
But the work isn’t over yet. It’s time to move on to the next stage of the process—the editing.
What’s the difference between editing and proofreading?
There are two types of editing processes. The first edit is reviewing your book for the bigger picture — things like the angle of your book, flow, ideas, and content to make sure your book fits together cohesively. The second edit is for line items such as checking for grammar, word usage, repetition, and the like. Proofreading comes after the edits when you do a final review to clear up any grammar, punctuation, misspellings, and citations.
The Large Scope Edits – 4 key points to evaluate the strength of your book’s overall draft
All the line
edits and proofreading in the world won’t improve your book if you’re off
target with the overall draft and how you articulated your topic’s main points
and ideas.
It can be a
challenge to see the big picture details when evaluating your own book project.
The following are five key areas you’ll want to closely review to make sure
your book is on track.
Check your angle: Did you pick the best angle to present your topic? Are there other, more interesting angles you could use to highlight your subject? Is the angle easy to identify? Find out more about book angles here.
Check your book’s flow: Is the information presented in the best possible way? Did you use your outline to organize the writing of your topic, and does it flow in a logical way? Are you being repetitive in your message or information? Did you provide information that seems out of place or in the wrong order?
Check your book’s overall message: What do you want the reader to take away after reading your book? Are you writing to inform, educate, or entertain? Can you clearly identify your book’s intent and message with the information you provided? Will the reader be able to identify your takeaway message(s)?
Check your information: Are you providing clear information for your reader? Are there any pieces of information you are forgetting? If you’re writing to educate, are all the necessary steps included in your book?
Have a peer review your book: It can be helpful to have a second pair of eyes and some honest feedback from someone who is not as close to your project as you are.
The Detailed Edits – Strategies for doing the smaller yet all-important line edits to your book
Line edits are
when you go through your book line by line to make sure all the little details
are cleaned up in your draft.
But before you get to the line edits, take a break and let the draft sit for several days. This will allow you to take a step back from the project and read it with a fresher pair of eyes.
After you have given it room to breathe, read through the full book. While you can make minor corrections on spelling errors and grammar, it’s best at this point to simply highlight the areas that stand out to you as needing work. Use your word processing program’s highlighting and text color features, as well as its track changes ability, so you can clearly see what you need to come back to and change.
At some point during your self-editing, it is important that you also print your book out and read it aloud. While it may feel tedious at times, this is a must in self- editing. Are you finding yourself bored with a particular section? Highlight it! Chances are, your reader will be bored there, too.
As you do your
read through and start to make corrections, you’ll, of course, need to watch
out for typos, misspellings, and correct punctuation. You’ll also need to observe
areas where you can make the writing stronger, including:
Passive voice. You want to eliminate as many passive phrases from your writing as possible. How? Look for any “to be” types of phrases in your writing including sentences using the words is, was, were, and by. Also limit your use of adverbs (words that end in “ly”) because that, too, is passive writing. To help you with editing out passive writing, YourDictionary gives some great examples of what passive voice is and a cool cheat sheet you can download for free.
Wordiness – Rewrite longer sentences or rambling paragraphs into fewer words to make them tighter. In most cases, there is no reason to use 15 words when eight will do.
Repetition – Keep an eye out for words, phrases, information, and ideas that unnecessarily appear more than once.
Consistent information – Keep an eye out for conflicting information throughout your book. This can include names, dates, citations, etc.
Sentence and paragraph structure – Have you worked in some variety to your sentence and paragraph structure? Mix it up with one-sentence paragraphs and ultra-short sentences.
Using the right words –Always check for words that have different spellings or meanings such as affect/effect, further/farther, then/than, to/too/two, etc. and make sure you have the correct usage.
Unnecessary information –Get to the point. Too much unnecessary background bogs down your writing, and you risk losing your reader.
Style, tone, and voice– Use a style manual like the Chicago Manual of Style or The Elements of Style to help with line edits and to ensure that you are using the best style, tone, and voice for your book.
Grammar, spelling, and correcting errors – Be sure to closely review your book for mistakes. Grammar and spelling features on your word processing program can help with the final proofing. And don’t forget to check for consistent formatting.
Resources to Help You Self-Edit Your Book
Self-editing is
a lot easier than it was 30 years ago. With your word processing software,
grammar programs, spell checks, and more, you can move text around and correct
typos and other writing issues with ease.
