Heres Rae-Rae!

Here’s Rae-Rae!

I’m just jumping on the bandwagon, this was really fun to do!

It me!

I loved the way my OCs turned out on @sangled‘s picrew (https://picrew.me/image_maker/94097) so I decided to make myself too:

It’s an S, in the wild! This is a surprisingly decent representation of me, except I have never before had the chance to wear a waistcoat and that saddens me. Also, I barely ever wear earrings but… I can and that’s the important part right?

A whumpee who is painfully in love with their caretaker. Caretaker is the only person who has ever been kind and taken care of them; they’re the only one who has ever even noticed them. Whumpee cherishes the times Caretaker takes care of them more than anything else – so much that they’re tempted to start “accidentally” hurting themself just so Caretaker will be there. 

Editing  & Proofreading Cheat Sheet

– A lot of questions I receive revolve around editing and proofreading, so I decided to make an extensive guide to editing your own writing. I collaborated with some amazing friends on this post so this is dedicated to them as well as all of you. I hope you find it useful. Enjoy!

Know The Difference: Editing vs. Proofreading

Editing is about the content, proofreading is about the technical detail and accuracy. Once you know the difference and you separate the two into different tasks, going through and actually doing it will seem less daunting. Deciding which to tacking first depends on what you’re like when you edit, but if you struggling with focusing on actually improving the content because you get distracted by grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, then proofreading first may be a good idea. 

Be Intentional With Your Vocabulary

Avoid adverbs

Be frugal with unique adjectives

Only use dialogue tags when absolutely necessary

Be mindful of overused words

Take the time to find the right words

The words you choose can make all the difference so pay special attention to them.

Just Keep Snipping

A basic rule to editing that people often forget it, if it doesn’t serve a purpose, you should cut it out. A short book that is amazing all the way through is better than a long book that is redundant. Don’t worry about leaving your readers in the dark or not having enough content. As you edit, you’ll find ways and places in which to input more information.

Flow & Rhythm

This is the part where you make sure the writing itself sounds how you want it to. It’s important to read your writing aloud during this stage. Some things to pay attention to regarding flow and rhythm:

sentence length/variation

sentence structure

syllables and how they fit together

how your writing sounds out loud

Eloquence

Say it once and say it clearly. Redundancy bores readers so quickly, so when putting information forward, be clear, concise, and don’t add fluff. You don’t need to write a whole paragraph about how a character feels in a situation. It’s important to give the reader just enough to read between the lines.

Grammar

Common Grammar Mistakes To Look For

Subject-verb agreement errors

Sentence Fragments

Missing Comma After Introductory Element

Misusing The Apostrophe With “Its”

No Comma In A Compound Sentence

Misplaced Or Dangling Modifier

Vague Pronoun Reference

Wrong Word Usage

Run-On Sentence

Superfluous Commas

Lack Of Parallel Structure

Sentence Sprawl

Comma Splice

Colon Mistakes

Split Infinitives

List from here x {Explains these further and more in depth}

Improper Use of Phrases

“could have” not “could of”

“My friends and I” not “me and my friends” {If you take away “my friends” or “I”, or one of the nouns in a sentence in general, the sentence should still make sense}

“I couldn’t care less” not “I could care less”. This should be a no-brainer.

etc.. I could go on.

Familiarize yourself with these common mistakes and avoid making them at all costs. It’s also helpful to have someone read over it and let you know when they find issues with phrases you used. Please be attentive to these mistakes because making them can destroy your credibility as a writer.

Utilize The Senses

If you’re describing something in your writing, you should be slipping in words and little details that appeal to the reader’s senses, When editing, look for opportunities to slip in how a place smells, how a food tastes, how something feels to the touch, etc. It’s unbelievable how much this enhances your story.

Punctuation & Format

Punctuation Rules In English

the period (or full stop in British English)

the comma

the exclamation mark

the question mark

the colon

the semicolon

the quotation mark

the apostrophe

the hyphen and the dash

parentheses and brackets

Source x

When proofreading and marking up your manuscript, it can save a lot of time and energy if you use marks instead of actually write out everything, so here is a little chart I found that may be useful to you:

Other Things To Look Out For

Make sure you know who is talking

Keep tense consistent

Vary the tone from scene to scene

Run-on sentences

Inconsistencies in story details

Plot holes

Causes and effects of events are explained

Facts and technical details {Make sure you’ve researched them well}

Deviations from established background (know your story really really well and make sure your reader does too)

General Tips

Go in assuming that your work is full of errors. Maybe it’s not, but it’s better to be prepared for the worst and solve the issues now rather than when it’s too late

DO NOT BE SENTIMENTAL. Yes, easier said than done, but it’s possible. 

Make the text less recognizable to yourself in order to catch details you may not otherwise.

Print out your manuscript and physically write out the changes.

Read your writing out loud. Sometimes writing looks like it makes sense, but in reality sounds wrong. 

Do it in short periods over time so that you don’t inevitably get lazy with paying attention to little details

Keep in mind that editing usually takes longer than actually writing the draft because it is less fluid and requires more thought and problem solving.

Don’t rely on spelling and/or grammar checking software; they’re not always correct and can easily misinterpret what you’re trying to get across. 

Check for a single error at a time. It may be time consuming and tedious but it’s more effective than the alternative.

Give yourself time and read slowly through it multiple times

Split up large chunks of text to make it easier to handle. Don’t go through your whole manuscript page by page as if you were just reading it as a book. Go chapter by chapter or scene by scene or even sentence by sentence.

If something seems off, investigate it. Don’t take a chance and leave it be. If you’re stumped, highlight it and have someone else look over it.

Have a strategy. Maybe not at first, especially if you don’t extensively edit your work regularly, but with time you’ll find what works for you and what doesn’t. Create your own system and use it to save yourself some time and confusion.

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writer’s block

when i have it, 99% of the time it is because

i’m bored with where i’m at

or

i haven’t thought out a clear direction

99% of the time, opening up the word document, or even just starting a few scribbles about the story in a notebook or sticky note, 

and starting to hash out why i’m bored (ie what i’d like to be happening) or where the story needs to next go…. will begin to immediately break down the block. 

writer’s block is honestly just part of the creative process - because it’s essentially a warning signal telling us that we’ve written ourselves into a creative hole and now we need to write ourselves out of it.

when we learn to interpret writer’s block as as a call to reacquaint ourselves with our story, we will be braver writers. 

when we learn to interpret what writer’s block is, hopefully we will experience the periods for shorter lengths, and in fewer increments. 

keep pawsing to write

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾☕✌

Hello Everyone!

So I have been absent for so long lately because tumblr has marked my blog explicit and hasn’t responded to my multiple responses saying that my blog isn’t explicit in any way.  I don’t know who is going to see this, as I’m still fighting this fight, tumblr has yet to take me off that damn list, so we’ll have to wait and see.  Please understand that I love you all, and can’t wait until tumblr realizes that I have no connection to adult content (not that I think that’s a bad thing but you know how bad this website is at spotting it)- I hope you all understand.

On a happier note, I will be trying to do Whumptober this year, and I think I’ve got some good stories all lined up.  I can’t wait til everyone can see what I’ve got for you.  I miss you all.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Much love,

Rae

the suffering never ends