Last night I received the my critique from a fabulous blogger and friend Hart Johnson of "Tart" fame. Visit her blog you will love her... everybody does! http://waterytart23.blogspot.com/
To my delight she enjoyed my five thousand word excerpt. She commented on the strong characters and the believable circumstance between Aidan and his psychotic dad. She even dislikes Aidan.
Everything I wrote accomplished what it set out to do. I was on top of the world until.... the axe hit.
A huge technical flaw: I flipped my tenses! NOOOOOO!
Unfortunately, yes. Of course I freaked. Only three days away from submitting to ABNA. Thousands of tenses need to be corrected.
Don't let this happen to you.
My first two novels I wrote in third person. I never had issues with tense. THE BLINDED GARDENER is in first person. Since I have never written in first person before I fell into this trap.
According to my wonderful friend, Hart, this can happen when you make the switch. Thankfully she caught this. But now I am more crazed than ever going through 57000 plus words to fix this mess. I had spent hours last night and today editing... Hence, the late post.
I am only on page 56 of my 225 page novel. I really need all of you cheers and support now more that ever!
So DON'T let tenses ruin your novel. Make sure the correct tenses are consistent throughout, or you can be going crazy like me.
I've got to get back to editing. Everyone, please forgive me. I might not be able to visit you this weekend. This annoys me so much. It is the highlight of my day to visiting all of you.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
DON'T FORGET ... BEWARE OF POT HOLES AND LEAVE THAT CLIFFHANGER!
Day three of editing reminds of the next step in the editing process.
After you finish taking care of the grammar and punctation nightmares, you are now left with scanning your ms for the infamous pot holes.
Beware! This can ruin a fantastic story. As your read through your first edit look for these in your ms. Make sure you round off every plot twist and thread. Of course, we all love the cliff hanger, but make sure you follow it though in your story. Only leave a few questions unanswered by the end of your book.
You want your readers to crave for more, but you don't want them upset and frustrated. If you leave too many unanswered questions, they will be.
Now for the cliffhanger... Oh, man do I love a good cliffhanger. We all want to write a book where the reader is so tired by the end of a chapter ten they still must turn that page! Make them loose a few extra hours of sleep. Make your story worth it.
Each chapter should end with tension and intrigue. Build it up so the reader's curiosity wills them to go on to the next chapter.
If you manage to create this in your writing, your novel will be on everyone's reading list. Remember this is what we are all striving to achieve. The choices are endless. Write a novel that will catapult yours above the other thousands of books out there.
Good luck as you edit. I hope this helps you in your editing process. I am off to finish my final fifty pages of editing.
Thanks for all your support and cheers. I should make my goal and have a strong contender for ABNA.
Tomorrow I'll have some suggestions for that final polish on your ms. Until then have a great day!
After you finish taking care of the grammar and punctation nightmares, you are now left with scanning your ms for the infamous pot holes.
Beware! This can ruin a fantastic story. As your read through your first edit look for these in your ms. Make sure you round off every plot twist and thread. Of course, we all love the cliff hanger, but make sure you follow it though in your story. Only leave a few questions unanswered by the end of your book.
You want your readers to crave for more, but you don't want them upset and frustrated. If you leave too many unanswered questions, they will be.
Now for the cliffhanger... Oh, man do I love a good cliffhanger. We all want to write a book where the reader is so tired by the end of a chapter ten they still must turn that page! Make them loose a few extra hours of sleep. Make your story worth it.
Each chapter should end with tension and intrigue. Build it up so the reader's curiosity wills them to go on to the next chapter.
If you manage to create this in your writing, your novel will be on everyone's reading list. Remember this is what we are all striving to achieve. The choices are endless. Write a novel that will catapult yours above the other thousands of books out there.
Good luck as you edit. I hope this helps you in your editing process. I am off to finish my final fifty pages of editing.
Thanks for all your support and cheers. I should make my goal and have a strong contender for ABNA.
Tomorrow I'll have some suggestions for that final polish on your ms. Until then have a great day!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
EDITING ... HOW TO MAKE THAT NOVEL SPARKLE ... PART II
I am on my third day of editing THE BLINDED GARDENER and it is going well. I have five chapters done and I should be able to do another five today. I am determined to finish the first round of editing by tomorrow night ... Keep those cheers coming friends.
With less than a week to ABNA I have lots to polish. Here are few more things to look for when editing your manuscript.
Name tags .... they also can be a writer's nemesis. Too many "he saids" or "she saids" can really bog up your ms with unnecessary words. Only and I mean only use them when you want to break up a long dialogue sequence OR when a character in dialogue needs to be clarified, usually when there is more than two people in a scene.
