Self Help Books for Fiction Writers

Correct grammar and spelling are essentials, whether you’re a lay person or a professional writer of fiction or non-fiction.  You are judged by your skills as a writer and the subject matter you write about.  After I perused through my manuscript two or three times, and find myself making these same mistake over and over again; I decided I would have to make an effort for self improvement.  The next day, I visited my local book store that have limited choices at the self-improvement section.  I decided I need more selections at my disposal.  I found a plethora of choices at my good friends at Amazon.com.  Wow, they had all kinds of selections that would keep me glued to those books.  I ordered a dozen of the writers self help paperbacks.  I’m sure I could find as many at the local library, however, I decided I wanted these self-help books as references at my finger tips.

I closed the door of my home-office and studied these writer’s self-help paperbacks from page one to its final page.  Some I have read as much as three times. Self helps paperbacks are well worth every dollar I spent. Amazon.com has an excellent inventory.  

It is your responsibility to present your readers with grammatically and correctly spelled pieces of work.  Keep in mind there are some exception to that rule.  Oh really, you say! That exception is if you intend to add color to your story.  That is found mostly in dialogs in certain parts of our wonderful country.  I’m from Maine, and if I wanted to demonstrate heavy Maine accented dialogs, it would sound like this.  Here’s an example:  ”Gosh Wal’tah, those lob’stah ahh surwa tasti,” Ezra said to his friend.  Here it is as it would be said from folks from away, for instance, someone from the Midwest would speak in the following example: “Gosh Walter, those lobsters are sure tasty.” 

If you read any of my books, with a Maine flavor; you will find that a sample of my dialogs are written sparingly with a Maine accent. 

Allow me to advise you that writing in the passive voice can slow down your attempt at writing.  Keep in mind that the active voice makes for smoother writing and better understanding for your reader.  Writing in a passive voice is a very bad habit  to get yourself into. If your are not sure what the differences are between passive or active voice, then pull out that dusty old grammar book and learn the differences.

Take time and read my book, “Desperation of Souls,” it is available on Amazon.com.  It is packed with adventure, crime, romance, and the desperation of a young man attempting to pull himself up by the bootstrap from poverty and faces conflicts after conflicts. A powerful novel. 

Eugene Elcik