THE BIG PICTURE

Pictures, renderings, graphs, charts, all increase interest in a book, however, there are subtle choices an author can make to enhance the project. Much of it has to do with personal style. These choices add to the polished look of a product. For example:

• POSITIONING:
• Arrange pictures on a page with the subjects looking toward the gutter (in-seam) or looking at an object blocking the edge of the page. Otherwise, the subject looks as though it's trying to escape.
• When taking new pictures for the book, think of the light source as though the reader is looking through an open window (referring to the open pages of the book). Study a table near a window (filled with food, a lamp or vase). Where is the light source at different times during the day? How do the shadows fall? Which is more pleasing to your eye? Does one portray the message and theme of the project better?  
• Try different techniques. Set a mood with a large block of color behind the picture. Use a soft focus. Add unexpected elements. Whatever you choose, make sure it adds to the story and doesn't over power the page.
• Unless it's a picture book, visuals are there to compliment the writing. Place a photo on a page by itself, cluster them around a theme or timeline, or add at the end of the book as a photo diary. Let your imagination and creativity blossom. 
• B&W or COLOR or BOTH
• There is something very dramatic and edgy about a photo taken in current times and developed in B&W or (with the help of special settings on some cameras)  highlighting one color, for example: a red rose with a B&W backdrop.
• Older photos are a challenge. Some are washed out or scratched from age. My suggestion is to handle as little as possible. Take a picture of the picture or take it to a professional for restoration. There is beauty in the markings on a photo if writing a memoir, especially if there's a family memory attached.
• Use different tones to establish a timeline or age of a photo. Sepia for the 1800s, B&W before 1945 and color for modern.
• IDENTIFICATION 
• If you're submitting an article to a magazine or news source, or working with a publisher, check their specifications and follow them . . . exactly.
• The most widely used formats in identifying photographs are:
• PEOPLE                            LOCATION
• (l-r) seated: add names  Subject: animal/plant/person
• first row: add names       Location: park, museum, etc
• standing: add names      Where: city/state/country
• Photo credit                    Photo credit
• Double check the spelling of all names.

Finally, open your rough-cut copy of the finished book and quickly flip-fan the pages. This quick, overview of all the pages will help you see the color balance of the pictures. Is one more intense than another? The goal is to balance. This is something that can be easily corrected in the printing process.

Whatever your style or story, I wish you much success in your writing career.

BUY ONCE - GIFT TWICE

We're happy to announce that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of "Begotten With Love" supports the A.C.M.E. Scholarship fund. This fund helps students whose education is in financial jeopardy due to the death of a sibling or parent. If you're looking for a present for the reader in your life and want to help another, visit our website www.BEGOTTENtheBook.com

To learn more about award-winning author, Jo Ann V. Glim:

VISIT: www.BEGOTTENtheBook.com

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AVAILABLE ON: Amazon.com/author/joannglim

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SETTING THE SCENE

MACRO EDITING - Part 3 in a 5 Part Series

It doesn't take a chapter or even a paragraph to write the perfect scene opener. 'It was a dark and stormy night,' comes to mind. All the senses are heightened and the reader is hooked. But then 1830 English novelist Edward Buler-Lytton (in his novel Paul Clifford) continued the sentence. It was a dark and stormy night: the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals . . . (and the sentence didn't stop there). In fact, there are now contests dedicated to writing the longest and most convoluted sentence possible; not quite the tact an aspiring novelist wants to emulate. 


The goal as a writer is to convey a story that transports the reader from their world into ours with enough dialogue, narrative, and description to guide them on that journey. It's our goal to foster their imagination so they identify with the story and characters . . . but how much is too much?

When reading your manuscript on this go-around of macro-edits, stop and think. If you're thoughts become:

DISTRACTED   Is it because the description is too long? If a wandering mind happens to you, it will surely happen for the reader. 

• Try shorter sentences or blending descriptions into the dialogue. For example: Little Red Riding Hood said as she ran through the woods to her grandmother's house. 
• Intersperse scene descriptions throughout the chapter instead of writing a litany at the beginning. 
• Think like a camera. Movie scripts begin with an establishing shot. Who could forget the space ship in the opening scene from Star Wars? The most popular beginning is either a panoramic or extreme close-up.  These set the tone for a movie and can do the same for a book.

CONFUSED      When we become too familiar with a topic, town, or personality, it's easy to omit information because we think everyone is viewing it from the same base.

• If the story line falters or the scene feels vague, you may have more explaining to do. Read the script out loud. What you hear sounds totally different than what you see on the printed page. If your tongue takes you down a new path, continue the thought. Write it down. We talked about searching for musicality when writing in the post, "Music in Words." This is one way to find it. 
• A scene description is "visual" dialogue that may:
• enhance emotion, 
• reveal a plot twist, 
• move the story forward.

SKEPTICAL  A story is not an essay or thesis. There are times that proper English may slow the action or discredit a character's personality. Part of setting a scene is being true to the cast that makes your story real.

• Contract words where possible. 
• Avoid cliche's . . . unless you are clever enough to form an original. 
• Add a little spice to the 'script, y'all. The operative word is little. 

Whatever your style or story, I wish you much success in your writing career.

To learn more about award-winning author, Jo Ann V. Glim:

VISIT: www.BEGOTTENtheBook.com

LIKE: on Facebook 

AVAILABLE ON: Amazon.com/author/joannglim

BOOK TRAILER on YouTube

MUSIC in WORDS

MACRO EDITING - Part 2 in a 5 Part Series

Poets and songwriters seem gifted with sensing the melody in words. With the stroke of a pen, they infuse our senses with emotion. We're willingly captivated by the masters. However, the rest of the writing pool (myself included) sometimes struggle with untangling descant chords in even simple sentences!

These thoughts roiled through my mind as I began formulating this post.  A quick bite of lunch and a listen to one of my favorite Sunday radio programs, Radio Lab hosted by Jad Abumerad on NPR, then down to it.  The topic of his show focused on: Music - Language - Touch. Right in line with this week's post!

Even though the guests talked about the spoken word, their theories brilliantly applied to the written word as well. They've documented the fact that speech has four tones universal in all languages. As  Stanford University Director of Infant Studies Professor Ann Fernald discovered, speech follows four tonal patterns: happy (with a rise in voice); command (short and to the point); comfort (the awww factor); and warning (call to attention). It doesn't matter which language, the patterns match perfectly in all of them.

Which brings me to this week's Macro Moment in editing the manuscript: listen for the music in the character's conversations. Are the tonal patterns similar? Stilted? Lax? Believable? Mix it up! Facial expressions and body gestures change temperament. Act it out as you read aloud. Let this round of editing bring you closer to the heart of the characters and the message of the story.

Building a dynamic and plausible narrative is a balancing act. What we compose sets the tone for the scene; gives the characters personality; moves the story forward; and imposes the will and style of the author (think of the famous staccato pattern of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer). Whatever your style or story, I wish you much success in your writing career.

Listen to an archived copy at www.RadioLab.org. Professor Diana Deutsch, Psychologist at the University of California - San Diego studies the affects of language and musicality. Stanford Professor Ann Fernald, Director of Infant Studies discovered four distinct tones in which we communicate.


"Begotten With Love" Kindle eBook sale ends this Sunday. To order a copy today, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IOOLUWQ 

To learn more about award-winning author, Jo Ann V. Glim:

VISIT: www.BEGOTTENtheBook.com

LIKE: on Facebook 

AVAILABLE ON: Amazon.com/author/joannglim

BOOK TRAILER on YouTube