Category Archives: General Writing Tips

Lesson Nineteen from a Manuscript Red Line: Don’t annoy the reader

Posted on December 5, 2011 | 11 comments

I giggled when I typed out this heading.  Everyone knows not to annoy their readers, RIGHT?  But can you tell when you might be doing just that?

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

In the Gold Mine Manuscript, before the extraneous POV’s were taken out, the Reader had more information than the Main Character.  The reason this was bad, is that the reader was fully aware of Bad Guy #2, and knew her name.  (Let’s call her Cindy).  So, a hundred or so pages later, when a character starts talking about “Cindy” and the main character says “Who’s Cindy?”  We get that “Duh” feeling followed by a “Been there, done that” when someone explains to him who “Cindy” is.

The publisher said “We need to know what he knows, not what everybody else knows”.

Now in the revise, the Main Character actually witnesses a scene with “Cindy” in it early in the novel.  (although he doesn’t know it’s Cindy yet.)  So, at least he’s seen her and has an idea of who she is.  I haven’t seen how the author works this part out, yet.

The first time I read the passage that the publisher had a problem with, I thought: “I know this already” but I understood the need for another character to tell the MC what was going on.  It was redundant though, and it didn’t feel right.  The new revision, with fewer POVs, and the MC discovering more on his own, should help work around little things like this.

The best thing to do, is not let any one character know more than your Main Character… if it is something that he or she will eventually have to find out.   You don’t want to be in a position of having to bore your reader even for a line or two, while you bring your Main Character up to speed.

Jennifer Eaton

11 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , , , ,

Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on December 3, 2011 | 23 comments

I’ve been given a Versatile Blogger Award

Wow, my first award.  How cool.

The Versatile Blogger Award is a means for bloggers to support each other, and recognize great, versatile, and helpful blogs.

Last week, I was added to the list by Derek Berry of Word Salad.  Derek Blogs about different kinds of lettuce, and the best dressings to go with them.  Well, not really… but just give him time.  He’ll get to it.  Please check out his site.  And thanks, Derek for choosing me!

I don’t know how versatile I am.  I’m mainly writing to help others… it’s just in my nature.  I’m all warm and fuzzy that this blog has caught on so quickly, and I have so many followers.  It’s kind of humbling… Thanks, guys.

So, the details:  In accepting this Grand Honor, I need to do a few things.

#1:  I need to nominate 15 other blogs for this dubious honor.  (And let them know they were chosen)

#2:  I need to expose share 7 facts that most people don’t know about me.  Yikes.

I really want to think over those 15 Blog sites.  A few of them are no-brainers… the ones I enjoy and hop to frequently.  I’m trying to figure out if I have 15 great ones, though.  I don’t want to pick just anyone.  I want to think over the really good ones. (Sorry, I’m anal that way)

Hmmmmm.  I guess let’s start with me…

1.        I own a show dog that’s worth more than most people’s first cars.  Pretty weird for me since up until 8 months or so ago I was a sworn “Pound Dog” person.

2.        I love to play with my kids.  Especially in public.  Only a parent can get away with running through a field pretending to be an air-plane, or can go to one of those Blow-Up Jump Zone places, and scale up the walls and go down those giant slides, or jump around in a bounce-house.  I feel sorry for all those parents that just sit there and watch.  PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS.  What, are you afraid of what you look like?  Who cares!  Have fun!  Before you know it, they’ll be seventeen and not want anything to do with you!

3.        I graduated in the top 5 of my High School class (I think, it was a long time ago) and I graduated with Honors from College (English, Communications, and Mass Media)  Yeah, I’m a word geek.

4.        My hobbies are Swimming, Hiking, and Writing.  Nothing’s more relaxing than a hike through the woods.  The other day, my kids and I found a dinosaur nest!  You’ll never know where your imagination can bring you in the wilderness.

5.        I used to paint Animation Cells (Like in the Disney Store) but I haven’t picked up a paintbrush in 11 years, since my first son was born.

6.        I hate unnecessary cursing, in real life… and in novels.  The F-bomb is not an adjective, people!  I also hate it when people mess with the English Language.  Whoever put “ain’t” in the dictionary should be shot.