Here are some
key resources you’ll want to add to your writing and self-editing toolbox:
MS Office® plugin Grammarly® works on your word processing program to help with grammar and punctuation.
After the Deadline editing software not only searches for grammar, punctuation, misused words, and other common writing errors, it also searches for any passive or complex phrasing within your writing.
Hemingway App has some cool features you might want to try. It will break down the reading time, the word count, and the number of paragraphs within your document. It uses lots of color to highlight problem areas like the use of adverbs and passive voice.
Final Thoughts
Editing your book can be a challenge. After you put so much time and energy into the draft, it isn’t easy to see areas that need to be cut or improved upon. As authors, we become attached to the words and process of creating our draft.
If you do plan on
self-editing your book, be sure to have some friends read your book to give you
honest feedback.
And, if you still feel like you need a little help, consider hiring a professional editor to give you the feedback you need. A professional editor is a valuable investment as they can take the full edit off your hands, do a final edit after you’ve self-edited your book, or simply proofread your work and correct any errors you might have missed.
We all know that learning to read is an important step in
brain development and language acquisition. Whether it be a novel or a fashion
magazine, reading of any kind helps us to understand the world we live in and
learn how to function in everyday life.
Unfortunately, though, there are many countries in the world
where learning to read is a luxury, reserved for only those with money. In
fact, according to learntoread.org,
more than 750 million people worldwide are illiterate—with two-thirds of those
people being women and girls.
In an effort to transform education in low-income countries,
learntoread.org has launched a program to create more accessible nonfiction
books for kids in Tanzania and Zanzibar—two countries with very low literacy
rates.
In this
great article, learntoread.org tells a little bit about their Nonfiction
Project, and explains why it is important for children to read more nonfiction
books.
Congratulations! The RFP seems like a perfect fit. Your company has decided to submit a proposal, and you’re the project lead. Whether you’re managing the process in-house or working with a team of professionals like The Writers for Hire, here are some tips to help you maneuver the process successfully.
FIRST, DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Read the RFP from top to bottom, end to end. It may be a chore to plow through what seems to be mind-numbing boilerplate, but every word is important. Hidden within plain sight may be critical requirements, restrictions, or prohibitions, as well as provisions that may be especially favorable to your organization’s mission or line of business.
RFP’s can be complex but most require the following in some fashion:
Company profile
Organizational chart
Description/documentation of past performance
Scope of work/project plan and approach
Management/staffing plan
Bios/resumes of proposed staff
Implementation/transition plan/phase-in and phase-out timeline
Pricing information/pricing tables
Proof of licenses and certifications
Be sure to follow
all the links in the RFP as well, including links to questions about the RFP
and the bidding process.
Of course, make note of all deadlines — for questions not addressed in the RFP, information sessions for potential bidders, and, most important, the date and requirements for submitting proposals.
Finally, check
out the RFP issuer’s website and their social media for additional insights
into their business practices and needs.
THEN, MAP
OUT YOUR TIMELINE . . .
Work backward from the RFP’s submission date, and build in a 48-hour (if possible) margin for breathing room, printing, and submission by email or physical delivery. The timeline should be aggressive — to keep up the momentum, yet realistic — to avoid undue stress.
If you are
using a professional writer, allow time for the initial consultation, your review
of their draft, and any final editing, proofing and formatting they might have
to do.
. . . AND ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM
Your review of the RFP will help you identify persons who should be part of your team. Even if all or most of the responsibility for the proposal rests with you, you will need to gather information from others in your organization. Consider them part of your team. Folks who’ve been around since the earliest days of your organization may be valuable sources of information.
The size of your team is likely to depend on the size of your company and the complexity of the RFP and your proposal. In addition to you, the proposal manager, your team may also include:
A sales team representative
A contract manager
Subject matter experts
An estimator
A writer
A graphic artist
An editor
You can find descriptions of your role and of other team members in this The Writers for Hire blog. A few of your team members may wear more than one hat, but you should ensure that you have enough people on the team to meet the deadline.
Even though you may be working with your best industry experts, don’t assume they are expert RFP preparers. Expect to devote some time upfront to clarifying everyone’s expectations, roles, and responsibilities. Be prepared to walk through the RFP’s requirements and explain your vision and approach for the proposal. The following questions might help guide your initial, kick-off meeting with the team:
Do
we know why the RFP is being issued?
