This Forum Item is Identical to "Edit Your Novel W/ WDC Tools.Watch&Learn" .

"Write/edit your work with WDC features"  exists so we can share writing tips that each of us have picked up.

"Edit Your Novel W/ WDC Tools.Watch&Learn"  exists because some readers don't like to visit forums.


Using WDC Tools to Edit Your Novel – Watch and Learn!

Note: This is not an article on how to use WritingML or an instruction book on using WDC Tools. You can go to WritingML helps or Writing.Com 101 to learn all you need to know. Those are well written by the WDC experts and will answer any of your questions.

This is an article which blends and molds the tools available (which you should become familiar with) into a writing work bench. A chess player can study the "how to" book and learn all the rules. But just knowing the moves of the individual pieces and how to set up the board will not make the player a chess master. However, a study of "Beginning moves, Middle of the game moves, and End of game moves will go a long ways towards building chess playing skills.

This article is intended to massage the basic WDC Tools into a harmonious working relationship to enable the determined novelist to edit and rewrite his/her work by the seamless moving from item screen to edit screen to spell check screen. As a further benefit, the moving will minimize the loss of focus by keeping the screens centered as much as possible on the rough area of the item that the author is trying to polish.

The WDC tools you have are determined by the type of membership you own at WDC. I have a Premium Membership, so if you don't find all the tools I used in this article, the level of membership you have is the likely reason.

Step one: Pick the chapter of your novel you wish to edit. (I have geared this "lesson" to novel writing, but it will work on your other items as well).
For a working example, I will use {Item:1658560}

Click on "The Flight of the Dragon"  and you will go to this chapter. But you cannot edit my chapter. So, pick a piece in your Portfolio.

Observe: Look below the title and other information of your equivalent to my "The Flight of the Dragon"  and, on the right bottom of the "second header" you will find a blue ribbon which displays this list: Your Item: Edit FS Q | Delete | Spell | Count | HTML | RCS | Reviews | Stats

Author Alert: Different items will have different contents in their blue ribbon. Look at the ribbon on any Forum you may have, and you will find: Your Item: Edit FS Q | Delete | Purge | HTML | RCS | Reviews | Stats

If you click on Edit of your selected piece, a new Window will appear which will show you the chapter which you can now edit.
This Window will work and is the one you probably most often use, but check this out.

Close the Edit Window you just brought up and click the FS (full screen). A window comes up that has just the story (Item Body) without all the other blocks that could be edited.

One great thing about this Full Screen edit window is the Save and Edit Box at the bottom of the screen. It makes it a breeze to save and edit as you go along. If you forget whether you have just saved and edited, hit the box again. It only takes a moment and this monumental feature does not move the page to the beginning. You do not have to dig through your item to re-locate where you are working.

At this point, you need to take two steps to really simplify your editing work. I find this an invaluable short cut!

1. At the very top of this FS edit page for your item, type in your item I.D. Like this. {center}{Item:1661253}{/center} Which gives you this.

(Every time I create a new item, I put the {Item:#####} for that item above the title).

Now when you edit, you can go to your other opened window with your piece and click the

And you will instantly see how your new changes appear. If they are not what you thought you wanted, you can go back to the FS edit window, touch it up, hit "Save and Edit", go back to your piece, click the "Write/edit your work with WDC features" , and see how the touch up looks.

2. If you are writing a novel, put down all the item tags at the end of each chapter. This will do two things. It will enable you to instantly check to see if things like your character descriptions stay the same and it will allow your readers to "go back" to refresh their memories on events.

You can make the list one time and then copy/paste it to every chapter you are writing, if you have already written the new chapters.

