Writing tips

Grammar! It’s Important!

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , 2 Comments

The Adventures of Grammar ManI was reading a book on ‘How to Write Best-Selling Fiction’ this past week when a chapter jumped out at me, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was totally me. I’m ashamed to admit my naivety, but it was like I was reading my story.

Dean Koontz, the author, tells a story about an unpublished author. He had agreed to look at the man’s manuscript and got a little more than he bargained for. For the purpose of his story, he decided to call the man Bubba.

Bubba was very excited about his work, and said writing was the easiest thing he had ever done. All he had to do was sit down and type. The story just flowed off the top of his head. He wondered why everyone wasn’t doing it.

Well Bubba did give him a manuscript, but it was nowhere near publishable. In fact, according to Koontz, “In the first chapter of that novel, Bubba commits virtually every grammatical error known to English-speaking people.”

Like Bubba, I finished my first novel and was eager to put it out there. It was a great story. I knew I had a best seller. I sent it out to literary agents and waited for my offer. One never got back with me. Three said it wasn’t what they were looking for. One very gracious agent took the time to review at least a portion of my work, and provided me with a list of reasons why my novel wasn’t ready.

Grammatical and Structural errors were at the top of the list. Dean Koontz calls these the unforgivable sins. New writers may need pointers on pacing, transitions, POV, backstory… but if you’re calling yourself a writer, you should know and follow the basic rules of grammar.

There you go. I’m a sinner, but I have worked hard to redeem myself 🙂

One of the myths that I fell into, was that it didn’t matter if my grammar was perfect or even approaching perfect. The publishers had editors that would go through and correct all of my mistakes. Right?

I could have given up, the novel obviously wasn’t publishable. I had spent a year writing it. I spent countless hours revising and making sure everything was flowing, and the story made sense. I couldn’t believe it was being rejected because of grammatical and structural errors.

Of course there were other issues, but that was the one that stopped the agent in her tracks. She was kind and did praise the actual premise itself.

She encouraged me to go back and learn how to write, apply what I learned to the novel I was writing, and resubmit.

I took her advice after some time off to lick my wounds. The novel I am currently preparing for submission is a much improved version of the original manuscript.

DON’T GIVE UP! DO YOUR HOMEWORK! LEARN YOUR CRAFT! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

-Jan R

 

 

 

Grammar! It’s Important!

Editing…How Do You Know When You’re Done?

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , 16 Comments

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As many of you know, I’m in the editing phase of my novel and hope to have it ready to present to literary agents by the summer. A goal I feel to be very realistic.

Like many of you I struggle with knowing when I’m done. When will all the necessary revisions be made? I mean, how is it that we can rewrite the same sentence five times, let it sit for a few days—or weeks—and find five more ways to write it? It can be total madness.

I went to an article written by one of my favorite bloggers to see what he had to say on the subject. Jerry Jenkins has been around for a long time, and I trust his judgement completely. According to him, there are two ways of knowing when you’re done:

Trust your gut– Knowing what sounds right, what reads best, is what being a writer means. You should be writing for yourself and believing there are many others out there just like you. When it reads the way that feels right to you, stop. You’re there.

Read it aloud-When you hear it, everything becomes clear—whether you’re reading it to yourself or someone else. Any phrasing that causes a hesitation or a hitch in your delivery is a clue.  You need to relook at what you wrote and tweak it.

Ask yourself, am I making it read better, clearer, more concise, or changing it altogether? If you are changing the original intent, you need to stop.

-Jan R

Editing…How Do You Know When You’re Done?

Are My Words Qualified?

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , , 6 Comments

untitledThis past weekend I picked up a copy of “The Elements Of Style” at a library book sale for a dollar. If you’ve never heard of the book, I would highly recommend it. It’s one of those books that every writer should own.

It is filled with tips on how to write and make every word count, or every word tell, as the authors like to put it.

