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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

John - Maybe, as Dagny suggested, you only have one book in you. You seem obsessed with one book, after all. But right now you have multiple versions of a work with no finality. I think I suggested years ago that you pull the trigger, stop making  perfect the enemy of the good, and try to get the damned thing published! Unless you will be satisfied with letting your talent wander endlessly in TNBW.

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Linda Lee wrote:

The pop up window is designed for holding the formatting of word docs and has always worked flawlessly for me. NOT using it, or editing in the TNBW pane is what's caused all the formatting issues

The pop-up window doesn't work for me. I just tried Dirk's remedy, and that didn't work either. Still no paragraph separation or italics.

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dirk B. wrote:

Jack, what version of Word are you using? I've rarely had problems with Word 2007 and, more recently, Word 2019. For what it's worth, I use CTRL-V to paste my Word content directly into the TNBW text field. If I'm editing an existing chapter, I use CTRL-A, then CTRL-V. I never use the popup window.

Dirk, I use Word 2007 too. But I’ll try your technique of avoiding the pop-up window. There didn’t used to be that window. Thanks!

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Back in the day, I had no formatting issues copying from Word and pasting it to TNBW. The last two years, though, there have been no paragraph breaks and no italics when I’ve done this, so it’s a pain in the ass to edit my posted chapter to get those things in. And I often miss some. Interestingly, when I’m done posting, the review copy looks like the MS, but when I look at what the public will see, those problems are there.

Congrats, Randall! Good luck! Will you becoming to the States for the announcement?

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(16 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sorry to hear of your loss, JP. It reinforces the need to revise the work on TNBW in addition to the source manuscript, so you’ll have a true copy always available. I had a backup external drive that made me feel secure - until I realized it had become disconnected months ago, probably when I took my desktop to the shop to be fixed!

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(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Marilyn, I wish I could type like that! My father tried to teach me typing when I was a kid, but I couldn't have cared less. So now I use the one-finger method. I've gotten quite adept at it, though. Talk about new tricks! smile

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(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I’m reading Turow’s Personal Injuries now. Apparently, he likes to have it both ways. He eschews the apostrophe in goin’, havin’, etc., but still puts the comma in before a sentence-ending “too.” Old school and, apparently trendy, apostrophe avoidance.

Rules change, and they should. Internet and dumpster used to be capitalized, and now often aren’t, but there’s still some who do honor the brands. (There is a transition period!) Foreign phrases used to require italics, but increasingly, they’ve become a part of English usage and are in normal font. I often have to consult the CMOS or the AP Stylebook to see what the latest consensus is. Writing has changed a lot since I learned the “rules” in high school!

Marilyn, I grew up with the double space between sentences, but that’s dead, dear, and I’m living with that just fine.

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Way to go, Randall!

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(9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Congratulations, Marilyn!

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(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Good luck, Randy!

Done!

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Aw, thank you so much, Lynn! I think you'll be the first. You're a sweetheart!

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks, J.P.! I'll be busy doing promos for the book, and I'm editing a a friend's book and co-writing a sci-fi novel with another online friend, so I won't be on TNBW much in the near term. But I've started my next book, so I'll be back eventually to workshop it here. BTW, Deep Cover hasn't had any reviews yet on Amazon, so if anyone who has read the book here would care to leave a review, you might be the first one!

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Dags, so nice to hear from you! Thank you for the kind words.

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks, Linda!

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks so much, guys! And thanks for buying a copy, Randy. You might have been the first one! The paperback version is now available, but it hasn't been linked yet to the e-book or my Amazon author page. Takes a couple of days, they tell me. The support and expertise available here at TNBW is why I'll continue to workshop my novels here.

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(12 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

My latest book workshopped here on TNBW (as are all my books!) is now Live on Amazon! E-book only for now, but the paperback version should be coming soon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081VXYWJ6
Thanks to all of you who took the time and effort to review it!

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Congrats, Randy!

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(1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I've just posted the final chapter of Deep Cover. Thanks to all who took the time to review it! I'll keep it on site until the day it's published, so there's still time to read it for free. smile

It seems to me, Chicago Manual of Style notwithstanding, that Secretary of State is a unique title - there is only one of those at a time - with unique duties. You can be a "general," but General of the Army is a specific title that means a 5-star general. A "a general of the Army" can be any general of 1-4 star rank. Lower case secretary of state suggests the person is a secretary of a state (which one?)  with nebulous duties. So unless my publisher nixes it, I would capitalize it, even standing alone without a name attached.

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I remember "chrome-plated" as being derogatory, as implying a fraud, like, "All hat, no cattle." And "radioactive" I remember as an adjective for someone to avoid.

"Can't dance" meant it wouldn't work.

A DA hairstyle. . . well, I think you know what that was.

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(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Got the book right, Alan. The character who said it - Jake Barnes. I like that quote from your grandmother!

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(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

1. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye
2. "It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled in the daytime, but at night it is another thing."

Congrats, Randy!