Font Choice

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There has been much discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various fonts since the printing industry began. Researchers have written entire books on the topic, following months and even years of research at various institutes of higher learning. If you ask the experts, they will generally agree…at least that there’s a difference—the details are still a matter of debate.

For a fuller discussion of Typography in detail, consider reading Matthew Butterick’s online book: Practical Typography. If you have the time and inclination, it’s an excellent explanation of how things work. We’re not going to go into that much detail here—rather we’ll be pointing out a few helpful ideas of font choice.

Two Types

We will focus on two different types of fonts: Serif and Sans-serif. There are also Script and Decorative (including Fancy, Stencil and Handwritten), but typically they aren’t used in books. We also aren’t going to spend much time on monospaced fonts. Looking as if they were typed on an old typewriter, they are almost exclusively used to highlight computer coding examples, so if you’re writing a book about that, you probably already know how to format your illustrations.

Serif fonts are amongst the oldest fonts created, based on Roman carvings. The serifs are the extra tails that extend from the ends of each stroke of the letters. The serifs ease the identifying of letters and guide the reader’s eye along the lines of text, and so help make reading easier and more pleasurable. (We don’t want a good story to be ruined by a poor reading experience.)

Sans-Serif fonts don’t have those tails, ending with flat or square lines. Usually used in headings or titles to help them stand out, they keep your reader oriented in your wealth of information—an important objective. You’ll also see plenty of sans-serif fonts used in books aimed for a younger audience…think about those early readers where the kids are still sounding out each letter.

Which to use where

The general suggestion these days is to use a clear serif font for the body of the book. We recommend Century Supra or Equity (both at mbtype.com), Charter (practicaltypography.com/charter.html), or Source Serif Pro (github.com/adobe-fonts/source-serif-pro). For headings and chapter titles, a complementary sans-serif font works well. For that we suggest Advocate (all caps) or Concourse (both at mbtype.com), Fira Sans (bboxtype.com/typefaces/FiraSans), or IBM Plex (www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/ibm-plex). Of course, because the titles of the chapters are usually short, some folks prefer to use a fancy font there, just to attract attention, so if that’s your preference please avoid Papyrus, Office Scripts, and of course Comic Sans.

Whatever you do, don’t use more than a few fonts in any one document…advert posters included! Once you start searching out new and different fonts, the more likely it will be that you catch font-itus.

Special Characters

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Sometimes you need to insert special characters into your ms, but these aren’t like the Symbols we discussed before…these are mostly invisible. Yes, invisible, yet very important.

Note: If you haven’t made non-printing characters visible yet, now would be a good time to do so. Remember, the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl-Shift-* and you’ll see the pilcrow highlighted in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

The first character is one that you’ve used hundreds of time but probably never thought about: The Paragraph Break. You get this invisible character by simply hitting the Enter key, which you do at the end of every paragraph. With non-printing characters visible, it looks just like the pilcrow on the button above: ¶ (Note: Stored inside this one character is a bunch of formatting info.)

Next is the Line Break. It is used when you want to end a line, but not start a new paragraph. It looks like a small arrow with a hook: ↵ and you enter it with Shift-Enter.

Then there’s the Column Break. Useful if you have a multi-column section and the text in the columns doesn’t break where you want. It shows as a bunch of dots with the words Column Break in the middle. You can enter it by typing Ctrl-Shift-Enter.

Finally, there is the Page Break. It forces the next text onto a new page. It looks similar to the Column Break, but the dots are a bit tighter. You can put it in your document with Ctrl-Enter.

Three more: first another invisible one, then one that’s half visible, and finally a fully visible one.

The invisible one is a space…but it’s a special kind of space: a Non-breaking Space. You’d use it between a title and a name, such as “Dr. Smith”, so it stays together, not coming apart if it falls near the end of a line. It shows as a small circle instead of the regular dot used for a normal space, and you type it with Ctrl-Shift-Space.

Now the half visible one. It’s an Optional Hyphen. If you have a word that might break in the wrong place at the end of a line, you can tell Word exactly where you want the word to break. In the first example to the right, the word “elements” breaks in a strange place, so we put an Optional Hyphen right before the ‘m’ as shown in the second example. In the third, you can see the Optional Hyphen before the ‘m’ because it’s not being used, so it shows as ¬ and is entered with Ctrl-Hyphen.

