The Writing Process

ACA Book Project

The Writing Process with ACA

Before you start to write your story, read the guidelines on MANUSCRIPT PRESENTATION for guidance on how you should present your work.

If you or someone you know has a good story to tell, but for some reason you do not think you (or they) are able to express the story on paper, perhaps because you (or they) are infirm or elderly or for some other reason, please get in touch with us. We may be able to arrange to interview the person concerned either in person or by telephone so that their story can still be told for inclusion in the book.

Once ACA receives your final manuscript, it will be edited for consistency of style, appropriate language usage, spelling and punctuation errors. By using these guidelines and paying attention to correct spelling as you write, the amount of editing required should be lessened. Additional changes that aid clarity of meaning for the reader may also be made. Some structural editing may also be required, for example, the re-ordering of sections or paragraphs.

Once the editing is completed, a copy of the edited manuscript will be forwarded to you for approval prior to publication.

All authors will hold copyright to any story published by ACA and will be able to use their stories elsewhere after its publication in the book or on the ACA website without referral to ACA. All stories will be edited for stylistic reasons and space but every effort will be made to retain the voice of the writer. Any major changes will be discussed with the author. ACA reserves the right to use stories or parts of stories as a means of promoting the book, or as a means of increasing awareness of the nature of the American diaspora in general

Any profits made on the sale of the book will be used to cover production costs. Once production costs have been covered, any additional funds will be used to finance ACA's efforts to promote and defend Overseas Americans.

Telling Your Story

The book will be one of stories told in the individual voices of Americans living overseas, so that those voices can be heard at home when there might otherwise never be an opportunity for them to be heard.

While our aim is to publish a book that is full of "good tales," at the same time we would like to give Americans at home an understanding of the scope and diversity of our extraordinary American diaspora. In other words, we hope the book will not only entertain but also make readers aware that a considerable number of their own brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and relatives, are scattered around the globe for a variety of reasons, experiencing the world as Americans, but from a different geographical perspective.

A theme throughout the book will be that Americans living overseas are dealing with special challenges given where they are living and working, using the qualities and strengths that make us all uniquely American. At the same time, private sector Americans overseas are in a privileged position to examine and draw conclusions on what it means to be an American in an international context and to also better appreciate America's true place in the global community.

Stories contributed to the book should be 2,000 to 3,000 words in length. Some may stretch to 4,000 words. This will allow for approximately 65,000 to 70,000 words or about 20 to 23 stories filling a 198mm x 130mm paperback book. The stories should be non-fiction, and please feel free to be humorous, or serious, or both. There stories might outline an American's unique "journey" through a life spent primarily or partly overseas, or they might focus on a shorter period or episode. Stories might center on daily life in the host country and how individuals got where they are today. They may include musings on the phenomenon of "belonging in two places" and national and cultural identity, or thoughts on whether a person "still calls America home" while living away.

Stories might also touch upon how Americans living outside the United States feel they are accepted by Americans at home while they are away, and any perceptions of exclusion from or inclusion in America from a distance. Or they might comment upon the ways in which overseas Americans relate to their friends and relatives at home differently to when they previously lived in America.

Stories can also include aspects of "reverse culture shock," i.e. experiences on returning to live in America after living overseas.

Personal stories might be set against the background of particular historical events. For example, an individual's story about leaving Europe just after World War II to marry a United States serviceman and live in the United States for many years, could include thoughts on the differences between European and American life in the post-war years, culture shock, and comments on events in the United States in those years, as well as the dual identity of children with parents of different nationalities.

Similarly, a personal story about experiences in Vietnam in the 1990s while managing an international construction business could be set against the post-war history and development of that country. A story of this nature might include professional or career aspects as well as personal insights into what family life is like in that environment.

We would like the book to include stories from overseas Americans of all ages and backgrounds from a wide variety of countries. By "American" we mean not only people born in America, but also those who were born with another nationality, immigrated to America, were naturalized, and later then lived abroad again.

