Tuesday Two-Minute Writing Tip – Creating an Image Document

Got two minutes? Then check out this week’s (VERY) quick tip ~ Inserting your story images directly into your manuscript document

Hello and welcome…I am a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, as well as an author. I often struggle with my own writing, and I have found that sometimes, a little reminder of ways to improve the process can be helpful, so, I like to share these moments of brilliance with others :). But, in this busy world of ours, who has time for pages and pages of writing tips? That’s why I’ve condensed mine down to quick flashes you can read in (approximately) two minutes. Enjoy…

Disclaimer: All of my tips are suggestions, and are only my opinion. And, for the most part, there are exceptions when going against my advice will make your story read better. Take what works, leave the rest.

(This is going to be an extremely short, quick ‘tip’ post today. More like an idea/suggestion. :))

Most authors are somewhat ‘visual’ and many like to use images for their setting and character as ‘inspiration’ while writing. I have done the same, and sometimes I use a Pinterest Board, sometimes I print out images, etc. But, I’ve found the best way for me is to insert the images directly into my manuscript. That way, each time I am writing, the images are right there in front of me. It’s pretty much a no-brainer, and most of you, if you are interested in using images as you write, have already thought to do it. However, in case you haven’t, I thought I’d share. 🙂

First, of course, you find images that fit your story. You can even find images of a room or landscape that fit a particular scene. Right click on the image and you will see an option to ‘copy image.’ Click on that, then you simply go into your document and ‘paste’ where you want the image to appear.

Here is an example. You can click on the link below to see the entire PDF. All the images at the top are ones I will use later. Obviously, not much has been written for each scene so far, but you can see the process.

africa-images

What do you think? Are you visual? Do you have tricks for ‘seeing’ your scene and characters?

Until next time…Happy Writing!

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ONLY 99 cents!! 

(Click on the cover to be taken to the Amazon Buy Page)

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*** If you would like to send me a few sample pages (around 7500 words or so, even though I will not edit that many on the blog. It just gives me more to choose from) for me to edit and share on an upcoming blog post, please do so in the body of an email to AliciaMDean@aol.com. Please use the subject line: “Blog Submission” This is for published or unpublished authors. In the email, please include whether you would like me to use your name or keep it anonymous, and whether or not you would like me to include any contact info or buy info for your books. Also, you can let me know if you would like for me to run my edits by you before posting on the blog. Please keep in mind, this is for samples to use for blog posts. I will not edit or use samples from all the submissions I receive, but I will use as many as possible. 

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How to write a novel? That is the question. There are probably as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it.

Wanting to write and actually doing it are two very different things. I am well acquainted with the sometimes grueling process of churning out a story. Over the years, I have tried many methods for creating and completing manuscripts, and have tweaked and honed it down to a workable (for me) process.

Using specific examples from one of my own novels, Without Mercy, I share my method in this mini how to book. The first eight steps actually deal with plotting while the last two are designed to help expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you. I’m not sure if this is the one, but it works for me. Only you can decide if it also works for you. Fingers crossed that it does!

*** Warning – Please do not purchase without reading a sample. (This is solid advice for any book, fiction or non. If you are not intrigued in the sample, you will likely not enjoy the book)

Amazon: Click Here