7.        I’m shy.  Yeah, really I am.  Well, maybe not totally shy.  I’m not afraid of people, I’m just the worst conversationalist in the world.  Problem is, there is no one in a 10 mile radius that has the same interests as me, so I’m helplessly lost when people start talking about football (or any other sport) or when they go on about how many different medications they are taking for this many ailments.  Ugh!  Now, Adjectives and Adverbs…THERE’s a fun conversation!  Heck, I’ll even talk about music if you like what I like (unlikely) or hiking.   Anything FUN.  Absolutely no-one wants to talk about writing.  Thanks goodness for my writer’s group! (Which I have to drive a half-hour to get to—Ugh)

Well, there you go.  I expounded a little, so you learned more than you probably wanted to know.  I should have made it short and sweet, but hey, I’m a rebel.  I used to have pink hair.  OOPS!  Now you know eight things!

Okay, now the 15 Versatile Blogger Nominees.  Some of these people may have been nominated before.  I didn’t research.  These are just my favorites.  A few of them are professionals, so maybe they shouldn’t be included… but their blogs are so cotton-picking good that I couldn’t help but mention them.

My Versatile Blogger Choices

1.        Nathan Bransford-This is the first site I found, and what a GREAT resource for writers.  If you have not been there, stop now and shoot over.  I found all my current beta-partners there.  It’s a great, friendly group of writers.  I unfortunately have not been there in a few months.  Time constraints and all, but I can always find something interesting in the forums. Although I have not navigated there, I read his blog (it’s emailed to me) all the time.

2.        Brenda Drake-I love her site.  She always has great contests, and she fashions them to make you branch out and read other blogs.  Nicely done, Brenda.

3.        Natalie Hartford:  I came across Natalie through Row80.  I really enjoy her end of the week reviews of great stuff that’s happened in other people’s blogs.  With my schedule, it’s easy to miss the “good stuff”.  I can trust Natalie to let me know where it is. (and I’m always tickled when I’m included in her line-up)

4.        Liza Kane-Nice, down to earth writing.  She is very sincere, and always a nice read.  If you’re having a bad day, click on over and read Liza.  She’s better than aspirin.

5.        Jenny Keller Ford-[[DISCLAIMER-She is one of my Beta Partners]]- but reading her blog pushed me to start my own.  She also has great links to many writers’ Web Sites in her navigation bars.  She is about to hit 10,000 reads, which blows my mind.

6.        Gina Carey-Gina is an aspiring author who blogs about whatever comes to mind.  She is very open, and I like her unassuming, “real” writing style.  She is a new blogger… She’s only been around for about four months but she digs in like a pro.

7.        Kristina Stanley– Here’s a lady who can keep a focus.  She’s out on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean for months, and manages to stop at a port once in a while to blog.  She has a dog on board with her, which I find amazing.  I wish I could take off for months at a time.  Can you imagine writing your novel out in the middle of the ocean?  If you like writing and boats, check out “Writing and Cruising Lifestyle”

8.        Kait Nolan-I love Kait’s header.  It’s what we all want when we can afford professional artwork.  Kait mixes personal life with some anecdotes we can all relate to as writers.  She also has a novel out there right now, and I love it when she gets excited when she gets a great review.

9.        Row80-This is actually also Kait Nolan.  Kait created Row80… and what a great idea!  I for one, am not an avid fan of NANO.  Row 80 lets you make your own goals, and then you are accountable to other “Rowers”.  Just making me write down my goals weekly has pushed me to “get it done”.   And I also have found some other great writers out there, and doubled the number of blogs I follow.  Kudos, Kait!

10.     Robin Weeks-I met Robin (in the cyber-world) a week after I started Blogging.  She was the only one who commented on my first contest entry.  She’s very nice, and likes to help other writers.  Also, like me, she’s never met a contest she didn’t like.  She’s also brave enough to post pictures of herself when she has the flu.  Yikes!

11.     Kristen Lamb – I love her sense of humor.  She has a lot of great stuff in her blog, and she presents it in a way that anyone can relate to… and she’s published, so she has credentials behind her.  Kudos to her for not turning the other cheek and moving on.  She is still blogging for us all to enjoy.

12.     Marji Laine:  I like Marji’s outlook, and openness about things people are afraid to talk about.  Her blog is nice, especially the pictures she digs up for each post.  It really brings her words alive.  Kudos, Marji!

13.     Rachelle Gardner-This blog is especially great because she’s an agent.  Who better to take advice from than your target audience?  I love her post on what not to do when you’re querying.—a subject dear to my heart right now as I’m trudging through my own.  This is a blog I read all the time.

14.     Gloria Richard-Gloria is a hoot.  If you read the comments on my blog, you’ll see Gloria here all the time.  She’s lively and fun, and she has great posts on her blog to help people struggling through the evasive worlds of Twitter and Facebook and stuff like that.  I’m all about words, but marketing?  Thanks, Gloria… I’ll take all the help I can get.

15.     Jane Friedman – Advice on just about anything.  She’s a professor and speaker (so says her blog) and it shows.  A lot of great info to dig your teeth into.

Well, there you have it… my fifteen nominees.  Please take some time and visit the ones that you haven’t been to before.  These are all great writers, and worth the “click”

And thanks for following along with me here!

Jennifer Eaton

23 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Senseless Ranting

Tagged , , , , ,

Lesson Eighteen from a Manuscript Red Line:What makes your story Unique?

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 9 comments

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

This one might be tough, and was the subject of a one-hour conversation between the author and I as we tried to figure out how to do it.

The Publisher said that the story reminded them of Percy Jackson, and the world seemed too much like the Lord of the Rings.  Their comment was that they understood that not all plots are unique, but they want their authors to take what is not unique, and make it unique. They wanted to know what the author could offer in this world that has not already been done, and “why were people on horses and not in cars” (since the story does not take place in the past)

Wow.  Tough one.

One of the things that initially drew me to this story was the very “typical” medieval fantasy world.  Knights on horses, Kings, Queens, a sorceress, and throw in a few faeries and a centaur for good measure.  Simplicity.  I really liked it.  I read another beta with a similar world, but he threw in these outrageous sci-fi-like creatures that they had to battle, which seemed very out-of genre to me, and ruined an otherwise GREAT story.  The Gold Mine Manuscript has a great plot and characters that I can relate to, and it is simple and enjoyable.

But… the publisher wants more.

The author has discussed a few ideas with me.  Some seem great.  Some make me cringe.  I’ve only read the “Act One” revise, so I have not seen too much of the fantasy world yet (Act One takes place in Tennessee)  I don’t know what the author is going to do.  I am holding my breath and biting my nails.  I have the utmost confidence in the author’s ability.  I just hope that the simple pure nature of the original story does not get lost in reaching for “uniqueness”

For the rest of us…

How do you know if you story is unique?  I think mine is, but I don’t really know.  I haven’t read anything like mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not out there.

I might find a publisher who thinks my ancient flute buildings, next to old Renaissance architecture, next to newer modern buildings is weird.  Will I change it?  Dunno.  They might find it weird that my characters walk everywhere and don’t use cars, but they travel on space ships to other planets.  Will I change it?  I see no reason to.

There is nothing drastically bizarre about my setting.  Yes, it takes place in another galaxy, but the setting is not what my story is about.  It is about the characters and interpersonal relationships.  It is about a boy who has gads of magical power, but is so afraid of it, that he uses the power to erase his memory.  Unfortunately for him, he still needs to save the world.  I see no need to distract from my story by making it “freaky” so it seems “different”.

Is your story unique?

This is a tricky question.  You won’t really know until you get your manuscript into the hands of a publisher if your story is unique in their eyes.

All I can say is, good luck.

Jennifer Eaton

9 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , , , , , ,

A horrible scare for a writer

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 21 comments

Okay, sorry, I should have given you guys a Gold Mine Manuscript tip tonight, but I had a HUGE scare today.  I turned on my computer to work on my novel, and it fizzled.  It would not come on.  Nothing.  Not even in safe mode.  There was no way this sucker was coming on.

The computer wasn’t my worry… it was what was inside it… the current complete version of HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT and the next five books in first draft form.

What a stressful day.  The only thing the internet said could be done would be a system restore that would wipe the computer… I don’t think so.

I came across this crazy guy on YouTube who showed video of the same problem and putting his laptop in the freezer.  Okay, I had nothing to lose.  I froze my little baby.

It did start up, I got my mouse on Novel One, copied it, but as I was waiting for the computer to recognize the  flash drive, it died again.  I screamed so loud my husband got out of bed to check on me.

Well… one of my favorite sayings… I WILL NOT BE DAUNTED.  You wanna be cold?  I’ll give you cold!  I opened up the freezer, pulled out a pound of chicken breasts, placed my laptop on it, and turned my laptop on holding it IN THE FREEZER.

I am now the elated owner of all my novels on a flash drive.

Whew!  God is good…  and I am cold.

If you’re wondering if this will work on your computer, I cannot say.  I have an Acer Aspire One Z5G AOA110.

I’ll get you that Red-line post tomorrow.  Right now, I am double back-upping this flash drive.

Jennifer Eaton

21 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Senseless Ranting

Tagged , , , ,

Lesson Seventeen from a Manuscript Red Line: Who are we talking to?

Posted on November 22, 2011 | 6 comments

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

We’ve been on Point of View for a little while now.  No need to break a trend.  This particular publisher harped on it a lot, so here I am passing their wisdom on to you.  The next POV comment they made was to make sure it is immediately obvious when you start a chapter whose POV you are in.

I was a little surprised by this.  One of the things that I admired in the Gold Mine Manuscript, was the beautiful imagery.  The author is so much better at building the “view” of the scene for a reader than I am.  The problem is, that she did it in the beginning of the chapter.  As a reader, you would have to get through the entire description of the room before you found out who was in it.

Honestly, I never even considered this a problem.  I liked it so much, that I even tried a few on my own.  It sounded weird in my novel, though.  My natural instinct was to write “Harris stepped into the room.  Pink cascades of fabric surrounded him.”  Rather than:  “Pink cascades of fabric swirled along the walls, dipping and spinning before the etched windows…etc , etc.

Both of these two examples tell you there was pink fabric hanging from the walls.  One just tells you that Harris was in the room.  This publisher prefers the first example.

This is really not a tough fix.  If you have a flowery, beautiful beginning (Good for you, I stink at this)  Anyway… keep your imagery, but introduce the POV character who is seeing the scene, so we know whose “head” we are in.

Happy editing!

Jennifer Eaton

6 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , , ,

A tough decision-Making a Big Change in your Novel

Posted on November 19, 2011 | 24 comments

I’m here.  Crunch time.  My novel is pretty much done.  I love everything about it.  Now it is time to make those big decisions that I’ve been putting off.

When I started writing this novel, Magellan was six years old.  I really loved the idea of a really young child being ripped away from his parents.  He lived with the King for four years before going to school at ten years old.  The problem was… huge jumps in time.  The King’s Residences are just “Act One”.  Act two has Magellan in school for several years.  Act Three is him coming home, and facing ??????  the climax.

My big problem is that Magellan is sixteen in act three.  That age is solid.  It can’t change.  The final section deals with a lot of more YA/adult content than Act One.  I had a Middle Grade beginning and a Young Adult ending.  Two very distinct genres.  Not good.

I toyed with the idea of cutting HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT into two novels.  There is a climax at the end of Act One/Beginning Act Two, but I couldn’t “summarize” what was going on.  Magellan didn’t “have to do anything” yet.  (Other than dodge the overly affectionate princess,  and stay alive while the homicidal prince keeps trying to kill him)

The first change I made was to “age up” Magellan to eight.  This left me with a two-year span in Act One.  Everything else stayed the same.  It still wasn’t working, though.  There were still time jumps in Act Two that I wasn’t quite comfortable with.  I was still struggling with the age question.

My challenge was to make Magellan more “marketable” to a YA audience in the beginning.  Eight wasn’t cutting it either.  So, I hunkered down.  I made the big decision.

Magellan is now Eleven when he is taken, and I have shortened my timeline.

I had to re-write a few segments to make him a little less weepy, but it flowed fine.  He now only spends a year in the Kings residences in Act One.  A year, I found, was plenty of time for him to become best friends with the younger price, have the princess fall in love with him, and make her older brother so mad he becomes homicidal.

This also fixed Act Two.  I no-longer need to quickly age Magellan a year as soon as he goes to school.  There is no longer a need for a time jump.  The first climax that sends him “on his way” can now happen in the first year.  He is thirteen. (Just turned thirteen—that’s two years older than in the first draft at this point)  That makes it easier for him to make the big decisions that he makes.  He is mature enough.  The age progression up to sixteen, then, feels natural as everything starts happening around him.

Now that I’ve done it, I am shaking my head.  Just changing his age, and narrowing my timeline, has filled so many holes.  It’s now more fluid.  It makes more sense.  Now, I finally have that “Omigosh, did I actually write this?” feeling.

I realize that most of you have never read HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT, but I am telling you this for two reasons:

#1 – to get it all straight in my head and

#2 – to let you know NOT TO BE AFRAID of the “big decision”.

If you are struggling with a possible change, and you “feel it in your gut” you are probably right.  I knew this needed to be done last year, but I fought against it.  Now that it is done, I want to smack myself.

Think over your novel.  What is bogging it down?  What are you clinging to that just might not work in the end?  Whatever it is… Make the Big Decision.

Good luck!

Jennifer Eaton

24 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged , , , ,

Lesson Sixteen from a Manuscript Red Line: Cutting down your Point of View Characters

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 12 comments

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also look at “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

Lesson Fifteen discussed the necessity of cutting POV switching to a bare minimum… but how do you do this?

My suggestion?  Make a list of all your POV characters.  I’ve been doing this as I’ve been editing.  Once you have the list, decide which are really major characters, and which are just there for information.  Here’s my list, and my judgement calls on each character.

1.       Magellan – Main Character – No brainer.  He needs to stay.

2.       The High King  Hmmm.  I think I need him.  Without his POV too much of the explanation of the world is gone.  Only delete if absolutely necessary

3.       Stephen – The villain– Not budging.  I need to get into his twisted homicidal brain.

4.       Castillia – The Goddess – I’ll have to chop some stuff I love, but I think she can go. Magellan is in most scenes, so I can use his POV.

5.       Instructor Candor – The only one who really knows what’s going on in the story– Cut only as a last resort

6.       Prince Harris – Main Plot line character – He has to stay.  No budging

7.       Tome – Minor character – Delete most of his POV.  See if I can get away with the one small section that contrasts with Prince Harris at the end of the book.  I can delete that if I must, but I like the contrast of rich and famous compared to poor pauper.

8.       Jerric – Delete POV.  Easy to use other characters.

9.       Minthius – Minor character – Delete and rewrite in the King’s POV since they are in the same scenes.

10.    Dacailin’s Son – Ha!  I can’t even remember his name!  He only had a small POV for information only. Delete.

11.    Matt – Could probably remove his POV, but at the end, it has to be there.  Fight for this one.  If I lose his revelation at the end, I think it confuses the novel.

12.    Harris’s Mother  – Informational only – Giving a sentimentally weepy okay to delete.  I can explain the horrors of the Stanton Castle through Steven’s POV (Although with less emotion.  Ugh)

13.    Red – Transition character for Harris – Delete (**sob**) No need to get into her head since we will never see her again in this novel.  Delete the scenes in her POV entirety.  Erghhh!!!!!! (Her first two scenes with Harris will stay-they’re in his POV)

14.    Matt’s parents – Only one scene – Delete and let Matt overhear it

15.    Meagan – Girl Power – She only has a small POV section at the end of the novel as everything gets sewn up.  She’s the girl, though.  I know I might be asked to get into her head more.  Right now I am avoiding it by using Magellan, Stephen and the King in most of the novel.  Might be able to get away with leaving it like it is.  (I can be hopeful, can’t I?)

Wow—That’s 15 points of view!  I didn’t even realize it.  I never even considered that this may be a problem.

So, here are the stats after I broke them down:

Necessary POV:

1.       Magellan (MC)

2.       Stephen (Villain)

3.       Prince Harris (Main Plot Line Catalyst)

4.       Meagan (Girl Power)

POV that I’d like to keep

1.       Instructor Candor

2.       King

3.       Matt

POV that I can remove

1.       Castillia

2.       Tome

3.       Jerric

4.       Minthius

5.       Dacailin’s Son

6.       Harris’s Mother **weep**

7.       Red **painful**

8.       Matt’s parents **possible loss of sentimentality try to keep sentiment in the re-write**

So, I have four POVs that need to be there.

Eight POV’s can easily be eliminated. (Not that it won’t be work) The characters will still be there, but the scenes will be told from someone else’s perspective.

I’m left with three more POV’s that I really want.

The King is intrinsic to the beginning of the story, and the end.  No other POV characters appear in his scenes.

Matt is intrinsic to the end of the novel.  He is “alone” in the Pre-climax scene where a revelation happens for the reader.

Candor moves the story forward in the middle.  He is the only character that does not lose his memory for most of the novel.  I might be able to remove him.  I’d just rather not.

POV characters that will remain:

1.       Magellan (MC/Protag)

2.       Stephen (Villain)

3.       Prince Harris (Main Plot Line Catalyst)

4.       King (Overall Story Driver)

5.       Meagan (Girl Power) **One POV scene at the end only if I can
get away with it**

6.      Matt (The “best friend” – Only in the third act)

So, this is what I’m going to cut it down to.  I am hoping that this will fly, and they do not ask for more cuts once this gets into the hands of a publisher.  Each of these characters have a big enough role that I think a reader can identify with them in their POV.  The main POVs will be Magellan, Stephen, Harris, and the King.  Matt and Meagan’s POV will be near the end.  (Which I know is a “no no”, but I am going to try to bend the rules a bit)

For all intents and purposes there will only be 4 POV’s in the first 350 pages.  Matt pops up around Page 350, and we pop into Meagan’s head in the tie up chapters at the end.

Hopefully, by removing the ones that were obviously there just as info-dumps, I will be able to slip in a few extra without it being noticeable.  (Yeah, I know.  Wishful thinking, but I can try.)

Good Luck!

Jennifer Eaton

12 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , ,

Lesson Fifteen from a Manuscript Red Line: How Many POV’s Can You Have?

Posted on November 14, 2011 | 19 comments

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

At one point in the red-lining of the manuscript, the publisher stopped, and wrote a full page explaining the importance of careful Point of View switching.   I’m glad you’re on a computer… It means you’re probably already sitting down.  A lot of you might not like this much.  I know I didn’t.

The publisher counted nine different POVs in the Gold Mine Manuscript.  They said the problem with this is the reader can’t get deep into one character.  They realized the author was going to different POVs to give background, but they said that they could not relate to these new characters, because they hadn’t learned enough about them to understand their motives.  It makes it very difficult to feel anything for any specific character.

They cautioned against switching to POVs that are not intrinsic to the story just to give background, conflict, or added tension.

The publisher recommended **Gack** editing it to three points of view, one of them being the female character, who had not been a strong POV character in the original.

THAT’S REMOVING 6 POINTS OF VIEW!

Now, I must say that I’ve read a partial revise of the gold mine manuscript.  Do not be daunted.  I’ve seen that this can be done.  If a scene in an “unnecessary  POV” has important information in it, you just need to get creative and find a  way for the POV characters to be there, or overhear what happened.  It’s possible.  You just need to broaden the scope of your thinking.

In my next post, I will show you the tool I used to break down my POV characters… and yes, I needed a tool.  I was surprised with how many POV’s I had!

Jennifer Eaton

Related articles

19 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , , , , ,

Finish Your Story Already!

Posted on November 10, 2011 | 13 comments

At a recent NJ Author’s talk on “Getting Published” (Click here to read my post from that night), I got a great piece of advice from best-selling author Jonathan  Maberry.

With all this NANO buzz going around, I am reading multiple blogs that say many of you are writing “really fast” just to get your word count in, and then going back and editing it so it sounds better, and then you plow forward again to make your word count (now even more stressed because you took up your writing time editing).  REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT.

Jon’s advice was not to re-write too soon.  He said to write your first draft all the way through. Once you are done, then you can go back and revise.  This is what he calls the “art of writing”.  He said that your first draft will concentrate on the substance… This is where the best part of the story comes out on the paper (or screen).

Don’t worry if it’s perfect… just get it all down and out of your head.  Once you have your idea all down in front of you, then you can concentrate on the “craft”.

Now is the time to add setting and character description if you missed  them the first draft.  Look at your punctuation, and watch for writing crutches and clichés.  Cut out scenes that don’t fit.  Re-write what’s just plain bad.  All this is part of the “craft” of writing.

So, if you’re NANOing, or just out there writing a great story at your own pace…  Don’t stress over it.  Enjoy the art of writing.  This is the best part for an author… having your vision materialize for others to read.

Worry about making it sound good later.  You will have plenty of time to edit when you’re all done.

Jennifer Eaton

Related articles

13 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged , , , , , ,

Lesson Fourteen from a Manuscript Red Line: Keeping inside the Point Of View, Part 2

Posted on November 7, 2011 | 11 comments

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also look under “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

Lesson Thirteen talked about making sure we only see what the Point of View character can see.  We also have to worry about accidentally getting into the heads of other characters as we describe what the POV character is seeing.

It seems to happen most for me when I describe what another character in the scene is doing.

“Mike studied the sign on the wall.”

Is Mike the POV character? No?  Then how does the POV character know that he is studying it? He may just be looking in that direction but thinking of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Right?

Hold up your right hand and say:  forever more I will call this…

The publisher red-lined something very similar to this, and said that you need to show what the characters are doing by showing what the POV character sees them doing.  You cannot get into their heads, or assume what they are doing.

You might be able to fix something like this with “Mike stood in front of the sign on the wall, and scratched his head.”  This would work especially well if there was a little dialog afterwards that made it obvious he looked at it.  REMEMBER NOT TO SAY HE LOOKS AT IT.  (See my earlier post on “Write without Looking”)

Jennifer Eaton

Related articles

11 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged , , , , , ,