Dear Reader,
Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Or, perhaps, improve your writing so that you can say what you want to say in an engaging way so readers will want to read what you have to say? Then read on. We have just the thing for you.
“Oh, I have the desire, for sure,” you say. “But I don’t want to read another boring book about the subject.” Then, also read on. We feel we have the solution to that dilemma as well.
We have a book that is designed to be clever, informative, and focus on those elements that are the most critical for new writers and those who want to improve their writing techniques. This book, Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing, is written something like an ABC primer. Why? Because we wanted it to be simple but contain the essential elements one should focus on. The chapter titles and summary sentences at the end of each chapter not only help you find and distill the knowledge presented in each chapter, but also start with that same letter of the alphabet. Why would we do that? Two reasons. One, we thought it would be helpful for readers to better remember those elements of that particular chapter. And, second, we wanted to demonstrate that an author has an innumerable arsenal of words at their disposal to wield their writing to their will. Words are tools and they can be used any way an author wishes to achieve their goal.
I will say that, while successful, it also proved challenging. Many letters have numerous words that begin with that letter giving an author the opportunity to use them as they see fit. Yet, some letters, like the letter X, for example, can prove quite challenging. Yet, we persevered to keep this pattern of presentation to prove our point that writers can make words bend to their will. Hopefully, you will also think we were successful in this regard. If nothing else, it may add a number of new words to your vocabulary repertoire. Maybe your Scrabble game will never be the same again!
One other point I (Bob) want to make here is that we added another fun thing with each chapter. We pulled some fantastic quotes from some of the best and most famous writers. Each chapter starts with one of these. These are great fun as a lead-in thought to each chapter. Some are humorous, almost all are inspirational, many are thought-provoking. Here’s the quote we used for chapter J: “Just Be Yourself” from playwright, novelist, and short story writer Somerset Maugham:
“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter how you write.”
Maugham was being a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course. How you write does matter. But if you can tell stories and create characters and the rest of it, with even just a bit of passion—and study the craft of writing—how you write can and will fall into place.
Something missing from so many books on writing is you. You are what makes your stories, your writing, unique from all others. We want you to include you in your writing. The phrase mentioned above, “just be yourself” sounds simple, like something any writer would naturally do, right? But perhaps not so much. Why? Well, people often doubt their ability. They doubt their time. They doubt whether they have something interesting and unique to say. In the same chapter we referenced above, we write:
You have a story to tell, and only you can tell it. A true writer’s passion will push you to keep pecking at that keyboard. It’s in there—inside of you. The words will keep coming out. Many a new author has expressed this sentiment: “Seeing that book to completion was like giving birth.”
We’ll give you the encouragement to keep pecking at that keyboard. Also in that same chapter, we write:
Don’t forget: your writing is you. These are your words, driven by your passion, carefully crafted by your thoughts and ideas, and maybe even your ideals. You want readers to identify you with your writing style, your plot conceptions, and how you put your stories together. Don’t try to be like anyone else or write like the style or voice of another.
But most importantly, it is not the cleverness of how the book is constructed, but the content within it that we feel will be the most beneficial to you as the reader. While we could have covered twice as many topics as we have in this book, we feel we have covered those topics that are the most critical in producing top quality output.
“There are many books on writing,” you say. “So why another?” That is a very good question, and, we think, we have a good answer. First, just one book is rarely sufficient to answer all questions asked by those who write or want to write even better than they currently do. We acknowledge that and do not dare think our book is the only one you will want, or need, to purchase during your writing career. Yet, we do feel ours is one that you want to have in your arsenal.
Second, what I (Randy) discovered as I began my writing journey was that knowing the rules about writing and applying those rules are not necessarily the same thing. You’ve heard the expression: rules are made to be broken. Well, that is certainly true when writing a book. I wish someone had told me this truth in the beginning. In this book we aim to tell you some important rules, but just as importantly, we aim to tell you when they can be—gently—broken. So we’re giving you what we (Randy as an author, and Bob as an editor, writer, and author) wished we had known and understood when we started our writing and editing journeys. Knowledge is power and we want you to be as powerful a writer as you can be.
