Thursday Review—Polishing the Pugs

Polishing the Pugs, by Kathy Ide

a book review by Renee Cassidy

Upon first glance at this month’s book, I had to smile at the title. What are Pugs and why should they be polished?

Further examination revealed the subtitle, PUGS stands for Punctuation, Usage, Grammar and Spelling.  Deborah Raney, one of my favorite fiction authors had recommended this book, “a fantastic resource, concise, well researched and conveniently organized. I refer to it often.”

Kathy Ide’s masterpiece of a reference book takes a complex subject and breaks it down into useable bites of information.  For those of us who are editorially challenged, this book provides simple steps with common mistakes to review. She jokes that her colleagues called her the PUGS lady and rethink simple emails to her.  So would I after reading this book! The book is divided into four sections to address the acronym and include punctuation, usage, grammar and style.

The introduction starts with the statement, “A book with problems is a book rejected.” How true when acquisitions editors are presented with sloppy manuscripts. Many are already looking for small reasons to reject the submitted work.

The 10 reasons to polish the PUGS include the following:

• PUGS errors decrease your acceptance chance.
• PUGS cause miscommunication.
• PUGS errors cause confusion.
• PUGS errors give an unprofessional appearance.
• PUGS errors can be embarrassing.
• PUGS errors cause readers to take you and your message less seriously.
• PUGS errors could cost you money.
• PUGS errors can be distracting.
• PUGS errors can give Christians and Christianity a poor reputation.

Details are important in a writer’s bag of tools and display professionalism. The four sectioned book breaks down the detail elements by category.

Punctuation

The most commonly misused mistakes are displayed in this section from periods and quotation marks to commas and italics. At the end of this section, punctuation tips are added in three.

• Use punctuation sparingly.
• Be consistent.
• When in doubt look it up.

Usage

Commonly misused words are displayed in this section. There are also helpful article tips on multiple pages. At the end of this section is filling in the blanks so that you can add your own most confusing words for future reference.

Grammar

There are huge reference books to address this subject, but Kathy Ide breaks down the huge books to the most common grammatical mistakes. The additional sections to address pronouns and modifiers are separated in this section. To round out this section, there are 4 grammar myths to learn and unlearn from your English classes. 

• Never split an infinitive.
• Never start a sentence with a conjunction.
• Never end a sentence with a proposition.
• Never use the word hopefully in place of “It is hoped.”

Spelling

Interestingly enough, it is recommended that a writer never rely on spell check.  This section highlights the commonly misspelled words.  It addresses publisher’s preferences, words for modern technology, hyphens and numbers.  This section is invaluable.

The conclusion of this book adds Kathy Ide’s personal information as well as how to obtain copies of this book.  Her website is www.kathyide.com. She's both a writer and a frequent speaker at writer’s conferences.  She also provides other services such as ghost writing and editorial services and has a great website for editors, The Christian Pen.

Renee Cassidy is an experienced freelance writer and photographer. In 2006 she won the Writer's Digest Short Story Contest and has gone on to write for multiple publications. With a degree in marketing she brings her varied experience to the benefit of her clients.

She has two grown children and currently lives with the two men in her life - Fritz, her German Shephered and Australian Cash, her quarter horse.

Thursday Review—Booklife, Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer

Today I'd like to welcome back regular guest blogger, Renee' Cassidy. She's found a new writing book to love and I just can't wait to share it with you.

Booklife, Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21^st Century Writer,

By Jeff Vandermeer

I couldn’t put this book down until every page was flipped!

This complete eco-system for authors brilliantly guides the reader through both the public and private lives of an author. A rare find, Booklife is an easy first time read and reference all in one.

 

The book is divided into two main parts—the private and public life.

Public Life

In this section structure and technology is unraveled into a clear concise manner. From goal setting to creating your platform, the how-to as well as the pros and cons about the myriad avenues for creating a public presence are made simple. Effective ways to get involved and manage that public life are also suggested.

The communications chapter is an indispensible read, providing everything from public relations and tools, to long term maintenance of your life as an author. The public relations opportunities and aspects were followed by even greater information. Long term insights were outlined in chapter three and provide the reader with marketing in terms of branding and perception. Positive survival skills are suggested at the end this book’s section.

