All posts by NewEngland_Muse

I'm a traditionally and self published author. I write in the genre of children and YA at the moment but working my way up to adults. I'm a sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to my own enjoyment. I love to laugh even at myself. I am also owned by 8 birds and 2 hamsters, and yes they know it. :)
A blog about the topics of writing, Sharon C. Williams, Uncategorized

Do you read your manuscript backwards?

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As your grow in your writing you learn tricks of the trade. These are invaluable for they help save you time and also improve your manuscript. Than there are the tips you might hear about from other writers when they share what they have heard used.

When someone said that they read their works backup my head immediately looked up to turn to look at her. This was at my critique group. I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I saw some of the other members nod their head.

What the heck? Read your manuscript backwards? According to them when you read your manuscript forwards your mind tricks you into believing you have read every word but what happens is your mind skims over words especially if you have read your WIP to heck and back. When you read backwards your mind is not able to do this as readily because after all who reads a book backwards. By doing so you catch errors that might have been missed and errors that were big that could have made your manuscript tank.

Reading online about this shortly after the meeting I found out this was an actual thing. It is not something I had done at this point. Yes I have read a page or two but nothing significant. I keep telling myself I will do it. If it is another tool to make your work pop I need to make an honest effort to try it for myself. Thank goodness my children series are not so long. But oh man when and if I do the novels that are in the 50k. It will take me convincing myself a lot to give this a go.

A blog about the topics of writing

Do you read your manuscript aloud?

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When was the last time you read a book out loud? I can say for me personally it was last year. I was not reading it to a child or a group of children. I was not reading it to anyone in particular. I was actually just reading my latest project.

We, as writers, will edit our WIP and edit it to death only to do it a few more times. But we won’t catch everything. Hence why we have beta readers, critique groups and poor souls who we ask for help. That will get more if not all of the mistakes out of your manuscript.

But there is always the mistakes that no one sees. But we are not just talking about grammar. I’m talking about loopholes, inconsistencies and the likes. That is how I found out in my Jasper series I had named their mom Sally by the name of Sarah and a few other S names. No one had picked up on that. But after reading it out loud I caught it.

Yes, it is time-consuming and you will want to rush it or maybe stop completely, especially if your novel runs in the thousands of words. So how important is it to you? How perfect do you want it to be? Are you okay, once the book goes to print only to find mistakes?

It all depends on how you want your work and you to be represented. We are not going to get all the mistakes every single time but a good effort certainly can’t hurt.

A blog on writing, Sharon C. Williams

Ghostwriting

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Have you ever wondered how athletes, actors or big name people get their book out? Some do write it but a good portion uses ghostwriters giving the author what they want to see inside the book. So have you ever thought to becoming a ghostwriter or to using one for yourself?

The opportunity has risen for me twice but both never panned out. In a way that is good for I was not sure how I felt about becoming a ghostwriter. The pros: It is a paying gig. You add a new skill to your resume. You might get future work with this. The con: You get no credit for the work. If the book does well you don’t get a bit of the profit since your job ended when the book was finished.

So what would you do? Would you be willing to write what could very well be the next best-selling book but have someone else’s name on it? Or what you get paid would that be enough for a job well done?

It is something I have gone over back and forth when I was asked if I would consider doing this. I’m still not sure One can’t have it both ways. If the chance came around again and it was something that would be followed through I would have to decide yes or no. And if the price was right that could easily tip it over. 🙂