Writing there is no quick way to a manuscript

Have you written a manuscript and typed The End at the bottom on the last page and wonder what you do next?

Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, do not rush off and fall into the trap of publishing the pages of your manuscript, thinking it will be the next bestseller.

Sadly life does not turn into a wonderful fictional world of instant success. Even the big-name authors have had to take a step back while someone held their manuscript/writing life in their hands, wondering if their manuscript will be good enough.

So what should one do…?

Say you are writing fiction. The first step to do is, do not print it out. Keep it as a digital word doc on your computer and place that manuscript away in its very own folder for a couple of weeks or so.

Why? Now your thinking why can I make the next step especially when you have just slaved your heart, sweat, and soul into this work of art, all those typed pages of text — because you need to step back and approach your work with a fresh set of eyes, if someone had said this to me at the beginning of my journey, my first few books would either have been reworked, changed, and not published at all. Don’t get me wrong. I would have somehow still published my book baby, but I would have looked at them from a different perspective and handled things differently. Next: When you are ready, save the original file and keep it in the folder. Next, please save a copy and rename it using a different name or add a number at the end of the file name to tell the version you’re working on apart from the original, then highlight the whole manuscript/word doc, and change the line spacing at least 1.5 or double. Finally, increase the font size to make it easier to read.

Then the long step of reading your book baby, and updating and changing words, paragraphs around. Does your book flow? Does it make sense? Is the character’s name correct throughout the book? You might laugh now, but it has been known to happen where a character might be named Timmy and comes out through the book on different pages as Tommy or Ted.

Check in the search bar and check how many words ending in LY you have, it is not wise to have too many. Also, you should check for other words you have most likely been repeating throughout your manuscript. As that, what, said, and, .eg. After you’ve identified these words, you can go back into your document and find all instances using the Find/Replace function and check there, it will search and find all your repeating words. You will be amazed at which words you have repeated. See if you can replace the word with something else meaning the same thing. Sound – noise.

Now back to the LY ending words.

The -LY suffix is an excellent way to describe how something, or how often, something is done. While not a hard and fast rule, and there are certainly many exceptions, spotting the – LY ending in a word is frequently a good indicator that you’re looking at an adverb.

Many adverbs end in – LY, but not all of them do. Common adverbs that don’t end in – LY include “very” and “never.”
Remember – An adverb is the part of speech that describes, modifies, or provides more information about a verb in a sentence. An adverb can also be used to alter or qualify adjectives, other adverbs, or whole word groups. This means many adverbs in the English language end with the suffix – LY, since this is a quick and easy way to turn an adjective into an adverb.

For instance, the adjective “sad” transforms into the adverb “sadly” by adding – LY to the end. The same is true where “perfect” becomes “perfectly.”

Common Adverbs Ending with – LY This list is understandably not completely exhaustive. For even more examples of adverbs, be sure to read our list of 100 adverbs. However, here are 64 examples of adverbs ending with – LY to get you started:

accidentally

accusingly

adamantly

angrily

anxiously

argumentatively

automatically

badly

beautifully

boldly

bravely

breathlessly

carefully

certainly

correctly

dangerously

dutifully

eagerly

effortlessly

evenly

eventually

finally

foolishly

frequently

generally

generously

gladly

gracefully

greatly

happily

heartily

highly

horrifyingly

hungrily

ironically

loudly

lovely

lowly

massively

motionlessly

mournfully

necessarily

normally

painstakingly

partially

perfectly

practically

pragmatically

promptly

proudly

quickly

quietly

roughly

sadly

separately

sharply

shortly

slowly

smoothly

softly

spitefully

suddenly

thankfully wrongly

Adverbs With – LY in Sentences
One of the best ways to understand how adverbs work is to see them in action in some sample sentences.

• She looked upon the creature inquisitively.
• George has been lazily lounging around the house all day.
• I’m afraid the knight was mortally wounded in battle.
• Nervously, Alice turned the knob and opened the door.
• And they lived merrily ever after.
• The circumstances rapidly changed overnight.
• As he turned sharply, the parcel flew out the window.
• They embraced one another warmly.
• Sara took her time, but she got there eventually.
• The committee hastily organized the event for the weekend.

Use Adverbs Correctly

Exercise a watchful eye when you’re using adverbs, as people often used them incorrectly, getting them confused with adjectives. For example, a very common error that people make is to say “I ran to the store quick” or “He runs very quick.” This is not the proper usage of the word “quick.”

