Grammar

A.S.P.I.R.E, the RnR Success Method,

E is for Excellence
Do Your Very Best to Help

I have news for you. Your writing success is not about you. It's about helping other people.

Think about it. There are people out there that need writers to help their careers - agents, publishers, TV and film producers - they all need good writing to create books and movies, whatever, to sell in the marketplace.

Therefore it makes sense that you as a writer would want to help these people achieve their aims.

I know that it looks as though most of the literary community are bent on saying no - to you, to me, to every aspiring, even successful writer - but this is to misunderstand what's actually going on.

Most Writers Don't Know What's Any Good

The fact is that 99.9% of everything writers come up with is unsellable. It has no value to readers, viewers and consumers. The writing may be good - but really this is irrelevant to the needs of the market.

Often I've come across writers that get so close to success it can make you want to cry. They tell the same story. "They wanted me to change my book - and I just couldn't do it." These writers are usually convinced they made the right decision - for themselves. But they are also often filled with a bitterness towards the people who were trying so hard to help them - they just don't see it that way.

They complain that they would have had to compromise their 'art', their vision, their principles...

It's such a shame.

Good writing can always be improved. A good idea can always benefit from a new perspective, a new angle. It's up to the success focussed writer to understand that changing your manuscript to suit the needs of the market is a positive thing, and never an attempt to quash you, the writer. Far from it. By helping you make the changes, they are ensuring your success - if you have courage to be flexible.

Compromise is Good

It's a mistake to believe that unyielding adherence to your artistic principles is a good thing. It's not. It just marks you out as immature. Even the most precious artists must undergo public scrutiny. In a way, that's the whole point of art - to be out there, enjoyed, debated.

But if your work never sees the light of day because you can't accept criticism or take on board suggestions, you're shooting yourself in the foot. All great artists have had to make compromises during their career - especially when getting that first break into the public arena.

Don't fight change. Embrace it. You can be as difficult an artist as you like but only WHEN you've made it!

Helping Others is the Secret

Let's look at making a movie.

It's well known that most screenplays are written and rewritten several times before shooting begins. Is this some fickle process that is designed to frustrate writers?

No, though it may seem so sometimes.

Most movies are made by around 200 people, all working towards a single aim. And the point of rewriting a script is to make sure that all of those people can do their job. If there are places in a script where the meaning is not clear or the motivation of the characters is unconvincing, it becomes harder for certain people, and ultimately, everyone to make the movie work.

Your job, as a writer, is help everyone involved - all 200 people in this instance - to make your movie. We all know that egos do not have an appropriate place in a committee. Nothing ever gets done when somone digs in their heals and won't compromise.

Indeed this happens all the time. Film projects stall and crumble often because someone won't budge on an issue.

The same concept applies to books. Publishers have jobs to do. They have many conflicting agendas - the needs of the marketing department, the editorial staff and the requirements of the directors of the company to ensure results - profit in other words.

So when a publisher asks for changes to a MS, it's not because they want to annoy and frustrate you. No, they're just trying to create a product that satisfies the needs of everyone in the publishing house. And when a writer refuses to make the changes, they become a problem. They become a rock in the road that stops the traffic - and blocks the success of everyone.

Don't you be that immovable object!

Flexibility is just as important as talent - and the more you try to help people do their jobs, the more successful you will become.

Rob Parnell
Easy Way to Success

Grammar, writing tips and articles

Top 20 Misused (and Mistreated) Words

accept: to receive; to answer positively

except: not including; everything but

anxious: worried/nervous

eager: excited/looking forward to

affect: to pretend; to influence

effect: a result

assure: to make certain (such as with a person)

ensure: to make sure (such as with a thing)

insure: to provide or obtain insurance

beside: at the side of

besides: in addition to

between: two items that are related

among: three or more things related

choice: a decision or an option

choose: to make a decision

chose: past tense of choose

compliment: to praise

complement: something that completes

farther: literal or physical distance

further: to a greater extent

fewer: comparative with plural items

less: items that are singular

imply: to suggest

infer: to deduce

its: possessive form of it

it�s: contraction for it is or it has

lay: to place, which is always followed by an object

lie: to recline

**For present tense only. Tip: If you can replace the word in question with put, then use lay.

nauseated: not feeling well

nauseous: disgust

As per Merriam Webster: nauseous = causing nausea or disgust.

Nauseated means �experiencing nausea,� whereas nauseous means �causing nausea��in other words, offensive or loathsome. If you feel a queasy sensation in your stomach, you are nauseated; only if you cause other people to be ill are you nauseous.

set vs. sit:

In general, set refers to an object ("Set the materials down on the table") and sit does not ("She sat for an hour, waiting for the bus").

that vs. which

--"Which" is frequently used to introduce a nonrestrictive clause, a phrase that isn�t necessary or supplies additional information and is usually set off by commas.

For example: The burned CD, which she received from a friend, wasn�t as great of quality as the original from a music store.

--"That" is used for introducing restrictive clauses that refer to things, phrases that ARE essential to the meaning of the rest of the sentence.

For example: The CD that consists of all of the band�s top-ten singles is her favorite.

that vs. who/whom

In most cases, "who/whom" is the standard form when referring to human beings, especially in regards to an individual person. "That" is used when referring back to a class, species, or type. "Which" should never be used in reference to humans.

A correct example with "who": She goes to the hairstylist who is the best.

A correct example with "that": He is the type of hairstylist that should charge more because he is the best.

their: possessive form of they

there: in or at that place

they�re: contraction for they are

whose: possessive form of which, who

who�s: contraction for who is

your: possessive form of you; belonging to you

you�re: contraction for you are

_Writer's Relief, Inc.

Grammar rules to remember:

1. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

2. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.

3. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive

5. Avoid clich�like the plague.

6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.

7. Be more or less specific.

8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.

9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.

10. No sentence fragments.

11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.

12. Kill all exclamation points!!!!

13. Don't use no double negatives.

14. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.

15. The passive voice is to be ignored.

16. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.

17. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth great ideas.

18. Never use a big word when substituting a diminutive one would suffice.

19. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

20.One should NEVER generalize.

(taken from Dan Rosenbaum: "Rules for Writers")

Prepositions usually are short words that link parts of sentences.

1. Prepositions change nouns or pronouns (and their modifiers) or any
word group functioning as a noun into prepositional phrases.

Examples of nouns: cat, table, book

Examples of prepositional phrases (preposition + noun):

whiskers OF the cat

bowl ON the table

pages IN the book

Prepositions that are used to form two-word verbs are called
"particles."

Joseph RAN AWAY from the problem. ("ran" = verb + "away" =
preposition/particle)

Gerald TURNED IN his essay. ("turned" = verb + "in" =
preposition/particle)

Other examples of two-word verbs using prepositions which function as
"particles"):

aim at

bring about

call up

head out

mark up

put out

turn out.
Prepositional phrases often serve as modifiers within a sentence:

The whiskers [of the cat] began to twitch.

That bowl [on the table] is cracked.

The underlined pages [in the book] are smudged.