Parentheses, Brackets, Braces, and Slashes

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today is the last post in my series on punctuation. I know, you're all very upset about it; but, let me reassure you that I have some great posts for tomorrow, Friday, and Monday. They're reviews of a few Indie books I've read: Chasing Memories, The Disappearing Girl, and The White Aura. So make sure you come on back for that! Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

As always, my information comes from The Chicago Manual of Style 15th Edition. If you use a different style guide, you may have different standards. Just remember, consistency is key!

Parentheses

These little boogers are used to set aside text which isn't relative to the rest of the sentence. Often used by writers to insert a thought or quip that's totally off the subject by the character that we're seeing life through. In a more scholarly application, they're used for citations. You may combine them with em dashes. Writers of fiction tend to avoid the use of parentheses, choosing to use an em dash instead.

Brackets

Square Brackets
If you're quoting something written by someone else, and wish to add your two cents to the quote, you need square brackets. If you're translating, the original word is sometimes put in line with square brackets around it. When you want to set something off inside parentheses, you don't use another set of parentheses, you use square brackets.

Angle Brackets and Braces
These are for html programming and are used to tell a typesetter how you want your manuscript to look. While we don't do this much nowadays because of computers, way back when we used typewriters, it was a necessity. Please don't use them to set off an e-mail address or your URL. It'll cause you headaches at some point.

Slashes

Can be used to replace "or," "and," "through," or "a" between words or numbers to signify alternatives. It's also used in URLs rather heavily. When quoting poetry, slashes indicate line breaks. Remember, there's a difference between a slash and a backslash. Examples:
cat/dog
http://
She had an outgoing/friendly personality.
He wanted a black/blue/red car.
We were looking for a 1992/93 model car, but we'll take a 2005/6 edition if it's an SUV. **Replaced an en dash**
Please go to: c:\dos\windows\user

I hope you learned something today you didn't know before.

Well, that's all for today folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

The Period

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I know what you're all thinking: Oh, how can she come up with something about the period I don't know? Strap on in and find out after you grab your pens and notebooks so we can get to it!

Everyone learns what a period means when they begin learning to write. It's finality, the end, and appears on the backside of a sentence. When you forget a period, your sentences bleed together like zebra running from a hungry lion. Can you imagine a story devoid of periods?

Did you know there's more than one use for a period?

As with every post on punctuation I'm going to be doing, this one uses information from The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition.

Periods

While a period indicates you've come to the end of a declarative sentence, it can also be used to indicate something left out. Think about it. When you're abbreviating something, you put a period at the end. When you write, etc., there's a period on the end. Your period should always appear inside quotation marks (single or double), inside parentheses or brackets when they contain a complete sentence unless inside another complete sentence, and put three together to indicate a trailing off of speech (called an ellipsis).

Colons can replace periods when introducing an inline list or when something is being described.

When not to use a period:
At the end of a heading, subheading, running head, signatures, or addresses (to name a few). If your subhead is in line with the text, a period is necessary to separate the subhead from the text. Never in a vertical list. These lists should be preceded by an opening statement and a colon. Line items don't get periods.

Abbreviations
When using a period in an abbreviation, it always goes directly after the last letter and all other punctuation rules apply as though the abbreviation is a complete word.

But did you know you can also put periods on the end of incomplete sentences and it be okay? If you're writing in colloquial style (a style more similar to spoken language), it's perfectly acceptable. It's also okay to use before block quotations unless the quote is introduced by a word that indicates "this is because" or tells you to look out for what's next. In those cases, a colon is appropriate.

Maybe you already knew all this; maybe you didn't. Either way, I do hope you pay close attention to the periods in your life and how they affect you.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Dashing Dashes and How to Use Them

Happy Hump-Day, good people of the blogosphere! I bet you think you know all there is to know about dashes. Well, I'm here to tell you, you may not know as much as you think. This is a post you don't want to miss! So, grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

There are so many ways to use hyphens and dashes. This post is going by the rules outlined in The Chicago Manual of Style 15th Edition. First, I'm gonna show you what each one of the five looks like, then we'll go into how they're used.

Hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes are the most commonly used.

