I know that many of you will not be over here these days, some because of cooking, buying, etc and others because of traveling. So I wanted to post my Christmas card for you all today.

Thank you all for your friendship!

I'm not very good with photoshop but this is a card made by me:

This weekend I was making a summary of all the tips Tracy gave me and all the ones I have read on internet for revisions. I thought I should share it here so anyone can print as I will do and have it near.

Also please if you know or think of another thing important when revising please comment and I will go adding to this post.

Things to look for or change when revising:

1. Show, don’t tell:

“Show, Don't Tell invites understanding; I cannot find a better way to say this”

“If you are as captivated by what you read the tenth time you read it as you were the first time, then the author has succeeded in Show, Don't Tell”.

“When "showing" would prove to be more information than anyone wants or needs, then telling is perfectly acceptable. A good rule to keep in mind is that if it isn't important to the story, it's okay to keep it to the realm of telling”.

"In the case of "acceptable tell" always keep in mind that IF you can change it without it becoming more than you want it to be, do so. This leaves room for those necessary tells. Too much tell, even if it seems acceptable, drags a story down."

            “In resume if you want to build a character, shape a mood, you must show. But I you want to move the story maybe tell is correct. I guess it is the balance of them what makes the prefect story.”

-          The words: I heard, I saw, I felt, I was, usually are signs of telling.

2. Try as must as you can to substitute adverbs for strong verbs.

3. Avoid using as much as possible “which” “who” and “ that”.

4. Describe, you want the reader to experience the story.

5. Always check grammar.

6. Very and so are filler words. Find other words.

7. If there’s no dialogue in a while we must evaluate our technique.

8. Characters have to be in movement, living, making things.

9. Little or no ambiance and presence. If we gloss over important events, giving the rundown on who said what, when, where and how, and then slip out of the event without so much as a drink, it may be time to ponder. Why did we feel the need to include this important event in the first place?

10. Give the reader a reason to care for the character

11. Use dialogue effectively. Let the character speak, make the reader eavesdrop the conversation, not only hear it from you.

12. Use gestures and movements. . Act out the scene, if necessary to capture details.

13. Make every word count. Make every word mean something, be important for the history.

It’s becoming a tradition to post my new words on Monday.

Today I have only four. I haven’t worked in the translation- revision this weekend. My brain was like in formalin. I wasn’t able to concentrate with this flu. I hope tomorrow I feel better.

Here are the words and how I used them, to see if they are used correctly and are still used:

Disquiet: cause worry, make uneasy, disturb. I used it in: “I walked back home, disquieted not only by the noise, but also by a series of emotions that wrapped me.”

Intuit: sense intuitively, perceive through intuition. I used it here: “Perhaps my mother intuited what had happened to me these days”

Divert: distract; entertain; turn in a different direction, deflect. I used it here: “This caused him to laugh diverted, not upset at all by the sarcasm.

Sweep over: overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli [syn: overwhelm, overpower, whelm, overcome, overtake]  I used it in: “The people’s emotions were so strong – in particular depression- that sweep over me completely.”

Have an excellent Monday!!

Here I’m again with my words post.

As I told you in the other post some of these words are new for me and other I don’t know if I used them correctly or are still used.

Toyed: meaning in the dictionary: was toying with the idea of writing a book: THINK ABOUT, consider, flirt with, entertain the possibility of; informal  kick around.

I used it like this: “I toyed with my dream for a long time, trying to make sense of it”

Creep in: enter surreptitiously; "he sneaked in under cover of darkness"; "in this essay, the author's personal feelings creep in" [syn: sneak in]
I used it here: “The sun began to creep in the room indicating that a new day had begun”

Endure: suffer without complaint, tolerate; continue on in spite of difficulty .

I used it here: “The noise in my head began again. It was terribly annoying, but I could endure it.”

Cease: stop, halt.

I used it here: “The noise in my head ceased”

Unknown : someone or something which is not known; someone or something that is unfamiliar; mathematical factor which is not known .

I used it like this: “I had so many unknowns to answer”

Flit: fly; flutter; dart; move quickly; change location; escape in secret

I used it like this: “A smile of satisfaction flitted across my face”

Have a great Monday!!

Finally I'm posting the new words I found in my translation. As you can see many of them may be common for you but I never heard of them.

What I need to know is if this words are still used and if they are correctly used.

Here are the words:

Grudging – as in: “Grudging I got out of bed.”

React- as respond, we use this word a lot but I don’t know if it is used in English. Like in “Making my mind react”

Faculty – We say that faculty is an area of a college specialized in something or were you learn something. Like the faculty of psychology or the economics faculty. Is faculty a word used in English?

Outskirts – as in: “The outskirts of the city” I’m using it as suburb.

Drifted – as in: “I drifted back to my memories of the other night.”

Keen – can you use this as an adjective for eyes?

Issuer – this is the meaning in the dictionary: person or thing that sends out.

Companion – “Compañero” in Spanish, it is used a lot in my language but I don’t know if you use it this way. I used it like this: “Tranquility was my companion on my way back”

Heinous- can I use this for fear? I am saying that I have heinous fear .As an atrocious fear.

Twist to understand – well as you can see this is not a word but I don’t know if in English someone can twist to understand something. In Spanish would be used as “ retorcerse” but I don’t know if it is correctly used like that.

Disrupting – as disturb. “He was disrupting me”.

Stubble – the meaning in the dictionary is: short rough growth of beard. Is it still used?

Stirred – can someone stir his hair?

Inspected – “Those eyes I couldn’t forget inspected me with such intensity that I felt as if they were touching me, making my skin burn.” Is correctly used there?

Cutting tone – can someone’s tone be cutting in English? Is like someone answering shortly and hard.

Interrogation- the dictionary says: act of questioning, investigation, inquiry, examination through questions. Is it still used like that?

Toured – As in: “I toured the legs with my eyes”

Lank – I’m using this for straight hair.

Ruffled – Can someone ruffle his hair?

“See you brother” – to use the term brother would be correct in Spanish between friends. Is it correct to use it in English or I should use another term?

Maybe some of this will not get to the final draft because I have to finally learn to SHOW and don't tell but I will really appreciate your help.

Now I will go to continue struggling with the show and tell...

Have a wonderful day!