https://writersweekly.com/angela-desk/h … -your-book

I returned Write Great Fiction - Revision and Self-Editing. It's a good book on writing, but I'm looking for a book on editing. Found one called Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, written by a pair of professional editors. It's in its 2nd edition and highly rated (500 reviews).

Thank you, all. I finally figured out what type of help I want and found a primer on Amazon called Write Great Fiction - Revision and Self-Editing. Highly rated. I have less than a day to figure out if it's garbage and return it, so I best get cracking.

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm looking for one or two great books to help improve my writing. My grammar and punctuation are decent. I'm looking for something at the next level: how to create compelling characters, interesting secondary characters, balance between description and dialogue, compelling dialogue, world building, story pacing, when to show vs tell, etc. I understand that one book won't cover all of these perfectly, but you get the idea.

Suggestions?

Thanks
Dirk

2,005

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Which of the following is better? Both are for the shoddy tech firm that builds everything in the book.

Rock Solid Systems
Lowest Bidder Systems

2,006

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

If you produce garbage tech, you need a lofty name.

2,007

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Rock Solid Systems is in the lead.

2,008

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

njc wrote:

TCME The Company that ...
OCME One Company to ...

One Company to Rule Them All

2,009

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Rock Solid Systems
100% Uptime

2,010

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Since T^3 reminds Amy of Terminator 3, what about: Reliable Systems?

Fyi, I reserve the right to go with T^3, although the name probably won't be explained until well into act one.

2,011

(15 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I'm reading all about for serial killers. :-)

2,012

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Technically, it will be called T to the power of 3. I'll consider T-Cubed, although I don't like it very much. A search for T3 in Canada doesn't even bring up a match for Terminator 3, although Wikipedia in the US lists it as an alternate name for Terminator 3. Maybe T-CUBED. Meh.

2,013

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Since I'm bored, this would probably be a good time to revisit my use of Acme Corporation for all my book's tech. The cartoon spells it ACME, which is short for A Company that Makes Everything. My Acme is not an acronym, although the company makes all the tech in the book by virtue of their monopoly on all advanced tech, whose designs are believed to be sent back in time by Hinkley.

ACME is actually owned by the road runner, so it's technology works perfectly every time in preventing the coyote from catching the scrawny bird.

Acme is owned by Hinkley and its technology fails quite often. The AI that becomes sentient/loony in the middle of the opening battle is made by Acme. In all, there are four references to Acme in the first two chapters and a few dozen more throughout the book.

Obviously, everyone is going to equate Acme with ACME, which may be too silly, especially given the tech failures. I can already see the cease and desist order from Warner Brothers.

With that as a preamble, the best alternative to Acme I can think of is Troy's Technology Titan (written as T3 (T-cubed)). Its unique and I get to cause as many failures as I want without the obvious link to ACME. It will take a while for the reader to discover that T-cubed produces consistent garbage, which is part of the fun.

I'm open to other suggestions.

2,014

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Troy Hinkley!

Love it, but will the overstaffed legal department at Warner Brothers convince Amazon to take it down? I can't imagine they would.

EDIT: I meant CBS, not Warner Brothers.

2,015

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Roy Hinkleburg it is.

Thanks for the help.

2,016

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Joy is a woman's name, although a female professor would completely eliminate the IP issue.

Royal Hinkley is very good. I've toyed with it in the past.
I think it's down to Royal Hinkley, Roy Hinkleburg, or Joy Hinkley.
I'm leaning towards Hinkleburg or Hinkleburger. The latter is more in keeping with the nonsense of the book.

2,017

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Hinkledorf
Hinkleburg
Hinklemeyer
Hinkledolt
Hinkleierkopf - Hinklegghead
Hinkleveruekt

It's down to the first two.

2,018

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Roy/Elroy Hinkledorf
Roy/Elroy Hinklemeyer

I'm currently leaning towards Roy Hinkledorf.

Other options are anything you can think of appended to the partial surname Hinkle. Any indirect relation to Gilligan's Island would be ideal.

2,019

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I was considering Elroy Thinkley because it contains roy hinkley, but I'm not thrilled with the name. I think I can drop the original name, since I still refer to him as the professor, he uses coconuts for his time machine, and he's marooned on a desert island in 1964. It would be nice to keep some connection to Roy Hinkley, though. Perhaps Roy Thinkley? Meh.

2,020

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Elroy Wrinkly?

2,021

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I need a new name for the professor. Calling him R. Hinkley or Roy Hinkley will just result in a nasty letter from Warner Brothers. I was thinking Elroy Thinkley or Elroy Twinkley.

2,022

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Thanks. I found a few "just then" in my Strongest Start entry. Good thing I can still edit my chapters.

Thanks for the tips.

2,023

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

What would you change it to? I'm trying to understand the alternatives.

Thanks
Dirk

2,024

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Are you saying to have no transition (interruption) words at all? Just go on to the next paragraph? If so, how do you convey that the next event is a surprise to the character?

2,025

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Is the following rewording better, or am I misunderstanding the point of this?

But Apollo wasn’t about to encourage this voice … God … whatever! I don’t care. Go away!
You have no need to fear me.
“Go drown in the Styx!” Apollo yelled, pressing his hands against his ears as if hearing an actual voice.
You’re not ready. But prepare yourself, for I will return! The presence left Apollo’s mind.
Just then, the displays on Apollo’s command console winked out. The Acme simulator was spontaneously rebooting, as it often did.

Replace Just then with As God disappeared? Or am I supposed to simply delete Just then and replace it with nothing? The latter seems weird to me when I read it, even though there's a paragraph break.