The Gut-check

This section was a beautiful segue-way from the public to the private way of life. It challenges the reader to search for balance between hectic public demands and the quiet demands of creativity. The sounds of white and dark noise are highlighted in this section and suggestions for effective ways to manage multitasking skills are suggested,

Private Life

Back to basics

This section sums up the second part of Booklife, the private life. It is the summation of a writer’s education—from classes and conferences to writing books.  How to live your writer’s life effectively start with inspiration, mastery of the craft and ways to manage distraction.  How to retest your work and resources are available in this section. There were insightful tips within this section on how to schedule your time to handling rejection.  My favorite part of this section deals with the Permission to fail with a WOW factor line that hit home to me.

“ to be great, we must attempt so much that we not only are in danger of forever failing, but we do fail,  and in that failure create something greater than if we had set our sights lower." 

This book is for every writer who dares to build a successful career and covers every imaginable topic in a writer’s life from creating the project to promotions. It is a brilliant 300+ page navigation system that leads a writer through all of the faucets of a successful career of being an author-not just a writer. Jeff Vandermeer covers each topic in reader friendly language. He has the ability to organize his explanations in a way that helps the writer embrace technology—while keeping the basics of a writer’s craft.

Don't forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Renee

Renee Cassidy is an experienced freelance writer and photographer. In 2006 she won the Writer's Digest Short Story Contest and has gone on to write for multiple publications. With a degree in marketing she brings her varied experience to the benefit of her clients.

She has two grown children and currently lives with the two men in her life - Fritz, her German Shephered and Australian Cash, her quarter horse.

Thursday Review—A Novel Idea, Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction

Today I'd like to introduce you to fellow writer, Renee' Cassidy. She'll be contributing regularly to our Thursday Review Section and I know you'll enjoy getting to know her as she gives us her ideas on tools that can help writers. Join me in welcoming her to the Write Conversation family!
Blessings,
Edie

A Novel Idea
Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction
by Chi Libris
a review by Renee' Cassidy

Poignant advice from some of America’s top selling novelists makes this a MUST HAVE book for both reference and reflection. The threads of a Christian journey and fundamentals of writing fiction make this book both entertaining and informative.


This book is clear, concise, and well organized within 300 pages. Through four parts, it gleans the heart and purpose of a Christian writer. The vast experience of the writers highlighted commands a broad audience for the would-be fiction writer.

Included in the four part-sections are Fiction Fundamentals, Development of Writing, Marketing and the Distinctive of Christian Fiction. The book’s sidebars tip the scales for me—making this truly a book to treasure. My favorite is the Francine Rivers interview where she shares her experiences with some tough subjects in her honest and humble tone. I greatly admire her work and her honesty in her interview is inspiring beyond words. Another great section is “Discerning your calling” which distinguishes this book from any other secular how to write fiction book.

The fundamentals of Fiction are solid and include the basic elements of a story, plot, characters, dialogue, point of view, pacing, setting and descriptions. The Developing Your Craft section is written for both the novice and expert writer, it reminds us of the importance of a writer’s craft. We must work hard, write, rewrite and then rewrite again. How refreshing it is to catch a real life glimpse of how these bestselling authors had the same struggles as any new writer would have.

The last section deals with the last and most important part of a writer’s work. To write a good book is one thing, but equally important is to make the book the best it can be. This section deals with a critique group’s relationship to making a writer’s work better. The final step of an author is to break into publishing and this book covers the steps of proposals, formatting, and then attending writer’s conferences and promoting the work.

The tidbits of each contributing writer’s personality and love of their craft—as well as God—binds us as readers to the book and our calling.

Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Renee'

Renee Cassidy is an experienced freelance writer and photographer. In 2006 she won the Writer's Digest Short Story Contest and has gone on to write for multiple publications. With a degree in marketing she brings her varied experience to the benefit of her clients.
She has two grown children and currently lives with the two men in her life - Fritz, her German Shephered and Australian Cash, her quarter horse.