In these sentences, “quick” is modifying “ran” and “runs.” Those words are verbs and need to be modified by an adverb, not an adjective. Therefore, the appropriate form of the term to use is “quickly.” The adjective “good” and adverb “well” are also often used interchangeably, but that’s not always correct either. Read our article on When to Use Good and When to Use Well to learn more about this common confusing issue.

Then remember the show not tell – rule!
Don’t get me started.

It’s the first rule of writing, for a good reason, they say. Show – is about using description and action to help the reader experience the story. Tell – is when the author summarizes or uses exposition to simply tell the reader what is happening.

So basically – The difference between show and tell is that show invokes on the reader a mental image of the scene/emotion, while tell is a statement of an action/emotion.

For a Tell detail – is a short description, sometimes only a few words, that precisely captures the essence of a character or setting. So a word, phrase, or image that helps the reader “see” what you’re describing. … It’s one thing that has meaning and says a lot with very few words. It pulls the reader into the experience of the story. The correct detail at just the right time connects your reader with your character

Ok, so you have been checking over all your LY ending words with verbs/adverbs, then there is the show/tell.

What about the punctuation and grammar? Talking dialogue.

Oh, yes, the fun has only just begun!

A punctuation mark is then used after the reporting clause, before the next set of speech marks. The second section of direct speech ends with the punctuation mark inside the speech marks. Gotta luv it. Is your head hurting you yet?

Now this will do your head in!

In the United States, the rule of thumb is that commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks, and colons and semicolons (dashes as well) go outside: “There was a storm last night,” Mary said.

In the UK, each section of direct speech should end with a punctuation mark. If there is no reporting clause, then this is likely to be a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark: … If there is a reporting clause, then there is often a comma before the final speech marks: ‘I think we should go inside now,’ said Sally.

So the catch is, where is your book going to be released? Who will be your main reading audience – the USA or UK? Why… because the way spelling, punctuation is handled is different between the two countries, and readers will complain that the book is not punctuated or spelling has been checked.

Add a comma before the opening speech marks. Open and close speech with speech marks (or inverted commas). Begin what is spoken with a capital letter. End the line of speech with a comma, exclamation mark, or question mark.

So remember, in British and Australian English, it all comes down to the carrier sentence (i.e., the sentence that contains the quotation). … If the quoted material would have contained the punctuation mark in the absence of any interruption, the punctuation mark stays inside the closing quotation mark. Plus, a lot of the spelling is the same.

Plus, the difference between single and double inverted commas?

In America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the general rule are that double quotes are used to denote direct speech. Single quotes are used to enclose a quote within a quote, a quote within a headline, or a title within a quote.

So In British English, quotation marks are called inverted commas, and the single ones are used more frequently than the double for direct speech. … to mark off a word or phrase that’s being discussed or that’s being directly quoted from somewhere else.

Once you have reworked your manuscript, changing words and paragraphs, checking on the punctuation and grammar, and you feel your story is complete, save it, and put it aside for another week or so.

Save a copy changing the last number or letter in the file name. Then repeat the process of reading through your book baby. Make any changes you think you need.

Now print it out!

And reread through the manuscript – book baby.

Make more changes and update the digital version.

If you belong to a writers group, ask one of your fellow colleagues if they would be interested to read it for you. Ask them what they think. Does it flow? How are the world-building and characters?

After forming a couple of opinions and yes, everyone is different, make any necessary changes, save a copy, and rename it first. Next, search for editors in your area. There are a variety of editors, and they can be very expensive. Do your research, as there are different editors for different situations when it comes to writing. (copy editor, line editor, developmental editor, there are so many.)

Once you have had your book baby edited and read by several people and you think your book baby is ready to be published, you can either contact a publishing house and research who is the correct person to speak with. Follow their set-out for word doc’s settings and go from there.

Or you can become an indie author.

You will need to have your word doc formatted into the digital files — for either a PDF for print or epub for ebook.

Do you require an ISBN?

In the country you are in, do you require an ISBN?
An ISBN – International Standard Book Number. ISBNs were 10 digits in length up to the end of December 2006, but since 1 January 2007, they now always consist of 13 digits. ISBNs are calculated using a specific mathematical formula and include a check digit to validate the number.

An ISBN identifies the registrant, title, edition, and format of products used by publishers, bookstores, libraries, etc., and is essential for ordering, sales reporting, and inventory control. In addition, an ISBN increases the chances that your book will be found.

If you are planning on selling your books straight from home and at author signings, you do not require to place an ISBN on your book. But, once you sell your book via a shop, library’s, then an ISBN is required.

You will need to follow several steps to become an Indie Author, and that information is for another day and blog. So for now, good luck and have fun writing your book baby.