What
are our strongest selling points and/or competitive strengths?
What
are our largest challenges in winning this RFP?
Are
there any qualifications or requirements we cannot meet? If so, how do we want
to address these?
What
would make the RFP issuer most likely NOT to hire us?
Do
we know of any competitors who are bidding (or likely bidding) on this project?
Why would they/ could they win instead of us?
If
we were the issuer, why would we choose our organization to win this RFP, over
and above all others who may be responding?
Did
we bid on this opportunity in the past and not get it? Do we know why? Did the
RFP issuer provide any sort of evaluation or scorecard?
Do
we have any other proposals we could use as a point of reference?
If the RFP is large enough, you may need to assign mini teams — writer, SME consults, editors, and proofers — to each section. Most importantly, however, each section needs a point person to assume responsibility for getting that piece done on time. This point person could be the same person for all sections of the RFP, or each section of the RFP could have its own owner. All will feed their sections to you, the project lead.
CHOOSE YOUR
TOOLS
You will need to choose a document system and agree ahead of time on the procedures for edits and comments within the draft document. Word and Google Docs work well for documenting group collaboration. Google Docs’ color-coded highlighting, for example, is a good way to indicate whether the text is a draft copy, reviewed/edited, final, or still needs information/clarification/editing.
You might also want to consider using a project management program or RFP software to help keep track of deadlines, rules, forms, and updates. There are many to choose from, depending on your specific needs for managing feedback from multiple reviewers and balancing several time-sensitive moving parts. Check out this detailed review of four software options in this The Writers for Hire blog.
At a
minimum, you will want to create some kind of spreadsheet with column heads for
project milestones, due dates, and reviewers for the initial drafts as well as
reviewers for the final package.
SET THE
RIGHT TONE FOR COLLABORATION
Communication
within the team will be critical throughout the proposal writing process.
Schedule regular times for progress reports; don’t hesitate to issue gentle
reminders and updates on the timeline; and encourage folks to give you early
warning if they are encountering problems.
CREATE YOUR
MASTERPIECE!
Proposals are not works of art, but they can be well crafted. If, now that you are organized and ready to write, the process still seems daunting, consider using The Writers for Hire BOSS system.
BOSS guides
you through creating the major sections of your proposal; organizing
information you have on hand (brochures and previous proposals); determining
what you need to create from scratch (charts and tables); and, finally, putting
it all together with the required pricing data and supplemental information.
COMPOSE A COVER
LETTER AND AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
These should
be written last, when you have the perspective of the entire proposal. The RFP may
not require an executive summary, but consider adding one anyway. Check out The
Writers for Hire Blog for tips on writing an engaging cover letter and an effective executive summary.
EDIT, PROOF,
AND FORMAT
Enlist a non-team member to edit the entire proposal for clarity and continuity and recruit yet another outsider to proof the draft for grammar and spelling. You, as project lead, should review the entire RFP one last time to make sure you have addressed all the requirements.
Finally, consider getting someone with design chops to format the final proposal — an additional touch that might make your bid stand out. (Make sure this person is aware of any formatting requirements in the RFP.)
CELEBRATE!
You’ve done
it. Congratulate your team and bask in your own accomplishment after you hit that
send button, make that mail drop, or execute that hand delivery!
Now that you’ve decided to write a
book and have identified your book’s
angle, the real work begins!
Make this work easier by using the
four steps below to create a clear schedule for your project.
Schedule Your Book Project in 4 Steps
Step 1: Identify what needs to be done and how long it will take
There can be many variables involved when deciding on the tasks
you need to do to complete your book. This can include how well you know your
subject, how much research you need to still do, the time you have to dedicate
to your project, and schedules of any outside people involved. These things can greatly increase or decrease
the time you need to take to complete your project.