Finally the fully visible character we promised. This one combines the Non-breaking Space and the Optional Hyphen, creating a Non-breaking Hyphen! If you have a hyphenated word that you want to keep together, not allowing it to break at all when near the end of a line, then you’d use a non-breaking hyphen. When you have non-printing characters turned on, it looks like a skinny dash, but just a normal hyphen when off—entered by Ctrl-Shift-Hyphen.

That covers all the special characters we are going to do this time…we’ll get to Dashes later.

Story Elements (Setting)

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Where your story takes place is sometimes just as important as who is in it. In fact, some folks say that your setting is just another character, but remember, the where includes not only the location, but also the time and environment. Location can include the room they are in, the town, the region, the country, and in some cases, the entire world. Time involves time of day as well as time of year. When you consider the environment, remember to take into account the geography, culture, society, and weather.

We’ll tackle each of these now:

Location

Does the story take place in a small town or a large city? Is it a place we already know or will you have to describe everything?

Picking the right spot can affect the mood of the whole story. Consider the difference between a small, dark mining town, under the domination of a harsh taskmaster and a bright, airy townhouse in a skyscraper.

Time

Midnight in the middle of winter is different from morning in early spring but so is dinner on a fall evening. A story in 500 BC is going to be poles apart from one in the 19th century…and how different will the 23rd century be?

Again, the mood will change depending on time…early colonialism compared with interstellar exploration. What technologies will you be allowed to use, or even mention? Cell phones? Quill pens?

Also consider the passing of time throughout the story. Do we start in the Industrial Age and progress to visiting other planets? Or does the entire story take place in one afternoon? It makes a difference.

Environment

Are we on a beach? Or at the top of a mountain? Is it rainy or hot and dry? Do folks congregate socially? Or does the upper-class insist that the peons remain in their homes unless working?

How many folks live in this area? Are multiple families crammed into small apartments? Or do the children have to play with their siblings as the nearest neighbour is hundreds of miles away?

Do the characters hail from displaced natives? Or are they part of the conquering hoard?

World Building

If your story isn’t in a time or place that we all know, you may need to give descriptions that are more detailed. If your story takes place in a new and exciting world, one straight from your imagination, then you will need to spend some time fabricating everything before you even get started on the story (or stories!). Building a whole world can involve creating a new planet, a new city, a new society, even a new language. Maybe you will have to rewrite some laws of physics to make your story work.

Whatever it takes, spend some time creating a setting for your readers to enjoy.

Correlative Conjunctions

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As we have seen before, conjunctions connect things (con=with, junction=to join). We had previously discussed Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions, but now we are going to address a third conjunction: Correlative (co=together, relative=connected). Very similar to Coordinating conjunctions connecting ideas that are equal in emphasis, but whereas Coordinating conjunctions are a single word, Correlative ones come in pairs, and one part of each pair goes with each idea being considered.

As with Coordinating Conjunctions the ideas being connected can be as simple as a single word (noun, verb, etc.), as involved as a phrase, or as complicated as a whole clause (sentence). As complicated as conjunctions can be, we really want to use them to connect ideas, establishing relationships between them.

Examples

  • Both/and
    • Both Amy and Bill are going to the store. (connecting subjects)
    • Amy is going to both the store and the library. (connecting objects)
  • Either/or
    • You are going to either do your homework, or fail maths. (connecting phrases)
    • Either you are going to stop singing or I am going to go insane. (connecting clauses)
  • Neither/nor
    • I will neither join your group nor follow you on FB. (connecting phrases)
    • You will neither have your cake, nor eat it, too. (connecting phrases)
  • Not only/but also
    • Not only will I play chess, but I will also eat crisps all day. (connecting clauses, note the inverted sub/verb and split “but also”)
    • You are not only dumb, but also (connecting objects)
  • Whether/or
    • Whether it is raining or snowing, I care not. (connecting complete clause to incomplete)
    • I will care for you whether you care for me or not. (connecting complete clause to incomplete)

As you can see, using conjunctions makes it clear how ideas are connected, and it improves the flow, one idea leading into another with a specific relationship.

