Writing diary

This week has shot past me.  I think everyone's trying to be up to date because of holidays coming up.  So I've had lots of bits of things to clear up for people.

Plus some larger jobs.  Edited an information bulletin for one of my regular clients.  The problem that often occurs with their work is the issue of spacing.  Text is  written or revised, then it's dropped into a format with pictures and the sentence spacing goes haywire. 

Not the designers' fault, it just happens.  And when you're checking, particularly with some fonts, it can look correct on screen but comes out wrong in print.  And vice versa.

Perennial problem to solve with every edition.

What else this week?

Doing a sample chapter layout for a client.  Again very difficult when you're writing at speed to decide if you're giving the words enough space for the reader to process the words. 

Everyone reads at a different speed and absorbs information in a different way.  So in a layout you have to include those who speed read and want the most important facts, fast; then you have to allow those who read in their heads, almost like reading out loud time to work through the text.  And last you have the fact people.  Those who like statistics, references to research and extra information that's real.  Not only the writer's opnions, but what really happened.

Easy isn't it!

I also quoted for an editing job for a regular client.  Not sure if this will happen but if it does, then it will be needed fast.

And I contacted the writers and publishers I met at Lowdham who offered to guest blog for me.  I've already received one article from Clare Dudman and that will probably appear next week.  It's a down to earth look at how a writer operates.