"Dragons, Britons, and the Saxon Invasion"  13+: Dragons did exist on the planet Earth around the days of the Roman colony of Briton.
"When All Is Lost"  13+: Chapter 1: The disillusionment begins.
"A Ray of Hope"  18+: Chapter 2: Leaving the past.
"The Maiden in the Enchanted Garden"  13+: Chapter 3: Meeting new people. One to fight;one to fight for.
"Prepare to Die"  18+: Chapter 4: Beware the black knight
"The Dragon's Meal"  13+: Chapter 5 What do you say when you are on the menu?
"Building a Strategy"  13+: Chapter 6: How do you fight a mind reading dragon?
"The Return of the Warrior"  13+: Chapter 7: "Where are you going, Sir Knight?" "To victory!", he roared.
"The Strategy of the Damsel Warrior"  13+: Chapter 8: My heart sings
"The Wrath of the Dragon"  13+: Chapter 9: I dodge your scorching fire belched for my funeral pyre.
"The Dragon's Might"  13+: Chapter 10: The edge where courage ends and sheer folly begins.
"The Flight of the Dragon"  13+: Chapter 11: I was looking for adventure, but found you!
"He's Alive"  13+: Chapter 12: "He's alive! He's alive!"
"The Die is Cast"  13+: Chapter 13: Arena, actors, and agendas meet on life's stage.
"The Battle in the Dragon's Lair"  13+: Chapter 14: "Now you are mine!" Rang the dragon's victory cry in his mind.
"The Face of Death"  18+: Chapter 15: The dragon's sharp teeth sped for his body. "Now I win!"
"The Battle Has Just Begun"  13+: Chapter 16: Life is rolling waves crashing on a shore; struggles rise and fall.
"The Dragon's Riddle"  13+: Chapter 17: "A boone for you; an answer to your problems"
"The Fight For Life"  13+: Chapter 18: Where does one go when their world is dying?
"A New Friend"  13+: Chapter 19: Reality and perception; see the both at once.
"The Road to Recovery"  13+: Chapter 20: The beast ripped the flesh with knife like teeth.
"Through a Dragon's Mind"  13+: Chapter 21: Slipping behind Max, she crushed the berries into his hair.
"Preparing For The Future"  13+: Chapter 22: "Humans cannot name a dragon. I am Davyn"
"Facing the Past"  13+: Chapter 23: The fear and joy of going home.
"Epilog"  13+: Epilog: This is just the beginning...



MOVING ON

Step Two: Close the FS Window and click the Q just after the FS. The Quick Edit Window comes up! This is a Window that gives you all the blocks (including the Item Body) without the instructions.

Why use the Q Window?

1. You do not have the Spell Check option in FS.

2. When you first edit your work, you need to know all the details to do it right. But, once you have edited a half dozen (or less) times, you find that you no longer need to read all that information. Q removes all the instructional clutter and allows you to concentrate on just your entries. Remember, if you need a brush up on an instruction, you can always go back to Edit to refresh your memory.


Step Three: Click on Spell while your Q window is present. If you click the Minimize Window box and re-size the Windows, you can run the Q and Spell Windows side by side so you don't have to hunt while scrolling up and down.

Make your corrections.

Don't forget to go to the bottom of the Q Window and click on "Save and Edit" or your new changes will not take effect.

Step Four: Use "Your Notepad" for editing and storage. I also use my Micro-Soft Word word processor a lot as well.

Note: One advantage Notepad has over your word processor is that your word processor doesn't recognize WDC WritingML.

Note: Another great advantage Notepad has over your word processor is if you unwittingly bring over your item copy to work on rather than your FS edit copy, you will be frustrated as you try to bring your new changes over.

Notepad is great for keeping notes and for checking to see if you used the WritingML properly. The NotePad is located just above the middle of the "Site Navigation" tool bar on the upper left column of your WDC page. (Just below Blog box and just above these prompts).

Reading | Writing
Authors | Reviews

You will see five small boxes and if you move your cursor to each one, you will see these labels.
IM (Instant Messenger) Box My Favorites Hand Site News Box My NotePad Box Random Read! Box.

Click on the My NotePad box.

If you have never used this neat tool, you will find two items to pick from.

Click on "ScratchPad" first.

Type in or Copy/Paste to ScratchPad the entries you would like to make. You can manipulate the data, but you cannot store the information in ScratchPad. All you can do when you are done is copy/paste the final results on some other page.

Warning! If you use the ScratchPad of your NotePad, you will lose the information written each time you close the box. Also you cannot use "Spell Check" in ScratchPad or Submit/Store even though both boxes exist.

