How To Write A Manuscript (same Above)
The Ugly Side of Writing
Author: E. P. Ned Burke
Rewriting a manuscript may not be the most attractive part of a writer’s job, but it is a necessary one, which brings to mind a local television ad I enjoyed watching years ago. It showed this hillbilly character sitting near a stack of old tires. He wore a pair of bib overalls and he looked straight into the camera and drawled, “Folks, tires ain’t purty.” The ad sold a lot of tires because the actor was believable, and he stated an obvious fact; namely, tires were not beautiful, but they were necessary.
When I first started writing, I thought I was “purty.” I considered myself an “artist,” someone who splashed words upon a page and then stepped back to admire them. Creativity meant never having to rewrite a single word. Such “creativity” also resulted in a steady stream of rejection slips. Over the years, however, I matured and finally acknowledged that rewriting (or, at least, rethinking to find the best word or sentence) had to be a part of my work ethic.
During my newspaper days it was pounded into me to give careful thought to each word before putting anything to paper. “Get it right the first time,” I was told. Ernest Hemingway, a former newsman, also chiseled out sentences for his novels in the same manner. When he was satisfied with one “perfect” sentence, he went on to the next, and then the next. Thomas Wolfe and F. Scott Fitzgerald, on the other hand, wrote whatever came to mind, and then later went back and rewrote, sometimes entire chapters. My wife is also a very creative writer and she likes to “let it flow” and then edit and rewrites everything again and again. I try to edit as I go along; then I go back to the beginning and rewrite what needs fixing, maybe once or twice.
What method is best? I believe it depends on the individual. The important thing is not to be satisfied with the first thought that pops into your head. Think! Then rethink. Then rewrite.
Samuel Johnson once said, “You should read over your composition and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.” Now that may be a harsh statement, but it does stress the need to be ruthless when editing your own copy. The best way to approach the task of rewriting is to pretend you are editing another writer’s manuscript. Picture in your mind the worst writer you know. Now take out that blue pencil and cut, cut, cut. You will be surprised how well you feel after chopping away all the dead wood.
“The beautiful part of writing,” said writer Robert Cromier, “is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” Whether it takes you two drafts or twenty-two drafts doesn’t matter. The final draft is all that counts. Think of yourself as a diamond cutter, chiseling away until you extract the perfect diamond. Then step back in awe and say, “That’s it!”
Who should rewrite?
Only writers belonging to the human race need to edit and rewrite. Dogs, cats and aardvarks are exempt from this practice.
Author Kay Cassill stated, “I don’t believe a writer exists today who can’t profit from that editorial blue pencil.” All of us need to proofread our copy at least twice. Don’t rely on your computer spell-checker to spot spelling errors as many are overlooked, such as “there” instead of “their.” And don’t edit on the computer screen; print your pages and then edit. Errors in spelling and grammar are easier to spot on the printed page. Above all, don’t expect today’s editors to fix your mistakes. Most do not have the time, and many will simply reject your manuscript in favor of one with fewer errors. Rewriting is a fact of life. Accept it, or perish.
What should you rewrite?
You should rewrite only what can be rewritten correctly, or better, or more clearly.
Mark Twain left us with many pearls of wisdom and one of my favorites was his saying, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” The goal of each writer is to find the “right word,” the one that conveys succinctly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Don’t settle for “almost.” Cut and polish until that diamond illuminates the page.
“Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill,” said Edmund Morrison. It’s true that putting words on paper is easy; taking them off is the hard part. But, with the right frame of mind, rewriting can be fun.
Buy yourself a good dictionary and thesaurus. Also, get The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. This little book–less than 100 pages–is filled with numerous nuggets of wisdom on the correct rules of grammar. Look for clichés, redundant phrases, excessive adverbs, too many adjectives, and unneeded words or sentences. Writing is all about clarity. Keep it simple. Be direct. Don’t use two words when one will do. Use a machete rather than a pocketknife when you become verbose. Expect some bloodletting.
When should you rewrite?