One of the tips offered, that I am guilty of, is avoiding the addition of qualifiers to your words. Qualifiers are words like rather, very, pretty, big, and little. My favorite one to use, or misuse I should say,  is very 🙂 These words are described as leeches that take hold and suck the blood out of your words.

Because ‘very’ is my nemesis, I thought I would share a picture that I found on Google Images. As you can see, it provides alternatives to using ‘very’ and gets you to thinking about what you are really trying to say.  I love it, and it has been very helpful (invaluable) to me. I hope it helps you as well.

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-Jan R

 

Are My Words Qualified?

Words, Words, and More Words

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

fullsizerender-1After writing Tuesday’s  blog, I got to thinking about all of the words we misuse. The one that I misuse the most is to instead of too. I know the correct one to use, but because I’m on a roll with the words flowing, I’m not always as careful as I would normally be. I have also mixed up it’s/its and pique/peak/peek.

I pulled this list together from various sites on the internet. All of these words resonated with me, and I could see how easy it would be to misuse them.

I hope this helps, or at least makes you think about the word you are about to use.

  1. Affect/Effect – Affect is to pretend or influence and it’s  a verb. Effect is a result and it is a noun.
  2. Your/You’re – Your shows possession. You’re is a contraction of the words you and are or you and were.
  3. It’s/Its – It’s is a contraction of the words it and is or it and has. Its shows possession and does not require an apostrophe.
  4. Literally – This one isn’t so much misspelled as it is misused by those that don’t understand the definition. If you’re not sure, literally means something that actually, truly and in all reality happened. In most cases you want to use the word figuratively.
  5. Irregardless – is technically a word…even if most English majors refuse to accept it as one. It is considered an improper word, as is ain’t and conversate. To keep from sounding uneducated, just use regardless instead.
  6. A Lot/Alot –  Alot is not a word. It is two words…a lot.
  7. e.g./i.e. – When you see e.g. think ‘eggsample’. On the other hand, in essence is represented by i.e.
  8. Insure/Ensure/Assure – Insure means to purchase or have insurance. Ensure is to make certain of something. Assure is comfort or lend confidence, as in the word reassure.
  9. Mute/Moot – Mute is to make quite or without voice. Moot means something has little to no practical value. Note which definition is used in the phrase, ‘a moot point’.
  10. Disinterested/Uninterested – Disinterested means you don’t have a stake, claim or interest in something. Uninterested is when there is no interest…as in unconcerned or unenthusiastic about something.
  11. Lay/Lie – This one is kind of tricky because lay is also the past tense of lie. Any time you move an object you lay it down. Lie means to recline. A good rule of thumb is to use sit and set. If sit will work in its place, use lie. If set could be used, go with lay.
  12. Pique/Peek/Peak – Something may pique your interest…or you might peek at a present…or reach a sort of peak.
  13. Stationary/Stationery – Stationary, with an a, refers to something immovable or fixed…like a stationary bike. Stationery, with an e, is pretty paper.
  14. Then/Than – Then refers to time.  Than is used when making a comparison: I like chocolate more than candy.
  15. Invoke/Evoke – To invoke is to call upon a higher power for aid or assistance. To evoke is to recall a memory or feeling.
  16. Continuous/Continual – Continuous is something that continues without cease. Continual happens over a long period of time.
  17. Accept/Except – To accept is to receive. Except means to exclude.
  18. Chronic/Acute – Chronic is long-term and usually debilitating. The use of acute implies a sudden on-set of symptoms. Chronic and acute are also used to classify pain. Acute would be sudden, like stubbing your toe, while anyone who’s suffered recurring back pain knows the first-hand definition of chronic.
  19. Allusion/Illusion/Elusion – Allusion is a reference to something. Illusion is a misconception and also refers to magic and illusionists. Elusion is to escape. The writer alluded to the famous illusions of Houdini, who was famous for eluding death by narrow escape.
  20. Assent/Ascent – Assent means to agree, while ascent refers to a journey upward.
  21. Borne/Born – Borne means to bare or carry, born refers to the birth of something.
