A period marks the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence. It is followed by a single space (not two spaces). It is sometimes used at the end of an incomplete sentence.
Example: The storm was almost upon us, so we needed to take shelter.
Incomplete: Under a tree perhaps.

When an entire independent sentence is enclosed in parentheses or square brackets, the period belongs inside the closing parenthesis or bracket. When a clause or even a complete sentence is enclosed within another sentence, the period belongs outside.
Example: Sharon rewrote her manuscript over and over. (She never tired of editing.)
She said she would never speak to him again [referring to her former boss].

When quoting Scripture, the citation goes in parentheses and the period goes at the end. Example: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

No period should follow chapter titles, subheadings, column headings in tables, dates, signatures, or addresses.

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, concludes her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

STEP TEN: SUBMIT THREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS AND YOUR SYNOPSIS (OUTLINE) TO A PUBLISHER. You may begin submitting your proposal as soon as you have several chapters completed. It’s permissible to try one publisher or several, as long as you let the editors know you are querying several publishers at once. If your proposal interests them, most publishers will want to see an entire manuscript from an unpublished novelist.

A novelist with several books to her credit may receive a contract on the basis of a proposal. Regardless of your status, I suggest you begin submitting your proposal before completing your novel. It may take months to receive a reply, and in the meantime you can continue to write. You may be fortunate enough to have your novel completed about the time you find a publisher who wants to take a look at it.

Your proposal should be as polished and error-free as you can make it. First impressions count. There is no excuse for a sloppy manuscript. Enclose a brief letter of introduction (one page,) stating your writing background and qualifications, what your novel is about, and your target audience. Most publishers want to know six things about your manuscript: Subject, Purpose, Theme, Method, Importance, and Market. When mailing or emailing your proposal, put your cover letter first, followed by your synopsis, then your sample chapters (usually the first three). Who knows? You may have written the Great American Novel the whole world is waiting to read!

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

(Part 9 continued) While you wrote your rough draft in a spontaneous, right-brain mode, you will want to put your inner “critic” in the driver’s seat for your rewrite. That’s the key word. Be willing to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite some more. Check your spelling, punctuation, grammar, clarity of expression, facts, logic, pacing, style, and tone.

And if possible, when you’ve given it all you’ve got, give your manuscript to someone else to evaluate—another writer, an editor, a critique group—someone whose judgment you trust. Even the most professional writer occasionally has tunnel vision and needs the objectivity of another person. Be responsive to criticism, not defensive. Few published writers have thin skin; years of deflecting rejection slips have given most of us tough hides.

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

STEP NINE: WRITE THE ENTIRE ROUGH DRAFT OF YOUR NOVEL; THEN EVALUATE WHAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN. An artist would be foolish to finish one small corner of his painting while leaving the rest of the canvas blank. By the same token, don’t insist on editing your first few chapters to perfection before tackling the rest of your novel.

Rather, work at completing the entire rough draft before going back for intensive editing. Why? You may find that your perspective has changed drastically and your original vision for the work has undergone a transformation. When the entire “picture” is finished, you can step back and scrutinize the whole. But give yourself—and your work—time and space. Only then can you come back fresh to analyze and evaluate the separate parts.

Ask yourself these questions:
1. Have I achieved my purpose in writing this novel?
2. Are my characters lifelike, interesting, sympathetic, compelling, unique, and realistically motivated?
3. Do I make my reader care deeply about my main character?
4. Do I have a worthy theme? An engrossing, credible plot?
5. Have I utilized the tools of fiction (dialogue, description, scenes, characterization, conflict, etc.) effectively?

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

STEP EIGHT: DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE YOUR OUTLINE OR SYNOPSIS. The process of writing is a journey, an adventure, an exploration of the unknown. You may find that your novel takes new directions, the characters evolve differently from what you expected, and the plot needs to be adjusted to accommodate new ideas and revised goals.

Fine. That’s natural. Don’t be anxious. Keep your outline as a loose structure to guide you in your writing, but be flexible enough to respond to your own creative instincts and impulses. Think of your synopsis as a road map to guide you in your travels. Once you actually begin your journey, you may discover other side roads and avenues more exciting or suitable than the path you marked out. Remember, your synopsis is there only to serve you; don’t make yourself a slave to it. Experiment with new routes as you please.

