Author: Writing your first novel-Some things you should know

Narrative Versus Exposition-They’re Not The Same (Revised)

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , Leave a comment

NARRATIVE4I remember when I first started taking my writing seriously. I did a lot of research and read a lot of information on how to write a publishable novel. Somewhere along the way, I missed the part were narrative and exposition were not the same. As a matter of fact, I used the two interchangeably.

In response to one of my earlier blogs, a fellow blogger commented that she thought I was wrong in reference to a statement I had made concerning exposition and narrative. She, of course, was right, and as a result, I took a closer look at these two concepts.

Narrative

  • Narrative is your voice as the writer sharing information with your readers.
  • It tells the reader instead of showing.
  • Narrative lets you set the scene and give background information.
  • Used for transitions, it moves the reader from one scene to another.
  • It slows the pace.

Exposition

  • Exposition provides the detached, third-party perspective on a story.
  • Shows the reader what is happening, doesn’t tell them.
  • Uses description to inform and move the story forward.
  • Exposition gives the reader more information, more emotion, and helps with active scenes by quickening the pace.
  • Allows us to hear character thoughts.

In a nutshell, narrative is telling, exposition is showing. I found the following example during my research and thought it did a good job of showing what I am trying to explain.

Exposition: Brian stopped and reached into his pants pocket. He pulled out a lighter. Then, he reached into his lapel pocket for his pack of cigarettes and took one out. He placed the cigarette between his lips, cupped his hands, and lit it. After putting his lighter back in his pants pocket, he resumed walking.

Narration: Brian stopped to light a cigarette and resumed walking.

So much info on this subject. It still can be confusing, and it seems everyone has a different opinion. I would encourage you to do your own homework and think twice about using the two concepts interchangeably. They are not the same.

Something to think about.

-Jan R

Narrative Versus Exposition-They’re Not The Same (Revised)

Friends Are Friends – Not Editors

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , 1 Comment

download (3)In a recent blog, Maybe You Should Consider Biting The Bullet!  I talked about my experience with agents and my journey towards getting my book published. Needless to say it was disheartening. The response I got back, was it just wasn’t ready.

I thought about using an editor in the past, but didn’t really think I needed one. I’m very bright. I know how to read and work things out, so why should I  pay someone to edit my book for me?

I had friends read my work and point out mistakes.  After all, everybody knows you need another set of eyes besides your own. You are so close to your work, and have reviewed it so often, the mistakes are all but invisible.

If you have a friend that’s trained and knows how to review and edit manuscripts, that’s awesome, but most of us don’t. Those wonderful friends of ours who have volunteered their time, can read our work, and say yay or nay on the premise. They may catch a couple typos, misspellings, or missing commas. They may offer a suggestion or two to make the story a little more interesting. But it’s not fair or realistic to expect them to churn out a publishable piece of work.

I tried this route for years. I would get friends to read, go in and make the corrections they suggested, along with the ones that I found while making their suggested corrections and would send it in again.

As you probably guessed, it still wasn’t ready. It wasn’t until I got the chapter back from a professional that I realized why the agents, who took the time to comment, were saying it wasn’t ready. It wasn’t.

Something to think about.

-Jan R

 

Friends Are Friends – Not Editors

Maybe You Should Consider Biting The Bullet!

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , 4 Comments

imageI’ve been working on Always And Forever for about nine years now. Well to be honest, I became discouraged on many occasions. Especially when I received rejections from newly solicited agents. I had gone through the novel for the umpteenth time, and I knew I had corrected every little mistake that could have possibly been overlooked during previous reviews. So, it would probably be more accurate to say I worked on the book for nine years off and on. Some of those offs were many months in duration.

I’ve tried to walk away from the book, but I can’t.  It’s a great story waiting to be told. It’s also a thorn in my side. As much as I try to push it away and move on, I find myself drawn back into the story and a desire to see it published.

One of the Agents I sent my work to, said I had a great premise but the story was riddled with grammatical and structural errors, head hopping, and dragging dialogue. It wasn’t ready for publication.

I took her constructive criticism to heart and took courses, read books, and worked on my manuscript feverishly in an attempt to make it publishable. Well here we are Nine years later and I still have a piece of work riddled with grammatical and structural errors, with no head hopping, and forward moving dialogue.

I’ve had friends read my novel and point out mistakes. I’ve used several online grammar programs, but I still have a piece of work with an unacceptable number of grammatical errors. It’s not ready.

A month ago, a lady that I know started an editing business and said she would love to look at my work. As a favor to me, she reviewed and provided corrections to my prologue and first chapter no charge.

I was appalled at the number of errors she cited. I have no idea how I could have missed so many small things. I was seeing for the first time what the literary agents were seeing when they reviewed my work, and I fully understood what the one agent had offered when she said it wasn’t ready.

Needless to say, I have hired her to help me with the rest of the book. It is an expense, but I’ve come to realize that we can’t edit our own work. As authors, we are to close and can’t see what jumps off the page for people with trained eyes.

Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet. And yes I know that’s a cliché,  but it sums up perfectly what I’m trying to say 🙂

Something to think about.

 

-Jan R

 

Maybe You Should Consider Biting The Bullet!

Maybe You Should Rethink That Title

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know1 Comment

Always and forever 3Thinking of a title for your current piece of work? I went to google and typed in the name of  the title I was planning on using for my novel, ‘Always and Forever.’ Two books came up with the same title. I thought that wasn’t too bad, but decided to go to Amazon and type the title in to see always and forever 1what they had. Well, I stopped at ‘Always and Forever’ number 20, and passed quite a few ‘Forever and Always’ along the way.

There isn’t a problem with my choice from a legal perspective. A title can’t be copyrighted, so it’s fair game. The question is, do I want to use a title that is so obviously overused?

One of the pros would be that the first two ‘Always and Forever’ titles I ran across were always and forever 2best sellers. This means people who liked those books, may have a positive view of mine, or at least a curiosity to check it out. What do you think? Would you keep the title or change it?

On a related note, I saw a headline that read-Confused buyers make World War II book, ‘Fire and Fury’ surprise bestseller. I’m not going to get political, but I did find that funny, and since it fell in line with my blog this morning, I thought I would use it 🙂

I’m not sure I want people to buy my book because they confused it with another one. I would hope the back cover description caught their attention, and the novel itself kept them reading.

-Jan R

Maybe You Should Rethink That Title

Do You Have Rewrite-itis?

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , 4 Comments

I got tickled when I first saw this word. I have to admit, I have dealt with rewrite-itis. What is it? It’s a severe condition that effects both published and unpublished writers according to The Everything Guide To Writing A Romance Novel. It means your are unable to call a book, chapter, or even a scene finished. So what causes the condition? A fear of failure or success. For me it is definitely failure.

What are the symptoms?

  • Rewriting the same scene, chapter, or book more than ten times
  • Never finishing a book, because you keep going back to polish the first chapter
  • Constantly having others read your book with the hopes they will give you some revisions to do
  • Taking your finished manuscript to the post office to mail, only to return home with it in hand for further revision

So what do you think? Do you have a case of rewrite-itis?

Rewrite-itis has a close cousin – Research-itis. Maybe you have that one too. True research is crucial to any novel, but an author needs to know when to say “Enough is enough.”

So what is the cure? Set goals and deadlines and stick to them. Remember your manuscript is your baby, but sooner or later you have to turn it loose.

Just something to think about.

-Jan R

Do You Have Rewrite-itis?