  22. Canvass/Canvas – Canvass is when you spread the word about something or hand out fliers. Canvas is fabric.
  23. Complimentary/Complementary – Complimentary is something given for free (complimentary breakfast) or something said as a matter or praise, or compliment. Complementary is when things complement, or support and benefit, each other.
  24. Disburse/Disperse – Disburse usually refers to funds or money and means to pay out. Disperse is to scatter or spread over an area.
  25. Reign/Rein – Another two commonly misused words are reign and rein. To reign is to lord over. Reins are the straps you use to steer an animal.
  26. Imply/Infer – Here are another set of words that are commonly confused. To imply something is to hint at it. It isn’t said directly but there is an implied meaning. To infer is to find meaning in what was left unsaid.
  27. Set/Sit – Use set when placing an object. Use sit when you are relaxing at a picnic table or on a log…or in a reclining pool chair in the sun.
  28. Pallet/Palate/Palette – Pallets are wood shipping bases. The palate refers to your sense of taste. A palette is the board an artist uses for holding and mixing paints.
  29. Site/Sight/Cite – Site refers to an area. Use sight when seeing with your eyes or referring to vision. To cite is to refer to the work or accomplishment of another.
  30. Whether/Weather – Whether is when one thing relies on another or there is a choice. Use weather when talking about the conditions outside.
  31. Everyday/Every day – The meanings of these commonly misused words are subtly different. The difference in choosing between them will be your intention as a writer. Everyday (one word) means average or common. Every day (two words) means each day, separately. That was redundant.
  32. Won’t/Wont – Won’t is a loose contraction of the words will and not. Wont isn’t used much anymore but refers to a likelihood or accustomed behavior. When we say that someone is wont to do something, we mean that it is usual.
  33. Vain/Vein/Vane – Vain can mean concerned with one’s appearance. Veins are the blood highways in the body. Weather vanes are vanes.
  34. Pored/Poured – Here’s another subtle difference that results in misuse. When you use the word pore, you mean you carefully studied or meditated on something. When you write the word pour, there’s usually liquid involved.
  35. Suit/Suite – Obviously a suit is an article of clothing but the word can also be used to describe a legal matter, the courting of a woman, or something appropriate or beneficial. A suite on the other hand refers to a collection. A collection of rooms becomes a hotel suite. Computer programs come in collections called suites. Even a personal staff of attendants is described as a suite.
  36. There/Their/They’re – Use there to describe a place. Their is the possessive of they. They’re is a contraction of they are or they were.
  37. To/Two/Too – To is when you send a letter or give a gift. Two is how the number is spelled. Too means in excess or in addition or also.
  38. Lose/Loose – These commonly confused words are just plain similar, like chose and choose.
  39. Faze/Phase – Faze is to be affected.  Phase describes a step in a plan or development.
  40. Counsel/Council – Counsel is advice or legal assistance and can be used as both a noun and a verb.  Council is a group of people brought together to exchange ideas and make decisions and is always a noun.
  41. Who/Whom – Who is the subject of the sentence and whom is the object.
  42. Bare/Bear-Bare means naked. Bear is to carry something or a large furry animal that you want to avoid.

So what words do you mix up?

-Jan R

 

 

 

 

Words, Words, and More Words

Common Grammatical Errors

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

imagess8l2gvi6I recently started a revision on what I thought was a very good first draft of my novel. I was totally flabbergasted at what I found. While I guess I should have been grateful that the errors were leaping off of the page at me, I was very disappointed and frustrated at the number  I was finding. How could I have made so many mistakes?

When we think of grammatical errors, we think of the obvious : missing or overused punctuation, the wrong tense of a verb, mixing singular and plural, run-on-sentences or simple misspelling. All of these are grammatical errors that have to be corrected before your manuscript is submitted for publishing, but what about the other common mistakes that we make everyday?

‘Who’ or ‘Whom’– Who is used for the subject of a sentence and whom for the object. If you can substitute “he”, “she”, or another noun, ‘Who’ should be used. If instead you would use “her” or “him” then ‘Whom’ should be used.

