Topic: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Hi all!
I joined the group  at the suggestion of Norm/Dirk. I enjoyed his critique and figured he might be onto something here. I'm just starting to dig into the site, and see it will take awhile to discover what is most useful. Right now I am selfishly deeply involved in getting my book finished, and am horrified at the thought of hiring an expensive editor and getting it wrong. So far the feedback I have received on the first portion of my first chapter has been fantastic. The quality of the commentary and suggestions is proving invaluable. I'm both humbled and very appreciative of the company within this site. I hope to connect with more of you as time permits. I would truly appreciate  any feedback you can give on the edited version of my chapter, since I implemented  most of the suggestions I've received so far.  Also, since I tend to be selfish and self-absorbed, please let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

Quote Post 1

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

This forum is getting very lively. I can't afford a professional editor either, so I'll be relying on reviewer critiques, grammar/writing software, and a course on English grammar, which I missed in high school. To those reading this post, I highly recommend giving Stephen's first chapter a read. It's an entertaining thriller and a smooth read.

Here's the kind of thing we learned in Literature 21 instead of grammar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47bKTtIwrO4
tongue

Quote Post 2

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Norm, have you looked at ProWritingAid for grammar correction? I have found it really useful for lots of its reports. It isn't at all dictatorial, you can simply use or reject what it suggests, but for style and grammar, I love it.  https://prowritingaid.com/en/Analysis/WebEditor/Go

Quote Post 3

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Thanks, Lynne. I did a trial of that a few weeks ago but didn't like it as much as grammarly. I'm still running Office 2007 (in 2018, eek), so the integration may not be as good as with newer versions of Office. I'll try them again when I get closer to a final draft. Meanwhile, I have to set aside some time to work through a good grammar and punctuation book.

Quote Post 4

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Stephen, as Kdot mentioned to another new member recently, the number of reviews may drop off after two or three chapters as people decide if they want to keep reading. A big part of that is the whether you read their work in return. Not everyone is a good match. I had about eight reviewers for v2 of my old book. I've allowed that to drop down to two for v3 since I'm only doing minor edits to wrap it up. It needs a big rewrite, so there will be a v4 someday, at which point I'll strive to get more reviewers again.

Quote Post 5

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Gotcha. And thank you, Norm, for the glowing endorsement. If you have anything you want me to check out please let me know.

Quote Post 6

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Part two of chapter 1 now posted. Looking forward to the reviews.

Quote Post 7

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Consider moving the end of the chapter up a little. As a final chapter this is fine, but as a first chapter you want to leave off where he has some form of hope

Quote Post 8

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Thank you, the end of the chapter comes in part three. But your point is well taken. I'll be interested in seeing how you feel out it then.

Quote Post 9

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Stephen, put a pic and basic personal info on the intro. New readers are looking for some kind of overstate and your initial presence is blank.

Quote Post 10

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Part three of chapter one is posted. Looking forward to the reviews. If you haven't read parts one and two yet, the latest versions are up now. This completes the.chapter, and I would love feedback on the entire chapter and how it reads as a whole, along with inline reviews of parts two and three.

Thank you!

Quote Post 11

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Chapter 1 is now divided into three chapters. Chapter 4 (what would have been the start of chapter 2) is now posted. And because I couldn't figure out the chapter system until Chapter 3, chapters 1 & 2 are separate books. Chapter 3 on will be a single book. Unless I break the book into parts. Any thoughts on that

Quote Post 12

Re: Germ Line: Revolution - Stephen A. Carter

Eventually, you will need to repost as chapter one in the actual book, but use the separate book concept to thin down your first chapter into something more manageable. Keep the book up and start it at chapter 2, keeping the second chapter in its right place. (chapters can be renamed but can't be moved to another book)

Quote Post 13