Suggestion: Never use ScratchPad or be very careful. You can lose a lot of work!

Click on "New Page". while in NotePad.
This is your work horse! In the title box, name the page. In the future, you will see at the top more options. They will be ScratchPad, New Page, and each of the Pages you have titled. This is what my NotePad options are at the present time.
ScratchPad | New Page | Images | awardicon | edit page | Four Novels at Once | Names - user & real | notes:wherjackalhide | port raid | Review Template | Rising Star Reviews | starry night | Where Jackals Hide

Now type in or copy/paste your information. In my "Images" page, I have all my images written in WritingML using the double brackets to negate the command Rising Stars Image {image:XXXXXXX} and then typed out so the image shows next to the needed prompt. When I want a particular image, I can copy/paste the {Image:XXXXXXX} tag right onto my piece and I will get the image when I send the message.

If you use the double brackets {[your tag]}, then you can copy paste the WritingML and come up with the image.
For instance: to have a rainbow ready to use, I use the double brackets to come up with the "Tag" by copy/paste and then I use the single bracket to show what I will get when I use the "Tag".

Example: {e:rainbowL}{e:rainbowR}
I do the same with my images. Then when I send out an email, I can go to "Note Pad", Click "Images" and copy/paste the Tags in my message.

You can store the information as long as you like. Often someone will use their first name in an Email or Review. I have a section in my NotePad where I can reference the name to the User Name and thus be personal with folks.

If any changes you make are going to take anytime at all or you wish to use spell check on your notes, Click "New Page", name it by replacing the word "Default" with a name, write something in the body to hold that name.

Then click the "Submit/Store" box under the Note box. That is all there is to it.

If you need more help using your images and other WritingML tags, Editing features, or Note Pad, WDC lists some sites that will help you more than I did. You can also go to Support for help. However, I will be glad to share what I have learned. Just Email me.





You have to use your piece; but, so I am working with something as I explain, I am going to take my poem "Oh, Lovely You"  and line up the reviews I have received.

Bring up the piece that you have chosen on another window (When I want to bring up another window, I look to the column to the left of this article, pan down until I see any User Icon - at the present time, I see bluesky -, and click on it. A new screen will pop up and you can go to the left column of that new screen (after you briefly check out Bluesky's Portfolio ) and click on Portfolio. Find your selected item in your portfolio and click on it. I am looking at "Oh, Lovely You" 

On the right side of your title header, you will see your familiar ribbon of tools.
Your Item: Edit FS Q | Delete | Spell | Count | HTML | RCS | Reviews | Stats

Click on Reviews

Every review you have received on your piece is now showing and now you can scroll through each one.

Copy/paste the "suggestions for improvement" from each review over to a new page on your Note Pad. Then, you can go through and group the "like" suggestions, such as "Such and such" appears to be a typo. Now go through and use anything you find helpful and discard the rest. Save this as a page in your NotePad. You can name it the title of your piece which you are editing.

Keeping the Review Page you have just built for your piece in one window, bring up the item you are editing in another window, and in a third window bring up your FS edit screen for that item.

The final step: Minimize the window of your NotePad Summary which you have just made from the reviews of your piece. Click FS edit for the piece to be edited. Minimize that window, lay it along side, and now read, weigh, and choose. All your help is right at your finger tips.

With all three of these at your finger tips, you can review your piece, apply any suggestions you like from the reviews of others, edit the piece, and check the edit as you go along.

Here are my suggestions for improvement that I have gleaned from my 35 reviews of "Oh, Lovely You" :