Hyphens

Hyphens are used to separate numbers or group numbers, in compound words, names, and for word division.

A little known use of the hyphen is in dialogue when referencing American Sign Language.

Examples of hyphen use:
Would you believe she wore a box-hat to the party?
Please call 1-800-888-8888 to find out more.
My book's ISBN is 978-1477489031.
My niece can sign A-P-P-L-I-C-A-T-I-O-N very quickly.

Going into names and compound words is best left for another day. It's a whole section in and of itself.

En dashes

It literally means "between" or "up to and including." It's used in dates or times or in place of a hyphen when one of the elements of a compound adjective is open. Some people would use a slash, but an en dash works as well. It can also be used to separate a college name from the city if there are more than two in the state with the same name. There are no spaces with en dashes unless indicating something is ongoing.

Examples of en dash use:
I went to Columbus for four years, 1995–1999, loving every minute of it.
My life has been long (1977– ) and I can't wait to have more fun. *Note the space after the en dash.
He went to the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga, not the University of Tennessee–Knoxville.
We went to Mexico as non–Spanish–speaking people.

Em dashes

This one is for setting off elements in novels. Some people use parentheses, commas, or colons to do this; but an em dash works as well. It will also separate a subject from a pronoun, indicates a break in speech when someone is cut off (unlike when someone trails off—those are indicated by an ellipsis), or replaces a comma. You can use them with other fun punctuation as well—like exclamation points!—as a tool to set off the phrase.

Examples of em dash use:
Should I—can I?—go to the party tonight?
"I was thinking we should—" I cut her off with a lift of my hand. "No. Probably not a good idea because she'll be there."
When the old man walked up—and he was walking really slowly—we showed him the way to his seat.

2-em & 3-em dashes

2-em dashes are used to represent something left out. The rule here is: If it replaces a part of a word, don't leave space on either side; but if it replaces a whole word, leave space. A 2-en dash is most commonly used to block out profanity. Oftentimes, these are shown by using four hyphens.

3-em dashes are used in bibliography to indicate this name is the same name as the one before, but it's a different title or work. These are shown by using six hyphens.

Examples:
2-em: She let loose with many words like —– and they blew my mind.
3-em: ——, Yassa. Jo Michaels: CreateSpace, 2012.

I hope this helps straighten some of the confusion out. I find these errors quite a bit when editing.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

It Takes a Team

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm talking about the people it takes to bring a book from rough manuscript to published work of brilliance. Yup, that's right, your publishing team.

We all have folks we love to use for certain things. But how many people does it take to create a book? Let's have some fun and take a look inside this publishing madhouse, shall we?

• Writer. Without the writer, what's the point? They're the real powerhouses behind all that wonderful literature you consume. Their imaginations open up and drag you, kicking and screaming, into a whole new world.
• Editor. This is the person the writer should be buddies with. Not cappuccino drinking, dress shopping, book swapping buddies; but someone you get along with that you know has a staunch work ethic along with a firm grasp of the English language and the building blocks that make an excellent book. Like the ladies over at INDIE Books Gone Wild, eh?
• Proofreader. Someone else who can catch all those niggling little errors that throw readers out of the story. A misplaced comma, period, misused word, or errant thought thrown into a paragraph where it doesn't belong.
• Cover Designer. Your brilliance in art. Someone who can bring your story into an image that's compelling. They should also have a strong grasp of the art of Typography. This is your book's face. It should be clean and have the makeup applied properly.
• Book Formatting Guru. We all need one of these hanging around. Someone who makes us look good in print or on an e-reader.
• Sales Platform. This is the company that sells copies of your book and keeps part of the profit. We don't like them much, but they're a necessary evil and we all have a favorite one.

Yes, it takes a team to publish a book. Who's on your team?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Books You Just Can't Finish

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere. Yes, Thursday is upon us once again and, as always, it's the day before Friday and the start of an awesome weekend! You've made it through hump-day and are on your way to freedom. Rejoice! Today, I'm talking about those niggling little things called: Books You Just Can't Finish.

