When the protagonist of your story pauses to think something, you need to set it apart somehow from the regular text and dialogue. There are a few different ways of setting characters' thoughts.

The most straightforward way to do this is to paraphrase the characters' thoughts into the narrative. For example:

When the brothers climbed up the riverbank, their school clothes coated with mud and filth, it occurred to them for the first time that their mom would be furious. Why hadn't they gone home first to change into play clothes? Oh well, they were already in trouble for being late for dinner, and they might as well get it over with. The trio trudged home reluctantly.

Another useful technique is to use italics, which is an effective tool when both thoughts and spoken dialogue are interspersed. This technique is becoming standard practice among publishers—and for good reason. The different type style makes it quite clear when a person is thinking versus speaking aloud:                                   

When the brothers climbed up the riverbank, their school clothes coated with mud and filth, it occurred to them for the first time that their mom would be furious. Why didn't we go home first to change into play clothes? Roger thought. "We're already in trouble for being late for dinner, so we might as well get it over with," he told his brothers, and the trio trudged home reluctantly.

This style is also popular with science fiction and horror writers, who use italics to show telepathic communication between characters. Some writers use quotation marks to set off thoughts, but this can get complicated, especially when thoughts and spoken dialogue are mixed. 

When the brothers climbed up the riverbank, their school clothes coated with mud and filth, it occurred to them for the first time that their mom would be furious. "Why didn't we go home first to change into play clothes?" Roger thought. "We're already in trouble for being late for dinner, so we might as well get it over with," he told his brothers, and the trio trudged home reluctantly.

There is nothing to differentiate between the spoken sentence and the thought. This can be avoided by using single quotation marks around the thought, but this is an awkward fix, and we don't recommend it.

When the brothers climbed up the riverbank, their school clothes coated with mud and filth, it occurred to them for the first time that their mom would be furious. 'Why didn't we go home first to change into play clothes?' Roger thought. "We're already in trouble for being late for dinner, so we might as well get it over with," he told his brothers, and the trio trudged home reluctantly.

If your character is thinking something to himself, it is redundant to say so.
 
Wow, that sure is a small car, the large man thought to himself.

But if he is thinking out loud, tell this to your reader. 

"Wow, that sure is a small car," the large man thought aloud. 

Finally, whichever style you choose to follow, make sure it stays consistent throughout your work, and make it easy for your reader to follow what your characters are thinking, as well as saying.

There are far too many blogs out there that follow a theme and bore their readers with so-called "valuable" information. If you're tired of tagging along behind other, more experienced bloggers, we say follow your own rules and see what happens. Who knows, it could make you popular, famous, and rich!

Avoid themes.

Make sure your blog can't be forced into a box. If you target a specific audience, say, literary types or computer aficionados, think of all the other people who won't read your blog. Don't let The Man give you a label, man.

Provide irrelevant and/or outdated information.

Your readers don't want statistics or helpful hints. They want trivia! Titillate your audience with daily minutia from your own life, such as the current temperature in your part of the world. What you had for lunch. Gossip about an uncle on your father's side. Good stuff like that. Or you can give hints on making your electric typewriter more efficient or how to clean an eight-track tape machine.

Post inactive and/or irrelevant links.

If it's too easy, it's no fun! What reader wants to click on a link and go directly to the site? Make your audience work a bit—do a little investigative clicking, as it were. It's fun to make up sites too—try hyping a fantastic new site called www.grasshopperlegsforfancytimes.com, and let the frustration and confusion begin! You can also post links that are unrelated to your topic du jour and leave your readers wondering what they're missing...

Get personal.

What better forum to air your grievances? If your best friend or significant other has offended you in some way, start typing. A long, personal, privacy-shattering rant will make you feel much better than an e-mail or a simple phone call would. Everyone else will surely be interested in your personal problems too.

Copy and paste.

It's sure a lot of work to come up with new material on a regular basis. Feel free to copy and paste from other people's blogs or Web sites. (It's okay, everybody does it.)

Don't waste your time editing.

This is the number one problem in blogging—overediting! If you continue to waste your time proofing for typos and checking for libelous statements, you'll never keep up with your blog. No one really minds wading through the meandering stream of your consciousness, and we know that you do know how to spell basic words and use punctuation. You just have better things to do—like trying to figure out whose blog to plagiarize next.

We're kidding!! We're kidding!!

In June 2008's issue we talked about the query letter and its components. Now let's look at the business aspects of your query and focus on marketability.

Every day agents and editors receive countless queries and unsolicited manuscripts. As they sift through the backlog, they are looking for one thing and one thing only: work that will sell. Publishing is an industry, and if the editor can't get a clear idea of what kind of work you are submitting, he or she can't tell if it is marketable. It's your job as the author to present this information up front in your query letter.

Visualize your work as a commodity. Suppose you approach a store and tell Mr. Jones, the owner, you have a brilliant new gadget that would sell well in his store—but you hem and haw and never quite make it clear to Mr. Jones what your product is or who might buy it. There's a long line of salesmen waiting outside to pitch their products, so the owner dismisses you, irritated that you have wasted his time.

Editors and agents are also pressed for time and looking to weed out work that they can't sell. One of their first criteria is genre, so it's important to make this clear right away. This is a 100,000-word historical fiction romance. Make sure you target your historical romance to an agent or editor who actually represents this genre.

Address the following when composing your query letter:

Fiction or nonfiction
It may seem obvious but clearly state what you're submitting.

Genre
Identify your genre right away. Horror, science fiction, romance, Western, chick lit, children's lit—if you don't know what genre your work is, keep reading.

Audience
Who will be buying this book? Women ages 25-40? Single fathers? Beginning readers? This is where you determine your target audience. Be specific and avoid sweeping generalizations like "This book will appeal to everyone who breathes oxygen!"

What makes my book different?
You don't want to approach an agent with a query that says, "I have written something just like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." Your book might appeal to the same readers who would purchase Atwood's book, but it must be unique in some way. Compare your book to a similar title that has sold well if you can, but don't expect to sell a Harry Potter knockoff unless you've found a truly original angle.

Marketing
Publishers have their own marketing departments, but you should do some brainstorming of your own. It's impressive to note that you're an expert in your field and have some valuable contacts who may help with visibility. Or you have an idea for a Valentine's Day tie-in and have some verbal agreements for book signings. Show the agent or editor that you've been thinking of your work as a commodity, and they will too.

If you're having trouble determining your work's genre, you'll need to start with some research. First, find other authors and books that are similar to yours. Then, either do a Google search or go to the largest chain bookstore in your area and hunt down those titles. If your book would fit in with the others on the shelf, you've found your genre. Check the back of the book too, as the genre is usually identified there.       

An editor will notice if you've done your research, and this lends you credibility and professionalism. This begins with targeting the agent or editor who is most likely to read your query. Read trade journals to narrow the field, and do your best to find the most current editor and the correct spelling of his or her name. If the editor does not publish horror, do not send horror. If you're not sure of the agent's gender, do not make assumptions. (Address your letter to the agent's full name to avoid any embarrassment.) And, above all, give the agent or editor exactly what he or she needs to make a decision. This alone will set your query apart from the others.

Write about the vacation you're going on this summer. Who are you going with, and what are your destinations at that vacation spot? Or are you the spontaneous type of person who recuperates at home with a good book? What? No plans yet? Here's your time to get your ideas out and to write your plan into reality. Write about how you will budget your money and/or time to give yourself the treatment you so deserve. Even if you opt not to write a personal essay, writing personal goals on paper can be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself and your spirit.

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