Interesting comparisons could be drawn between the experience of moving to America from elsewhere, and then later living outside America in a different country. Similarly, American-born children of migrants may have some comparisons to draw between the settlement experiences of their parents in America and their own experiences as Americans overseas.

There is some, but limited, scope in the book for pieces shorter than 2,000 words or even the occasional poem.

You may not wish to write under your real name for privacy reasons. If you wish to publish your story under a pseudonym, please make this clear when you submit your manuscript. Note that ACA will need to know your real name and contact details in any case, although these can be kept confidential. Writing under a pseudonym does not mean that your story can be fiction or plagiarized. It should still be a non-fiction account told in your voice.

We are not intending to publish a book of travelers' tales, but rather we are seeking stories from Americans who have lived abroad for one year or longer.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Please ensure that the story you submit is the true product of your own creativity and has not been copied in whole or in part from another author.

If you use someone else's material at any point in your story, reference this text appropriately, i.e. a direct quotation must be enclosed within "double quotation marks" and the source of the quote (author, publication name, publisher and year of publication) provided. Any of [your own words] inserted within the quotation must be enclosed in square brackets.

In the books published by ACA direct quotations will generally be used sparingly. Occasionally however you may wish to convey material provided by another author. Here is an example of proper attribution:

"Big Red, writing in her book Dyeing to Get Ahead (Carrot Color Books, London 1987), advises that the ferry service in this area is particularly unreliable."

Story Structure

Your story may need to be divided into sections. To make for more directed reading, it is useful if your story narrative is divided by appropriate sub-headings, and sub-sub-headings, if necessary. Do not change the selected typeface to indicate headings and do not use ALL CAPITALS. To distinguish the different heading levels select a style hierarchy and apply this consistently throughout the work, for example:

Heading level 1 (14 pt Arial bold)

Heading level 2 (12 pt Arial bold)

Heading level 3 (12 pt Arial underlined)

Heading level 4 (12 pt Arial)

Do not include periods or colons at the end of headings. Set each heading on a line of its own with the text following on a new line. All headings should be left aligned. (Any additional formatting of heading levels is carried out in PageMaker 6.5 during the production process.)

Paragraphs generally should not run the length of the page. Try to convey one major point, or a few related points, per paragraph. Introduction of a new idea calls for a new paragraph.

See Manuscript presentation for advice on how to present any non-text material with your manuscript.

Use of Language

The key to conveying what you want to say to the reader clearly is to be concise.

Short sentences generally work better. This is not to say that a long well-constructed sentence will not also work. However, if your sentences tend to be rambling, your meaning may often be lost.

Please try to avoid redundant words and phrases, verbosity and tautologies.

A style that is in part conversational may be very appropriate when telling your story. Conversely, using a style that is formal and distant could make the reading experience a real hard chore.

Please also avoid using sexist or racist terms.

ACA recommends that Webster's Dictionary (spelling) and AGPS Style Manual (5th edition) be used as central references for language usages.

Proper Spelling, Punctuation, Abbreviations, etc.

Below are some style points that are common sources of confusion. In these instances, the style adopted by ACA and outlined here is not necessarily the only usage that is "correct". In fact, in English there is rarely only one way of using the language that is considered acceptable in a particular context. However, as discussed in the introduction, the purpose of adhering to these style notes is to achieve consistency within and between ACA publications.

Abbreviations: Use capitals without periods: US, UK, BC, AD, OK, BYO, BBQ, BYO. For less well-known acronyms, spell out the first usage followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, e.g.: American Aid for Cambodia Fund (AACF), then use the abbreviation thereafter. Others: e.g. may be used in place of "for example"; i.e. may be used in place of "that is".

