Affect vs Effect

This post is in response to a request by Deanna. Thanks for reading!

Class, today we will be studying grammar. Stay in your seats, I know you're excited. 


Affect and Effect are especially difficult for many people because they are homonyms. They sound the same, so when we speak most people don't naturally think of how each is spelled (unless you are a grammar freak like me, you mentally... oh nevermind).

To figure out how to use each correctly, one must know the definitions.

Affect -> to influence, to act on, to attack.

Effect -> the result, to produce an impression, advantage.



So, the environment had an affect on him, but the effect of the experiment was futile.

And, the weather adversely affects my asthma, but the effect of the prescription is good.


Does that make sense?

Quiz time!
Fill in the blank with the correct use: either affect or effect.

1. I had little _______ in the matter.
2. Because of the _______ of the car accident, I have a lot of back pain.
3. No doubt about it, chocolate ________ me so much, the ______ is that I gain weight.

Pencils down!!

Answers: 1. affect, 2. effect, 3. affects, effect

Still unsure of the difference? Leave a comment or shoot me an email. 

How Long Should a Chapter Be?

If you are Dan Brown... a few pages.

If you are the author of all the textbooks I used in high school and college... a hundred million (this is a rough estimate).

In essence, there isn't really an all-inclusive answer. The short answer is "it depends!"

* * *

It depends on your story.
Is it fiction or nonfiction?

For fiction: It depends on your plot.
Is your plot complex or simple? Does it include a lot of characters and locations, etc.?

For nonfiction:  It depends on your arguments.
What points are you discussing? How much space do you need to discuss them well?

It depends on your audience.
Is it for a young adult or scholarly audience? What can that audience handle?

It depends on how long your book is in its entirety. 
What is your word count?

* * *


So, for example, if you are writing a young adult fictional story that has a fairly simple plot and is 20-50,000 words, it's fair to guess that the chapters will be short, or just a few pages.

But if you are writing a nonfiction scholarly textbook with somewhere around 100,000 words, the chapters will need to be long.

If you are still unsure, find several other books in the same genre as your book-in-progress and compare. How long are the chapters in each of those books?

If you are STILL unsure, then don't make any chapters. Worry about it later. Perhaps it will come to you, or you can always ask the advice of an editor.

What do you think? How long should a chapter be?

Book Review: The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform

 

Stephanie Chandler wanted to be an author, but she wasn't sure where to begin. So in 2003, she quit her job and opened a bookstore. Not the conventional way to start a book, but Chandler wanted to know the business from the inside out.

Today she has a book The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform, a website BusinessInfoGuide.com, and years of experience in the industry.

In her book, she offers interesting insight that authors should read; times have changed and so has book selling. Gone are the days of bookstore signings, as she says in her book: "this is probably one of the least effective ways to market a book" as the average number of books sold at a book signing is only eight books.

Instead she points authors to where they should be focusing their marketing efforts, most especially the Internet. She offers practical advice on how to set up a website and how to become an "expert" in your field. In this case, the book will probably be more useful to nonfiction writers than to fiction writers. The end of her book also includes several interviews with authors and how they got published.

Check out a great info sheet on the book and the author here.

What is Passive Voice?

You've heard the term, "be a defensive driver." Obviously, it means to always be on the lookout and avoid accidents before they happen.

In the writing world, we don't want to be defensive. Being defensive is weak! Instead, we want to be proactive. And so we use the following phrase: "avoid passive voice." But exactly what is passive voice?

There is a great handout on passive voice by The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I see passive voice all the time, and it really gets on my nerves. Here are some examples:


The cheese was eaten.
Fun was had by all.
Why was the road crossed by the chicken? (Example from handout)


Do you see something wrong with these sentences? They are grammatically "correct" but just lack some umph.

If you thought, "who ate the cheese?" or "who had fun?" or "why is the word 'chicken' where it is?" then you are onto something! Basically, the subject and action are a little sloppy. The sentence is telling us what happened, but no proactively. Kind of like when your kid does something wrong, and they try to downplay it.

"The vase was broken." vs "I broke the vase."

If you have a manuscript started, go through it and try to pick out any passive sentences. Once you have identified them, figure out how to make them stand out.

The door opened slowly. vs. Charlie slowly pushed the door open.

See how that small change makes a big difference? The sentence is more commanding and offers more imagry to the reader. They don't just see the door, they see a person acting on the door.

What do you think?

It's vs Its

Don't run away!
I know you don't like grammar.
Oddly enough, neither do I.
But what I hate worse is seeing simple things like it's vs its wrong all over the Internet.
Even in published books!
Come on people.
This one is easy.