If you’re writing a novel, don’t wait until you finish the entire book before editing your pages. Begin rewriting as soon as possible, preferably after the first few chapters. I say this because if you finish the entire book you are somewhat “locked” into the outcome. During rewriting–as often happens– you may take an entirely new direction. Writing is all about the freedom to express yourself. So why be shackled? The same is true for short stories or articles. Begin editing at the first pause in the creative flow. For some, this may not be until the end of the story or article. For many, however, the muse departs after several pages. When this happens, stop! Go back to your first page and try to write it better. Move on to the next and do the same. When you reach where you left off you will be surprised your muse has returned, refreshed and ready to go again.
Where should you rewrite?
By this I mean, “Where in your manuscript are you most likely to need editing?” The first place to look would be your opening paragraph. It doesn’t matter if you’re working on a novel, short story, or article; the beginning must hook the reader into wanting to know more. Read the first lines of some of the classics and you’ll see what I mean.
“Vigorous writing is concise,” wrote William Strunk Jr. in The Elements of Style. “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”
In addition to the beginning, make sure your ending is equally concise and free of errors. Leave an editor with a satisfied smile on his face. Don’t add more than necessary to wrap-up your article or story. Know when enough is enough. Thomas Wolfe gave his editor, Max Perkins, fits because he never knew when to stop writing. Perkins had to literally sneak into his apartment and steal the manuscript before Wolfe added more to it.
Another area to look for trouble is in dialogue. Delete all unnecessary adverbs and explanatory verbs. The word said is preferable in most cases.
Why should you rewrite?
There are three rules to becoming a successful writer: (1) Write (2) Rewrite (3) The same as Rule 2. The only way to become successful in any endeavor is through practice; rewriting is the practice part of writing. Look at golfer Tiger Woods. He will “write” during a golf tournament, but he will also “rewrite” over and over again at the practice range, trying to eliminate any errors in his swing. Often during interviews, he remarks, “I just want to put myself in contention.” He does this by “rewriting” his golf game until it is perfect.
Few of us can equal Tiger on the golf course, but we can certainly put ourselves in contention with other writers by practicing our trade with the same dedication. Let’s face it, going to the practice range is not as glamorous as playing in a televised tournament before thousands of cheering fans.
Rewriting is also not glamorous, but it is necessary if you want to be a winner. And, who knows? Some day you may have fans of your own.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/the-ugly-side-of-writing-849758.html
About the Author
E. P. Ned Burke has worked in publishing for three decades. He is the author of 7 novels and numerous short stories and articles.
Currently, he is president of E. P. Burke Publishing and serves as the online editor of Yesterday’s Magazette and The Perspiring Writer Magazine. He is also owner of My Personal Copywriter, Ebooks On Writing, Ebooks For Marketeers, and The eBay Book Nook Depot.
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I understand where you’re coming from. But that maybe you’re not aware of some stuff. Like I agree with you about Qur’an not being understood as a whole yet. BUT that’s not because of the language and generation gap, but moreover becuase of the lack of knowledge about certain beings. For example, some scientific facts mentioned in Qur’an; we wouldn’t have been able to understand it had we read it couple of hundred years back, bcoz at that time some of those facts weren’t revealed scientifically. So still there are some infos in Qur’an which you can understand but can’t justify by scientific facts, but that doesn’t necessarily make them wrong…..anyway, my point is the latest stand Qur’an is that (as you said) it’s not possible to translate Qur’an exactly word-by-word into other languages, HOWEVER, given that Tafseer as someone mentioned above is provided, there shouldn’t be any problem. We just have to make sure that the translator has a very very sound knowledge about Islam, Arabic language and all other relevant stuff.
