Category Archives: General Writing Tips

Rule #3 of 32 Simple Rules to the Writing the Best Novel Ever

Posted on May 22, 2013 | 10 Comments

Writing_A_Great_Novel

I’m dissecting the article Hunting Down the Pleonasm, by Allen Guthrie, using it as a cattle prod to search for little nasties in my manuscript.  Yep, you can join in the fun, too.  Let’s take a looksee at topic #3

3: Use strong verbs in preference to adverbs. I won’t say avoid adverbs, period, because about once every fifty pages they’re okay! What’s not okay is to use an adverb as an excuse for failing to find the correct verb. To ‘walk slowly’ is much less effective than to ‘plod’ or ‘trudge’. To ‘connect strongly’ is much less effective than to ‘forge a connection’.

This one is a bit easier to swallow.  Everyone knows about adverbs, right?  But using them is sometimes a hard habit to break.  If you find your work laden with adverbs, here is my suggestion:

1.      Make a copy of your work and save the original “just in case”

2.      Go through a chapter and delete all the adverbs.  Resist the desire to look at the sentence at this point.  Just delete.  Using the search feature and looking for “ly” will help with this. Look for “very” while you are at it, and just delete.

3.      Done?  Good! Now go back and read your chapter.  Most likely, if you’ve written a strong scene, you will not even notice they are gone.

Here’s a one sentance example from “Optimal Red”:

His heart beat rapidly in his chest as the doors opened.

His heart pulsed as the doors opened.

Go ahead!  Give it a try?  How did it go?  Were you able to strengthen your manuscript just by deleting?  Did you need to add a little more emphasis to replace the missing word?  Where did you decide to leave an adverb for flavor?

JenniFer_EatonF

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Rule #2 of 32 Simple Rules to the Writing the Best Novel Ever

Posted on May 14, 2013 | 22 Comments

Writing_A_Great_Novel

I’m dissecting the article Hunting Down the Pleonasm, by Allen Guthrie, using it as a cattle prod to search for little nasties in my manuscript.  Yep, you can join in the fun, too.  Let’s take a looksee at topic #2

2: Use oblique dialogue. Try to generate conflict at all times in your writing. Attempt the following experiment at home or work: spend the day refusing to answer your family and colleagues’ questions directly. Did you generate conflict? I bet you did. Apply that principle to your writing and your characters will respond likewise.

This is one of those things that I read and said to myself “huh-wha?”  It seemed like a jumble of words that should be important, if I knew what he was trying to say.  Here’s my take on it, after doing a little research and thinking it over.

This is what I came up with.  Let’s take a look at some dialog. I’m going to take out movement and emotion so we can just look at the dialog, and see how it works.

“Helen, I’m home.”

“Hello, George. How was work?”

“Oh just dandy.  Martin was out, so I had to take care of all his problems and got to none of my own work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that dear. What would you like for dinner?”

“Pizza is fine.”

“Okay, I’ll place the order.”

“I went shopping today.”

“Yeah, what’d you buy?”

“Milk and eggs.”

“Good.  I like milk and eggs”

“You know what? We need to talk about Billy.  He turned into a velociraptor today, and he ate three of his classmates.”

“Whaaaaaaat?”

0026_CracksAndCrevasses

Okay – don’t judge me.  I’m trying to make a point.  There is a lot of day-to day babble in here that is really unnecessary, right?  The only important thing is that Billy turned into a dinosaur.

Conflict needs to be evident in every scene.  Don’t just have people talking about nothing just to kill time.  Each scene, and each bit of dialog needs to move the story forward.  I mean seriously.  Do we need to know that Mommy picked up milk and eggs?

Look for your dialog to be concise and to the point.  Give it the impression of being longer, without actually boring your reader with the babble.

Make sure each scene has a start, conflict, and resolution.  Each one of these miniature stories needs to draw your characters further along in the story. If it doesn’t move the story forward, no matter how much you love the scene, it’s time to take out the hatchet.

How often do you find your characters babbling with no forward movement in a scene?  What did you do to rein your dialog in?

Jennifer___Eaton

 

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Writing Madly to a Deadline, and then NOT submitting

Posted on March 6, 2013 | 31 Comments

I recently jumped into the running for another anthology, which means writing to a tight deadline.  I tripped up my schedule for a few weeks, finalizing my novel for the Amazon Break Through Novel Contest, and was two-weeks behind schedule. I DID finish in time (barely), but now I sit here the day before the deadline, with a completed manuscript in my hands, second guessing myself.

Do I think it’s not good enough?  No.  The opposite.  It’s tight. It’s precise….

And if you could have seen the look on my son’s face after reading it— Dang.  I haven’t seen him this excited about something since finishing the Hunger Games (Not that mine is even remotely like the Hunger Games)

So what’s the problem?  Submit the dern thing!

Here’s my problem… It’s too long.  I did not make the word count.  I contacted the publisher, and they said they would consider it at the higher word count, but it definitely would have to be cut down by 1500 words for publication in the anthology (If it were chosen)

I searched for those 1500 words, and found a possible 500 to cut, but editing out those 500 would have affected the “mood” of the story.  And if another 1000 words were cut after that, the whole story would seem rushed.

If my son had said “Meh, it’s okay.  I’ve read better.” (Which he has done to me in the past) I would have sliced and diced the 1500 words out of the story and sent it in.

But he didn’t say that.  He asked for more.  My kid the voracious reader said:  “It was really great.  I’ve never read anything like that before.  When will you write another one?”

I thought about what those forced changes would do, and decided to take the creative high road.  I am passing on the anthology, and am now embarking on a search for a publisher of Young Adult Paranormal Short/Novellas.

Ugh!  I hate passing up an opportunity, but I think this particular story needs to find a more suitable home than the confines of an anthology.

I am all for editing… all stories need to be edited, but I don’t want to “cut” just for the sake of “cutting”.  I’d rather have words cut because they don’t belong there… not because there is a stipulation on word count.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

If not, do you think you’d submit anyway, or search for a new home?

_JenniFer____EatoN

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Why doesn’t this chapter work? The rules of writing a scene.

Posted on January 21, 2013 | 21 Comments

Have you ever read something you’ve written, and know that it just doesn’t “work” but you can’t figure out why?

I’m currently reading a beta that is in probably its fiftieth draft. That’s okay.  People write at different speeds.  For me personally, I am reading this manuscript for probably the sixth or seventh time.  Each time I read it, I am pleasantly surprised by the “growth” of the story.

Think GirlSo, here’s where the “Why doesn’t this chapter work” comes in.  I am DEVOURING this manuscript this time around.  The added scenes are spot-on.  The story is exciting and driven.  Then BAM!  I hit a roadblock.

I hit a scene that just didn’t satisfy me.  Was it written well?  Yes.  Did it follow the plot?  Yes.  So what was wrong?

I went back to a writing lesson I learned probably a year ago.  It said that each scene needs to be a miniature story in itself.  It has to start, have a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and a resolution.  Now, I am not saying that this needs to be in depth.  Think of it.  A falling action can be as simple as an emotional response of a character shaking their head… but a scene really DOES need to have all these elements.

The problem with this scene is that it didn’t do this.  It was a scattering of information, mostly that I already knew as a reader, and it did not push the story forward.  No, it was not filler.  I just don’t think the author “did what they intended” to do with that scene.

Now, I’m not psychotic.  I am not saying that I look at every scene I write for rising action, climax and resolution, but I think at this point I naturally write this way… as all serious writers should.

So next time a scene is bothering me, and I can’t figure out why, I’m going to dissect it. Does it have a rising action? Climax? Falling action?

Most importantly … is something resolved?

I think that’s the biggie.  If nothing is resolved (however minor) then the scene does not drive the story forward.

What are your thoughts?

_JenniFer____EatoN

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Oh my gosh, I am such a wuss. I don’t think I can do this

Posted on November 29, 2012 | 19 Comments

Have you ever written something, thought it was great, but had second thoughts?  Ugh.  I am soooo there right now.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m working on a Paranormal called Une Variante.  I am a Fantasy writer at heart, but I like to stretch myself.  My first publication (Last Winter Red) is a Dystopian, and my second and third publications are contemporary “Sweet” Romances.

So why the second thoughts about Une Variante?  Well, the problem is that there is a heat rating.  It’s not kinky or anything, but there is definitely and “open door” to the bedroom.

Having always “faded to black” in the past, I am understandably nervous about this.  I have two people lined up to do a full beta on Une Variante as soon as it is complete. I’ve asked them because one looks for open door romances for her recreational reading, and the second is a writer of open door (and far worse kinkier stuff).

That aside….. Today, I sent the first ten pages to my local critique group.  You know what I did?

**blush**

I CENSORED MYSELF. [Smacks head on desk]

What am I doing?  Ugh.  I just couldn’t send it out in its “True glory”.

Now, part of the problem is that the word count would have dropped them right in the middle of “the scene”.  I didn’t want my critique session to be just “about that”, and I was afraid it would deter from what I really wanted … which was a critique of the beginning.

I considered asking if anyone would find it offensive, and just send “the scene” to people who wanted to read it… but I wussed about that too.

I gotta admit that I also didn’t want to look into the eyes of people after them just having read “that”.  Ugh… I am such a wuss.

Part of me is hoping that the Romance Reader and Erotica Writer tell me that the heat scene stinks, because that would give me an excuse to fade it to black.

[smacking myself again]

Have you ever had second thoughts about something you’ve written?

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Perils of goodreads – Overthinking Your Reviews until they make you CRAZY

Posted on November 24, 2012 | 8 Comments

This girl rocks.

I don’t know… with the first reviews coming out for the anthologies I am in, I’m seeing a lot of chatter about reviews on the web.

I found this video both timely, and hilarious. Enjoy the chuckle.

Give her three minutes.  You’ll enjoy it.  Either you are this person, or you know someone like her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj8MNOgR_gQ&feature=player_embedded

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Big Publishing House, Small Publishing House… Red Fish, Blue Fish. What the Heck do you do?????

Posted on November 10, 2012 | 21 Comments

Help me think through this, ‘cause it’s driving me nuts. I’m finishing up my novel, Fire in the Woods. I felt pretty cozy about it going in to the beta process. Now, rounding to home plate, I’m really excited.

I’m excited because, as authors, we always think what we’ve written is great. The Beta Process is usually a slap in the face as reality sets in. For me, the slap was not so hard. Yes, it needed tweaking, but every single beta reader is just as excited about this novel as I am. Wow… it’s a pretty great place to be. (Ten beta-readers, in case you were wondering)

So now I am sitting here with a novel that I am reasonably sure is good enough for a big publishing house. No brainer, right? Send it on out!

This is where I hit a snag. Am I a patient person, or an impatient person?

The truth is, that the big houses that I am interested in… Baen, Daw, Tor, Random House, Entangled (a little smaller) are now — are you ready for this -

ACCEPTING UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS.

Wowzers! No need to take a year to find an agent, and then wait another year to get your stuff read. (If you can get by without an agent-there are pros and cons to this)

Anyway, the problem is that many of these houses do not accept simultaneous submissions. That means they expect you to send your manuscript to them… and only them. Now, this would not be a problem, but all of them, in their submission requirements, give themselves a HUGE timeframe to review novels. I understand that they get a lot of submissions, but you want me to take a year before I even hear back from you? And then if you decide to pass, I’ll need to wait another year to hear back from the next one?

My goal is to have Fire in the Woods traditionally published in printed copy format. I want the perks of professional editing and layout and cover design (etc) However, there are plenty of small houses out there who will read your query in a day, and read your manuscript in a month or so.

So, what, I wonder… other than prestige… would I direct myself to a big house when I have the possibility of getting my novel in the hands of readers in a year, as opposed to two to three years or more?

Hmmm. I think typing this just made things more clear to me.

Anyway… what are your thoughts?

(Self-publishing is not of interest at this time. I don’t have the time or money to do it right)

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Let’s take a few moments to talk about Fluff

Posted on October 20, 2012 | 57 Comments

As most of you know, I am going through the beta-read process right now with my WIP Fire in the Woods. Odd things pop up when you read people’s comments. If I see one, and it doesn’t make sense to me, I make a mental note, and move on. If a second person says the same thing, then I take notice. This is what brings me to Fluff.

Fluff. Am I the only person in the world who knows what Fluff is?

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search. Yes. Fluff as I know it is the number one thing to pop up.

So, next I went to Wikipedia. Here is the definition of Fluff:

Fluff : From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fluff is a noun for anything light, soft, or fuzzy and may also be Belly button fluff, also known as navel lint

A brand or product

  • The name of a lifestyle brand created by artist Claudette Barjoud
  • Marshmallow creme, a food product

So yes, Fluff was on Wikipedia too, but oddly listed below belly button lint… which is a bit weird.

Picture property of Wikipedia commons. Thanks!

Okay… so there is a point to this post. Fluff is a food… Well, I guess it’s debatable that it’s a food. I don’t actually think it has any nutritional value. But what it is – is delicious!I grew up with fluff. There is nothing better to take away the dreariness of a bad day than a big dollop of fluff on top of extra crunchy peanut butter hugged between two slices of bread. MMMMMmmmmm. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

But the odd thing to me, is that my main character, Jess, rifles through a cabinet, finds the peanut butter, and is upset that she can’t find the Fluff.

I was shocked that several beta readers had no idea what Fluff was.

What is this world coming to?!

So, like a good little girl, I removed the reference to Fluff, because I do not want to confuse or offend today’s health-conscious society.

But I give everyone homework today. If you have never experienced the joy of Fluff, you can find it in the same aisle as the peanut butter. A Fluffernutter sandwich is bread, a small amount of peanut butter, and as much Fluff as the bread can handle.

Everyone should experience the joy of a Fluffernutter sandwich at least once in your life.

Go ahead. Take a bite. I dare you.

Then come back and share the sugar-shocked joy your body experiences.

Mmmmmm. I think I’ll run to my cupboard now and grab a jar to join you.

What’s your favorite food from when you were a kid that makes you smile every time you think about it?

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Having your novel Critiqued live in a chatroom. Crazy? Maybe.

Posted on October 13, 2012 | 8 Comments

A few weeks ago, I sent the first page of “Fire in the Woods” to the Writers Chatroom.  They posted it, and the group critiqued it live, on-line.

Nerve racking?  A little, but overall it was a positive experience.

A few people asked me what I thought of the experience, and what it was like.  Well, going into it I felt good.  I think mine was number eight “at bat”.  As I watched the other critiques go up, I did get just a little nervous.  The critiquers had a whole lot to say, and they didn’t hold back.

The hard part about it is that everyone talks at the same time, and sometimes they are talking about different parts of your story.  Because of this, I copied the pages as they scrolled by, so I could be sure to go back later and make sense of it.

The big things I got out of this are

1.      The opening seems pretty good.

2.      Despite the necklace being important, I don’t want it distracting.  I’ll ease back on that a bit.

3.      The “Mirrored in the glass overhead” part need to be re-written.

4.      Change headphones to earbuds

I decided it would be fun if I posted the actual comments about my work below.  The only editing I will do is changing the names of the critiquers, since I did not get their permission (I wouldn’t know how to contact them anyway)

This may be confusing, because one person may be typing an answer to a previous post… but meanwhile three or four people have said something else, so the answer comes far down the “scroll” and not right after the original comment.  I was going to place everything in “easy to read” order, but I figured I’d show it to you exactly as I saw it.

My work was posted, and then there was one minute of “silent time” for everyone to think it over, and then the fun began.  Here is the “transcript”  (Which is just me cutting and pasting as the conversation scrolled by)  In case you are interested, the novel starts with an explosion (no surprise, right?)

[MODERATOR] End. One minute please!

<Everyone reads>

[MODERATOR] Comments!

[ZADA] great suspense & description!

[Karina] very nice. I’m interested!

[ZADA] nice “showing”

[SAGE] yeah it was very descriptive but not over the top

[Deadend] Deascription was awesome..

[boop] so sorry the full screen format is screwing me up when I try to scroll up

[SAGE] it got me interested

[DETROIT] Excellent word use and it definetly keeps me wondering what is actually going on. What’s next, the whole house crumbling down? Nice!

[MODERATOR] Boop, just use the scroll bar to the right.

[HORN] Where did the smoke and fire come from?

[BOOP] Pink headphones? the description are fantastic!

[MODERATOR] I agree. The descriptions are terrific.

[PIKE] Mirrored in the glass overhead, over the clouds? The lightbulb blew out, or blew up? caught my interest with the action, mental works for action too. good job

[MODERATOR] I am wondering if the necklace has significance.

[DEADEND] Teachers try so hard to teach us not to use adjectives and overloadinding description, maybe they should read your short?

[GIRLYGIRL] Good. I want to know what’s going to happen. Great suspense and action.

[MCDONALDS] Almost on the point of “less can be more” – possible OVER-use of adjectives? Places where ONE might be enough instead of 2 or 3

[ZADA] it seems the necklace does have significance – at least that’s how I took it

[LISA] I’d start at “The ground shook…” Good descriptions

User WARRIOR has signed out.

User WARRIOR has entered this room.

[BOOP] Yes, or magical I thought maybe on the neckllace

[LAURA] The description was fantastic, although I sometimes felt it was too much – a bit overwhelmed, as it were.

[WIDDER] ‘likness mirrored in the glass over the cloud of grey smoke …’ – this didn’t make sense …. otherwise great descriptions … love the macro and micro description.

[MODERATOR] I don’t know, MCDONALDS. There are a lot of adjectives, but I felt they made the scene come alive.

[GIRLYGIRL] Less commas makes the pace faster I noticed in some places.

[LISA] A minor detail. Headphones are worn on your ears. Earbuds are in your ears.

[FLOW] i like another kick-ass girl (pink headphones)

[PIKE] but LAURA, it needs to be overwhelming, war is like that

[WIRED] there were a couple sentences that need rewording/refining other wise great job very showing

[DEADEND] Jesus.. Isn’t it great that we all love what we do?

[BOOP] Is the character a guy/girl

[LAURA] That’s true

[WIDDER] sure is DEADEND

[MODERATOR] Laura, the pink headset said “girl” to me.

[LAURA] I guess the main character is overwhelmed, too

[WORKING] I like the imagry! But couldn’t follow this “My likeness mirrored in the glass over the cloud of gray smoke wafting into the air” – I am asking myself “glass over smoke?

[PIKE] I have shooting, helicopter crashing etc in mine, lol love those women who are strong

[KATTIE] Visual, lyric writing = engages the senses – action vivid, very visual, each image pulls the story forward from the speaker’s viewpoint – the descriptions draw me into the story = I would want to read more, significance of the necklace in the maelstrom

[WARRIOR] Nothing wrong with commas

[BOOP] That’s the word, Laura, I concur the imagery is fantastic. It’s what makes a writer effective, in my opinion and this author has it

[FLOW] i’m thinking locket from her deceased mom

[PIKE] who wrote this?

[MODERATOR] This one is from another relative newcomer, Jennifer M. Eaton.

[PIKE] ahhh

[BOOP] congrats Jennifer

[ZADA] great job Jennifer!

[WIDDER] excellent Jenifer! …. want to read the rest of this one too

[KATTIE] Mirror – maybe it’s ‘through’ the cloud of gray smoke ??

[MODERATOR] Jennifer, is the necklace important? We all want to know!

[PIKE] good job Jennifer

[DEADEND] excellent

[JenniferEaton] Thanks, guys

[MODERATOR] WB Jim.

[LISA] Very nice, Jennifer

[PIKE] sure it is, that’s why she mentioned it so much

[KATTIE] Jennifer! I’d love to read more of this excellent story ^_^ Write On!!

[JenniferEaton] Yes. THe necklace is very important, and belonged to her dead mother

[HORN] Good job Jennifer.

[WORKING] Back story on the necklace would be great.

[MCDONALDS] Good hook, Jennifer!

[JenniferEaton] You’ll get the backstory on the necklace later in the story

[WORKING] Prologue perhaps?

[MODERATOR] Great job Jennifer.

[JenniferEaton] Thanks everyone!