However, there are standard tasks
involved when writing any nonfiction book, regardless of subject matter. As an example, for a 200-page
book of approximately 75,000 words, you can expect your tasks to include:
Information gathering which includes subject
research as needed, conducting interviews, and research on competing
material: 100 to 400 hours
Outlining the book/planning of all chapters: 8 to 15 hours
Writing your book: 175 to 300 hours
Self-editing and editing based on peer feedback: 90 to 175 hours
Proofreading and detail work such as captions,
credits, and cleaning up citations: 10 to
30 hours
Other potential tasks include soliciting
feedback from topic experts, getting a celebrity to write your forward, market
research, and pitching to publishers: 10
to 30 hours
Added up, that’s 393 to 950 hours to complete your book. If you plan to finish your book in a year, you will need to allocate an average of 7 and 18 hours a week.
Step 2: Plan and Outline Your Book Project
While an outline doesn’t sound
very creative or fun, it is crucial to organizing your book project.
Creating this detailed outline
helps you take a topic and break it down into smaller chunks of information so
you know what you need to write about to cover your topic in a thorough way. It
ensures you won’t leave out important information and will give you better
understanding of the tasks you need to complete and how to schedule them into
your calendar.
An outline
also assists you to identify:
the appropriate formatting of your book
how best to break your subject up
the estimated length of your book
the number and estimated length of required chapters
sub-topics or subheads/chapters within each
chapter
Outlines can be done in a paragraph summary format or a list form. Whichever you choose, always take the main topic and break it down into smaller topics for your chapters. Then, break each chapter topic down further into smaller sections using subheadings. Include notes on what you need to cover in each section.
By now you now will have a realistic expectation
of how many hours you need to spend to complete your project. Next, review your
personal schedule and start mapping out how much time you can devote to this
project and where you can expect to be from week to week, month to month based
on your actual schedule.
Once you know when you want to
complete your project and how many hours you can devote to it, along with the
hours needed to finish each task, you are ready to actually schedule your
project.
The most practical way to do this is by starting your schedule at your completion date. Then work backwards, week-by-week, based on the tasks and time for each you identified in Step 1. Doing this helps you set achievable milestones while helping you see if the schedule you are creating is realistic within the project and your life.
What’s the best tool to create your
schedule? Whatever works for you! A regular hardcopy or online calendar works
just as well or better than expensive scheduling programs. You can check out
some sample
project scheduling templates to get you started.
Step 4: Keep focused and achieve your goal
Once you have followed the earlier steps and done all of the planning, the writing should be easy, right?
Well, not always.
If you find yourself losing
focus or procrastinating on the writing, create a list of ways to keep yourself
motivated and on task. Give yourself little rewards whenever you finish a
section of your project or reach a milestone on your schedule. These rewards
don’t have to be big, but make them something that inspires you to keep moving
forward.
You can also find a large reward
for yourself for the completion of the whole book. Hawaii anyone?
Finding an accountability
partner also can help. Ask a friend or family member to check in with you once
or twice a week to see how you’re progressing. When you have someone to “answer
to,” you are more likely to complete your project.
Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Your Book Project’s Schedule
Don’t just “wing it.” Take the time to clearly plan out a detailed schedule for your project.
Give yourself the proper amount of time to complete each necessary task. This means, don’t underestimate your time to do what needs to be done. Oftentimes, it takes a person twice as long to complete a task than they originally thought it would.
Don’t rush through or skip critical tasks to save time.
Allow for flexibility in your project’s schedule for the unexpected.
Don’t throw out the whole schedule if you lose focus or get off track. Learn to revise as needed to get on with your plan. Remember, it’s a roadmap that can change paths to the same destination.
Realize that writing a book is a long and challenging project. If you don’t have the time, focus, or skill, consider allocating the project or parts of the project to someone who can help. There are professional ghostwriters, editors, researchers, and proofreaders you can hire to take a lot of the work and hours off your hands.
Final Word
Great
writers such as Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Shakespeare have made being
a writer seem prestigious and easy. Their works have a way of romanticizing the
idea of being a published author, bringing to mind images of sitting down at a
typewriter with a glass of wine and just letting the words flow onto paper.
In
reality, though, writing a book takes a lot of time, energy, and skill. Often people
go into it with unrealistic expectations, and end up quitting when they realize
it is not all sunshine and roses.
However, if you take the time to plan and create a clear schedule for your book project (and stick with it!), you can be one of the few that succeeds!
You wish you could read more, but you just can’t seem to
find the time.
Does this sound familiar?
According to this article from Harvard
Business Review, you actually do have time to read. In fact, a study done
by the University of California shows that the average person is actually
reading more than 100,000 words per day.
