book doctor – Page 7 – Self Publishing Advisor

Self-Publishing ask the Book Doctor: POV in Fiction

Q: Can you tell me if editors (and even reviewers) specifically check or look out for consistency of viewpoint in a novel? I have been reading about being consistent with time and with how close you focus with one or many characters, and it seems a little confusing. Is this something I should take a class in? I was just wondering if many published authors keep these things in mind when writing a story.

A: Editors come in many forms. Some simply handle acquisitions for a publisher and do not edit at all, much less comment on viewpoint. Some editors edit for grammar, punctuation, and syntax and do not pay attention to viewpoint. Only an editor or book doctor who also analyzes the content will pay attention to, point out, or correct viewpoint flaws, which certainly should be addressed, because publishers want clear, consistent, and logical viewpoints in novels.

Viewpoint (also called point of view or POV) is a tricky matter. It refers to which character perceives that particular scene—in whose point of view the action takes place.

Consistency is important in that the point of view should be only one per scene (that is, never get into the head of more than one character per scene). You can get into another character’s point of view by starting a new scene.

Your best bet is to use only main characters as point-of-view characters, and the best novels have no more than three main characters. How the time per character is divvied up, though, does not matter. The choice is up to the author.

I think it’s easier to find a book on point of view than find a class that specifically addresses that issue, but no matter how you choose to educate yourself, if you want to write novels, you do need to know about point of view and how and when to use it to its best advantage.

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.

Self-Publishing

Book Doctor on appropriate endings for self-published works

Q: What is the most appropriate way to end a piece of creative nonfiction? Should I use “The End” or #####?

A: The point is to show the piece is finished. “The End” is appropriate, as well as one crosshatch or number sign (#). The ends of journalism articles are often marked -30-, which is also appropriate for creative nonfiction.

Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.

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Self-publishing Advice and the Book Doctor

The Book Doctor expounds on usage: “which” verses “that”

Q: In a former column, someone asked for the rule about when to use “which” and when to use “that.” You answered like this:

“I could give you am involved and boring rule, but one quick-and-easy way to remember when to use ‘which’ and when to use ‘that’ is this: If the word can be eliminated, but the following information cannot, you probably mean ‘that.’ If any word can be eliminated, eliminate it and write tight. (Example: I told Jan that I liked fish. Better: I told Jan I liked fish.) On the other hand, if you have the urge to put a comma in front of it, you probably mean ‘which’ (Example: The fish, which had been caught three days earlier, had a distinct odor.)

This isn’t a rule on when to use “that,” it’s a rule that eliminates the use of “that” from all writing!

A: Thank you for your reply, but I am tempted to say: “That is simply not true!” Look at these examples:

The shoe found in that corner was the clue to the murder.
The fact that she was always late did not mean she did not care.

I stand by my original statement that (!) words that (!) are unnecessary should be deleted. Writers who keep their writing pithy eliminate unnecessary words and employ powerful ones.

Keep me on my toes, though. I like it.

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Writing for Self-Publishing: Ask the Book Doctor

E-Books

Q: I am working on formatting and editing a nonfiction book designed to be both an e-book and a published hard-copy book. I will also likely end up doing the work to get this work accepted by a publisher. Can you tell me, have e-books become popular yet, or is the core of publishing still in paper and not looking to move forward?

A: Most publishers I know that help authors produce e-books and printed books are not traditional publishers; that is, they produce print-on-demand books and do not stockpile books or distribute them to stores. They simply print one at a time when they are ordered, so there’s no major investment on their part and no advance on royalties to you. Basically if you sell a book, you get a percentage of the profit, but if you yourself don’t sell it, the printer won’t go to any trouble to sell it for you.

As far as the popularity of e-books, several companies have tried to produce machines (Kindle and others) to make e-books more attractive to readers, but still e-books lag far behind printed books when it comes to sales. Still, after an e-book is created, you incur no further cost to reproduce and distribute it when sold, so e-books can provide one-hundred percent profit to authors who have a client base and can promote their own books or sell them through their own Web sites.

What would you like to ask a book doctor? Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.

Editing Your Self-Published Book, Self-Publishing

Writing for Self-Publishing: Ask the Book Doctor

Commas

Q: How would you punctuate the following sentence? Would you delete the comma after the first “that?” Would you delete both commas?

Mr. Smith concluded with the vague assertion that, if he ever gets a handle on the IRS situation, he will attempt to pay the client and asked that we call him in ninety days.

A: I would delete the first comma and let the first part of the sentence act as a single introductory phrase. I would also separate his conclusion from his request, so I would write it this way: Mr. Smith concluded with the vague assertion that if he ever gets a handle on the IRS situation, he will attempt to pay the client. He asked that we call him in ninety days.

You could argue that both commas could be left, thereby setting aside the nonessential phrase, “if he ever gets a handle on the IRS situation.” I stand by the fact that what he concluded and what he asked should appear in separate sentences.

What would you like to ask a book doctor? Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.

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