Grammarly

Is it lay or lie? Who or whom? Then or than? And most importantly, what's for dinner? 

Okay, so besides the dinner part, do you ever struggle with grammar? Well hold onto your hat, pardner, because I've found a site for you!

GRAMMARLY is a gem of a find for writers. In their own words:

"Grammarly makes you a better writer 

by finding and correcting up to 10x more mistakes 

than your word processor."

Sound too good to be true? I thought so, too, so I took it out for a spin around the block -- and let me tell you, this is one smooth ride for a writer.

How it works is that you enter a chunk of text and it checks it over for you. When it finds an error, it doesn't just correct it, it explains why it's wrong and teaches you how to fix it so that you don't make the same mistake in the future. You can use it on any kind of writing project, from writing emails, to essays, or even social media posts.

Here are a few fun facts . . .

• Grammarly Editor corrects contextual spelling mistakes.
• It checks for more than 250 common grammar errors.
• Enhances vocabulary usage and provides citation suggestions.
• There are over 4 million users worldwide.

What does all this gramtastic magic cost? There are different pay ranks:

Monthly is $29.95

Quarterly is $59.95

Yearly (the best value) is $139.95

But if you happen to be a starving artist, don't worry. There is also a free version that checks for the most frequently made writing mistakes, covers 100 points of grammar, has a contextual spellchecker and does punctuation checks.

So yeah, I know this sounds like a commercial,             

but really, if you're grammatically challenged in any way, this might be a great investment for you.

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Help . . . I'm Stuck!

Posted by Michelle Griep for author Sarah Ladd

Author Sarah Ladd

Has this ever happened to you? You are writing a novel. You love the characters. You are excited by the plot. But WHAM! You hit a wall a few chapters in, and you don’t know what to write next.

Some call it “writer’s block,” but whatever you call it, it can be discouraging and frustrating. Every writer struggles with this at some point, but there are certain things you can do to get yourself out of a writing slump. Here a few ideas to help you get “unstuck” and get the words flowing again:

Have fun with backstory

Is a character in you novel causing you to stumble in your story?  Take a few minutes and write a scene about the character’s early life … a scene from their childhood or an interaction with his or her parents. Chances are that this scene will never make it into your final manuscript, but occasionally just getting back to the basics with your character and learning more about his or her motivations can add spark to your story and keep you forging ahead.

     Point of view switch

If you are having trouble getting a scene to flow, why not try switching the POV of that particular scene?  Sometimes, taking a look at a situation from another character’s viewpoint can shift the scene’s momentum and get you back on the right track.

     Get inspired with setting

If you write in a historic time period or specific setting, watch a movie that takes place in a similar setting.  Or, if you are a Pinterest user, consider taking a few minutes to create a visual board for your book. This is a great way to engage other parts of your brain in the creative process.

Make the time to read.

Read, read, read!

Stephen King said, “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”  And that is so true! If you loose your inspiration or can’t figure out where to go next with your story, read a book by an author you admire. Read a classic. Read a book on the craft of writing. Sometimes, just getting your head out of your own story and spending some with other words with jump-start your creativity.

     Talk it out

Have a good writer friend?  Give them a call. Meet with them for coffee for a quick brainstorming session. Sometimes, just talking about your story out loud can make you think about your novel in a different light. Who knows, you and your brainstorming partner might even come up with a fresh idea or two to get your book moving in the right direction!

     Take a little break

     Tight timelines and busy schedules make us feel like we need to be writing during every free second we have. But often that can be counter-productive. Take a walk. Exercise. Go shopping. Take your mind off of the words. Sometimes, giving yourself a little space from your project can renew your vigor for your story.

Do you have a tip for getting “unstuck” when writing?  Share it with us in the comments section – we’d love to hear it! 

Sarah E. Ladd has always loved the Regency period — the clothes, the music, the literature and the art. A college trip to England and Scotland confirmed her interest in the time period and gave her idea of what life would’ve looked like in that era. It wasn’t until 2010 that Ladd began writing seriously. Shortly after, Ladd released the first book in the Whispers on the Moors series, The Heiress of Winterwood (2013). That title was the recipient of the 2011 ACFW Genesis Award for historical romance and is a finalist in the Debut Author category of the 2014 Carol Awards. The second book in the series, The Headmistress of Rosemere (2013), was on the ECPA best-seller list for several months. Her upcoming release, The Curiosity Keeper, will release in July 2015. Ladd also has more than ten years of marketing experience. She is a graduate of Ball State University and holds degrees in public relations and marketing. Ladd lives in Indiana with her husband, daughter and spunky Golden Retriever.

To keep up with Sarah E. Ladd, visit www.sarahladd.com, become a fan on Facebook (Sarah Ladd Author) or follow her on Twitter (@SarahLaddAuthor). 

