Lesson 51

Writing Class 101 by Rick Kurtis Books
 
Lesson 51
Christmas
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS, or Happy Holidays if that’s your thing. It is now a time to be jolly, and share your love, and compassion to your fellow human-beings. I do this all year long, but these days helps to reassure the thought. This week’s lesson has to deal with rejection, or someone not liking your work. It will be their loss when you become famous. This time of year is also the heaviest on sorrow. Depression sets in, because the days are shorter, or we didn’t get things accomplished all year. Forget all of that nonsense. It is just another day, and here is why. 

Positivity breeds positivity. So remain positive, share positivity with others to receive it back. Be positive, think positive, and don’t let anyone tell you different. Remember JK Rowling, (Just learned it is Rowling, not Rowlings, no S.) 13 rejections for Harry Potter for years! I just watched a video from her publisher, and he said 20 rejections, along with many agents. Look at the world, and how opinions are split 50 / 50, like the presidential race, Covid, or sport fans. Some will love your books, and others may hate them. You just have to get it out there so they can decide.
Follow your heart and pitch it to everyone who will listen. You may sit on a bench next to someone who knows someone, or is someone. If you can feel it and strive to push it with conviction, they may feel it too.
Hand out trinkets, pens, business cards that they will keep. Ones that display you and your book, or your book and website. Always think up more places to share, more opportunities to market, and how to reach as many lives as possible. Interview yourself with all the right questions, and post it on your sites for people to read. Get yourself on the news, TV, magazines, or just across the country in free placements.
I think I said most of this before, and need to start taking my own advice. If we only had a full staff to help, RIGHT? Right. Then you would make two cents a sale. But ten million sales is $200,000, after paying your staff. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA, I laugh.
Seriously, do what you do because you love to do it, and positivity will flow, and spread like wild fire. Look what happened to California, Washington, and Oregon. It was a negative outcome and tragic, but they have to stay positive in order to move forward.
Let’s move on. So much to share, and so little time, left. Did you see what I did at the beginning of each lesson, and how I changed the ending? My wife thought it up, and my grandson brought it to my attention. He said, “Look at commercials. They repeat over and over and over. Radio / they say the place or phone number four or five times to get you to buy or get you to remember.” I use a play on words, such as BY / BUY / BYE. Writing Class 101 by Rick Kurtis Books / Bye from rickkurtisbooks.com, which puts into your mind, BUY FROM ME! Subliminal. BUY TODAY!
Oh did I ever tell you if you have a hard time spelling and your computer underlines the word with red, you can highlight that word and Right-Click, and the word program will give you the correct spelling, or a few other words to choose from, if it can’t figure out what you are trying to say. If you are way off, you may still need to ask, type in different letters, or use a dictionary. I hated that in school when the teacher said look it up. I could look all day through the Ns for knife, Ps for opossums, and forget science words with their phy, syn, and pneumonia. But the word program helps me a lot.
I will wrap this up with a big bow, and let you enjoy your week. Merry Christmas from our house to yours. Happy Hanukah, or whatever you celebrate. Be blessed, and enjoy your life, family, and friends. I will finish next week with a bang.
 
BUY from rickkurtisbooks.com
 
ADDED EXTRA:
I found this on an editor’s site and felt I should pass it along to help you.
His name is Jeffrey Demarco / [email protected] / A little high in my opinion, but explains and breaks down different edits.
Proofreading: Spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and character spacing. Easily missed mistakes to the writer, that turn into speed bumps for a reader, causing them to put a book aside.
Copy-editing: In addition to proof reading, this covers discrepancies in the plot, settings, sentence construction, style, accuracy, character descriptions and overall consistency. E.g. on page 12 the character has brown hair, then on page 58 it’s auburn.
Line-editing: Includes all copy-editing services, and in addition improves the manuscript’s flow and pacing. We remove extraneous or overused words and run-on sentences. Also, we improve transition in scene structure, tonal shifts and unnatural sounding phrasing. We take prose and description that is bland, confusing or doesn’t read well, and clarify the intended meaning.
Developmental-editing: Includes all line-editing services, and delves deeper into the overall structure of the manuscript. We look at how your narrative builds to each plot-point and pinch point, and ultimately the climax. We look at tone, point of view, organization and design. If necessary, I recommend total overhauls of scenes and plot points, and frequently ghostwrite entire scenes myself. Often, this service is necessary if the manuscript needs major structural changes.
Thank you, Jeff