Tag Archives: gold mine

You’ll never guess what I’m doing today!

Posted on September 8, 2014 | 11 comments

About a month ago, I was contacted by a television producer who had been surfing the web and stumbled across my “Gold Mine Manuscript” series of posts from 2011.

She thought these topics would be a great addition to a television series she’s working on aimed at writers.

And she wanted to know if I’d like to appear on her show. Isn’t that even cooler?????

So today I am practicing my breathing exercises, trying to keep myself calm, and then I’m heading out to the studio to do my first ever television interview.

Isn’t that neat?

We are taping today, but the show will be airing some time in October. That does not take the pressure off, though. The show will filmed like it is live. Any mistakes will be immortalized forever.

I’m both excited and a little nervous… but probably more excited than anything else.

This is a brand new experience for me, and it sounds like so much fun!

Wish me luck!

And while you’re here, have you had any “unexpected” opportunities pop up as a result of using social media?

11 Comments

Posted in Marketing Madness

Tagged analysis, cable TV, copy edit, editor, gold mine, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, line edit, Manuscript, marketing, Publishing, red line, television appearance

Lesson Twenty-Four from a Manuscript Red Line: Remembering where your characters are

Posted on January 16, 2012 | 18 comments

Do you pay attention to where your characters are in a scene? Are you sure? I thought I was sure too. Guess what?

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.

The publisher who red-lined the Gold Mine Manuscript pointed out a scene where the two main characters were running side by side away from some danger. All of the sudden, one of them shouted from behind the other one. The comment from the publisher was: “They were together, but you didn’t say he jumped ahead. How then did she get behind?”

I read over this the first time I looked at the red-line, because it seemed like another “duh” comment. However, just a few weeks ago one of my betas pointed out that both my characters were standing right next to each other, and then all of the sudden Jerric walked up to Magellan from the other side of the room. Why would he walk up if he was already at his side?

Similarly, I recently re-wrote a scene where someone was seated the entire time. In the end, he falls off the chair. I changed it so he stands up early in the scene, but after leaving it for a month, and then looking at the scene again, I noticed that my “standing” character still fell off the chair. Was he standing on the chair? Of course not!

The point of all this is to pay attention to where your character is, and make sure it is consistent throughout the scene. If not, show us the movement. If you don’t, you can unintentionally make your scene comical.

18 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged chair, gold mine, Gold Mine Manuscript, Manuscript, Narrative mode, point of view, Protagonist, publish, queen, silly mistakes

Lesson Twenty from a Manuscript Red Line: Don’t make things so easy

Posted on December 12, 2011 | 9 comments

In the Gold Mine Manuscript, there is a point where the MC is thrust into the magical world. He has been there for a few days, and suddenly he is faced with an animal that can speak to him through their minds.

In concept, this is fine. However, the publisher red-lined that the MC was “too accepting” of this. The MC just jumped in and said “okay, no problem” – well, he didn’t say it that way, but he jumped right on board.

The publisher said that it would be okay for the characters who were born into this world to be fine with this, but the MC should not accept so easily. A few paragraphs later, the MC also tells his friend that there’s nothing to be afraid of, and that he’s harmless… they red-lined that too.

Think of it this way… if you ran into a guy in the street, and just started talking to him for a few minutes, would you be willing to risk your life, and your best friend’s life in trusting this person, or would you be a little wary? Now make this person a really large mythical animal. Getting nervous yet?

Be careful that you don’t put your own knowledge into your character’s heads before that knowledge is learned. You as the author know there is nothing to fear, but to make it realistic, your character’s “trust” needs to be earned to a degree. Let relationships develop so they seem more natural and believable. Don’t take the easy way out to move your story ahead more quickly.

Think over your novel. Have you done anything like this?

Jennifer Eaton

9 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged easy way out, Fiction, gold mine, myth, Narrative mode, point of view, publish, talking animals