Grounding in grammar

After a couple of frantic weeks editing the first three chapters to upload to various writers' sites I'm back in the saddle - or at the keyboard to be more precise.

It's back to the mammoth task of editing the first draft - all 80,000 words - of Dr Rumbolo's Travelling Freakarium.

And its tough.

Getting the initial story out was the easy part but knocking it into shape is quite a time-consuming and yet necessary task. It's a bit like reaching the summit of a mountain and having to climb it all over again.

After leaving school eons ago, getting to grips with grammar, sentence construction and all the nuts and bolts of good writing is a challenge. Come to think of it, when I was at school in the '80s and early '90s, the emphasis wasn't on giving kids a good grounding in grammar.

I'm lucky that my better half is a journalist and sub-editor and is also very well-read, getting through about 10 books a week!

And he's tough and tells it like it is. In fact without his continuing support I think I would have given it all up by now.

Books are Big Business

Publishing is a business, just like any other, including the film and music industries.

Anyone who thinks any different is clearly kidding themselves.

But everyone wins with sites such as Authonomy and YouWriteOn.com

Publishers and agents get thier pick of manuscripts and and prospective authors get to showcase their work and offer constructive criticism to others.

Surely a far better option than letting your MS gather dust in a desk drawer at home?

We tend to elevate writing to great lofty heights, championing it as some high-brow art form.

At the end of the day it's all about being able to spin a good yarn.

And if you can sell a few books and captivate a couple of readers in the process, then that's no bad thing either.

For an in-depth look at electronic slushpiles see the Bookseller's feature on the subject.