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An Era of Space in CrazyTown

I think everyone will agree with me that the year 2020 was a nightmare from the start. Everyone I know was begging for 2020 to be rebooted, and the world has become a CrazyTown.

This post was written on May 31, 2020, at least that was the date where I live, and I had just finished watching the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule. It might be hard to believe, but I'm sitting here crying as I type this, and I'm not sure if I can fully explain why, but I'm going to do my darndest to try.

As far as I'm concerned, that launch was the true start to 2020. Sure, by May, it's nearly half over, but it wasn't until that launch that I finally felt like hope was on the horizon. It wasn't until that launch that I could finally breathe deeply again.

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Past Present vs Past Simple: It’s all in the past, right?

I don't think anyone would be surprised to learn that I take part in a decent number of online forums for writers and editors. It's about connecting with other writers and editors, building my network. And I will admit that many of my interactions on social media feed the ideas for the posts on this blog.

Today's blog post is no different.

In a recent post in one of my forums, I came across a writer who had said that they had been taught that when using past perfect tense, it was best to transition to past simple quickly afterward.

I don't know about anyone else, but even now, I look at that and my head hurts. You don't want to know the thoughts go through my mind with such statements. (I actually made a note in one of my manuscripts to maim and torture the grammar police.) But this is not the first time that I've encountered a writer who insisted on using such terminology. (Why they would even bother… Well, there's a reason I made a note to maim and torture the grammar police.)

Yes, these literary terms have specific meanings, and many English teachers will insist that you get them right. So, let's get to it and define what the different versions of past tense verbs are.

Here's hoping that we don't totally get confused along the way.

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The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne: The idea is good, but the book is confusing.

A few months back, I was part of a discussion on Facebook about books that are specific to developmental editing. Being a developmental editor, I watched the thread like a hawk. I wanted to know what books are out there and what was high on the recommended lists. Many of the books discussed I already had, but there was one that came highly recommended by several on the thread.

The book in question: The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne.

So, I ordered a copy of the book myself. It took approximately 6 weeks to arrive (shipping to New Zealand is always a long, drawn out wait), and when it got here, I sat down and started reading. And instantly regretted buying the paper version of the book.

Don't get me wrong: the technique presented in the book is gold. The book itself…

The editor NEEDED an editor.

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To US English or to UK English? Is that really the question?

Frequently, I find myself in the middle of a conversation talking about whether something should be written in US English or UK English. Sometimes, it's related to how something is punctuated (and yes, there is a difference between the two for some punctuation rules). Sometimes, it's in regards to whether a story would work better written in one versus the other—normally focused on whether a story set in the UK should be in UK English. And sometimes, it's connected to the frustrations that those around me have with Americans who don't understand that UK English is different to US English.

Within these conversations, I find myself becoming a bit of a broken record, asking the same questions over and over again. And it all comes down to one idea…

Who is your target audience?

So, let's break this down and really look at why understanding who your target audience is will determine which variant of English you use.

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Writing is a Business

There comes a point in every writer's career when they need to start making decisions about what their writing means to them. They need to examine their goals and strategize on how to get there.

For many writers, there is a shift in mindset, where writing moves from being a hobby to being a business.

Before I go much further, I do need to stress that there is nothing wrong with writing as a hobby. I know of a few hobby writers, and they are extremely knowledgeable about the craft. However, if you are looking at publication with the intent to sell your books (and I do mean books plural), then you have migrated past being a hobbyist and into the realm of running a writing business. Exactly how that business looks will depend entirely on your goals and ambitions.

This decision about making writing into a business can come very early within a writer's career, and it should. It doesn't mean that it has to suck all the fun out of writing your stories, but it will help you focus your activities, hopefully becoming more productive and working towards your goals.

So, let's take a look at what writing as a business really means.

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