Ask a REAL question!

When I was removing the word 'NOT' from the 2000 some places I'd used it in Angel On Board, I found hundreds of places where it was just an extra word. Whether you used it or left it out was irrelevant to the meaning of the sentence, but it did change how the sentence was received.

Case in Point: The question:

1. "Isn't that going to cause you a problem?"

vs.

2. "Is that going to cause you a problem?"

Question 1 is a leading question. The asker of that question knows the answer they expect the questionee to give. It is a manipulation and it felt harsh to read - or frankly, to write.

Question 2 is a genuine question. The asker of that question allows the person being questioned to actually answer it the way they need to. When writing and when explaining this point to people, it feels good to actually ask a question to which a sincere answer can be given.

I was able to eliminate literally hundreds of "not's" out of the book this way. It was easy. The book felt better to read after I did. The conversations felt more open and the characters responded more freely than before. The storyline actually improved with this change alone.

This epiphany really led me to believe that the word "not" is unnecessary in the English language.

I hope you enjoy reading the new, better feeling version of Angel On Board.

Thanks,
EJ

Getting the "NOT" out

Colorado author rewrites her novel to create the most positive book ever written. EJ Thornton took every occurrence of the words ‘no’ and ‘not’ out of her classic story – Angel on Board. By rephrasing common sentences such as ‘Don’t worry’ into ‘Relax,’ and ‘Don’t forget,’ into ‘Remember,’ she completely transformed her original work into an affirmative new creation.

She’s always been keenly aware of the different ‘feel’ words have even when their meanings are essentially the same. Knowing the delivery of the message is as important as the message itself, inspired her to experiment with the novel. The book contains some difficult topics, but it is intended to be a comfort to its readers, so she decided to reduce the stress level of the book by taking out the ‘nots’ and see if she could tell the same, or maybe even a better story.

What started out as an experiment in affirmative language turned into the discovery of astonishing insights such as ‘The word NOT is completely expendable.’ The rephrasing got easier as the work progressed. The 288 page novel had nearly 2000 occurrences of the negative words, but they have all been totally removed.

Worried early on, that the rephrasing might seem contrived, Thornton gave review chapters to people who had read Angel On Board before. They reported back that it was astoundingly better and it even ‘felt’ better to read. Further assured by one reader’s comment, “People rarely miss what’s been omitted,” EJ continued her quest. EJ asked the readers if they could tell where the changes happened, and the readers told her that the changes were seamless.

“The insights were many and quite enlightening about the way we choose words,” EJ says every time she signs one of her books. Because the insights are so rich, she is also making herself available to the speaking circuit to share the positive messages with the public. To find out more about Angel On Board, go to www.AngelOnBoard.com.