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

STEP SEVEN: BEGIN THE ACTUAL WRITING. Frankly, at any point in these first six steps you may find yourself compelled to begin your actual novel. That’s fine. When you’re ready, you’ll sense it. When that elusive muse nudges or inspires you, seize the opportunity to write. But don’t get so caught up in the writing that you neglect your organization and research. Let your story ripen; don’t pluck it when it’s green. By the same token, don’t let your story become overripe. That is, don’t get so caught up in the preparations for your novel that you never get around to writing it!

I suggest that you write an entire chapter at a sitting, if possible. Review your synopsis, character sketches and research materials as necessary. Then write freely, with minimal editing, visualizing your scenes and letting yourself experience your characters’ emotions. Have fun with your story. See your writing as a great adventure that heightens all of your senses and makes you prickle with excitement. What you feel as you write is what your reader will feel as he reads. If you feel you are slogging through the material and barely keeping your head above water, your reader will feel that same sense of drudgery. But if you take pleasure in the writing, your reader will take pleasure in the reading.

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel.

STEP SIX: DO NECESSARY RESEARCH ON SUBJECTS TO BE COVERED IN YOUR NOVEL. Your objective facts must be accurate to sustain the illusion of reality and give credibility to your emotional details; thus, research is as vital for fiction as for nonfiction.

Remember, primary sources are always better than secondary sources. Don’t be satisfied to simply read a book or article on your topic. Go directly to the source for information. Talk with people who’ve experienced what your character is experiencing. Interview police officers, lawyers, detectives, psychologists, doctors, nurses, and military personnel—anyone who is willing to share his perspective and shed light on the topics covered by your novel.

For my novel, Kara, in which a character is severely burned, I visited a burn unit and borrowed a nurse’s manual offering detailed instructions for caring for burn patients. For my teen novel, Maria’s Search, I summoned my courage and went on a police ride-along through Watts, where I witnessed several drug deals occurring on street corners in broad daylight. (Only later did I panic as I recalled signing a form absolving the police of any blame in the event of my death or injury.) While writing Hallie’s Secret about child sexual abuse, I interviewed a psychologist, a lawyer, a woman who had been abused as a child, and foster parents and families who had adopted abused children. I read every book I could find on the subject and even attended a foster parents’ seminar dealing with abuse.

You might wonder whether you as a novelist have a right to “bother” the experts for information. “Will they resent my queries or consider me intrusive or meddlesome?” No! In all my years of seeking out the experts, I’ve found them to be helpful, if not eager to share their expertise. And why not? Their words of wisdom may end up in the pages of a book, and let’s face it, there’s something about the publishing mystique that most people find irresistible. They’re thrilled to contribute their knowledge for posterity.

Guest blogger, Carole Gift Page, continues to share her Ten Steps in Writing a Novel. Here is a continuation of Step Five:

Take a look at a few descriptive passages from Beyond the Windswept Sea. Notice how we tried to weave scenic descriptions in with our characters’ ongoing actions to keep the story moving and avoid sounding like a travelogue.

“We drove around the waterfront, catching the pungent smells of pulp mills and salmon canneries, then wended our way past towering spruce, mountain ash with red berries, and barren cedar.

“We made our way toward Creek Street—a ragged string of rustic houses teetering on spindly pilings over a raging stream.”

If you can’t visit the locations in your novel, visit your public library and read about them. Don’t just wing it from your armchair, trusting vague generalizations to convey a strong sense of place. Write your own detailed descriptions from photographs in travel books. Interview people who have been there. In our novel Storm Clouds over Paradise, Doris and I created our own island in the Caribbean by writing descriptions from travel photos. Here are random samples:

“There stood the sprawling, two-story Windy Reef Hotel, looming like a refurbished Georgian plantation, its pillars glistening white in the sunlight . . . surrounded by a profusion of riotous colors—full-blooming scarlet bougainvillea, exotic lavender orchids, and sweet-scented frangipani.

“Tamarind trees and palms weighted with ripened coconuts lined the water’s edge, their fronds dipping and waving lazily in the cooling breeze.

“We crossed to the row of open-air booths where kilo scales dangled from makeshift burlap awnings while bulging sacks of dried beans and red peppers basked in the sun. The bins were heaping with red tomatoes, hills of onions, sliced watermelon, bruised bananas, fly-dotted mangoes, and pineapples with spiky stalks.”

A final word on describing locations: Make sure your descriptions appeal to all five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch (or texture). Put your emphasis on specific descriptive nouns and verbs, and, to a lesser extent, on adjectives and adverbs.