Oh, I know you have excuses.

"My English teacher was crazy."
"My dog ate my grammar book."
"I had a doctor's appointment during every grammar lesson."

Fiddle-dee-dee. You can still learn grammar, even if you were done with school before The Beatles were popular. Let's do it. Let's change the Internet.

Today we're talking about it's vs its because it is one of the MOST COMMON grammar mistakes I personally see online. If you aren't sure which is which, you may think that it takes extra brain cells, years at MIT, or a membership into a secret Grammar Society to know the difference.

It's not as hard as you think. Trust me.

It's = It is
Its = Any other usage

See? That was easy.

Hold on. Possessive you say? What about possessive?

Its = possessive.

Waiiit a second. Don't you usually need an apostrophe for possessive? Like David's bike or Larry's laptop? Yes, that is true. But think of what "it" means. "It" is not a person-- "it" is an object or an animal or something else. So it is different. Plus it would be confusing. It's is the contraction for it is, and that is how it is. Any other way you use "its" doesn't need an apostrophe-- even possessive.

Quiz time.
Underline the correct version of each sentence.

1a. He saw its bright light.
1b. He saw it's bright light.

2a. Its not true.
2b. It's not true.

3a. I liked its color.
3b. I liked it's color.

4a. She said it's a good movie.
4b. She said its a good movie.

Correct: 1a, 2b, 3a, 4a.

If you still need help with this, please email me or leave a comment. I'm glad to help.

Should I Write My Book in First Person or Third Person?

My Sister's Keeper

First Person: I, me, my
Third Person: They, she, he

Maybe you are ready to start writing your novel, or you already have a completed fiction manuscript in hand. 

Either way, you'll have to decide which perspective is most engaging for your story -- first person or third person?

If it's coming from your head, but it's not about you, then you're probably writing in third person. Third person is very common. It's natural.

But like every writer, you must question every nook and cranny of what you are writing. {Writers are such fussy people.}

Writer Kris Cramer writes about First Person vs Third Person (and everything in between) in a great post {in a very non fussy way to boot}.

Here are just a few things that came to my mind when comparing the two:

First Person Pro:
readers really get to know the inside of the main character's head

First Person Con:
the story misses out on some possibly key play by play because the main character has to be present to witness it or figure out that it happened

Third Person Pro:
readers get a broad scope of all the characters from a subjective point of view

Third Person Con:
it can be harder for writers to develop so many characters or they may focus too much on descriptions rather than getting into characters' heads

So really, it comes down to your story. Which point of view will best bring across what you are trying to say? Which point of view is better for your reader?

*Is the story mostly about one character? Is getting into his mind important? Stick with First Person.

*What if you have a big plot with lots of players? Third Person might be a better choice.

Homework Assignment: Write a chapter in First Person. Then take the same chapter and write it in Third Person. Which one has bigger impact?

If you STILL can't decide, there are even other options. Jodi Picoult wrote My Sister's Keeper with each chapter in a different point of view -- each character takes turns telling "their side" of the story in First Person. It was a unique experience. For that particular book, I thought it worked wonders. Each chapter was a fresh new look into the story. Be careful if this interests you, though. Writing this way is definitely not for amateurs; it must be done right if done at all.


Discussion: What pros and cons of First Person and Third Person do you see?

How Do You Write?

Do you sit down and just... write?
Do the ideas come to you magically?
Or is there a method to how you get things on paper?

I recently read On Writing by Stephen King and I found it very interesting. In it, King described his own writing methods, which included setting aside specific time to write everyday. He also talked about how some of his ideas initially came about, and then how he brought them to life.

It's funny how we think the writing process is mysterious... how the story unfolded miraculously, sort of like being channeled from above, until it was all typed out and sent to the publisher.

But it's not quite so grand as we all think, at least in most cases. For King, he talks about using an idea for a situation (eventually a plot in other words) and then using characters .... he follows them and sees where they go. He figures out who these characters really are and lets them drive him through the story. Interesting eh?

Obviously there is some inborn talent there-- I think so many writers are talented in different ways. You can usually tell if a writer has a gift. But as King professes, every writer should go beyond that and write purposefully, regularly, and master writing techniques.

In essence, I think he's telling us to use our talents but to also work really hard. Good advice.

How do you write? When you sit down at the computer, notepad, or whatever, where do you start? Chapter 1? Or do you write the ending first? Perhaps you have an outline figured out before you even write any dialogue or look up any sources.

Inquiring minds want to know.