WRITING TIPS:

Be careful what you quote! If a work, such as a poem or a song is Copyright Protected, it may not be used in your writing without permission. The Catalog of Copyright Entries is a list of all works registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright litigation and liability can be expensive. You should assume that every work is protected by copyright unless you can establish that it is not. Better safe than sorry.

  • If a work is not copyrighted, it is considered in the Public Domain and may be quoted.

  • Anything made before 1923, no matter what, will be definitely in the public domain.

  • If the copyright of a work published between 1923 and 1963 was not renewed in the 28th year after publication, the work is in the public domain.

  • Works published after 1922, but before 1978, are protected for 95 years from the date of publication.

  • If the work was created, but not published, before 1978, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

How to make an APOSTROPHE that faces the correct way as a substitute for the first letter or letters at the beginning of a word : Type an opening single quote (‘), hit it again for closing quote (‘’), type word, delete opening quote (’). Ex: all ’round, ’cause

Apple Read –(for Mac users) - When we read our own writing out loud, we sometimes read what we remember, instead of what we actually see. After reading it yourself, it’s helpful to listen to someone else reading so you can focus on hearing what needs to be corrected. Apple Read is convenient for this. To have your Mac read the story:

  • Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility & Speech, then click Text to Speech.

  • Select the “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” checkbox. By default, speaking is enabled when you press Option+Esc. ...

  • Select a system voice (Samantha, Siri Female, Victoria or Fred, Alex)

  • Select speaking rate (slow, normal, fast)

  • To have your Mac start speaking, highlight your text and press Option+Esc.

7 Key Elements To Include In Your First Chapter :

CASTS– a writing and editing method developed by mystery author Nancy Pickard.

Every chapter should contain the following:

  • Conflict

  • Action

  • Sensory (smell, taste, touch, sound, sight)

  • Turn (emotion should change by end of chapter)

  • Surprise

Author Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Writing

1.Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues.

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.

5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose,”

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9. Don’t go into great detail describing places or things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.