From First Idea to Printed Book

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It’s well past time to address this topic…after all, we put the graphic below on our Home page, hinting at the process, so we really should explain how it all works. It starts off with an idea—someone somewhere has to have an idea…not even a fully formed idea yet…just a glimmer, but that’s enough to get started. Thinking about the idea is good, but trying to tell the story to someone else is better (writing it down will come later). You don’t even have to tell it to anyone in particular…some of my earliest stories were told at bedtime…to children. We can’t edit a blank page, so having an idea is just the start.

Tell It, then Write It

For non-fiction, this is when you’d hire a Developmental Editor, but for fiction, hold off on that for now. Just work on getting the basic details refined. This is the step where you are allowed to paint yourself into a corner, in fact, encouraged to do so…then, in a panic, retreat and rewrite (or retell) that section to fix it.

Once you have the basic story in mind, it’s time to commit it to paper. If you can find a group of fellow writers, they can help identify some of the less obvious problems you might encounter, and if you’re lucky enough to join a Critique Group, as they read your story—chapter by chapter—you’ll be reading theirs, learning by finding problems in their stories (which you can then avoid!).

Ready for Edit

After a few back and forths (sometimes quite a few) with your mini-audience, you should now have a complete story…on paper—that’s your manuscript. You are now ready for your first edit: the Line Edit. The story is done, but it needs a bit of polishing. At this point the written and spoken versions should be identical…you are just getting the flow smoothed out. Then it’s back to the author to do final clean up, and it’s ready for the second level edit: Copy Edit. This is a more in-depth look at the mechanics, the grammar, the usage…if you have a particular style, here is where it will become obvious.

The author doesn’t sit back and wait whilst the ms is being edited either…now is when the Front and Back Matter should be created—all the stuff that isn’t the story. Finding a good cover artist is important, too. (We can recommend a few…ask us.)

Put it together

After the Copy Edit is done, the formatting and layout steps are done and a temporary cover is slapped on, so Advance Reader Copies can be printed. Marketing should have started already, but now you have something physical to hand out to reviewers. The final edit step is now upon us: Proofreading—actually reading the proof copy of the book. Involving yet another set of editing standards, we are now building an experience for the reader to enjoy.

The last step is to add the final cover and have a release party. Be certain to invite us! We love a good release party.

Copy and Pasting (text only)

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Most folks already know how to use the Word commands Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste, and Ctrl-X to cut content out (for later pasting), but many times I find that when I paste, the text arrives not quite as expected…it has all the original formatting it had from the other location. For example, if I’m copying some text from the heading of a section that I want to paste into the middle of a paragraph, it is still big, bold, underlined, whatever it was in the heading, not the way the rest of the pgph appears.

As this is a discussion of shortcuts, I’m not going to go through the click-on-the-ribbon option, but it is available if you’re a mouse kinda person. I’m going to show you how to do it without taking your hands off the keyboard! As I’ve said before, if I have to let go of the keyboard, grab the mouse, wiggle it around, push it to where I want, click on something, then go back to the keyboard, I’ve wasted too much time that could be better spent on creating something wonderful.

As you edit in Word, you’ll find that many of the clicks on the ribbon can be replaced by typing, and if you watch as you do the ribbon click, you’ll see little boxes pop up that show the keypresses needed to do that same function, BUT there are more keyboard commands that aren’t listed—ones from the older versions of Word.

Shortcut:

Here’s one that I often use: after you Copy (or Cut) some text, move the cursor to where you want it to be, then tap Alt, E, S, U, U. (Holding Alt will sometimes give a different set of commands, so be certain to only TAP the Alt key, down and up, THEN type the other keys.) That key sequence will bring up the old Paste Special dialogue box and select the Unformatted Text option. Hit the Enter key, and the text is pasted in, conforming to the format of the surrounding text. That’s it!

Once you start using this shortcut, you’ll find it extremely helpful, in fact I use this method almost every time I’m pasting…just to avoid getting strange stuff included. It even works if copying from some other program…such as a web browser. There are some really bizarre formatting things going on out there, and this method will help you get around them.

Update:

After this was posted, a reader pointed out another method for pasting text only. After copying and positioning the cursor, hit the Menu key, T, and Enter. Even shorter! Try it out.

Story Elements (Theme)

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There are some ideas that are especially useful to fiction writers, but many can also make a non-fiction book an enjoyable read, and that’s important if you want the reader to glean the valuable information you have to share. In this post, we are going to cover one of the elements of a story: Theme. We’ll give due diligence to the other elements in other posts.