From quickly skimming through, this snippet sounds very interesting! However, there were a few errors in punctuation, grammar, etc. so I’ll go through it bit and bit and offer some corrections 🙂
-‘The pain of the sword in her shoulder had driven Grace to awake, only to find herself lying in a bed of furs, in a tent, wearing a long, white, plain tunic.’ << Firstly, I think '...driven Grace to wakefulness...' works better grammatically than what you've got at the moment. Secondly, as a generic rule, I would say don't list more than two adjectives when describing something, or it becomes tedious to read. Might I suggest '...wearing a long, white tunic.' instead? -'Something strange began to happen, in Graces hand an intense burning sensation, heated her skin.' << This should be: 'Something strange began to happen; in Grace's hand an intense burning sensation heated her skin.' -'She looked at it shock only to see an imprint of her sword hilt in her hand, and then it disappeared.' << I would suggest this instead: 'She looked at it in shock, only to see an imprint of her sword hilt in her hand. Then it disappeared.' -'Still some what a sleep she gazed around the room.' << Should be: 'Still somewhat asleep, she gazed around the room.' -'Grace almost jamp out of her skin when she could see in the furthest corner of the room something in slumber.' << Should be: 'Grace almost jumped out of her skin when she saw, in the furthest corner of the room, something in slumber.' -'A man that man, the jackal, the one who had been following her but why was she in his tent, Grace couldn’t help but to think on it.' << This is very confusing to read. I would reword it to: 'A man. *That* (Put 'that' in italics) man - the jackal - the one who had been following her. But why was she in his tent? Grace couldn’t help but to think on it.' -'She couldn’t help but to feel violated now noticing the chains around her wrists and ankles and the fact that she was in a new set of clothes didn’t help.' << Firstly; repetition of 'couldn't help but'. Therefore, I would simply suggest: 'She felt violated, noticing the chains around her wrists and ankles, and the fact that she was in a new set of clothes didn’t help.' -'Looking closely at her chains on her wrists, Grace looked for a way to break them.' << Once again, a bit of repetiton here (it's really fussy, I know, so I'm sorry about that!). Perhaps: 'Looking closely at the chains on her wrists, Grace searched for a way to break them.'? -'She repeatedly tugged in short, hard pulls, it clinked until it finally cracked and snapped like a piece of shattered glass.' << This should be two sentences, like so: 'She repeatedly tugged in short, hard pulls. It clinked until it finally cracked and snapped like a piece of shattered glass.' -'Standing before the bed she had slept in, Grace rubbed her aching arms “How brittle this metal is” sighing with great relief, Grace searched the room quietly for clothes.' << Is the bit in speech marks Grace's thoughts? If so, I'd put them in italics in your book to make it clear. The corrected version of this sentence would be: 'Standing before the bed she had slept in, Grace rubbed her aching arms. *How brittle this metal is,* she thought. Sighing with great relief, Grace searched the room quietly for clothes.' (*'s mean italics) -'A sword that’s all she needed now.' << Should be: 'A sword - that was all she needed now.' -'Something to protect herself with, Grace almost kicked herself in the head at what she had to do.' << Once again, this should be two sentences: 'Something to protect herself with. Grace almost kicked herself in the head at what she had to do.' -'There was but one sword in that room and it lay, very comfortable next to Jackal.' << Should be: 'There was but one sword in the room and it lay, very comfortably, next to Jackal.' -'Grace moved close to the sword, picking it up slowly and all the while she watched his eyes.' << Should be: 'Grace moved closer to the sword, picking it up slowly, all the while watching his eyes.' If he's asleep, wouldn't it be '...his closed eyes.'? -'He looked younger now, at least in his early twenties with messy, wavy hair around his face and a pale completion.' << Should be: 'He looked younger now, at least in his early twenties, with messy, wavy hair around his face and a pale complexion.' -'Even in his sleep he looked like he could just get up and fight at any moment, this frightened her a little.' << Should be two sentences: 'Even in his sleep...' and 'This frightened her a little'. -'Quicker than Grace would have liked, she moved and turned taking ten steps before feeling a set of hands on her.' << Should be: 'Quicker than Grace would have liked, she moved and turned, taking ten steps before feeling a set of hands on her.' -'She looked up, a little annoyed at his question “What’s your interest?” she answered with another question but she didn’t give him a chance to answer.' << You say 'question' and 'answer' a lot here, so perhaps: 'She looked up, a little annoyed at his question. “What’s your interest?” she said but she didn’t give him a chance to answer.' instead? -'She fell; face first to the ground and the sword rolled away.' << I think this sentence would be better simply as: 'She fell face first to the ground and the sword rolled away.' -'“You think that it would be easy to escape from me?” he asked breathing deeply as though he was in pain, Jackal held her hands down as he spat the words towards her, making sure she understood him.' << Should be: '“You think that it would be easy to escape from me?” he asked, breathing deeply as though he was in pain. Jackal held her hands down as he spat the words towards her, making sure she understood him.' -'He took in a more calm breath and sighed as if he had given up being kind to her “From now on my eyes will be on you, all the time”.' << Should be: 'He took in a calmer breath and sighed as if he had given up being kind to her. “From now on my eyes will be on you all the time”.' -'Grace’s heart was thumping hard and fast against her chest, she didn’t even say a word.' << Maybe: 'Grace’s heart was thumping hard and fast against her chest. She didn’t even say a word.'? -'Her fight towards him was to say nothing, do nothing and eat not one morsel of food until she was no where near him, Grace promised herself that and sat in silence.' << Perhaps: 'Her resistance towards him was to say nothing, do nothing and eat not one morsel of food until she was nowhere near him. Grace promised herself that and sat in silence.' -'Jackal threw himself on his bed making it knock in the process, hitting Grace in the head.' << What did you mean by 'making it knock in the process'? Or did you mean 'making it ROCK in the process'? Either way, this sentence should be: 'Jackal threw himself on his bed, making it knock (or rock) in the process, hitting Grace in the head.' -'He laughed, mocking her pain but then the human part kicked in and he started to feel sympathetic for her on coming future.' << Should be: 'He laughed, mocking her pain, but then the human part kicked in and he started to feel sympathetic towards her oncoming future.' -'Silencing himself he gazed at the ceiling, watching the flash backs that came back to haunt him of his past life and what he had lost.' << I think 'memories' would be better here than 'flash backs'. So maybe: 'Silencing himself, he gazed at the ceiling, watching the memories of his past life and what he had lost come back to haunt him.' instead? -'Next thing Grace knew they were on the move again, over the vast endless white dusted mountains towards her death sentence.' << Once again, I wouldn't use more than two adjectives here, so how about: 'Next thing Grace knew they were on the move again, over the vast, white dusted mountains towards her death sentence.'? Okay, all done! Please don't think I don't like your story because of all those corrections; on the contrary - I LOVE it 🙂 This snippet is interesting and I would love to read the rest! A really good site for getting people to read and leave comments on your writing is http://www.booksie.com. It has such a good atmosphere and (most) of the people on it are really friendly and welcome you once you join 🙂 There’s a link on my profile page if you want to check it out. Let me know if you join because I’d love to read the rest of your story!
Anyways, I hope this helped 🙂
LOL! The first answerer claimed victory because his KJ Bible doesn’t have any of those things stated in it.
He doesn’t realize that that means he LOSES!
For example, the KJ version has the long ending to Mark … with no mention of its probable invalidity. That makes the KJ version WORSE than the NIV version.
Of course, the KJ Version also mentions unicorns. 😛
Translations of the Quran?
Since majority of the Muslims in Islam are accused of fabricating verses from the Quran, I would just like to point out that the Quran is divine/holy in the Arabic language only. As we know, the English translations explain the message behind each Quranic verse.
I think it is pointless and irrelevant of Muslims to blame others of misinterpreting Quranic verses, because as I stated above, the Quran is pure only in the Arabic language. I have noticed that mainly Shias and Quranists are blamed for misinterpreting Quranic verses. There are Quranists and Shias who can read/speak/write Arabic. So how can one possibly blame them for misinterpreting Quranic verses when they have read the Quran in Arabic?
Secondly, translating Quranic verses have always been a problematic and difficult matter within Islam. There is not one person on earth who has translated the Quran word to word. We use different translations by different interpreters (e/g Pickthal and Yusuf Ali) since we claim that they interpret authentically. I would just like to point out that people who can read Arabic find it difficult to interpret Quranic verses since a single word can have different variety of meanings. The Arabic language which was used 1400 years ago is very different compared to the Arabic language used today. Also, Quranic verses may be understand by the person’s use of vocabulary which is incomparable to the Arabic language 1400 years ago. So it is essential to know that the true and original meaning of the Quran is still unknown to this generation.
I agree that no one should change the meanings of the verses in the English (or any other) language. I also agree that we shouldn’t change a meaning of a Quranic verse to suit our needs. The same applies to Hadiths and other religious manuscripts.
I just wanted you to understand that we shouldn’t accuse people of misinterpreting Quranic verses because there is not even one person on Earth who knows the true meaning behind all Quranic verses. I would say that 1400 years ago, where the generation spoke the original language of the Quran, would have understood the meaning of the Quran better than us, since all languages that we speak today are modernised and hold different vocabularies.
Thanks for your time.
Noub: Do you have a link?
In need of some opinions..What do you think so far?
I’ve finished writing my book and I’m in the middle of my manuscript.
What do you think of just this snippet of my story. Doubt it nothing like you’ve ever heard.
Its a vampire story.
The pain of the sword in her shoulder had driven Grace to awake, only to find herself lying in a bed of furs, in a tent, wearing a long, white, plain tunic.
Something strange began to happen, in Graces hand an intense burning sensation, heated her skin. She looked at it shock only to see an imprint of her sword hilt in her hand, and then it disappeared.
Still some what a sleep she gazed around the room. The tent walls resembled a black, thick material and the only light that lit the room were candles, giving it a gloomy atmosphere.
Grace almost jamp out of her skin when she could see in the furthest corner of the room something in slumber. A man that man, the jackal, the one who had been following her but why was she in his tent, Grace couldn’t help but to think on it.
She couldn’t help but to feel violated now noticing the chains around her wrists and ankles and the fact that she was in a new set of clothes didn’t help.
Looking closely at her chains on her wrists, Grace looked for a way to break them. She repeatedly tugged in short, hard pulls, it clinked until it finally cracked and snapped like a piece of shattered glass.
She did the same to the pair on her ankles.
Standing before the bed she had slept in, Grace rubbed her aching arms “How brittle this metal is” sighing with great relief, Grace searched the room quietly for clothes.
She piled all she had found on the bed and began to change in to the thick clothing.
She was warm and there was no doubt about it but one thing was still missing. A sword that’s all she needed now. Something to protect herself with, Grace almost kicked herself in the head at what she had to do.
There was but one sword in that room and it lay, very comfortable next to Jackal.
She urged herself to do it. Grace moved close to the sword, picking it up slowly and all the while she watched his eyes.
He looked younger now, at least in his early twenties with messy, wavy hair around his face and a pale completion. Even in his sleep he looked like he could just get up and fight at any moment, this frightened her a little.
Quicker than Grace would have liked, she moved and turned taking ten steps before feeling a set of hands on her. “Where do you think you are off to?” a slick, smooth voice asked.
Grace turned and faced him; he was taller than her. She looked up, a little annoyed at his question “What’s your interest?” she answered with another question but she didn’t give him a chance to answer. Instead, Grace drove her hilt forward, hard in to his stomach at a force that made Jackal buckle and fall to the floor.
Still he persisted by grabbing Grace’s ankle and tripping her up.
She fell; face first to the ground and the sword rolled away. Grace flipped over and saw him rise as he crawled over her and pinned her down before she could fight.
He stared her deep in the eyes, now more annoyed that she wouldn’t give up. “You think that it would be easy to escape from me?” he asked breathing deeply as though he was in pain, Jackal held her hands down as he spat the words towards her, making sure she understood him.
He took in a more calm breath and sighed as if he had given up being kind to her “From now on my eyes will be on you, all the time”.
Jackal stood up and grabbed Grace by her wrists, dragging her to the end of his bed; he didn’t even give her time to stand up.
Grace’s heart was thumping hard and fast against her chest, she didn’t even say a word.
Her fight towards him was to say nothing, do nothing and eat not one morsel of food until she was no where near him, Grace promised herself that and sat in silence.
Jackal threw himself on his bed making it knock in the process, hitting Grace in the head. She groaned rubbing the bump that soon grew on the side, above her ear.
He laughed, mocking her pain but then the human part kicked in and he started to feel sympathetic for her on coming future.
Silencing himself he gazed at the ceiling, watching the flash backs that came back to haunt him of his past life and what he had lost.
Next thing Grace knew they were on the move again, over the vast endless white dusted mountains towards her death sentence.
Its a sad and gory tale of a heroine.
Hope you like it.
thanks for any comments. :}
much appreciated ..
Are you sure only Muslims claim the Bible is corrupted?
Actually, its you, the Christians who are proving the Bible is tainted.
The quotes are from the NIV Bible’s commentary. Before each Book/Gospel, there are few pages explaining the history of it. You will be shocked to see that most of today’s Bible’s Books and Gospels are doubtful and unreliable. Let’s check it out..
The Gospel of Mark:
“Although there is no direct internal evidence of authorship, it was the unanimous testimony of the early church that this Gospel was written by John Mark. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1488)”
Further regarding this Gospel, we read the following commentary about Mark 16:9-20:
“Serious doubts exists as to whether these verses belong to the Gospel of Mark. They are absent from important early manuscripts and display certain peculiarities of vocabulary, style and theological content that are unlike the rest of Mark. His Gospel probably ended at 16:8, or its original ending has been lost. (From the NIV Bible Foot Notes, page 1528)”
If Mark wasn’t the one who wrote Mark 16:9-20, then who did? And how can you prove the ownership of the other person? Let alone proving that it was GOD Almighty’s Revelation. And as we saw in the first quote above, we don’t even know that Mark was indeed the one who wrote the so called “Gospel of Mark”.
The Book of Acts:
“Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the Scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the author was Luke. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1643)”
So based on some conclusion, are you, Christians, willing to die for defending the idea that the Book of Acts was the True Word of GOD Almighty?
The Gospel of Luke:
“The author’s name does not appear in the book, but much unmistakable evidence points to Luke. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1529)”
Again, we don’t know for sure whether it was Luke or not who wrote the “Gospel of Luke” since his name doesn’t appear in the Book. The Gospel itself seems to be a compromising one to the Word of GOD.
The Book of Hebrews:
“The writer of this letter does not identify himself, but he was obviously well known to the original recipients. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1856)”
So because the guy was supposedly “well known (which we don’t really know that for sure anyway)”, then would that give us the right to consider his words as the Words of GOD Almighty?!
The Gospel of John:
“The author is the apostle John, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20,24). He was prominent in the early church but is not mentioned by name in this Gospel–which would be natural if he wrote it, but hard to explain otherwise. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1588)”
They claimed that it was John who wrote the Gospel, but yet, his name was not signed on his Gospel! How is it possible for us to be absolutely sure that it was indeed John who wrote the so called “Gospel of John” when “his name is not mentioned in this Gospel” so we can then take it as a 100% True Error-free Word of GOD Almighty?
The Gospel of 1 John:
“….Unlike most NT letters, 1 John does not tell us who its author is. The earliest identification of him comes from the church fathers…(From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1904)”
“The letter is difficult to date with precision….(From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1905)”
This is really ironic! with all respect due to Christians. If the Book’s author is not for sure known, then why assume that it was Saint John who wrote it? Please visit The lie of 1 John 5:7. This verse was later discovered to be a Satanic lie. The Roman Catholic Theologians don’t believe in it, and it doesn’t exist in their Bibles. The same case where no author is really known exists in the Gospels of 2 and 3 John.
The Book of Revelation:
“Four times the author identifies himself as John (1:1,4,9; 22:8)…..In the third century, however, an African bishop named Dionysius compared the language, style and thought of the Apocalypse (Revelation) with that of the other writings of John and decided that the book could not been written by the apostle of John. (From the NIV Bible Commentary, page 1922)”
All the above are not from Muslims, but, from Christians themselves. The page numbers are indicated for your reference. How then, could you expect people to believe in such unreliable texts as God Almighty’s words?
Cristoiglesia:
I hope you understand the meaning of “God’s Words”. My understanding of “God’s Words” are, they are holy and cannot be modified, erased or added or subtracted.
All other versions of the Bible do not contain such footnotes, why? Do you know there are millions of Christians who believe that the four Canonical Gospels are written by “disciples” of Jesus? Don’t you think this is deceit of the highest order? What I have done is just telling Christians the Truth and you are saying I am ridiculing the Bible. Whatever I have quoted are not my words, as you can see.
Peace be with you.