Adventures in Writing

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Links of Interest

IMPORTANT NOTE: My “Link” articles receive very little traffic, and they take many hours of work per week. If you’d like me to continue them, please leave a note and let me know. Plus, how about sharing my articles with writing friends, etc., so I have some reason to continue those as well. As always, remember that I am more than happy to answer writing questions so please ask.

EIGHT STEPS TO A PERFECT SCENE:

http://www.livewritethrive.com/2017/06/29/8-steps-to-a-perfect-scene

LOOKING FOR A CRITIQUE PARTNER?

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2017/01/are-you-looking-for-critique-group-or.html

GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION IN QUOTATIONS:

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-capitalize-and-punctuate-quotations/

http://www.socialmediajustforwriters.com/protecting-your-rights-and-your-wallet-with-helen-sedwick/

FACEBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATES AND AUTHORS:

http://www.socialmediajustforwriters.com/protecting-your-rights-and-your-wallet-with-helen-sedwick/

HOW TO COPYRIGHT A BOOK:

https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-copyright-a-book

WHAT IS IRONY?

https://blog.reedsy.com/what-is-irony

WRITE FOR TODAY’S, NOT YESTERDAY’S AUDIENCE:

http://annerallen.com/2017/07/write-contemporary-fiction/

IF YOU USE PHOTOBUCKET FOR PICS FOR YOUR SITES:

http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2017/07/photobucket-just-broke-billions-of-photos-across-the-web

APP TOOLS TO CREATE METADATA:

https://www.bookworks.com/2017/06/7-keyword-tools-book-metadata/

FORESHADOWING:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2017/07/a-closer-look-at-how-to-foreshadow.html

PICKING THE RIGHT TITLE:

https://killzoneblog.com/2017/07/do-you-have-the-title-gene.html

AVOIDING THE BEGINNING INFO DUMP:

http://jamigold.com/2017/07/one-simple-trick-to-avoid-an-opening-page-infodump/

FINDING THE RIGHT EDITOR:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2017/06/finding-and-hiring-editor-why-they-help.html

PODCASTS:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2017/06/finding-and-hiring-editor-why-they-help.html

FIVE TYPES OF BOOK OPENINGS:

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/5-types-opening-scenes-make-story-stand

CUTTING DOWN WORD COUNT:

https://www.standoutbooks.com/cut-down-word-count/

BACK UP YOUR WORK:

http://elizabethspanncraig.com/6012/back-up-your-work/

LIST O’ LINKS:

http://elizabethspanncraig.com/6020/twitterific-writing-links-169/

WHAT MAKES A COMPELLING CHARACTER:

http://writerunboxed.com/2017/07/05/characters-light-and-dark

TESTING A NEW BOOK IDEA:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2017/07/birth-of-book-idea-stage-testing-idea.html

DEALING WITH AN EDITOR’S CRITICISM:

http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2017/07/report-from-the-trenches-1

ADDING A MEANINGFUL SUBPLOT:

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/07/how-to-add-meaningful-subplots-to-your-novel/

FIGURING OUT YOUR PLATFORM:

https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2017/07/do-you-have-a-platform/

Monday, July 3, 2017

The Ethics of Critiquing

Never talk about what you critique to others.

Never show someone else's work to others.

Never "borrow" a critique partner's ideas or characters.

Respect others' time. Critique in a timely manner, and don't send your life's work at once.

Agree upon an amount of work (a chapter or more) and stick to it unless the other person agrees to see more.

Agree on what each of you wants from a critique and give it. Some of the choices are a general overview, copyediting only, or a check on accuracy from an expert.

The checklist I blogged about last week is also a good starting place.

Be specific. Be fair. Be kind. Don't say, "I hate this." Say, "Your hero is unpleasant because...," or, "He may be rude to the heroine here, but show he is a nice person to others so the reader can like him and see him as a worthy hero."

ALSO mention what works. "The heroine is really charming. I loved the way she...," or "Your descriptions are excellent. I could see the waves around the pirate ship and smell the ocean."

Don't be too kind. If you see a problem, mention it so it can be fixed. It's kinder in the long term for her to know this problem now rather than in the rejection letter from an editor.

Ask questions if you don't understand a comment, but don't defend your work. It's a waste of time for both of you.

Anger is a waste of time, as well. It's no fun to be told that your writing isn't perfect, but you'll have to learn to deal with it. Even the best writers in the world have editors who change things so learn to deal with criticism or forget about a writing career.

If you can’t control your anger, walk away from the critique for a while then come back.

Respect each other's voice and individuality. Don't suggest rewrites as you would do it. Instead, suggest rewrites that will improve the author's vision.

Respect your own voice and vision. The critiquer can only give SUGGESTIONS. Only you can decide whether to change your work. Only you know what you are trying to achieve with the entire book.

Always thank your critiquer because she gave up writing time to help you.

NOTE: Feel free to copy this to share with a critique partner, but if you'd like to share this text otherwise online, please ask my permission. You need not ask permission to link back to this article.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Links of Interest

IMPORTANT NOTE: My “Links” articles receive very little traffic, and they take many hours of work per week. If you’d like me to continue them, please leave a note and let me know. Plus, how about sharing my articles with writing friends, etc., so I have some reason to continue those as well. As always, remember that I am more than happy to answer writing questions so please ask via this blog or through my email contact link.