Until I got into reading Indie books, I rarely came across a book I just couldn't finish. Now, I run across them rather frequently. While I'm not going to be so crass as to list titles, I will say there have been a number from my Indie Fever reading challenge list I couldn't get through. I tried, I did. But, when someone uses the word as in place of when, and, because, and where (as well as many verbs), I can't even stomach the word as where it's supposed to be.

Or, the worst, dialogue is stilted and feels forced along with the book being improperly formatted. Sorry, but I'm thirty-five years old and have too many other things to do than force my way through a book I don't like.

Please, for the love of all that's good in the world, HIRE AN EDITOR!

I hear it all the time: Why aren't my books selling?

Well, I can give you one reason: When someone reads a book with five or more errors on every page, they don't want to read anything else written by you. It doesn't matter if your story is the greatest one since Harry Potter; if someone can't read it, it's not going to sell. Period. Ever. If it's your first book, people won't pick up anything else you ever write.

Isn't an editor the best investment you can make for yourself and your work? It makes you look like you know what you're doing when you publish a book that's been edited by someone who follows a style guide like The Chicago Manual of Style or The Elements of Style.

It also helps when that editor is a reader and has been educated in the craft of writing.

Sorry I went on a rant today. It's just frustrating to offer a great service at a decent price and not have people take advantage of it when it can make them money in the long run.

Have you come across a book lately you couldn't finish? Why? Please don't list titles. This isn't a bash-fest.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Editing Tips

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'm going to be giving you some editing tips and telling you how to catch those niggling little errors that drive readers like me bananas.

If you're a regular visitor to my blog, you'll know I keep a handy link list to relevant content herein. This is for you, not for me. It lets you find what you're looking for at a glance without having to do an irritating search or browse through hundreds of posts to find great information. This post will contain links to a few of those posts for your referencing pleasure. A lot of my visitors take notes while they're here, and you might want to consider doing so as well. So, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

If you're a writer, you should be going through no less than four rounds of edits before sending your content off to your editor. What's that? You don't use an editor? You should. They'll catch things you can't. But, if you insist on doing all your editing yourself, here are the five major edits that need to be done in your work:

1. Storyline - This is the first edit and should consist of you going through the storyline very carefully, line by line, making notes on what your characters are doing at any given point. You don't want an apartment on the first floor in this chapter only to have it on the second floor two chapters later, or your character to be asleep in bed and then having a conversation on the other side of town in the next sentence. Check dates for linear flow. Fact check now as well. Make sure elements and language used match the era and voice of the character. Make all your notes before you change anything. If there's anything to add or any holes to fill, do it now.

2. Cut Out Superfluous Words - Go through your manuscript with a possessed red pen. Kill as many of these words as you can: that, just, for, to, began, thought, as. Reword where necessary. Take out sentences and adjectives you don't need. Remove adverbs. This post will show you why you don't need them: -ly

3. Pronouns - This is a big one. Check each pronoun and the person or thing it references. Make sure you aren't using them incorrectly. Here's a handy guide: Pesky Pronouns

4. Consistency and Punctuation - This is where you check your flow. Make sure commas aren't sprinkled around like fairy dust. Be sure your sentences flow well. Read and re-read to be sure you've been consistent when spelling a word, using language, or using a reference. Check your chapters for tension. For the love of all that's good, use contractions unless writing formal speech. Chase the S! Search the words backward, forward, toward, etc... and check to be sure the s (if you used it) is consistent. Beware the homophone and make sue you're using the right word. Use semicolons now and then. If you aren't sure how to do that, check out this handy guide: Semicolons

5. Proofread - Give it one last once over. Check it all to make sure there aren't any of the issues listed above hanging around and everything is spelled correctly, all quotes are in place and are the right kind (see image below), and all i's are dotted and t's are crossed. This is your last chance to make it beautiful.

I use a literary editor. Every writer should. She goes line by line and checks everything. But every writer should also go through the first four items on this list before sending their manuscript off to be corrected. Your best bet is to let your story chill in a drawer for a couple of weeks after you're done writing it before you start the process above.

I hope this helps in some small way. I know being an indie author isn't easy, but if you want your work to get great reviews that don't bash your writing, put in the time.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo