Tag Archives: fire in the woods

Lesson Twenty-Eight from a Manuscript Red Line: Very Discreet Point of View Switches

Posted on May 11, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve talked about this before, but the second time might be a charm.  I think a lot of people are having trouble with discreet POV switches.  The big ones… where we pop heads for half a chapter are easy to find.  The one-liners may be harder to spot.

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.

Let’s go back to my little flash fiction scene.  Remember Jason and Eric fighting?  Let’s add a line to that.  (In bold)

Jason grunted as his fist swung toward Eric’s face.  Eric tried to dodge, but instead felt the sting of the older boy’s ring cutting into his jaw.  He fell to the floor with a muffled thump, and groaned as he rolled over. 

Jason wiped his chin and laughed.  “I told you to stay down.”

Eric pushed up onto his knees.  “Why, so you can just pummel me?”  He popped up and swung at Jason, but missed.

Jason ducked and swung at the same time.  There was no time for Eric to react.  His head creaked back, and his jaw rattled as he crumpled to the floor.

Jason breathed heavily, mopping the sweat from his brow.  He grunted and chose his words carefully.  “I told you to stay down, idiot.”  He snickered at the pitiful scene before him, and walked away.

There you have a short-one paragraph POV switch.  The scene is in Eric’s POV.  How would Eric know Jason was choosing his words carefully?  How would Eric know he was snickering at how pitiful he looked?  (Remember Peanut butter and Jelly Syndrome?)  Jason could have just remembered a funny joke.  Eric has no idea what he is really thinking.

The reason I used “Chose his words carefully” which might be a little odd in the example above, was because those were the words used in the POV switch in the Gold Mine Manuscript.  We were in character #1’s POV, and then another character “chose his words carefully”.  They flagged it as a POV switch.

Honestly, before reading their comments, I would have read right over this… I have also seen it in published works, but it is a switch in POV.  Do your best to keep an eye out for little things like this.  It will set your novel apart.

Hope this helps!

 

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Finding the helpfulness in fun things. AKA: Fun and easy ways to improve your writing

Posted on May 1, 2015 | 11 comments

About four years ago I posted about a cool website called Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/) that will make a cloud of words from the most used words in your manuscript.

The words that you’ve used the most (AKA the words you may be overusing) will appear the biggest.

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I don’t know what made me think of this suddenly, but I decided to drop the novel I am currently editing with my Month9Book editor into the program.

This is what spit out.

ASHES Wordle2

 

I guess I am not alone in struggling with overused words. I think everyone does to some extent. But I found this very enlightening.

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The largest word is the word that appears the most frequently in the novel.
“David” was not a surprise. The novel is in first person, and Jess spends most of the novel with David.

Runners up

The runners up, though, are cause for concern.  “Eyes” “Like” “Back” and “Dad” all appear equally high, tying for the number two position.

I used search and replace to see how frequently they appeared.

Yikes!

“Eyes=322” “Like=356”

“Back=406” and “Dad=390”

“Dad”, like “David”, is probably not a concern, but 300-400 instances of Eyes, Like, and Back certainly are a concern. “Pulled” and “Just” are pretty high up there as well. I will definitely be looking at those, too.

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While word clouds are, for the most part, just fun, you can also use them to point out stuff like this.

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I’d missed this during my own editing before turning in the manuscript. “Back” wasn’t even on my radar screen.

It is now.

Try dropping your current WIP into a word cloud generator. You might be surprised what you find.

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Posted in General Writing Tips, Senseless Ranting

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Finding editing help in unexpected places. AKA: Social Media Rocks!

Posted on April 17, 2015 | 4 comments

Last week I faced a little bit of a pickle.

I had a very short (147 word) scene that included a little bit of Spanish, and a line of French.

PKO_0005301I had an A+ in Spanish in high school, but I haven’t practiced in years. I was reasonably certain that I “had it right”, but after seeing quite a few reviews lately where people blasted authors for using non-English languages incorrectly, I was stressing over it.

I don’t have the money to run it by a translator, and everyone I know is in the same boat as me (Rusty high school Spanish)

Sooooo… I thought I’d give something a try.

I took to social media, and asked my fans for help.

I found that having a mostly international fan-base helped in ways I never expected.  Not only do I have a treasure trove of languages following me, they are all fans of my work, and are tickled pink to be the first people to see an excerpt.

I didn’t just get translating advice… I got advice from native speakers, Spanish as a second language, and people from several different Spanish-speaking countries, as well as one of these kids’ parents that provided insight into the way I learned Spanish that didn’t even occur to me.