The trick is, though, to stop reading so much junk (social
media posts, emails, etc.) and, instead, focus all of that reading power on
books. But, where do you start?
Rolling out a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a big deal. You are, after all, changing the way employees handle the processes in your company.
A successful SOP rollout includes testing the SOP and troubleshooting it, training your employees, and updating it as needed.
As complicated as the process can be, nearly every growing company occasionally has to create a new or updated SOP.
But did you know that if you roll out your SOP the right way, you may get less resistance from your staff?
Let’s take a look at an ideal rollout plan. Then think about using it to implement your new SOP.
Test It Before the Official Rollout
You’ve worked on your new SOP for a long time, and all you
want to do is roll it out and be done with it. But it would be
counterproductive to roll out the plan unless you first test it to ensure that
all the procedures are correct.
We’ll get into the specifics of an effective test program
for SOPs in another post, but if you’re about to roll out your new SOP, make
sure you’ve done the following at a minimum:
Have someone from each department perform a live
test for their segment of the SOP. When you test the SOP
department-by-department, you will get usable and reliable test results.
Don’t allow the SOP writers to test the
processes because they may do what they meant
to say instead of reading the actual instructions. Instead, ask people who
perform the tasks in their daily jobs to do the tests.
Ask for feedback and adjust the SOP if necessary.
If the testing exposed any weaknesses or inconsistencies in the plan, you can
make changes before the official rollout.
You may have to go through the testing process several times, but once you’ve arrived at a point where the employee can perform the actions perfectly using the SOP instructions, it’s time to roll it out.
Step One: Use the Right Platform
Using project management software is an excellent way to park an SOP library.
Many corporations use SharePoint because it was the first on the scene and is widely recognized.
But others use different software for various reasons. For example, many smaller companies want a more streamlined and easy-to-use tool. If that’s what you need, take a look at Google Drive, Workzone, or Box.
Most of the programs are customizable, so you can only add the features you need. And each one has its benefits and limitations so you will need to determine the right program for you.
Once you’ve uploaded your SOP to the platform, it’s time to get your department heads on board.
Step Two: Train Your Department Heads
Before you disseminate the SOP
throughout all the layers of your organization, you should ensure that the
department heads understand it. If you train them now, they will be able to
answer any questions their team has.
You can do this in several ways. For
example, hold workshops for department heads that teach them the basics of the
SOP. If you can predict and anticipate the most common staff questions, you
will save a lot of time by addressing them with the department heads. Then
instruct the department staff to go to the department head if they have any
questions.
You can also train your department
heads one-on-one. This method is more time-consuming, but it allows you to
address specific compliance issues for each department during the training.
Step Three: Ask Department Heads to Inform the Staff
Now that the department heads understand the new SOP, it’s time to inform the staff about its existence. When you use your newly trained department heads to spread the word, it will allow them to address any department-specific questions the staff may have.
Department heads can inform their
staff about the new SOP in a number of ways. When do doing so, they should
explain the reasons for the new SOP, what it means for them, how to access it,
and when that access will be available to them.
To get the word out, department
heads can:
Hold a department-wide meeting
Use department emails to inform their staff of
the new SOP
Issue a memo to the entire department
Now that your department heads are equipped to answer staff questions, it’s time to distribute the SOP.
Step Four: Make the SOP Available to Staff
The department heads have already informed the staff that a new SOP is coming, and now all that’s left to do is make it accessible to them.
Instruct your department heads to point staff toward whatever platform you’ve chosen and ask them to read the SOP. With some programs, your staff will have to log on to the program while others will allow you to distribute it to everyone at once via email.
You will need to ensure that all staff members read the SOP. But instead of tracking their compliance the old fashioned way via emails and phone calls, why not automate the process? It will make it easier for you and less of a hassle for your staff.
If you use SharePoint, you can enable DocRead to distribute the SOP to your staff easily and then receive a confirmation for every employee who reads it.
But when you distribute the SOP, don’t assume that all your employees learn the same way. The truth is that we all have different learning styles, and some of us absorb information better by reading it, while others learn more by watching videos.
To ensure that your staff learns
the new SOP, offer them the chance to read it or watch a video.
Step Five: Test Their Understanding
It’s too easy for staff to glance
over the SOP because they’re having a hectic day. But that won’t do anyone any
good, and it certainly won’t ensure SOP compliance.
