Bad Reviews of the Famous

Anyone who has had a bad review knows how traumatic is it, but reviewers don’t know everything.  Here are what some reviewers have said in the past about some of the greatest writers of all time.

"Sentimental rubbish... Show me one page that contains an idea." Odessa Courier on ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy, 1877.

"Shakespeare's name, you may depend on it, stands absurdly too high and will go down." Lord Byron, 1814.

"His fame is gone out like a candle in a snuff and his memory will always stink."  Wm. Winstanley, 1687, on Milton.

"Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer."  La Figaro, 1857.

"This is a book of the season only." NY Herald Tribune on THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"We do not believe in the permanence of his reputation... our children will wonder what their ancestors could have meant by putting Dickens at the head of the novelists of today." Saturday Review, 1858.

"Nothing odd will do long.  TRISTAM SHANDY did not last."  Samuel Johnson in 1776 on a novel that is still in print over 200 years later.

"The only consolation which we have in reflecting upon it is that it will never be generally read."  J. Lorimer reviewing WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte, 1847.

Links of Interest

BACK COVER COPY:

http://www.magicalwords.net/john-hartness-2/nuts-bolts-back-cover-copy-and-why-yours-is-bad/

WORLDBUILDING A RELIGION:

http://fantasy-faction.com/2014/worldbuilding-a-religion-part-one-religion-vs-cult

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING SURVIVAL GUIDE:

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/06/16/mike-r-underwood-25-secrets-of-publishing-revealed-or-inside-the-bookish-shatterdome/

SHERLOCK HOLMES CHARACTERS NOW IN PUBLIC DOMAIN, KINDA:

http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/06/us-court-rules-that-sherlock-holmes-belongs-to-the-public/

GOOD AND BAD EXPOSITION:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/06/writing-basics-its-exposition-yeah-baby.html

NOVEL STRUCTURE 101:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/selling-lots-of-books-and-why-bright-ideas-can-go-badly/

CREATING EMOTIONAL PERILS THAT KEEP READERS READING:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2014/06/how-emotional-peril-keeps-readers-reading/

WRITING STRONG SCENE TRANSITIONS:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2014/06/writing-strong-transitions-scene-to.html

DIALOG BASICS, PUNCTUATION AND GRAMMAR:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2014/06/dialogue-nuts-bolts.html

HOW MOVIE TRAILERS CAN TEACH YOU TO WRITE A BETTER BOOK DESCRIPTION:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/06/whats-it-about-better-queries-through.html

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO EDIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT:

http://writerunboxed.com/2014/06/21/most-of-the-stuff-you-need-to-know-to-edit-your-manuscript

WORLDBUILDING, WAYS TO NAME FANTASY CHARACTERS AND CREATURES:

http://mythicscribes.com/world-building/names-in-fantasy/

PUBLISHING NEWS, TROUBLED SAMHAIN CHANGING DIRECTION:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/samhain-publishing-changes-direction_b87169

TO REREAD ABOUT THE TROUBLES:

http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/digital-first-publishing-troubled-fortunes-digital-first-publishers/

DOING RESEARCH BEYOND GOOGLE:

http://www.magicalwords.net/specialgueststars/j-kathleen-cheney-2

PROMOTION, 8 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOUR BOOK COMES OUT:

http://labelleseditorialservices.com/blog/8-things-launching-book/

ADDING EXCITEMENT TO YOUR STORY:

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2014/06/4-ways-to-add-caffeine-to-your-story.html

SNEAKY FORMS OF AUTHOR INTRUSION:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2014/06/narrator-intrusion-part-1.html

LOCKING IN THE MOOD OF THE SCENE:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2014/06/margies-rule-3-lock-in-the-emotional-set/

EXCELLENT TUTORIAL ON SCENE STRUCTURE WITH CHECKLISTS:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/06/25/breaking-down-scene-structure-into-bite-sized-bits

CAREER GOAL SETTING:

http://scotteagan.blogspot.com/2014/06/where-do-you-want-to-be-as-writer-goal.html

How to Vary Sentences

QUESTION: It's recently been pointed out to me that I sometimes overuse "he" and "she" when referring to my characters in narrative as well as action. I also use direct referral by calling my characters by their names, and their general persons -- i.e, "Bob," "Jill," "the man," "the young woman," etc. -- but I find that these phrases soon become old too. What should I do?

Show what the viewpoint character is feeling and seeing. For example, Tom remembers giving flowers to Jane.

Tom recalled how Jane's face lit up, her cheeks equaling the pink of the roses she clutched to her breast. She had smiled shyly at him, and he'd fallen in love at that instant.

OR

Her face had lit up, her cheeks equaling the pink of the roses she clutched to her breast. Her shy smile had won his heart in that instant.

The second version is a more intimate viewpoint, and I've varied the sentence structure a bit.

As a rule of thumb, you shouldn't use a character's name as designation more than once a page unless it's a scene with a number of characters.

It's better to be a bit boring using the character's name, which the reader will skim, rather than to confuse the reader as to who is doing what action. This stops the reading process completely which is the one thing a writer should avoid at all costs.

Links of Interest

PLOT 101, WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO DO IT RIGHT:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/06/11/plot-and-subplots-in-a-series-of-scenes/

WHAT IS CONFLICT?

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/06/writing-basics-what-is-conflict.html

AFTER YOU FINISH THE FIRST DRAFT, YOU NEED TO DO THIS:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2014/06/dont-rush.html

MYSTERY SUBGENRES:

http://marcykennedy.com/2014/06/crash-course-mystery-sub-genres/

ADDING EMOTIONAL CONTRADICTIONS TO YOUR CHARACTERS:

http://www.magicalwords.net/specialgueststars/alyx-dellamonica-if-all-your-characters-jumped-off-a-bridge/

FIVE WAYS TO ADD HUMOR TO YOUR BOOK:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2014/06/five-ways-to-stand-out-with-humor-in.html

PROTAGONIST BAIT AND SWITCH:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/06/protagonist-bait-and-switch.html

HOW TO SHOW INTERIOR THOUGHTS ON PAGE:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2014/06/interiority-part-2.html

CREATING AUTHENTIC EMOTIONS ON THE PAGE:

http://thewritersalleys.blogspot.com/2014/06/im-so-emotional-creating-authentic.html

WRITING EMOTIONAL LAYERS:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/10/do-you-feel-it-plotting-with-emotional.html

BRUSH UP YOUR GRAMMAR, ANYTIME/ANY TIME AND OTHER WORDS WHICH MAY BE SPLIT OR TOGETHER ACCORDING TO MEANING:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/06/13/id-like-some-time-anytime

MAKING YOUR STORY BIG:

http://writerunboxed.com/2014/06/16/mckee-morsel-part-iii/

FIFTEEN QUESTIONS TO ASK DURING REVISIONS:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2014/06/15-questions-for-your-beta-readers-and.html

PROMOTION, PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL BOOK LAUNCH:

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-to-plan-for-successful-book-launch.html

PROMOTION SUGGESTIONS:

http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/florida-novelist-offers-strategy-promote-ebooks/

KEEPING YOUR SCENE MOVING:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2014/06/18/a-quick-tip-to-keep-your-scenes-moving/

SCENE STRUCTURE:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/06/18/the-secret-to-a-great-plot-lies-in-scene-structure/

Making a Long Story Short

QUESTION: My novel is way too long. Someone suggested I cut four lines off every page instead of trying to cut whole chapters, etc.

Anyone who can do that needs to work on their writing skills because they are writing weak, bloated prose.

There are other ways to cut length.

From working with writers over the years, I'd say that the primary thing most writers need to cut is writer information. We sometimes do our thinking on the page before we write down what the reader needs to see, and we fail to cut that out.

Writers also tend toward too much introspection. If all a character is doing in a scene is thinking about other things, get rid of that scene and insert that information into dialogue.

The great Phyllis Whitney once said that the only reason a character should be folding laundry and thinking is so an ax murderer can sneak up on her, and the reader knows this through subtle clues.

There's also the rule of three. If a scene doesn't contain at least one or two plot points (information or events which move the plot forward), and one or two character points (important character information) so that you have at least three points total, then it should be tossed, and whatever points included in that scene should be added to another scene.

For major cuts, you can also consolidate several secondary characters into one character, or a subplot can be simplified or removed if it doesn't influence the major plot or the influence can be moved to another subplot.

Happy cutting!

Links of Interest

BRUSH UP YOUR GRAMMAR, DO YOU HYPHENATE PREFIXES?

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/hyphenating-prefixes/

FREE AUTHOR RESOURCE MAGAZINE, SUBSCRIPTION LINK:

http://authoru.org/the-author-resource-magazine.html

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR BOOK HAS TERMINAL PROBLEMS IN THE FIRST TEN PAGES:

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2014/06/novel-diagnostics-how-to-tell-if-your-book-might-have-terminal-problems-in-ten-pages-2/

SHOWING WHAT’S IMPORTANT IN YOUR SETTING:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2014/06/06/the-building-of-a-setting/

YOU GOTTA READ IF YOU WANT TO WRITE:

http://bobbrooke.blogspot.com/2014/06/reading-and-writing-go-hand-in-hand.html

THE WHYS AND HOWS OF OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL:

http://www.blackgate.com/2014/06/04/the-hows-and-whys-of-outlining/

MAKING YOUR NOVEL MARKETABLE WITHOUT SUCKING AWAY THE CREATIVITY:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/06/09/3-ways-to-plan-a-marketable-novel

GOOD TIPS ON KEEPING YOUR PLOT ON TARGET:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/janicehardy/PUtE/~3/GNAQf_eGIMI/a-trick-for-keeping-your-plot-and-story.html

YOUR CHARACTER IS LYING ABOUT SOMETHING OR SHOULD BE:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2014/06/10/your-character-is-lying/

WHY BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN YOUR BOOK IN ONE SENTENCE IS IMPORTANT:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/how-to-tell-if-your-story-is-on-target-what-is-your-book-about-it-one-sentence/

YOU WROTE A BOOK, NOW WHAT?

http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2014/06/hurrah-you-wrote-book-now-what.html

RAISING THE EMOTIONAL STAKES:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2014/06/raise-emotional-stakes-strengthening.html

STORY ARCS 101:

http://www.magicalwords.net/specialgueststars/8853/

YOUR CHARACTER’S MOMENT OF EMOTIONAL TRANSFORMATION:

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2014/06/story-midpoint-mirror-moment-using-heros-emotions-transform/

USING NOOKPRESS TO PUBLISH YOUR BOOK:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/06/03/nookpress/

PROMOTION, USING SLIDESHARE TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/05/16/slideshare-book-marketing/

AUDIOBOOK NARRATION AND FINDING THE RIGHT ACTOR FOR YOUR BOOK:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/06/09/audiobook-narration-rosalind-ashford/

COPYRIGHT, NOT SURPRISINGLY HATHITRUST WINS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CASE OVER AUTHOR’S GUILD:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/62820-second-circuit-upholds-hathitrust-verdict.html

FINDING YOUR VOICE:

http://www.magicalwords.net/john-hartness-2/the-it-factor/