Yes, I found, I was speaking correctly, but I was speaking TOO CORRECTLY. Book learning, and the real world, are apparently very different.

So, that’s my thought for this week.  When you get your work out there, make friends with your readers. It’s ten tons of fun. And when you need a little help, you might just be surprised at their enthusiasm.

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Posted in General Writing Tips, Marketing Madness

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It’s the cover reveal for ASHES IN THE SKY!

Posted on April 10, 2015 | 13 comments

Wahoooo!
PKO_0007393 Yipee Wahoo Jump Pink RobeWahoo! It’s time to celebrate! Book two of FIRE IN THE WOODS is charging towards the finish line. It’s so exciting when your baby starts taking form and coming to life.

And the first thing that makes it start feeling “real” is when the cover pops up in your email.

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Oh! The tingly feels!

 

Without further ado, please welcome the second gorgeous FIRE IN THE WOODS cover.

Isn’t it stupendous!

 

Ashes1

From the beginning I asked for a cover that could be “branded” and here we are! There is no denying this is a FIRE IN THE WOODS cover, and I couldn’t be happier.

And (shhhh… don’t tell anyone) but I even wrote a scene to bring the cover to life. It was perfect!

I have to be honest in saying I NEVER expected there to be a second book in the series, but I am so excited there is because I realized that if I really push myself, I can come up with an exciting plotline even when I thought the original story was over. (If that makes any sense)

ASHES IN THE SKY releases wherever books are sold September 1, 2015.

PKO_cheer20007376Can I hear an “Oh Yeah!” ?????

 

_JenniFer____EatoN

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Posted in Marketing Madness

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Two novels in nine months. Wow. Taking stock, and taking notes

Posted on April 3, 2015 | 13 comments

For the first time in my life, typing “The End” felt like a huge relief rather than an epic accomplishment.

PKO_cheer30010118I just fulfilled my third contracted novel in the FIRE IN THE WOODS series in record time (at least for me) but still late, after asking for a one-month extension.

PKO_cheer10001289Looking back, I have to appreciate what an incredible personal accomplishment this was. A year ago today, I was checking my email daily, waiting for responses on my submissions while working on a dystopian novel (that is still only in fourth draft form)

Month_9_Books_Mermaid1It wasn’t until June 9, 2014 that I received the offer from Month9Books, with a three book deal attached. SWEET! But I looked at the tight deadlines with a shudder.

They wanted me to come up with two more novels, write, edit, and submit within eight months; while working at a break-neck speed to release and market book one in a “window of opportunity”.

If you’ve been here a long time, you know I rarely balk at a challenge.

Looking back, though, I think if I am ever faced with such an offer again, I might try to push out the dates to five or six months for each book.

Can I write a clean book in four months?

Yes. This little adventure has proven that. But I’d rather have more time than I need, and submit early, than hit a bump in the road (like I did in the middle of book three) and have to ask for an extension.

Yeah, I may be dreaming, because I am a little fish in a big ocean, and some publishers won’t budge. But at least now I will know what I am getting myself into.

Would I do it again?

Yes. In a heartbeat. Like I said, a year ago my debut novel was sitting in query cues, and still getting rejections. Now that same book that I was considering “shelving” is a three book series, with decent sales and great reviews on book one.

Yep. I have to admit: It feels good.

But I still need a vacation.

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Posted in General Writing Tips

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Writer’s Retreat! Woo-hoo!

Posted on March 13, 2015 | 6 comments

PKO_0004442 Nervous ScaredWrite a story with me guyJust a quick wave “hi” on the way to my writer’s retreat.  I’m heading back up to internet-free woods of PA to an old house in the middle of nowhere where for three days, without interruption:

 

NOTHING

BUT

WRITING

1430695 YAY CHEERI am totally ready to sit back, relax, and open myself up to a brand new world.

It’s been so long since I’ve had the chance to create brand new characters. Not that I don’t love Jess and David from me FIRE IN THE WOODS series, but the thought of starting something new just makes me all a-tingle.

If you even get a chance to get away with creative people, I highly recommend it. I’m really looking forward to this trip!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Jennifer___Eaton

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Posted in Senseless Ranting

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Taking a deep breath and admitting “I can’t do it.”

Posted on March 6, 2015 | 13 comments

“I can’t do it.”

Wow… coming from a neurotic, over-achiever-based upbringing, you would not believe how hard it was for me to type those words … or how hard it was for me to contact my publisher and ask for an extension.