‘Lay’ or ‘Lie’– This is a common error because the past tense of “lie” is “lay”. In the present tense, “Lie” is something the subject of the sentence does, and it does not require an object.  “Lay” in the present tense is a transitive verb, however, and this is used to describe an action done to someone or something. I lie on my back. I lay my purse on the table.

‘Like’ or ‘As though’– These two are not interchangeable, but ‘like‘ is often used in place of ‘as though’. Like can only be followed by a noun or pronoun. ‘As though’ only precedes a verbal clause, because ‘as though’ creates the expectation of an action based event.  She looks like my mother. I cried as though I had lost my bestfriend.

‘I’ or ‘Me’– Use ‘I’ only when it is the subject of the sentence, not the object. ‘I’ is the doer of the action.  I went to the store. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  ‘Me’ is the object of the sentence. It is the receiver of the action.  She handed me the purse.  The doctor gave the medication to me.

‘Who’ or ‘That’- Use ‘who’ for people and ‘that’ for things.  She is the one ‘who’ gave me the purse. This is the purse ‘that’ I wanted.

Dangling modifiers-The clause that begins a sentence has to have the same subject as the sentence itself. ie Walking down the street, the trees were battered by last night’s storm. Wow, I didn’t know trees could walk. It could be corrected to read: Walking down the street, I noticed the trees had been battered by last night’s storm.

I’m not sure if this is my top 10 grammar peeves list, but I am familiar with and have observed most of these in my writing as well as the writing of people I critique.  Thought I would share them. There are just so many. It would be impossible to cover them all in one blog.

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What do you think?  What are some of the common mistakes that you  make or have observed?

-Jan R

Common Grammatical Errors

Critiques! Should I Be Completely Honest? (revised)

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , 7 Comments

imageshu6grmxrIf you want to be an author, you had better develop a thick skin or at least pretend to. You will be rejected, and you will receive critiques that can be discouraging, but this is part of the process. Being a novice to writing, I probably got a double portion of both. I’m glad people were honest with me. I am a much better writer because my critique partners told me the truth.

I did a critique a while back and struggled with submitting my remarks. The person that I completed the critique for was proud of her work, and I didn’t want to be the one to pop her balloon.  She had great writing skills. Her descriptives, imagery, and grammar were better than mine. She could string a perfect sentence together, but that seemed to be were it ended. I read her premise which was a good one, but way overused.

The entire segment of 2600 words, which followed another segment of the same length, covered her main character’s flight on a plane to Italy. Now if the story was taking place in that plane or for some reason all of the characters in that plane and what they did was important, I wouldn’t be writing this particular blog. But they were not, the plane was just getting her to Italy so she could find the love of her life. Again it was very well written, and I could picture myself and all of those different people on the plane.

I am what I call a skipper, I have no problem skipping over complete paragraphs of exposition to get to the good stuff. I would have skipped most of what she had written, even though it was written beautifully. I didn’t for the sake of the critique.

While I tried to be nice in my summary and point out all of the things great about her work and there were many, I felt as if I wouldn’t be doing her justice by letting it end at that. So I told her what I would want someone to tell me.

Your writing is great but the pace is nonexistent. I feel like I’m stuck on that plane and want to get off. You’re providing too much detail and putting too much time and energy into characters that we will never see again. You do not need to give us a step by step account of everything that happens from the minute she gets on the plane to the minute she gets off , and while your back story is great, it’s too much at one time.

I will continue to be honest with writers about their work in what I hope is a constructive manner. I don’t want to discourage anybody, but I won’t ignore major flaws that will set them up for failure, to avoid hurt feelings either.

What do you think?  Would you want someone to tell you everything is great in your novel when it’s not, or would you want the truth, even if it hurt?

-Jan R

Critiques! Should I Be Completely Honest? (revised)

Choose Your Words Wisely!