To ensure your staff has read and understood the SOP, you should test them on the knowledge. SharePoint’s DocSurvey allows you to create and attach quizzes to the SOP document or video. The quizzes can be made up of multiple-choice questions or open-ended questions. After you’ve created the quiz, you upload it to SharePoint.
Then, you can require your employees
to complete the quiz before the SOP is marked as read. Doing this ensures that
the staff takes time to absorb the information.
You can also assign a passing
grade. If an employee reads the SOP,
takes the quiz and doesn’t pass it, you can require them to take the quiz
again.
And remember, the department heads
have been trained on the SOP, so if a staff member has questions, they will
have been instructed to reach out to them for answers.
Step Six: Track the Results
Now that you’ve distributed the
SOP, all staff has read it and passed the quiz; you would think your job is
complete, right?
Not so fast.
Just because your employees read the SOP, that doesn’t mean things are flowing smoothly in every department.
You will need to follow up with staff and ask how the changes are affecting their workflow. Do this by assigning ownership for each process of the SOP. You can organize this by department or however it makes sense for your organization.
For instance, if customer service processes have changed, assign ownership to that department head. That person will be responsible for tracking the SOP’s effects on procedures. They should document every incidence of non-compliance as well as any issues that arise from the new procedures. To streamline the process, you can use issue tracker software like Zoho or Incident Monitor.
You can also ask the owners to use
DocSurvey, or whatever project management tool they use, to send periodic
surveys to employees asking for feedback about the SOP. If the same issue is brought
up more than once, you should take a look at it. Chances are, it’s an
opportunity to improve the system even more.
To ensure that the reviews are done in a timely manner, you can build expiration dates into the program.
That’s the end of the SOP process.
While it took a lot of work to implement, you now have a structure that will
keep staff on track and in compliance.
If you ever played Mad
Libs as a kid, you probably have a fond recollection of adverbs. They are
the words (usually ending in -ly) that modify verbs, adjectives, and other
adverbs: slowly, contemptuously, angrily, mysteriously…
Well, according to famous horror author, Stephen King, adverbs
are NOT our friends. In fact, King believes that adverbs, like the passive
voice, were created with the “timid writer in mind.”
In this great issue of Delanceyplace.com, the author highlights Stephen King’s book On Writing, as well as King’s strong dislike of adverbs. This article will definitely have you re-thinking everything you have learned about using adverbs!
In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart acknowledged
that certain words and concepts – in this case, pornography – were difficult to
define in a precise manner. He hastened to add, though, that he could rely on
his gut feeling, declaring: “I know it when I see it.”
Likewise, defining overwriting is not simple. It’s a
phenomenon that readers encounter often enough that they know it when they see
it, but they may not be able to identify the exact points at which the writer
has gone off the rails. As a result, they may not always be able to help authors
figure out how to avoid overwriting.
A good editor, on the other hand, can help freelance writers
escape this trap and do a better job of keeping clients happy. At the very
least, an editor should be able to tell them when they’ve spent too much time
at the keyboard, and give them an idea of how to check themselves as they work.
And if you don’t have a good editor yet, you’re in luck.
We’re here to offer some advice, starting with a few different tips on how to
identify overwriting.
(Don’t) take it to the limit: word counts and deadlines
When freelance authors receive assignments, they typically
receive a set of instructions defining the parameters of the job. These
instructions cover basic points such as length, deadlines, style, and target
audiences.
With respect to length, clients usually come to the table
with an idea of how much they want. Most will give writers limits, in the form
of word counts or page counts.
These limits are often formulated in a way that offers some
wiggle room. For example, you might be asked to write a blog post that’s
750-950 words long. Even if you have some leeway, though, you should respect
those limits. If you find yourself in (or above) the upper reaches of the desired
word count or page count and you’re only halfway through the task, you’re
probably overwriting. If so, it’s time to start thinking about where you can
trim.
As for deadlines, clients typically have an idea of when
they want certain milestones met such as seeing the first draft or receiving
the finished product. You should take those deadlines seriously. Remember them.
Put them in your calendar – both electronically and in paper form, if
necessary. Abide by them.
