Aligning Subjects and Verbs

Overview of the problem

Perhaps you've seen this mistake: "Walking down the street, the saunterer lost a wheel." This sentence connotes that the saunterer is walking down the street, which would be a very interesting sight, indeed. The job is that the silent topic of the introductory phrase makes not fit the grammatical topic of the chief sentence, the stroller. The author cognizes what he/she means, but the reader may be confused. (Isn't grammar fun?). Editing this sentence will assist the reader understand what you are trying to say, which is the intent of editing.

The job in this sample sentence is rather easy to descry and easy to edit. Sample alterations include:

"[Mary] was pushing the saunterer down the street when it lost a wheel."

"The saunterer lost a wheel when [Mary] was walking down the street."

"The saunterer lost a wheel when being pushed down the street."

"The saunterer lost a wheel." (This presumes that the author have already established that Virgin Virgin Virgin Mary was pushing it down the street. On 2nd thought, why would Virgin Mary be pushing a saunterer in a street and not on the sidewalk? This looks a descry unsafe to us.)

Sample problem

This type of mistake can be difficult to spot and edit, but doing so cut downs possible readers' confusion and do your sentences more than direct, more cohesive, and, ultimately, stronger. See this sentence:

Mary spoke about nil but her childhood experiences for more than than an hour, but when finally winding down, British Shilling realized that he was bored to tears.

The silent topic of finally winding down is Mary, but this sentence neckties it to Bob, the grammatical topic of the independent clause that follows. These are not aligned properly and give the reader an wrong interpretation. In this case, revising isn't too hard.

The solution

We have got two chief schemes for redaction this type of grammar error:

1) Break the sentence and attach the phrase to the right subject. ("...for more than than an hr before winding down. British Shilling finally realized that he...")

2) Modify the introductory phrase so that the silent topic mentions to the grammatical topic of the sentence. ("...and seeing that she was finally winding down, British Shilling realized...")

In a nutshell, what you are doing is making certain that the verbs of the sentences suit their grammatical topics and that phrases introducing clauses mention to the topics of those clauses. When you are writing your ain sentences, see how your verbs and topics are aligned.

One last sample

By the way, the most humorous mistake of this type that we have got seen is (paraphrased): "Swimming happily along the shore, the cadaver floated by his head." We go forth it up to you to find why this is so amusing to us.

Hero's Journey, Monomyth (188 stages)- Screenwriting Tools, Writing for Profit

FORWARD

The 188 stage Hero's Journey (Monomyth) is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188+ stage template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.

[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY

THE 188 STAGE HERO'S JOURNEY:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).

d) Tells you what to write. For example, at a certain stage of the story, the focus should be on the Call to Adventure and the micro elements within.

ABRIDGED TIPS, EXCERPTS AND EXAMPLES:

(simply go to http://www.heros-journey.info/ for full details)

*****Mentor's Backstory*****

The Mentor's Backstory is often made explicit. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Clyde tells Bonnie he cut part of his foot off.

*****Shape Shifter Revealed and The Red Herring*****

The shape shifter's true nature becomes apparent [post the Rebirth through Death]. In The Incredibles (2004), Bomb Voyage assists the Incredibles to escape.

Red Herrings and misdirections are toyed with and implemented. In Star Wars (1977), Han considers "leaving this party." In Syriana (2005), we are led to believe that it is Whiting who will be sacrificed. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), we are led to believe that Severus Snape is a threat.

I Won!

I won a Mother's Day writing contest on thebabyboomerdiva.com. No not 1st place, I received 4th. The winning is special, but not as special as the judges reading my words and liking the way I put them together. It makes me feel good. No, I take that back-I feel great.

The prize doesn't matter (okay it does). What does is being told that what you do and how you do it touches someone else in such a way that they want to recognize you for it. Especially when they are NOT related to you in anyway!

My mom and dad get teary-eyed and give me a hug. My significant other (you've heard of him, my own personal knight in shining armor) can say "wow". The children I gave birth too can say something akin to "I didn't know you could write like this" and mean it in a sincerely complimentary way.

But when wonderful people, such as those of you who are reading this column now, take the time to let me know that this is a job well done-Well! That's when my heart and hear just soar!

When someone ask-so what did you win? I honestly have to go back to the website and re-read my prize! I just become so overwhelmed by the recognition I forget that there's actual "loot" involved. This time the essay and maybe a picture will be included in Bev Mahone's next ebook! What could possibly be more exciting, except someone offering to publish a real book of my own?????

