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FORMATTING
Scene breaks:
a) Flashbacks or dream
sequences should be separated by one blank line above and below.
b) Scene breaks should be
indicated by three lines before the break. Insert a #
character in the center line.
Setup of manuscript for
editing:
a) Use MS Word as a doc or
rtf file
b) Use 12 point Times New
Roman.
c) Set one-inch margins on
all sides.
d) Line space single, indent
paragraphs .3 inch, don’t skip lines between paragraphs.
e) Author name in the upper
left corner of each page (header).
f) Number pages in the upper
right corner (header).
g) ONLY USE hard returns (hit
enter key) to start a new paragraph or a new line of dialogue—not at
the end of a line of text within a paragraph.
GRAMMAR
Comma:
a) Use the serial comma.
For example, write “I had
bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast,” not “I had bacon,
eggs and toast for breakfast.”
b) Commas should set off
names in direct address:
“But, Laura, I
don’t understand!”
Dangling participles:
A
participle is said to dangle when it is not grammatically related to
whatever you intend it to modify. This is most common in but not
limited to opening adjective participial phrases.
Incorrect:
Driving to the store, Sarah’s tire blew out.
Correct:
While Sarah was driving to the store, her tire blew out.
Incorrect:
Though only fifteen, the university accepted Jen’s application.
Correct:
Though Jen was only fifteen, the university accepted her application.
Ellipses:
a) Use ellipses to indicate
incomplete sentences or a speaker’s voice trailing off.
b) Use ellipses when
presenting one side of a telephone conversation:
“Yes?...I see...I’ll be there
as soon as I can.”
c) Always use three-point,
unspaced ellipses.
d) Capitalize the first word
in a complete sentence after ellipses.
Em dashes:
Use an em dash (formed by
typing two hyphens, then “Enter”) to indicate breaks in dialogue and
to indicate when one character interrupts another’s speech. No spaces
should appear before or after em dashes.
Hyphens:
Refer to Merriam-Webster’s
and Chicago for compound words.
a) Colors: do not hyphenate
adjectives when they modify a color before a noun:
light blue eyes; dark brown
hair; bluish green eyes, but blue-green eyes
b) Do not hyphenate –ly
adverb/adjective combinations before nouns:
a highly prized commodity
c) Spaces should not appear
before or after hyphens.
Italics:
a) Use sparingly to indicate
emphasis; do not use bold or uppercase.
b) Do not use with foreign
words that are commonly used in English. Italicize foreign words that
are not commonly used in English. (Refer to Merriam-Webster’s
11th edition, if necessary)
c) Use to indicate internal
monologue.
d) Use for unfamiliar foreign
phrases and words. If used often in ms, italicize only its first
occurrence. If used rarely in ms, italicize each occurrence.
e) Use to indicate the name
of a book, periodical, newspaper, play, movie, television program,
music CD/album/video, and radio program. Use quotation marks to
indicate a short story, poem, or single episode in a television
series.
f) Titles of long musical
works such as operas require italics. Use quotation marks for songs.
g) Italicize titles of
paintings, drawings, statues, cartoons, and comic strips. Titles of
photos are enclosed in quotation marks.
h) Do not italicize the names
of scriptures and other highly revered works, such as the Bible.
i) Do italicize the names of
specific ships and other vessels, such as Apollo II.
Numbers:
a) Spell out numbers from
zero to one hundred.
b) Spell out numbers in
dialogue unless they’re very large or have decimals.
Possessives:
a) The possessive forms of
words ending in sibilants are formed as follows:
Texas’s; Rogers’s; the
Rogerses’ (try to avoid this form wherever possible)
b) The possessive ending of
an italicized proper name is set in roman:
TV Guide’s
Subjunctive:
a) The subjunctive is used
when there is no possibility of a statement being true:
I wish I were in
Prague. If I were you, I would do that differently.
But: If I
was rude, I apologize.
b) Do not use the subjunctive
after if meaning whether:
She looked out
the window to see if it was cloudy.
But: Treat
this china as if it were your own.
BSB
STANDARD REFERENCE BOOKS
The Chicago Manual of
Style,
15th edition.
Merriam Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary,
11th edition.