So watch out for those dreaded name tags. I had so many in my first novel ... no wonder I had to cut 60,000 words out of it, I bet half were name tags.
Something else to look out for are too many adjectives. I have the tendency to sting two or more together in a sentence.
"The tall, dark, raven-haired beauty..." You get the picture. This could slow down your readers. Each sentence should be balanced and crisp. Don't bog down you writing with useless description.
Another sand trap to avoid. TOO MUCH description.
Don't get me wrong. I am the KING of description. I can go on and on about how beautiful the cascading tendrils of the Weeping Willow tree looks. But does the reader?
Keep description to a minimal. If you do, when the time comes for some gorgeous descriptive prose the reader will lap it up. Readers do get bored with action, action, action.
Writing is all about the balance. When the prose has a perfect balance of descriptive prose, dialogue, and action, you'll have a great story.
This leads into my final tip: Watch out for too much dialogue. This can also be tedious to read. Pages of dialogue can drive your reader crazy.
One of my critique partners went nuts on me about having too much dialogue. "This is a novel not a screenplay!"
So make sure you have a minimal of 50/50 prose/dialogue. Keep the prose at a higher level if you can. Again ... it's all about the balance.
Have a great day everyone. I hope these suggestions help with your editing. It's time for me to start mine.
Wish me luck.
Your blogging buddy,
Michael
With less than a week to ABNA I have lots to polish. Here are few more things to look for when editing your manuscript.
Name tags .... they also can be a writer's nemesis. Too many "he saids" or "she saids" can really bog up your ms with unnecessary words. Only and I mean only use them when you want to break up a long dialogue sequence OR when a character in dialogue needs to be clarified, usually when there is more than two people in a scene.
So watch out for those dreaded name tags. I had so many in my first novel ... no wonder I had to cut 60,000 words out of it, I bet half were name tags.
Something else to look out for are too many adjectives. I have the tendency to sting two or more together in a sentence.
"The tall, dark, raven-haired beauty..." You get the picture. This could slow down your readers. Each sentence should be balanced and crisp. Don't bog down you writing with useless description.
Another sand trap to avoid. TOO MUCH description.
Don't get me wrong. I am the KING of description. I can go on and on about how beautiful the cascading tendrils of the Weeping Willow tree looks. But does the reader?
Keep description to a minimal. If you do, when the time comes for some gorgeous descriptive prose the reader will lap it up. Readers do get bored with action, action, action.
Writing is all about the balance. When the prose has a perfect balance of descriptive prose, dialogue, and action, you'll have a great story.
This leads into my final tip: Watch out for too much dialogue. This can also be tedious to read. Pages of dialogue can drive your reader crazy.
One of my critique partners went nuts on me about having too much dialogue. "This is a novel not a screenplay!"
So make sure you have a minimal of 50/50 prose/dialogue. Keep the prose at a higher level if you can. Again ... it's all about the balance.
Have a great day everyone. I hope these suggestions help with your editing. It's time for me to start mine.
Wish me luck.
Your blogging buddy,
Michael
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
EDITING.... HOW TO MAKE A SO-SO NOVEL SPARKLE!
It always amazes me how involved the editing process is. How do you start? Do you first search for holes in the plot? Or, do you look for grammar and punctuation first?
I guess it is personal preference, but for me I alway start with the grammar and punctuation. Get the nasty stuff out of your ms first! You will be flabbergasted when you do that "ly" search and find hundreds of adverbs.
"There couldn't possible be that many!" You shriek.
Yes, there are. They sneak up on you in the middle of the night without you even aware. That is why this search is a MUST.
Next let's get rid of those pesky "Thats". It's always a jaw-dropping experience to find them littered all through your ms.
Recently I read in a post about the another one of these pests ... the "IT" factor. How do you avoid this one. I haven't a clue! I used the word "it" so much it scared me. So watch out for those IT's, they aren't popular.
Now, how about those wordy sentences. I learned from my good friend Erica, from erica and christy, to ECONOMIZE! And I don't mean stretching a dollar. My first novel ended up at 125,000 words for a y/a fantasy. HA! It now reads at 68,000 ... talk about too much of EVERYTHING. This was the editing job from hell and took me over a year.
Look ar your sentences.... Do they flow? Are they crisp and do they sing? This is what we want to accomplish.
And now for the last and very common overage .... drum roll please .... Ellipses and Em dashes. How many do you have? These lovely little creature excite us in our dialogue. They are so much fun to use, we can go nuts with them. DON'T! They should used like any accessory. LESS IS MORE!