Yes, the destination is important (so is the ending of your story), but as is often said, the process of getting there is paramount, so as vital as your ending is, you need to remember that your story is all about the Journey to the Transformation of the Hero. When you are writing your story, you need to keep in mind why you are writing it: the Theme, or the Focus of the Story, or the Most Important Point. Whatever term you use, the concept has to run through the entire story.

You may hear folks tossing the term “Theme” about as if it’s something complicated, but it’s really nothing more than a technique of approaching the Transformation, allowing the Hero to be fundamentally changed and resolving the problem in a predictable manner. To understand it better, take a look at the list below.

Theme Examples

  • In the Rags to Riches theme, the Hero has to pull himself up by the bootstraps, and is transformed by his hard work.
  • In the Underdog story, the Hero is portrayed as being gutsy and good, being transformed through spirit, hope, and belief.
  • The Accidental Hero (my favourite) is thrust into his role by accident or circumstance and is transformed through realisation.
  • Often used is the Lesson Learned theme, where the Hero faces many challenges in life, discovering that it is true that only fools refuse to learn and is finally transformed via self-discovery.
  • Rather intense is the Failure and Redemption theme, forcing the Hero to respond to failures, showing his true character as he finds that coming back from failure is powerful, transforming with fire.
  • Finally, there is the Hero’s Quest (the most talked about), common to all societies, all countries, all time. In this theme, the Hero develops the internal strength to conquer all obstacles, no matter how seemingly impossible. This is the theme of many epic tales as the Hero is transformed by triumph.

There are plenty of other themes (including Forgiveness, Success, and Honesty), but these few are enough to give you an idea of what you’re aiming for.

To help you stay directed, you may want to print the Theme out (in big letters) to hang over your monitors. That way, if you come across a scene that doesn’t support that Theme, then just toss it (not completely, of course…save it elsewhere, because that scene may just belong in the next story). Keeping your theme in sight will give your story a feeling of intent, a cohesiveness, a raison d’être as they say.

Keep plugging away at it, and you’ll only get better!

Character Transformation

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Once again time for an Extra. Following the pattern, we will explain a bit about content, rather than process. In the last Extra: What is a Story?, we talked about how to tell a story, mentioning that Transformation is an important aspect. This time we’re going to discuss how that transformation takes place.

Transformation is not only integral to any story, it is just about the only reason the story even exists. Initially, the Hero, in spite of trying to solve the problem, continues to fail, but in failing, learns something. Although disappointed, the Hero continues to strive forward, sometimes by Wit, piecing together the clues, sometimes by Grit, sticking to the job despite complications.

As the story progresses, the Hero is blocked from victory again and again, finally resulting in the highpoint of the story. It is at this point that the Hero comes to a realisation and makes a decision. This decision can’t be by chance or luck, nor one foisted upon him by his mentors (the Wise Answer-Giver can guide and direct but never actually do anything). The decision must come from the Hero’s own internal conversion.

This decision will change the Hero’s life, either by resolving a problem in the external world or by understanding an internal truth. In either case, it will reshape the Putty Person.

We know that readers will try to predict the ending, but in spite of doing so, they really want to be wrong. They find it so much more satisfying if the ending is unexpected yet still logical, following from what came before, obvious in hindsight, though not predictable.

The Transformation:

In the transformation, the Hero, as a caterpillar, enters the cocoon to emerge as a butterfly—becoming more mature, insightful, at peace. The Hero undergoes a Physical Renewal, a Psychological Understanding, an Emotional Healing, or a Spiritual Awakening.

OR the Hero dies in the cocoon, plunging into despair or even death, whether physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual death.

BUT the Hero never returns as a caterpillar.

This transformation resolves the crisis introduced at the beginning of the story. The old ways are gone, never to return. The process of moving through the struggle has changed the Hero, giving a new and different life. This is the new normal, the new shape of the Putty Person, different from the beginning of the story. This is the whole reason for the story, and it has now happened.