But what if you’ve been managing your time well, doing a
piece of the job each day and meeting your own expectations with respect to
word count, and you still find yourself needing to ask for an extension of the
deadline because you haven’t finished making all of your points? Once again,
you’re probably overwriting – and that means it’s time to think about how you
can separate the wheat from the chaff.
Know your audience
Style is also a point to consider. Most clients will be able
to tell you what kind of audience they’re hoping to reach, whether it’s
university professors, company shareholders, industry experts, or general
readers. In turn, their expectations ought to drive the work you produce. If
you’re writing for an academic audience, maybe you don’t need to worry about complex
sentences and obscure references. If it’s for shareholders, focus on explaining
the numbers. If you’re targeting industry experts, don’t be afraid to use
jargon. If you’re writing for general readers, find a balance between
describing the basic facts and offering deep background.
This is important because if you don’t match the style to
the audience, you may slip up. For example, if you’re asked to write a social
media post for general readers and you churn out a 2,500-word treatise with an
exhaustive set of footnotes and sentences that average 75 words apiece, it’s
safe to say that you’re overwriting.
Meanwhile, there’s another reason to know your audience: You
will need to have an idea of whether your readers will be familiar with the
topic you’re covering. If they are – as in a highly technical piece that will
be read by industry experts – you can jump right into your topic and use jargon
freely. But if they’re not, you may run into trouble.
What kind of trouble? Over-explaining. If you’re writing for
a general audience that may not know much about your topic, you’ll need to
devote some time to setting the stage – that is, to introducing the subject and
giving enough background to help readers understand what your client wants to
say. It can be tempting to go into intricate detail at this point, especially
if you’re writing about a subject that is interesting or complex.
Nevertheless, you should fight the temptation to tell the
entire story. You do need to set the stage, but you don’t need to include the
entire script of the play, plus a list of links to every published review of
the show. Nor do you have to offer a comprehensive discussion of the history of
theatrical performance, an explanation of the techniques used to varnish the
wooden floors of the auditorium, a review of the weaving techniques used by the
costumers’ fabric suppliers, and an exhaustive biography of the actors. If you
do, you’ll be saddling readers with more information than they want or need.
(So if you’re ever in doubt about whether you’ve crossed that line, remember
comedian Dennis Miller’s line from an HBO special that aired in 1990: “Stop me
before I sub-reference again!”)
One is the loneliest number
We’d like to think that all the advice we’ve just given you
will be easy to follow. After all, it sounds straightforward, right? If you
want to avoid overwriting, follow instructions about length and time
requirements, know your audience, and resist the urge to explain the entire
story from top to bottom and then delve into tangential topics.
But frankly, it may not be simple to remember all these
points – especially when you’re immersed in the job.
At that point, you may have achieved a state of flow that
allows you to crank out one gorgeous sentence after another at top speed. Perhaps
you’re preoccupied by more mundane concerns, such as the ticking of the clock
that shows just how little time is left until your deadline hits. Or maybe
you’ve just been working on the same assignment for so long that you can hardly
see the words on your screen anymore. Under such conditions, your response to basic
advice about how to avoid overwriting is likely to be just about as positive as
the attitude of a toddler who’s been told to eat his or her vegetables.
The best remedy is to get help. Don’t try to finish your
assignment alone; find at least one more pair of eyes to look at what you’ve
written. If you are working with an editor, let that person see your work
before you turn it in. If relevant, show your material to your supervisor,
project manager, or another colleague who may have a different perspective on
what the client wants. You could also enlist the help of a third party or a
beta reader, if you need an objective response that’s not influenced by the
concerns of either the writer or the client.
Once you’ve taken this step, you’ll need to prepare yourself
to receive constructive criticism – and to take heed of the suggestions you
receive. If you don’t, your chances of falling prey to overwriting will
increase.
Now we’ll turn the floor over to you. Where have you found
overwriting, and how did you recognize it? If it’s happened to you, what have
you done to overcome it?
Whether you’re writing a
how-to, biography, memoir, or even a family history, you want your nonfiction book
to stand out and be successful. And, most importantly, you want it to be
interesting and enjoyable to your target audience.
One of the first steps on the
road to crafting an engaging, enjoyable, informative nonfiction book is to find
a great angle for your book – in
other words, a way of presenting your information and telling the story that
makes it interesting, unique, and memorable.