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , , , 11 Comments

seo-content-writing3-1024x458I have been accused and rightly so of on-the-nose-writing, over writing, redundancies, and throat-clearing. I’ve also had a close relationship with the words “that” and “had”. I blame it on inexperience and just not knowing any better.

Novelist and editor Sol Stein says the power of your words is diminished by not picking just the better one. “He proved a scrappy, active fighter,” is more powerful if you settle on the stronger of those two adjectives. Less is more. Which would you choose?

When editing your draft, remember that every word counts. Every word should have a reason for being and not just added fluff. “It sounds good,” won’t cut it.

  • Avoid throat-clearing- This is a literary term used to describe a story or chapter that finally begins after two or three pages of scene setting or backstory. You may write beautifully but nobody wants to get bogged down in description. I could care less the dutchess wore a gown with six gold buttons encrusted with diamond dust running down the back, unless it was found at a crime scene. Get on with the story.
  • Choose normal words– When you’re tempted to show off your vocabulary, think reader-first. Get out of the way of your message.
  • Avoid subtle redundancies– “She nodded her head in agreement.” Those last four words could be deleted. When you nod, it’s your head and if you nod, you are agreeing. You don’t have to tell your reader this. “He clapped his hands.” What else would he clap? “She shrugged her shoulders.” What else would she shrug?
  • Avoid the words Up and Down-unless they are really needed.
  • Usually delete the words ‘that’ and ‘had’. Read the sentence with them in it and then without. Are they really necessary? You will be amazed how many times these words are used incorrectly.
  • Give the reader credit- Once you’ve established something, you don’t need to repeat it. Another one I’m guilty of 🙂
  • Avoid telling what’s not happening. “He didn’t respond.” “She didn’t say anything.” If you don’t say things happened, we’ll assume they didn’t.
  • Avoid being an adjectival maniac.- Good writing is a thing of strong nouns and verbs, not adjectives. Use them sparingly.
  • Avoid Hedging verbs-…smiled lightly, almost laughed.
  • Avoid the word literally-when you mean figuratively. I was literally climbing the walls, My eyes literally fell out of my head–really?
  • Avoid on-the-nose-writing.-You don’t need to tell every action of every character in each scene, what they’re doing with each hand, etc.

I hope this information helps you to be more aware of the words you use. Choose your words wisely, they do matter.

I would like to end this blog by giving credit to Jerry Jenkins for the information I’ve shared. He has a great blog for writers and provides not only invaluable information, but free tools to assist writers on their journey. If you haven’t visited his site, I would encourage you to do so 🙂

-Jan R

 

 

Choose Your Words Wisely!

Don’t Forget Your Minor Characters!

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , 17 Comments

quote-respect-your-characters-even-the-minor-ones-in-art-as-in-life-everyone-is-the-hero-of-sarah-waters-43-27-03I’m in the revision process with my novel and one of the areas I am focusing on is character development. When you hear character development, you usually think of main characters or supporting characters. Well my main characters do need some work, but for this particular blog I was talking about those ‘fly by’ characters that step into your novel, do what you want them to do, and then disappear never to be heard of again.

I received a critique a while back in regards to four minor characters in my novel. “A lot of new characters have been introduced, and they all run together in my mind. I think more time needs to be spent developing these characters as individuals rather than some generic group of friends.”

The lady that provided the critique was right. I didn’t provide any description of these characters. Except for the fact that they had names, you would have had no idea which one I was using in the scene. I didn’t think descriptions were necessary. They served one purpose and one purpose only. They did their job and disappeared.

Well shortly after receiving the critique,  I bumped into an article on Minor Characters in the Writers Digest I was reading. Maybe somebody was trying to tell me something.

According to Elizabeth Sims, who wrote the article, if the person is important enough to exist in the world of your story, let your readers picture that existence.

When you introduce minor characters, you should have one or better two details.  He was as wide as he was tall, and talked with a lisp.

Even characters who exist in passing should exist in the readers eye. For a literally glancing description, make it visual. The freckle faced boy stuck his tongue out at us, then turned to go inside.