Subordinating Conjunctions

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From the name, you can guess that conjunctions connect things (con=with, junction=to join). We had previously discussed Coordinating Conjunctions, and we’ll take on Correlative Conjunctions later, but for now we’ll focus on just Subordinating Conjunctions. As with coordinating conjunctions, the name says it all, but in this case the connection is between ideas that are unequal in importance or focus, one idea is above and the other below (sub=below, ordinate=put in order), so in making the connection one of the ideas is put into a lower priority. You’ll see examples of that to follow.

There are different ways to connect ideas (or in this case clauses) depending on the reason for the connection. Linguists group those ways into a variety of categories, and, as with much in the way of language, you’ll find all kinds of differences in the lists depending on who makes them.

Subordinating conjunction examples:

  • Time:
    • after, as, as long as, as soon as, before, ere, now that, once, since, still, until, when, whenever, while
    • Amy will sit and read until Bill gets here.
      • It is more important that we know that Amy will be reading and less important that she’s waiting for Bill.
  • Place
    • whence, where, whereto, wherever, whither, whithersoever
    • Wherever you go in the world, you’ll always find someone who speaks English.
      • The fact that there are English speakers all over is more important than where you’ll travel.
  • Reason
    • as, because, in order that, seeing as, since, so, so that, that, whereas
    • The team lost because they had a beer party last night.
      • Why they lost isn’t as important as the fact that they did.
  • Condition
    • although even if, except, if, in case, on condition that, provided that, so, though, unless
    • Even if you have already paid for your lunch, you will still need to wait for them to cook it.
      • Waiting for the cook is more important and is going to happen—with or without payment.
  • Concession
    • although, as though, even though, in contrast to, just as, though, whereas
    • Though it was raining, she went out.
      • The rain was a minor point and irrelevant to her going out.
  • Comparison
    • as much as, as, rather than, than, whereas, whether
    • Dave is tall, dark, and handsome whereas his friend is short, pale, and ugly.
      • Dave’s friend isn’t important except as a comparison object.
  • Manner
    • as, as if, as though, how, however, howsoever
    • They talk as though they’re heading for divorce.
      • The fact that they talk is important…and indicates a possible future.

One point to remember: if the Main Clause comes first, then you don’t need any punctuation as the conjunction serves to separate the two clauses—but if the Subordinate clause comes first, then you need a comma to show where it ends and the second clause begins.

As you can see, using conjunctions to connect ideas improves the flow, one idea leading into another with a specific relationship.

Front and Back Matter

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Books, whether printed or on a screen, have more to them than just the content. The important part of the book is surrounded by other parts: known as Front Matter and Back Matter. There are a variety of ways to organise both sections, with only minor disagreement amongst publishers, so here’s what they typically are and how they’re placed:

Front Matter:

  • Title page (both full and half): the title of your book
  • Copyright information: legal info, could include credits for pictures or cover art (only one starting on verso side)
  • Table of Contents (aka TOC): listing of chapters and sub-chapters with page numbers
  • Dedication: specific folks mentioned to whom the work is devoted
  • Acknowledgements: recognising folks who helped create the work
  • Introduction: an explanation of why the work was created
  • Forward: often written by another person, explains how the author is connected to the topic
  • Preface: written by the author explaining how the book came to be
  • Prologue (sometimes considered part of the book block): a scene in the story, either long before or extracted from the middle of the story, a teaser

  Back Matter:

  • Epilogue: similar to the prologue but at the end, tying up loose ends in the story
  • Afterword: how the book was created, sometimes written by another person
  • Appendix: tables, diagrams, maps, and other useful non-text info for the reader to consult
  • Bibliography: formal listing of sources gleaned to create this book
  • Colophon: information about printing, paper, ink, binding, type face
  • Glossary: definitions of words or terms used in the book that may not be commonly known
  • Pronunciation guide: how to pronounce new words…especially useful if you have characters with strange names, gives you a chance to steer the reader towards your clever naming method
  • Index: alphabetical list of important words with the page numbers where they are used
  • Notes: explanation of how the author gathered and put together the info in the book
  • References: casual pointers to other works where you found the info you mention in your book
  • About the author: your chance to tell the reader all about yourself, who you are, where you came from, what you have planned for the future
  • Order form or Next Book Announcement: a list of your previous works and how to get them, or an advert for your next book and when it will be released, could include the first chapter as a teaser

Quite a bit there, but not all are needed. Some are more common to Fiction, some to Non-Fiction. If you can’t think of a reason to put any of these in your book, you are welcome to leave them out.