I stumbled a bit over "coming fight". The ending word, "pursue," doesn't seem to close out the two-line stanza. battle tried = battle-tried (I don't think you need the semi-colon at the end of this line)
4.0 rating on Syllable Count.
My one comment is that the third line in the third stanza the word order feels rather awkward. I can see how it is necessary for the rhyme, but it doesn't flow as well as the rest of the poem. "My mind was on adventure; but then, Girl, you stole my heart." - but links the two parts of the sentence, so the ; is unnecessary.
"A great warrior, confident, rough, and battle tried;
Became a lad with begging heart and wishful sigh!"
- tried / sigh weak rhyme, consider revising. Also no comma needed after rough.
I like the rhyme you use although I must say, I felt you sacrificed the meaning tiny bit on lines 10 and 11 with "feelings strong" and "can you, my soul, see?" which aren't quite in-keeping with the language of the rest of the poem. This is a little faffy minor thing, which is more a matter of taste than anyhting. However it keeps the rhyme strong which is obviously very important to you as well and no bad thing.
This is a beautiful sonnet-like poem written in the traditional style with aabb rhyme but the imperfection here lies in the syllabic pattern which is 11 12 12 11 in stanzas 1 and 3 but a non-conforming 11 11 13 12 in stanza 2, upsetting the rhythm altogether.
This one held a lot of love and I found no mistakes, I love the line,
As I gaze in your blue eyes, can you, my soul, see?
It is powerful! Great Job!

Now, manipulate your data. Try to find similarities in the review comments. Group these together.

I like the rhyme you use although I must say, I felt you sacrificed the meaning tiny bit on lines 10 and 11 with "feelings strong" and "can you, my soul, see?" which aren't quite in-keeping with the language of the rest of the poem. This is a little faffy minor thing, which is more a matter of taste than anyhting. However it keeps the rhyme strong which is obviously very important to you as well and no bad thing.
This one held a lot of love and I found no mistakes, I love the line,
As I gaze in your blue eyes, can you, my soul, see?
It is powerful! Great Job!

battle tried = battle-tried (I don't think you need the semi-colon at the end of this line)
"My mind was on adventure; but then, Girl, you stole my heart." - but links the two parts of the sentence, so the ; is unnecessary.
Also no comma needed after rough

4.0 rating on Syllable Count.
the imperfection here lies in the syllabic pattern which is 11 12 12 11 in stanzas 1 and 3 but a non-conforming 11 11 13 12 in stanza 2, upsetting the rhythm altogether.
the third line in the third stanza the word order feels rather awkward. I can see how it is necessary for the rhyme, but it doesn't flow
I stumbled a bit over "coming fight".
the third line in the third stanza the word order feels rather awkward. I can see how it is necessary for the rhyme, but it doesn't flow as well as the rest of the poem.

Became a lad with begging heart and wishful sigh!"
- tried / sigh weak rhyme, consider revising.
The ending word, "pursue," doesn't seem to close out the two-line stanza.

The two reds above clash!
Also, as you critique the reviews, you see things like remove the comma after rough in this grouping. "confident, rough, and battle tried" I fought with this for years. My preference is not to use the comma, but all the grammar books I read tell me that the comma has to stay. I have been told it is an American vs. British thing. You tell me!

You can't please everyone!

But, remember, it is your work. While the typos are pretty much things you want to correct, your choice of words don't have to be changed just because someone doesn't like them. If several persons complained, and I disagreed, I will still want to weigh their feedback against my preference. I will take a look at the punctuation problems. I know I have trouble with syllables and meter. I will have to master these two areas. I can see that the punctuation problems are in different areas. Anyway, you get the point as you bring your reviews together with your own muses' direction to polish your work.

I value the comments I get from readers. I am essentially an entertainer and pleasing my audience will build my clientele and fan base. However, I am not swayed by every wind of thought. Otherwise, I would just assassinate my mind and let the readers write my work for me.

There is a tension between the two poles; namely, wowing your audience by tuning in on "What sends them" and wowing your audience by being true to your muse and "What sends you". It helps to know that if you did a poll on a given change, you would have those for, those against, and those who are not sure. Most people want to sit back and be entertained as they enjoy their down time. However, it doesn't take but a moment for them to "change the channel".

Have fun writing!

-William

Note: If tools available are not incorporated into the writer's work, the writer often will not try them because the author may not realize the benefits. Therefore as each of us assimilates these tools into what we are doing, and set up a workable model to achieve an editing or reviewing function, we need to share the method we learned. Someone else may be able to take that to a higher level or show a way that is even better.

That is why I made this a Forum and not a static item. Below is where you can share your favorite tips to help us all write better.

Yours,
-William