If you have a group-Pan the crowd and then zoom in. Give one or two details describing them all, and then move in to one person as the representative.  The demonstrators walked down Main street waving their signs and shouting obscenities.  “Where is  Mayor Blackman? ” shouted a tall, gray haired man at the front of the line.

So there you have it. One of the things I will be looking at during my revision is those minor characters.  I guess I need to go back and give them some life 🙂

-Jan R

Don’t Forget Your Minor Characters!

So You Thought You Were Finished?

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , , , , 3 Comments

208-6I read a quote the other day and thought I would share it on my blog. I don’t know who wrote it, as a name wasn’t provided. It reads as follows:

A lot of times that first manuscript needs to sashay out stage left in order for the real blockbuster to break into the spotlight.

If you’ve been working on your novel for a while, you know exactly what this writer was saying. My current manuscript is so different from the original, and while it’s not ready for submission, it is sooooo much better than it was after the first very rough draft.

As a newbie, I had no idea the work involved in creating a masterpiece worthy of publishing. I wrote my book and sent it out. It wasn’t until I started receiving the rejections and the one response explaining why it wasn’t ready for prime time that the truth sunk in.

I did have a completed manuscript, a great story, but it was missing the bells and whistles, that something that would make it stand out. Of course, the fact that it was full of grammatical and structural errors didn’t help my case either.

I read another quote years ago that has remained with me and I’ve used in several of my blogs.

Get it done and then get it good.

Don’t expect your first draft to be the final, finished, ready to go version. It won’t be. Once it is completed, the fun begins. At least I hope you enjoy it, since you will be working on that manuscript for quite some time.

If you are new to the writing scene, I would recommend a lot of reading. Not just books in your preferred genre, but also how to books from credible authors. I’ve found some excellent blogs, and of course, the internet is invaluable.

I would also recommend courses on creative writing and writing fiction. I’ve purchased classes through ‘Great Courses’ that were excellent and inexpensive. I’ve watched webinars and also signed up for a workshop through Holly Lisle on ‘How to revise your novel’.

You don’t know what you don’t know until it’s to late. Know this, your first draft is not ready, and it’s up to you to research, learn your craft and get it done.

-Jan R

So You Thought You Were Finished?

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , 9 Comments

how-to-eat-elephant_thumb1I hope you all had a great New Year and are preparing yourselves for what awaits you in the upcoming year. Like many of you, I have a book I hope to have completely finished and submitted this year, but keep in mind it will take more than hope to get that book published.

I sat with my husband this past week and reviewed our goals and plans for the upcoming year, and what we needed to do for him to retire early. He’s an engineer who specializes in capital projects. He knows the importance of not just having a plan, but implementing it and moving forward to the ultimate goal preferably ahead of schedule.

He’s great at what he does, and as many of us do, brings his work home with him.  This can be a challenge at times because I for one am not as rigid and disciplined as he is. He is very detailed and motivated. He is results oriented.

I should be more like him. I’ve written several blogs on motivation and having an accountability partner. I’ve also written blogs on setting goals for yourself and working towards them.

One of the main things I have learned from my husband and from living life itself, is you have to set goals! You have too!!!! Put your dreams down on paper and break them down into steps. You can’t jump from point A to point Z, for most of us that thought would be overwhelming and stop us in our tracks.

You can move from point A to point B and then to point C and so forth. You will get there but take it one day at a time, working toward the objective you have set for that day.

I spent the majority of my professional career working with people who had profound developmental disabilities. They couldn’t even perform basic care skills like washing their hands. So what did me and my team do? We set objectives in place to lead to the ultimate goal. Just like I’m talking about in this blog. We broke the task down in to steps and worked toward the big picture. e.g.  Turn on water, place your hands under water, get soap, rub your hands together, rinse hands, turn water off, dry hands. Very basic but I think it gets the message across.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I know I read this somewhere. I’m not that creative. Not sure where though. If you’re like me that unfinished novel is definitely the elephant in the room.

-Jan R

How Do You Eat an Elephant?