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Editing is Hard, Becoming a Professional Writer is Harder ~ Tricia Goyer

Editing is Hard, Becoming a Professional Writer is Harder

By Tricia Goyer

Recently a friend asked me a question about editing her first novel.

Editing is hard, but really it’s not so much getting one manuscript ready to be published. It’s about understanding the writing world.

To have a manuscript ready for publication means you need to be a writing professional. You need to know the difference between passive and active sentences, you need to know about dialogue, narration, point-of-view, theme, direct thoughts and tons more.

You also need to understand the business side of writing. You need to know about conferences, publishers, professional writers and editors, the CBA and ABA–it’s a ton of stuff. If you want to become a successful published author, it’s just like studying to understand any other business. The difference is that in this business a college degree isn’t necessary. Yes, it does help a lot if you go to college and get a Creative Writing degree. Your professors would probably help you with a lot of these things, but that’s not totally necessary.

There’s a good side to that and a bad side to not needed a degree. The good side is that someone like me (who only has a high school diploma and some college classes) can become a successfully published author with a lot of initiative and hard work. My “launch” into the publishing world was attending local writer’s groups, and then I attended Mt. Hermon Writer’s Conference nearly every year for fourteen years. After that I read magazines and books. Writer’s Digest Magazine is one I highly recommend. They have a website, too, where you can read lots of articles for free. I have larger list of other resources I recommend below.

The bad side to that is that unlike becoming a doctor or a lawyer or a beautician, there is no one to test you before you go into business. Most people don’t know how much they don’t know about the craft and the publishing world until they get started. I started sending out articles before I read one book on writing articles and it wasn’t too successful. (I got one article published in three years!) After I took a class at Mt. Hermon on article writing, and read some books on it, I started to understand why I wasn’t getting published. The next year I sold over 30 articles, most to national publications.

I can’t just say, “Do these three things” for a novel, or for a children’s book, or articles and they you’ll get published. What you really need to do is start reading a lot of articles, books, and blogs on writing and getting to know everything there is to know about the craft. Put aside your novel for a while. (Or article ideas or children’s book ideas.) Instead, just gain knowledge about being a writer and what is needed in a good novel. Once you start to gain this knowledge, then going back to your manuscript will be much easier. You’ll be able to see things for yourself, instead of me trying to explain things to you.

Just so you know what to expect, I’ve heard it said it takes about 10 years from the time you start writing (and studying fiction) before you have a published novel on the shelf. It was about 9 years for me. Getting articles published, of course, can happen a lot more quickly, but you have to be diligent about reading the books on article writing and following the steps.

So basically it’s not about your one book … it’s about being a knowledgeable writer.

Think of it this way, if you want to get your book published then it needs to be great to get the notice of an acquisitions editor. And when he or she takes it to publishing committee they will be comparing it to other books that they are interested in publishing. Some of those projects may be from new writers like you. Others may be from writers who already have books published.

They’re not only going to just look at how much they like that one book, but they’re going to think long-term. Here are some questions they may ask:

• Who is this person?
• Is she just a one-hit wonder?
• Can she produce another book in a short amount of time?
• Is she knowledgeable about the industry?
• Is she going to be easy to work with?
• Can she work at a professional level?
• Can she be interviewed by the press and sound knowledgeable?
• Can she represent our company well?”

Publishers are asking these questions because the publishing company will invest $50,000 – $100,000 in your book if they decide to publish it. As a new author you may only get around $5,000 as an advance (which is an advance on your future sales), but they invest in their editors, their marketing, in the cover, in the printing, in the salesmen, in the advertising, etc.

Are you knowledgeable enough about writing and the publishing world for someone to put that type of investment into you?

I self-edit all my books. They need to be in GREAT condition when I send them into my publishing house. If they weren’t I wouldn’t get another contract. Once they are at the publishing house there are additional editors who go over my manuscripts, but I have to turn in a great book to start.

I don’t recommend hiring anyone to do your editing for you because you really need to understand it all. In addition to just editing of the sentences and paragraphs there will need to be editing of the chapters, the theme, the conflict, etc.

Because I’m a professional writer now (after A TON OF WORK and study) I know a lot of the things I need to do as I write, so there is less time in editing. I know what works and what doesn’t as I write, but after I write a chapter I go over it 4-5 times to make sure it works, sounds great, and is edited to the best of my ability.

After my manuscript is sent in to the publisher I then work with an in-house editor for at least another month.

Tricia Goyer is a busy mom of six, grandmother of two, and wife to John. Somewhere around the hustle and bustle of family life, she manages to find the time to write fictional tales delighting and entertaining readers and non-fiction titles offering encouragement and hope. A bestselling author, Tricia has published thirty-three books to date and has written more than 500 articles. She is a two time Carol Award winner, as well as a Christy and ECPA Award Nominee. She is on the blogging team of several websites and hosts the weekly radio podcast, Living Inspired. Learn more about Tricia at www.triciagoyer.com.

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