AH! I just remembered another, the exclamation! Another one to look out for and us use with caution.
So if you are editing, watch out for all these danger zones. Rake through you ms with a fine took comb.
Tomorrow I'll have a few other dangerous words that plague our ms's.
I'm off to editing. Have a great day everyone.
I guess it is personal preference, but for me I alway start with the grammar and punctuation. Get the nasty stuff out of your ms first! You will be flabbergasted when you do that "ly" search and find hundreds of adverbs.
"There couldn't possible be that many!" You shriek.
Yes, there are. They sneak up on you in the middle of the night without you even aware. That is why this search is a MUST.
Next let's get rid of those pesky "Thats". It's always a jaw-dropping experience to find them littered all through your ms.
Recently I read in a post about the another one of these pests ... the "IT" factor. How do you avoid this one. I haven't a clue! I used the word "it" so much it scared me. So watch out for those IT's, they aren't popular.
Now, how about those wordy sentences. I learned from my good friend Erica, from erica and christy, to ECONOMIZE! And I don't mean stretching a dollar. My first novel ended up at 125,000 words for a y/a fantasy. HA! It now reads at 68,000 ... talk about too much of EVERYTHING. This was the editing job from hell and took me over a year.
Look ar your sentences.... Do they flow? Are they crisp and do they sing? This is what we want to accomplish.
And now for the last and very common overage .... drum roll please .... Ellipses and Em dashes. How many do you have? These lovely little creature excite us in our dialogue. They are so much fun to use, we can go nuts with them. DON'T! They should used like any accessory. LESS IS MORE!
AH! I just remembered another, the exclamation! Another one to look out for and us use with caution.
So if you are editing, watch out for all these danger zones. Rake through you ms with a fine took comb.
Tomorrow I'll have a few other dangerous words that plague our ms's.
I'm off to editing. Have a great day everyone.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
THE PRESSURE'S BUILDING --- HIBERNATING FOR THE WEEKEND!
Thanks all for the cheers yesterday. Joanna you made me laugh so hard visualizing you shaking your floral pompoms.
Yesterday was a crazy day and I only wrote a thousand words. I plan to spend all day to finish. I did stop on a few blogs earlier and left comments, but for the weekend I really need to concentrate on finishing up the end. I'm almost there ... I think.
I know you all understand and you've been great with all the cheers and words of support.
This weekend Misty Waters is holding a fantastic Show and Tell blogfest which I am so bummed I can't do.... just not enough time! I've skimmed over a few entries and they look awesome, so go check it out on her blog for the list of entries.... I wish I could! http://mistydawnwaters.blogspot.com/
I hope everyone has wonderful weekend... Enjoy. I will try to drop by when I need a break or some air.
Friday, January 14, 2011
A FRESH NEW LOOK FOR SPRING.... YES, I KNOW IT'S STILL WINTER!
This arrangement is a bit too tall for my teapot.
Although it's twenty degrees with a ten degree wind chill in Chicago, I decided we all need touch of spring. How do we do that, you ask?
Through flowers.
Fresh cut flowers can soothe the soul. (Yes, it's a mini design tip.)
You will be smiling the moment you put them in your favorite vase or like me, if you want to be a bit more daring in a TEAPOT....
Many of you had visited my blog during Jen and Melissa's blogfest and commented on how beautiful the roses looked in, yes, the teapot.
Just imagine how expensive this unique arrangement would cost through Teleflora or FTD.
SO while you are out running around in the snow, stop off at your local grocery store or private shopping club , everyone has a Wholefoods, Costco or BJ'S .... they have stunning flowers. Jewel if you're in the midwest. Publix in Florida, Groger, in Atlanta, C foods in NY, Smiths in Vegas, etc. If you're wondering, yes, I lived in all these places and then some.
They could be any flowers of your choice. You can even purchase a living plant. I actually have a blooming azalea in my living room right now.... Mother nature is amazing.
When at home think of a fun container to put them in. Something you would never think of using for flowers.... be creative. Spring is in the air!
Well everyone, give yourself a mid winter lift with a touch of spring! Let me here about your creative ways to add a touch of spring on a long winter's day.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now on a more writerly note, I did this quick post because I needed a touch of spring and a break from my WIP ... HOWEVER ... I did achieve my goal of 50,000 words ..... But as of yet I need a few more thousand to wrap up the ending. So now I will go an write. Thanks everyone for all your cheers and support. I can use a few more to finish....
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