[PIKE] since it’s ‘future’ I was thinking the necklace had some sort of ‘power’

[PIKE] no prologue, work it into a conversation, or using it, or thinking about it. ‘holding the necklace brought her comfort as she thought about her mother’

[MODERATOR] ready for the next?

[WORKING] yepper

[SAGE] yes

[GIRLYGIRL] Ready.

[LAURA] Me too

There you have it.  So, What do you think?

Is this an interesting way to get a critique, or totally insane?

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Work in Progress Challenge Part Three. Yep… Still being honest

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 9 Comments

If you are wondering about the title, I don’t want to get into it again.  Check out the previous posts part one and part two

And without further ado… on with the riveting questions…

1.       Is your WIP Published or Represented?

This is a really weird question.  A WIP is, by definition, is IN PROGRESS.  So, obviously it is not published.  Represented?  Kind of an odd question as well.

I guess I can tell you that no, I do not have an agent hanging over my head asking me to finish fast so they (we) can get our paycheck.  This is the first of a possible series, so I do not have a publisher in line waiting for it, although I do have one that has expressed interest.

2.       How long did it take you to write?

Oh!  Actually an easy question to answer!  I started this novel with a vow to myself to finish it by a certain time.  I took two weeks and did nothing but plot it out.  I decided what was going to happen before it happened.  This greatly speeded up my writing time because I didn’t have to fix, rewrite, or add scenes to fix plot holes.  From the actual start of writing the first page, to finishing the first draft….   I started on May 9th, 2012 and finished on July 27, 2012.  I don’t write on weekends (with the exception of a writer’s retreat.)

So, that’s 58 writing days… during which I also completed line-edits for my publisher on “Last Winter Red”, and I took the idea for “Connect the Dots” (a 9,000 word short story) from idea, outline, completion, beta and submission to the publisher – before I got back to (and was able to complete) Fire in the woods.

All that to say… looking back at my writing log, it looks like I actually worked on Fire in the Woods exclusively between 35 and 40 days. (That’s first draft, though.  I’m still editing… and I think I want to add a few more action scenes and make it longer. — I feel a few more explosions coming on :-) )

3.       What other WIP’s in your genre would you compare it to?

Here’s another really wacky question.  Comparing to other people’s WIPs?  Even if I could do this, I would be comparing to beta-manuscripts I have read, and none of you would have read those, so comparing would be futile.  This question really does not make sense to me.

I suppose I could try to compare it to published work.  Ummmm.  Geeze.  I don’t think I could to that either.  Imagine “When Harry Met Sally” meets “Die Hard”.  Sweet Romance intermingled with lots of explosions.  ***sigh***   Yup.  Just good old-fashioned fun.

4.       Which authors inspired you to write this WIP?

Honestly, none that I could directly relate to this work.  I suppose everything you read can sub-consciously mold you in a certain direction.  Lately, I have been taking notes on good and bad things I have seen, but actual inspiration?  I can only give that credit to the Big Guy upstairs.

5.       Tell us anything else that might pique our interest about this WIP.

I just love this story, so everybody else will, too.  So there! Tee Hee.  :-)

Seriously, I think there is a little bit for everyone in Fire in the Woods.  Jess is a kid struggling with a bad relationship with her dad.  It’s a story about a father struggling to raise a teenage daughter on his own, while protecting the planet at the same time.  It’s about a boy trying to overcome past demons while proving his own self-worth to himself and others.

And best of all there are lots and lots of explosions!  What’s not fun about that?

6.  Finally:  Tag three other Authors and ask them to complete the above interview.

I’m going to jump out of the box and shoot this over to the three most recent novelists that I’ve read.  I’d love to hear a little about what they are working on now.

Olivia Devereaux – Of that little western “Mended Hearts” Fame

Claire Gillian – Of that annoyingly good mystery with the great voice “The P.U.R.E.”

Rebecca Hart – Author of “Call of the Sea”  Ahoy Me hearties!

And just because I’m a rebel… I’m gonna also give it to J.M.McDowell ’cause she’s an archaeologist and I just find that incredibly COOL!

How’s that for mixing it up?  A Western, an Office Mystery, and a Pirate book, and an archaeologist/Author.  How well-rounded is that?

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