Helen Hardt - Got Style?

got style?

got style?

A Fiction Writers Companion

This book is an original publication of HelenHardt

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Copyright 2015 Helen Hardt, LLC

Cover Design by Marci Boudreaux,Nerdy Kat Book Services

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No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, ordistributed in any printed or electronic format without permission.Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrightedmaterials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase onlyauthorized editions.

Paperback ISBN: 0990746127

ISBN-13: 978-0-9907461-2-6

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

I had no idea how much I didntknow about the fundamentals of fiction writing until my search foran editor for my first novel brought me to Helen. Her insights arethorough and to the point, but always thoughtful. As an establishedauthor, she brings both sensitivity and experience to the process,while challenging me to grow as a writer and improve my craft. Atthe end of the day, I cant imagine entrusting anyone else to helpme bring my books across the finish line, from stories Ive nursedon my own for months to completed works I can be proud to sharewith the world.

Meredith Wild, New York Times andUSA Today Bestselling Author

Helen is an outstanding editor whorecognizes ways to make a writers words shine while respectingthat it is his voice, his characters, and his story. She taught meabout problems with my writing that no previous editor had found,and she helped make my book an award winner! I look forward toworking with her again as she launches her editing, and I highlyrecommend her.

Deborah Schneider, 2011 EPICAward Winner, 2009 RWA Librarian of the Year

When my editor Helen Hardt leftcommercial publishing to concentrate on her own career as authorand freelance editor, I thought my heart would break. Shes notonly extremely knowledgeable in grammar, syntax, structure (all theclassroom stuff), and purging unneeded verbiage, but shes alsogifted at sensing how to strengthen emotion, in my opinion one of aromance novels most important areas. Ironically, what Helen taughtme and assisted me with cant be put into words. I just know itshowed up on the pages of the books we did together and I hope hertalents are evident in the works Ive done since then.

Tanya Hanson, 2011 Double CAPAAward Nominee

Helen, all your suggestions provedmost helpful. Your keen eye spotted numerous areas where I hadntmaximized the emotional potential of a scene, so crucial in keepingthe reader riveted to the story. Adding to that is your impressivemastery of the English language, to polish the work and catchmistakes that other editors missed. Your professional and friendlyapproach throughout made it a real treat in every way. Finally, youexhibit what some editors falter upon: you actually walk the walkin respecting the authors voice and style and working with thestorys intent.

Gary Weibert, Author

Helen educated me better than anyMFA professor did, better than even my most trusted mentors andadvisers in the past. Her nuts and bolts support and challengeshave definitely taught me so much and made me more confident inmyself in ways that will significantly impact my futurewriting.

Annie Anthony, Award WinningAuthor

If you dream of writing a book andgetting it out there, Helen Hardt is just the person you need tohelp you achieve that dream. Helen is able to see the big pictureof your story and envision the best way to develop the plot andcharacters. She really understood what I was trying to do in mywriting and offered sound suggestions that I could use. Helen Hardtis a true professional!

Cheryl Pierson, 2010 EPICFinalist

I want to thank my mother, EliseTom, who was a teacher of English and French. When I was in school,I never understood why people did so poorly in grammar. The correctanswer was easy to spot. It was the one that sounded right. Itdidnt dawn on me until later in life that the reason the rightanswer sounded right to me was because Id grown up hearing grammarused correctly. So thank you, Mom.

Two of my high schoolteacherswhom I mention later in this bookwere grammar nerds likeI am, and I owe two of my chapter names to them. Mrs. Lucy Coneyand Mrs. Cheryl Vornbrock, wherever you are, I hope you are happyand in a good place.

I admit up front that the name ofthis book is a bit of a misnomer. It is about style, yes, but itsalso about grammar. Frankly, I didnt think anyone would actuallybuy a book called got grammar? I may be the only person inthe free world who actually enjoys grammar. Nope, style sounds muchmore exciting. But to have good writing style, you must also havegood grammar. Thats not to say that every style issue is a grammarissue; many are not. But good grammar is as essential to goodwriting style as egg whites are to chocolate mousse. So Im goingto touch on a lot of grammar in this book. After all, no one wantsto read a paragraph full of showing rather than telling if itsreplete with grammatical errors. Not everyone is a grammar geeklike I am, but lets face it. If you want to be a professionalwriter, you need to know the rules of your language.

But thats my editorsjob!

No, its your job. I can guaranteeyou that your editor is overworked and probably underpaid. Thefirst thing he or she will ask when looking at your submission is,How much work is this going to be for me to edit? The story maybe unique and amazing, but if the writing is a mess that willrequire hours upon hours upon hours of harrowing work, the editorwill pass. Submitting a clean and well-crafted manuscript is yourbest chance of getting published.

But I selfpublish, so thatscenario doesnt apply to me.

Au contraire, writing cleanis even more important if you selfpublish, especially if you chooseto forego professional editingwhich I dont recommend. Sinceselfpublishing became the rage, a rash of poorly written books havebeen thrust upon innocent readers. If you want yours to stand out,it has to be great. After all, you dont want a grammar geek likeme going at it with a mental red pen.

Okay, off the soapbox.

This book was born of my writingworkshops on grammar and style. I wasnt kidding about the mentalred pen. Ask any editor; its nearly impossible not to correct asyou read. I began to notice certain errors that were very common inpublished workdangling modifiers, cumulative v. coordinateadjective errors, transitive v. intransitive verb errors, to name afew. Dont know what those are? Well get to that. Anyway, itoccurred to me that not only are a lot of authors uneducated insome of the finer nuances of grammar and style, but some editorsare too. Its impossible to know everything about English.Languages constantly evolve, and very few grammar and style rulesare absolute. But hopefully this book will help both authors andeditorsand anyone else whos interestedre-learn some of the finerpoints that have been long forgotten from English class.

Make no mistake. This book is nota substitute for The Chicago Manual of Style or any othergood grammar reference. Im including only those areas where Icontinually see errors in published work.

So in the same vein as two of myidols, William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White of The Elements ofStyle