STYLE
ISSUES
Detail:
Avoid extraneous details.
First ask yourself, how is this detail, sentence, paragraph, or scene
important to the emotional framework of my novel OR how does it
advance the plot. If it’s not crucial, delete it or shorten it
drastically. If it is a significant emotional moment, make sure that
the feelings that you want to convey don’t get clouded by the
surrounding details.
Emotions:
Always
focus on emotions, especially in a romance. Ask yourself how you
would feel in a similar situation or how the character feels, and
convey that to your reader.
Erotica:
In erotica, there are
no rules regarding language or plot with the exception of no
nonconsensual sex, sex with children, or abusive emotional or sexual
interactions.
Gerunds:
Can be used to make your
sentences glide, but don’t overuse them. They can be very
useful in sex scenes to create a sense of flow.
Internal monologue:
Can be used, along with
narrative insights, to draw the reader into your
character’s world. Let the reader be privy to the character’s
feelings and thoughts with this method. These thoughts should be in
the first person, present tense, and are indicated with italics.
These are
potent tools and if used too often can disrupt the flow of the
narrative.
Narrative insights:
Can be used, along with
internal monologue, to draw the reader into your character’s
world. Let the reader be privy to the character’s feelings and
thoughts with this method. These thoughts should be in the narrative
voice and should not be italicized.
WORD
USAGE
Blond/Blonde:
Use blonde as a
feminine noun only:
She was a blonde.
She had blond hair.
Character descriptions:
a) Avoid
using identifying phrases such as “the older woman,” “the
raven-haired woman,” “the tall woman,” etc. to refer to any of your
characters. These tags are sometimes depersonalizing and almost
always unnecessary. Instead, use the character’s name or the
appropriate pronoun. Occasionally “the other woman” or “lover” can be
substituted.
b) Once
characters establish a physically or emotionally intimate bond, they
are no longer “friends.” This appellation tends to trivialize the
sexual nature of lesbian love.
Sexual euphemisms
or trite references:
Should be avoided when
referring to body parts.
a) A clitoris is not a
“nubbin” or a “love button” or a “nub.”
Likewise, it
rarely grows up to be a flower or a tree, so “bud” is out, too.
b) A vagina (usually too
clinical) is not a “love tunnel.”
The
action, such as “entered her” or “took her inside” or “urged her
inside” or “slipped inside,” etc. can often substitute.
c)
Clitoris,
labia, lips, pubis, center, crotch (especially in erotica), buttocks,
hips, butt, ass are all fine; try to stick with them. “Mound” is okay
in a pinch but never “love mound” or “netherlips” please.
d)
Breasts
are not “orbs” (actually, neither are eyes).
Specific words:
a) all right; e-mail;
good-bye; good night; Internet; Web site
b) Onto indicates
motion on top of something; you hold on to something.
c) Use farther to
indicate physical distance, and further to indicate time or
abstract distance
d) To LIE or to LAY:
What confuses everyone is that “ lay ” is
the present tense of the verb “to lay” AND the simple past
tense of a different verb: “to lie”.
A good way to
figure out when to use “to lie” and when to use the other verb, “to
lay” is this:
If you could
replace the verb with “put” , the right verb is probably “to lay”.
If using “put” would not make sense, then you probably need “to lie”.
Here’s an example in the present tense:
I lie on my bed
when I’m tired (correct)
I lay on my
bed when I’m tired (incorrect)
If “lie” were
replaced with “put” that would not make sense, so the right choice of
verb is “to lie” not “to lay”
BUT: if
you are using the simple past tense:
I lay on my
bed when I was tired
(correct)
I laid on my
bed when I was tired
(incorrect)
Why? Because
“lay” is the simple past tense of the verb: “to lie”
LET’S LOOK AT
THE VERB: “TO LAY”
You could
replace “lay” and “laid” with “put” in these present and simple past
sentences and they would still make sense, therefore the correct verb
is: “to lay” (and the past tense of this verb is “laid” )
I lay my
puppy on my bed when he is tired
I laid my
puppy on my bed when he became tired
PRESENT / SIMPLE PAST / PAST CONTINUOUS /
+ PAST PARTICIPLE
PRESENT:
I never lie about my
lovers behind their backs.
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