So, here is to happy writing. It is not an easy path, but a rewarding one. We toast you on the beginning of your journey, and we will be there on the other side to applaud you when you have arrived.
Love,
Randy & Bob
After completing his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Auburn University he went on to graduate school at Auburn and completed his first doctorate degree in Pharmaceutics. He began his scientific career as a pharmacokinetic reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration and later joined a leading pharmaceutical company as a pharmacokineticist, which is a scientist who analyzes how the human body affects drugs after they have been administered (i.e, absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted).
Through the years, he has worked on potential medicines within several disease areas, including cardiovascular, fibrosis, and immunoscience to seek and develop new and novel medicines in these therapy areas.
He has also had his attention on the academic study of the Bible. He earned a second doctorate in Biblical Prophecy from Louisiana Baptist University after receiving a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Internet Bible Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Congdon.
Randy has recently retired from his pharmaceutical career and is spending even more time on his writing efforts. He has written several books that span dystopian, end-time prophecy, science fiction, and uniquely told Bible stories. All his books, while fun to read, are futuristic, filled with science to give them an authentic feel, have a science fiction feel to them, and allows one to learn some aspect of Biblical truth one may not have thought about before. This is all done in a fast-paced action format that is both entertaining and provides a fun read for his readers.
He has also written some nonfiction books as well. One is to show how all humans are connected from God’s viewpoint by looking at biblical prophecy. This book shows how all scripture is connected and inclusive of everyone. In addition, he and his editor have written a book about writing. This book not only addresses the techniques of writing, but what makes writing unique to each author. It conveys not only how to better hone one’s craft of writing but also the brand an author wants to portray. This helps an author make their writing unique as well as captivating for his/her audience. A companion book to this one regarding self-editing techniques will also soon be available.
You can visit Randy’s website at www.randydockens.com. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and Instagram.
In 2005 he chose publishing and went to Standard Publishing (Cincinnati) where he worked with authors from across the nation and internationally on youth ministry materials for the former Christian-based publisher, which had a rich history serving American and Canadian churches dating to 1869. In 2011, Robert went independent. He helped develop a homeschool curriculum site for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine during a two-year period in which he worked for this trailblazing homeschool organization. He does the majority of his work with Christian Book Services. He has ghostwritten long portions of books for authors and entire books for a World War II veteran’s memoirs (written 2013-2015 at age 89-91!) and a former NFL quarterback’s story of mentoring his high school football star son.
Robert has edited virtually every type of book, from business to novels to theology to sports to memoirs to abuse survival stories, and much more. His credits include scores of books. He has spoken at or served as faculty at various writing conferences.
He enjoys family, running, the outdoors, bad golf (like many, he has the bug, which just won’t go away), a heated game of Scrabble, virtually any sport, and reading any book that even remotely interests him.
Robert has a BA from Ohio State University in Journalism. He and wife Joan have four children. Reach Bob at bobirvin642@gmail.com.
Visit him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bobjoan.irvin/ and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobirvin31/.
The authors of this book (one a writer/author; one an editor) explain what they wished they had known when they began their writing journeys. This book will speed up your writing proficiency and aid your goal of being published with excellent material your readers will enjoy.
Why this book on writing? There are two things we learned the hard way and want you to gather the easy way. One, rules are made to be broken—but you want to break them only with intentional purpose. And two, you, not the rules, are what make your stories, your writing, unique from all others.
We cover various writing techniques and how to make your writing something readers will keep enjoying, but we also help you with the artistic side of writing, meaning what’s inside you, your writing technique, and your brand.
This easy-to-enjoy manual is written in a unique alphabetical style, filled with tips and extra-information boxes at the end of each chapter, and has a number of helpful additions following the final chapter.
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