My son-the handsome, tattooed, soon to be a UCI graduate was more practical, he wanted to use my talents to edit what is to be his last undergraduate term paper. My pleasure, I also happen to be terrific with a red marker.

My co-workers think I'm hilarious. "Carine-you get 4th place out of about 170 entrants and you don't care beyond that? Why not?"

I suppose it's a legitimate query. My daughter just shook her head-"Mom, you're so good at writing-quit the day job and go for it" Obviously she is my adventurous one.

The answer to the above: When I write, I put my all into the words and they are what matter. Whether it's an article about "The Importance of Early Intervention in Rheumatoid Arthritis", a restaurant review, an article on baking or a column here on "What's Cooking"-it's part of who I am.

To be recognized for the worth of your passion is the prize, the rest is some mighty nice extras.

MS Word 2003 - How to Create and Use a Customized Dictionary?

Microsoft Word comes with a powerful dictionary and spell checker. It is very easy to add new words to MS's default customary dictionary (file name: CUSTOM.DIC) as well.

When MS comes across a word that is not in this default dictionary, the right-click pop-up menu asks whether you'd like to "Add to Dictionary". Click that option and you are done. The new word is added to CUSTOM.DIC. Next time, MS will know how to correct the misspelling of that particular word.

But sometimes, when you are writing about a very esoteric subject, or perhaps when you are using many foreign words or jargon, or working on a temporary project, you may want to keep the default custom dictionary as is and create your own project-specific customized dictionary. When the project is done, you may want to remove it from your computer altogether.

***** How to create your own customized dictionary?

1. Launch your Note pad, or non-MS Word writing program. (MS Word unfortunately inserts a lot of invisible code to the text which might affect your dictionary list in unpredictable ways.)

2. Enter all your special words, one word per line. Make sure to enter multi-word phrases one word per line. After you type in each word, press Enter and go to the next line.

3. Give your special dictionary a name that ends with ".dic" (For example, "SoccerDictionary.dic") and save it to C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftProof

***** How to launch and use your customized dictionary?

1. Open the text that you would like to spell check by using your customized dictionary.

2. Select Tools > Options.

3. Select the Spelling & Grammar tab.

4. Click Custom Dictionaries button to display the Custom Dictionaries dialog box. You will see your newly created dictionary is listed in there, right next to the CUSTOM.DIC.

5. Check the check-box of your customized dictionary (if you like, IN ADDITION to the CUSTOM.DIC. It would not hurt.) Do NOT remove "CUSTOM.DIC" since that would impact all the other MS documents that have already used it.

6. While you are here, you can also modify the content of any listed dictionary by selecting it and clicking the Modify button. You can easily add new words in this fashion.

7. Click OK and return to your main document.

Now when you do a spell check (F7), Word will suggest alternatives not only from its default dictionary but from the custom dictionary that you have created as well.

Alternatively, when you right click your mouse over a word that has a red underline, Word will suggest alternatives not only from its default dictionary but from your customized dictionary as well.

You can create and use as many similar customized dictionaries as you like. And when you are done with that special project, you can just simply turn them off at Tools > Options > Spelling & Grammar > Custom Dictionaries.

If you think you'll never again use that special set of terminology, you can also delete a customized dictionary altogether from the C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftProof folder.

Press Releases - Your Headline Has To Be Great!

Start your press release with a great headline that will convince the media to read further. "The headline of a press release has one job and one job only," according to press release guru Paul Hartunian. "The only job of a press release headline is to force the reporter to keep reading. The headline has no other job. Don't force your press release headline to do anything more than force the reporter to keep reading. That's a big enough job!"

In press releases, headlines are critical. They're the first, and often the only, thing the media reads. If your headline doesn't immediately grab the reader's attention, your release usually won't be read.

To seize the media's attention, link your headlines to:


1) Money,


2) Sex,


3) Health,


4) Controversy.

Remember to grab the media by looking at and reacting to what is in the news! The media does not care about you or your book.They care about how good an interview you are, how you react to something that is going on now- and they want you to help their audience and or readers-

Do your homework! Read magazines, newspapers every day- and watch several TV shows every day- including Today, GMA and CBS Early Show. Couldn't hurt to watch Oprah too!

Make sure that you know everything you can about the reporter before you speak to him or her. Read all that they have written- do a google search- know where there went to school...
Be prepared!

Excerpted from Author 101: Bestselling Book Publicity, by Rick Frishman and Robyn Spizman; http://www.author101.com

Go to http://www.author101.com to get your free "Million Dollar Rolodex"