When I was offered a three-book-deal for FIRE IN THE WOODS, I knew it came with some pretty serious deadlines.  But being the psycho I am, I took it as a challenge.

The first challenge was to come up with a concept for Book Two, outline, write the book, beta the book, polish and submit ALL WITHIN 4.5 MONTHS. (While promoting the high-speed release of book one)

Wow. 

But I made it! It was tight, but I did it.

However, in order to make the deadline for book three, I needed to start the next book during the beta-reading process of book 2.

That DID NOT happen.

But I thought I would be okay.  I still had four months to write book three. (Same deal: come up with a concept, write the book, outline, write the book, beta the book, polish and submit)  Heck, it was only two less weeks. I could pull that off, right?

WRONG.

In act two, I got hung up. The writing came slowly. It was not writer’s block, per say, but I just SLOWED DOWN.  On such a tight deadline, it killed me.

Did I finish the book on time?  Yes–and no.

I did finish the first draft two days before the deadline, but it was just that — a first draft. No one had read it but me.

I am in no way vain enough to think I can write a perfect first draft in four months and just hit the submit button. Nope. No way.

Enter my beta-reading army, who had already been through the first fifty pages by then (I do not recommend sending out part of your book to beta before you are done – I did this only out of necessity)

PKO_0013466 sadAnyway… These people have lives of their own, and it was unrealistic to ask them to finish a concise developmental edit and proofread in a few days.

So I had to take a deep breath,

suck it up,

and ask my publisher for an extension.

I'm_not_above_begging

I now have an extra month to get the final draft in.

Whew! What a relief…

Until my bubble burst and my edits for Book Two came back.

 Both novels are now due on the same day.

Seriously

Arghhh! PictureHa!  No pressure.

No pressure at all!

The good news is the developmental changes are minor for book two. I actually let them sit for a week while I finished reviewing beta comments for the third book.

And at this point, I firmly believe I will be handing both books over with a smile in three weeks.

No___Pressure

Anyway… Lessons learned:

  1. Wow. I can seriously write fast if I need to.
  2. Don’t make myself write that fast if I don’t have to. It made it “not fun”
  3. The relationships I’ve made along the way have totally paid off. I have friends who are wildly talented and willing to help. (And now I get to see their work before the rest of the world to pay back the favor. Woo-hoo!)

Soooo

Sooooo… that’s where I am.  A little bump in the road, but I don’t think it is a production-stopper.

Fire-in-the-Woods-Cover 3DA year ago, if you told me there would be three FIRE IN THE WOODS books I would have laughed at you… and here they are. And even though one is not completely polished yet, I am pretty proud of them. There is a whole lot of trouble that two teenagers can get into if I put my mind to it.

How’s your writing been going?

JenniFer_EatonF

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Posted in Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

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Sometimes the best laid plans go awry

Posted on February 27, 2015 | 5 comments

Gah! Today was supposed to be the cover reveal for ASHES IN THE SKY. But my publisher called me to say it would be postponed. I don’t have a date yet.

Ashes Teaser postponed

I guess lesson learned that no matter how well you plan and publicize, something can always happen at the last minute to pull the plug on your drain.

I understand why they pulled it, and it’s a good reason that I think will make FIRE IN THE WOODS fans happy in the long run.

From what I hear, little hiccups like this are not uncommon in the industry.

Sooo… Onward and upward.

I still have plenty to do finishing up book three.

Have you ever had something flip-flop on you at the last minute?

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You don’t need to be extraordinary to do extraordinary things. Fire in the Woods @month9books

Posted on February 20, 2015 | 7 comments

One of the things I do on Instagram is pop out a message of good will from time to time.

In this particular one, I picked out one of the themes for Fire in the Woods and combined it into a promo video.  This is ten seconds long.

What do you think?

Jennifer___Eaton

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Posted in Marketing Madness

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15 Second Trailer for FIRE IN THE WOODS from Jess’s POV @month9books @Georgia_mcbride

Posted on February 6, 2015 | 5 comments

For this mini-trailer, I went back to the closing statements of the original full-length book trailer. My hope was that this solidifies the story in the minds of people who heard of the book, but also peaks the interest of someone seeing it for the first time.

Again, I am seeing more and more feedback with each mini-video I post on Instagram. I’m not sure if that is because I am getting better at it, or if followers are just starting to get more comfortable with me.

I am having a ton of fun meeting people over there though, and I’m learning about tons of new books.

Anyway, here’s the latest.

Please let me know what you think!

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_JenniFer____EatoN

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