Dwane Thomas’ Tip of the Week – November 4, 2017
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Are you a writer? Do you sometimes wonder how much you are writing?
Maybe that’s a strange question. Let me explain. Every week Grammarly sends me a report like this one:
Generally, I ignore the reports. But, this report stunned me. 373,000 words? What does that even mean? I needed the information in pages. Number of words? That just doesn’t make any sense to me.
I feel the same when talking to teenagers about cell phones. Gigabytes? Megabytes? Kilobytes? Oreo bites? What are we talking about? I need the information presented to me in a different format. How many audiobooks can my phone hold? THAT Is a measurement I can understand.
I could go on. In fact, I think I will.
How old am I? I have been alive 533 months, or just over 11 Olympiads.
How tall am I? 69 inches.
How much do I weigh? Hey. That’s none of your business.
Soooo… 373,000 words? What does THAT mean? Obviously, It means that my family was busy, and I was terribly bored. But, what does it mean in pages? Fortunately, there’s a way to find out. Simply go to this site: http://www.netbookasus.com/wordstopages/.
Make a few adjustments. For example, I switched the font to Times New Roman, switched the size to 12 point font, and switched the spacing to single. (Be careful with the last one. If you have multiple tabs open on your computer, you might accidentally switch your relationship status to single. That could get you into trouble. Seriously, be careful.)
After plugging in the information you will know the number of pages you wrote. During my very long week of boredom, it turns out, I wrote 914 pages. If you’re wondering where those pages are, they’re on my site. I was transferring student answers over to the members’ section that week.
Incidentally, that week inspired me to try it again. I haven’t written a book since 2013. I don’t know why I stopped. I’ve been waiting around for permission to write another book. Or, maybe I’ve just been waiting around for the extra time. Or, maybe I just found it easier to make excuses.
I needed a jolt. About a week ago, I read a book by Bob Bly on Writing E-books. Inspired, I decided to go for it again. In fact, I decided to follow his instructions in painstaking detail. Not only that, I challenged myself to complete the book in one month. If I can write 914 pages in a week, then maybe I can write, edit, self-publish and sell another ebook in a month. I’m about 40 pages into it already. My goal is to have the book available November 30. We will see.
If you’re a writer, you now know how to count those pages.
Unfortunately, I can’t explain gigabytes to you. Go find a teenager. Those guys can help.
Have a great weekend!
Dwane
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Here’s the book I wrote in 2013. For the most part, it’s about learning Latin. The tips and tricks I share, however, do apply to other subjects. Check it out here:
https://dwanethomas.com/downloads/via-latin-lost/
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Behind in Latin? Need help with Henle Latin? You can join one of my classes anytime. Help is here:
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How would you like to be able to read the New Testament in Greek? I can take you there. It’s not going to be easy, but I can take you there Join the class here:
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