TEN WAYS TO SHOW YOUR CHARACTERS’ EMOTIONS:

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/06/keep-it-fresh-10-ways-to-show-your-characters-emotion/

REASONS WHY BOOKBUB REJECTS BOOKS:

https://insights.bookbub.com/reasons-book-rejected-bookbub-featured-deal/

PROMO USING INSTAGRAM:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jopiazza/2017/05/25/instagram-bookstagrammers-selling-books/#164a202727b8

https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2017/06/20/a-millennials-guide-to-killing-it-at-instagram/#.tnw_18MsWZsi

BALANCE YOUR NARRATIVE AND DIALOGUE:

http://scotteagan.blogspot.com/2017/06/balance-your-narration-and-dialogue.html

HOW AUTHOR WEBSITES SHOULD CHANGE:

http://selfpublishingadvice.org/is-it-time-to-evolve-your-author-website/

AUDIOBOOKS AS PART OF YOUR PUBLISHING STRATEGY:

http://selfpublishingadvice.org/why-indie-authors-should-make-audiobooks-part-of-their-self-publishing-strategy/

DRAMATIC IRONY:

http://allwritefictionadvice.blogspot.com/2017/06/dramatic-irony.html

CREATING EFFECTIVE SCENE TRANSITIONS:

http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2017/06/creating-effective-transitions.html

WRITING A SYNOPSIS BEFORE STARTING CAN BE A GOOD IDEA:

https://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/2017/06/why-you-should-write-synopsis-before.html

http://copyrightalliance.org/resources/creator-services/pro-bono-trial/

ACRONYMS FOR SPY AND POLICE AGENCIES:

http://thrillwriting.blogspot.com/2017/06/alphabet-soup-spy-acronyms-for-readers.html

APPS AND TOOLS FOR WRITING:

https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2017/06/top-7-tools-creativity/

http://writerunboxed.com/2017/06/26/the-truth-behind-popular-copyright-myths

CALCULATING YOUR BOOK’S LENGTH BEFORE YOU WRITE:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/calculate-books-length-writing/

TIME LINE ORGANIZATION METHODS:

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/2017/06/keeping-track-of-time-timeline.html

THE PROBLEM WITH CROSS-GENRE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2017/06/the-problem-with-cross-genre-fiction.html

CLARIFYING YOUR BOOK IDEA:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2017/06/birth-of-book-idea-stage-clarifying-idea.html

THE FINER POINT OF GREAT DIALOGUE:

http://www.thewritersalleyblog.com/2017/06/the-finer-points-of-great-dialogue.html

Monday, June 26, 2017

Rewrite and Critique Checklist

It’s always good to have a checklist at hand when you are ready to rewrite your story. Below are a number of questions you can ask yourself.

As you learn your weaknesses as a writer, this list can be changed to include questions that focus on your problem areas.

This list is also a good start for critique partners. Customize it as needed.

THE FIRST CHAPTER

Do I have a hook in the first few, or better yet, the first page?

Have I shown the main character’s goal, short-term, or better yet, for the whole novel?

EACH CHAPTER

Does this chapter advance the story?

Tell more about the characters?

Give plot information?

Does it work with the chapter before it?

Does it make me want to read the next chapter?

PLOT

Do the characters and plot work well together, or is the plot

just pasted on?

Does it make sense?

Does one thing lead to another?

Has the story started at the right place?

Does the action escalate?

Are more plot questions asked before a plot question is resolved?

Does the plot fit genre boundaries?

CHARACTERS

Does each character sound different? Do they have a voice of their own?

Are the characters doing what they as characters and personalities should be doing, or are they being moved around for my convenience?

Will the reader understand why they are doing certain things?

Does each major character have a strength and a weakness which will be affected by the plot?

In the romantic relationship, is their emotional conflict strong enough for the length of the work? Will it take more than one long talk to resolve their conflict? Does their romantic relationship work with the action plot?

In the action plot, is the conflict between the hero and his opponent strong enough? Is the opponent strong enough to really push the hero to his limits?

POINT OF VIEW

Is the proper point of view maintained in each scene?

Would a scene work better from another character's viewpoint?

Is there only one viewpoint character in each scene?

INTERIOR MONOLOGUES

Does this interior monologue slow the scene too much?

Could this information or emotion be expressed in dialogue or action?

Am I telling too much?

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Do the sentences vary in length?

Does the language fit the actions?

Long sentences for leisurely, more introspective moments?

Short, terse sentences and words for action scenes?

LANGUAGE

Am I intruding, or am I invisible so the story can tell itself?

Does cause and effect happen correctly?

Am I showing rather than telling?

WORLDBUILDING

Is the worldbuilding well thought out?

Is it logical?

Did I break my own rules.

If a myth or fantasy element is changed from common knowledge, is it a logical or understandable change? Is it explained? (A vampire who can survive daylight, for example.)