“Snap” Judgment: Why Angle is Important
In an article for Writer’s
Digest, Adair Lara explained why an angle is a must-have for any
nonfiction piece:
“Say
you want to write an essay about how you love to cook. You have a subject, but
you don’t yet have an angle. Subjects invite you to write and write but give
you no particular direction in which to take your writing. Angles, on the other
hand, tell you exactly what to write—and that’s what makes them so
essential… Once you have a good angle,
the actual writing is a snap, because you know what to put in and what to leave
out.”
Lara is right: Without an angle, all
you have is a broad topic that you could take in any and every direction. You
can, as Lara says, “write and write” – with no clear goal in sight. Not only is
this overwhelming for you as a writer, it results in a rambly, unfocused book
that will likely confuse your readers.
An angle will help you stay focused
and keep you from wandering off in random directions. The writing part may or
may not be “a snap” – but it is true that an angle will help you stay the
course.
Here are a few examples of nonfiction
books with great, unique angles:
Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, et al, is a book of inspirational true stories — not from celebrities or sports figures or politicians — but from average, everyday people. Since the book was first published, the authors have released numerous follow-ups, each with a slightly different angle: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels Among Us, and more.
Two books about the tragic life of Anne Frank illustrate how the choice of an angle can produce very different results: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is tightly focused on the daily life, experiences, and feelings of Anne Frank during the two-year period she and her family were in hiding during WWII in Nazi-occupied Holland. The author of the book Anne Frank: A Life From Beginning to Endtells the story of her entire life, starting before she was forced into hiding.
While there are numerous books written about the life of President Abraham Lincoln, Dan Abrams and David Fisher, authors of Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency,focused on the point in Lincoln’s life that allowed him to become president – a much different angle than often-repeated subject matter.
There have been countless books written about Mt. Everest, usually with a broad-sweeping focus. Many people have climbed the mountain, and there have been many hardships, success stories, and life-changing experiences. However, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disasterby Jon Krakauer offers a firsthand account of one single, killer storm and the resulting deaths and survivors’ guilt of those who survived.
Narrowing Your Focus; Finding Your Angle
Not sure what your angle should be?
Need some inspiration? The tips below will help you refine your topic and get
clear on who, what, where, and why of your topic and help you determine the
best way to angle your book so it is fresh and interesting to your audience.
Write What You Know . . . Literally
Make a list of
everything you know or everything you’ve researched about your subject. Doing
this gives you greater insight into your topic and helps you identify the
things that most interest you about your topic.
A few questions
to consider:
What do you know about this topic?
Why do you want to write this book?
Why is this topic interesting to you?
Why are you the best person to write this book?
What would you want to see in a book about this
topic?
Check Out the Competition
Take time and head to the book store,
library, or Amazon and review books about your topic. Pick several and write
down the angle for each one. This will give you a good feel of what’s been
written about your topic and how each writer chose to present the information.
A few questions to ask yourself:
Which books do you like best, and why?
What books did you like least, and why?
What would set your book apart from the books
that are already out there?
How is your perspective on this topic unique?
Take a “Test Drive.”
One good way to
test market your book idea is to publish a blog or article about your topic. Think
of it as a mini version of your book that will help you see who is interested
and what kind of feedback you receive. It’s also a great way to see how much
you enjoy writing about your subject matter.
Here are a few
things to look for during your test run:
Did you enjoy writing this article? Can you see
yourself writing 100 or 200 more pages on this subject?
Did you find enough information? Are there
enough resources out there for an entire book?
Who read your article? Was it appealing to your
target audience? Did it appeal to readers outside your target audience?
Ask the Audience
If you’re an
established writer with a subscriber list, email them a quick survey or ask
them about your topic idea. Not an established writer (yet)? Check out Facebook
groups or message boards dedicated to your topic and ask around.
Here are a few
questions that will help you gauge interest:
Are you interested in another book about this
topic?
Is there anything about this topic that you’d
like to learn more about?
What interests you most about this topic?
Is there anything that you don’t want to see?
Angles that are tired or overdone?
When you take
the time to determine the best angle for your book, you can make that challenge
easier. Finding the right angle will set your book apart from others in your
topic area, make it more interesting, and help you stay organized while writing,
ultimately saving you time, stress, and a lot of rewriting in the end.