Capitals: Do NOT use ALL CAPITALS in headings or within text (except in acronyms). Use sentence case for headings, i.e. initial capital only. For example:

Finding short-term accommodation

Security issues for volunteers

Proper nouns: use initial capitals within the text only when referring to a name of a place, organization, official position, brand name, book or magazine title (these also need to be italicized), and some significant events, e.g.:

Mt Selwyn

American Red Cross

President of the IOC (but not Journalist, Doctor etc)

Ovaltine

Eastern Europe on a Shoestring

Baltimore Sun

World War II, Second World War

also: Year 11, Year 12, the UK, the Netherlands

Use of Compound Words: If possible, refer to Webster's Dictionary when deciding whether or not to hyphenate compound words. For words that are not listed, the most common situation in which a hyphen is needed is when the compound word is used adjectivally, e.g.:

A fast-moving film. The film was fast moving.

An ill-judged decision. The decision was ill judged.

Also when an adjectival compound consists of a short phrase, e.g.:

run-of-the-mill

hand-to-mouth

In other instances, if the use of a hyphen clarifies the meaning of the sentence for the reader, then use a hyphen, e.g.:

We need more-experienced staff (i.e. we need staff with greater experience not a greater number of experienced staff)

ACA prefers to minimize the use of hyphenation for commonly used compound words in line with the general tendency that over time commonly used compound words are joined together, e.g.:

wild life -- wild-life -- wildlife. The latter is now in common usage.

cooperative, socioeconomic, homecoming, etc.

Currency: For amounts expressed in American dollars use the $ symbol, e.g.: $1 $50 $120

Only include the decimal point if cent amounts need to be expressed, e.g.: $1.50

For amounts expressed in other currencies use the appropriate symbol, e.g.: £100 €100 etc

Prefix any non-American dollar currencies with a two letter abbreviation that indicates the national currency you are referring to, e.g.: NZ$10, CA$10

For amounts above 9999 use a comma to separate the thousands e.g.US$10,0000; £10,000; €10,000; CA$10,000; etc.

Express a price range as: The bus fare ranges in price from $20 to $50. or The price was between $20 and $50.

Expressing Dates: The following are the preferred usages:

1970s not 1970's

1968 to 1972 or 1968-1972 (using one dash)

between 1981 and 1990

the 18th century

12 November 1999

50 BC

Use of Ellipsis: Use at the end of a sentence or within a quotation to indicate that part of the quote has been omitted. Three full points only with a space either side, e.g.:

That was the end of that, or so the story goes ...

"It is high time that workers ... accepted the need to work longer hours."

Using Foreign Language Words and Phrases: Include foreign words or phrases only when necessary to describe a significant object or concept, e.g. the local term for post office, or when the term will be referred to frequently in the text.

Italicize foreign words or phrases except: when the word is included in Webster's Dictionary (i.e. it is in common usage in the English language, e.g. kamikaze); when the word is a geographical or place name, e.g. towns, rivers, states; or when the word is a brand name, business name or personal name (in which case use Initial Capitals only).

Follow the italicized foreign word by the English equivalent in parentheses and in plain text, e.g.: gaijin (foreigner)

Subsequent use of the foreign word should still be in italics but need not be followed by the English equivalent. If the foreign word is used as an adjective, replace it with the English equivalent, e.g.: the foreign press, not the gaijin press

Headings: See Structure.

Using Italics: Use for titles of books, magazines and other publications, videos and movies.

Use for foreign words not found in Webster's Dictionary (i.e. not in common usage), except geographical (place) names, which should be in plain text. If appropriate, follow the foreign word with an English definition in parentheses (in plain text); see also Foreign words and phrases.

Use italics sparingly for emphasis within the text.

Punctuation preceding and following italic text should be in plain text.

Brand names are not in italics but should be in plain text with an initial capital.

Using Numbers: Express numbers of ten or less as words. Express numbers greater than ten as numerals. For example: Among the group who traveled by boat, eight were from England, 27 were from France and 21 were from other countries. However, if the text is mainly narrative and the use of numerals obstructs the flow of the text for the reader, then express the number in words, e.g.: Among the group who traveled by boat, thirteen were from England.

Whenever numbers accompany symbols of measurement, use numerals not words with a space between the number and the symbol, e.g.: 120 kg, 10 am, 9 per cent or 9 %, 18 l, 12 g, 6 km

Ages: always use numerals, e.g.: 9 years, 30 years