ninette-swann:

Editors, crit partners, beta readers…they all amount to the same thing: Someone who is going to rake over your manuscript, chop it up, mark it in red and throw it back to you with an email saying “Great job! Here are the billionity things I would fix!”

Are you ready for it? Can you handle it?

Things to consider when contacting a beta reader, and easy ways to find the right one for you.

krisnoel-lionhead:

I’m currently working on editing a book that will be released sometime next year and I’ve gotten a few corrections from the editor I’m working with. She told me the corrections she suggested are common for authors, so I figured I’d share them with you. I’m sure if you have these things fixed before you even reach the editing stage, it will help you get your novel ready for submission. These are some things I didn’t even realize I was doing and now I’m trying to become more aware of them when I write something new.

• Since I was writing in first person narrative, I didn’t realize that sometimes I would describe what other people were thinking or feeling and I often used the world “we” out of its proper context. Remember that while writing in first person, you have to be careful of how you describe things. You can only write about what the main character sees, feels, hears, or thinks personally. Information only comes from the narrator or through conversations the narrator has.

• I sometimes orphan my quotes and then I realize that people might not be able to figure out who’s talking. If it’s a conversation between two people, you don’t need as many dialogue tags, but if it’s three or more, you need to be clear about who is speaking. It might be clear to you, but you need to make sure it will be for your readers.

• I think everyone overwrites a bit, most of the time without realizing it. Sometimes you feel like it’s necessary to stretch out a sentence to make sure someone really gets it, but most of the time brief sentences or explanations work best. For example—you don’t have to say someone whispered quietly. Whispering tells your reader that your character is speaking quietly.

• Watch your verb tenses to make sure you’re always using the same ones within a sentence or paragraph. If you’re writing in present tense, stay in that tense. I slip up every once in a while, so make sure you double check when editing.

Getting into the habit of checking for these things while you’re writing will be extremely useful. It can be a pain to go back and change stuff later, but I guess that’s why editing is such an exhausting process.

-Kris Noel

My book

My goodreads

randomfanficwritingtips:

Know your canon well because your audience will.

jekjekyll:

Eight words to avoid when you write

—-

1. “Suddenly”

“Sudden” means quickly and without warning, but using the word “suddenly” both slows down the action and warns your reader. Do you know what’s more effective for creating the sense of the sudden? Just saying what happens.

I pay attention to every motion, every movement, my eyes locked on them.
Suddenly, The gun goes off.

When using “suddenly,” you communicate through the narrator that the action seemed sudden. By jumping directly into the action, you allow the reader to experience that suddenness first hand. “Suddenly” also suffers from being nondescript, failing to communicate the nature of the action itself; providing no sensory experience or concrete fact to hold on to. Just … suddenly.

Feel free to employ “suddenly” in situations where the suddenness is not apparent in the action itself. For example, in “Suddenly, I don’t hate you anymore,” the “suddenly” substantially changes the way we think about the shift in emotional calibration.

2. “Then”

“Then” points vaguely to the existing timeline and says, “It was after that last thing I talked about.” But the new action taking place in a subsequent sentence or sentence part implies that much already. You can almost always eliminate your thens without disrupting meaning or flow.

I woke up. Then I, brushed my teeth. Then I, combed my hair. Then I , and went to work.

“Then” should be used as a clarifying agent, to communicate that two seemingly concurrent actions are happening in sequence. For example, “I drove to the supermarket. Then I realized I didn’t need to buy anything.” Without the “then,” it would be easy to mistake this as pre-existing knowledge or as a realization that happened during the drive itself. “Then” can occasionally be useful for sentence flow, but keep the use of the word to a minimum.

3. “In order to”

You almost never need the phrase “in order to” to express a point. The only situation where it’s appropriate to use this phrase is when using “to” alone would create ambiguity or confusion.

I’m giving you the antidote in order to save you. 

And after ten minutes of brainstorming for an example of a proper time to use “in order to,” I haven’t been able to come up with anything. Legitimate uses of “in order to” are just that few and far between.

4. “Very” and “Really”

Words are self-contained descriptors, and saying, “Think of tasty. Now think of more tasty” doesn’t help readers develop a better sense of the meal or person you’re describing.

Her breath was very cold chill as ice against my neck .

Mark Twain suggested that writers could “substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Another strategy is to find a more powerful version of the same idea or give concrete details. To say “It was very/really/damn hot” does little, but saying “It was scorching” helps. Even better?: “The air rippled like desert sky as my body crisped into a reddened, dried-out husk.”

5. “Is”

Is, am, are, was, or were—whatever form your “is” takes, it’s likely useless. When’s the last time you and your friends just “was’d” for a while? Have you ever said, “Hey, guys, I can’t—I’m busy am-ing”?

The “is” verbs are connecting terms that stand between your readers and the actual description. This is especially true when it comes to the “is” + “ing” verb pair. Any time you use “is,” you’re telling the reader that the subject is in a state of being. Using an “ing” verb tells the audience the verb is in process. By using “is verbing,” you’re telling your audience that the subject is in the state of being of being in the process of doing something.

Take this example:

I was sprinting sprinted toward the doorway.

If the description is actually about a state of being—”they are  angry,” “are evil,” or “are dead”—then isit up. But don’t gunk up your verbs with unnecessary is, am, or was-ing.

6. “Started”

Any action a person takes is started, continued, and finished. All three of these can be expressed by the root form of the verb. For example, “I jumped.” The reader who stops in frustration, saying, “But when did the jump start? When did it finish?” has problems well beyond the scope of the content they’re reading.

If you’ve been doing yoga for six years, you could reasonably say, “I started doing yoga six years ago.” For you, yoga is an ongoing action with a concrete starting point. But when describing action in a story, there are few circumstances where “start” is effective.

Let’s take this case and look at the potential fixes:

He started screaming.

Is it a single scream? Use “He screamed.” Are you telling us his screams will be background noise for a while? Rather than clueing us in unnecessarily, show us the series of screams first-hand. Do you want to introduce a changed state, such as escalating from loud speaking into screaming? Show us the decibels, the gruffness of voice, the way the air feels to the person he’s screaming at, and the hot dryness in the screamer’s throat as his volume crescendos.

7. “That”

“That” is a useful word for adding clarity, but like Bibles on the bedstands of seedy motel rooms, the word’s presence is often out of place.

When “that” is employed to add a description, you can almost always move the description to before the term and make a more powerful image.

Ireland was nothing but flowing green hills that flowed green.

In many other cases, “that” can simply be dropped or replaced with a more descriptive term.

I was drunk the night that your father and I met.

Many other uses of “that,” such as “I wish I wasn’t that ugly”, can be enhanced with more descriptive language.

8. “Like”

I’m not just saying that, like, you shouldn’t, like, talk like a valley girl (though that too). Here’s the problem: “Like” is used to show uncertainty. And you. Should. Not. Be. Uncertain.

Be bold. When making a comparison, use force. Use metaphor over simile. Don’t let yourself cop out by coming up with a halfway description.

My eyes rested on the gun for a sliver of a moment. I snapped forward, grabbed it, and it was like the chill metal flowed from the gun into my veins.

dreamwriter12:

Environment should always play an important role when building a scene, but it is particularly crucial when it comes to setting the pace and mood of each scene. The way you structure the environment and how the characters respond to it can indicate a characters’ unspoken emotions can and even hint at circumstances to come. When building an environment, I think many writers struggle with establishing what to include in the details.

This struggle may stem from the fact that most everything can be used to enhance the atmosphere of a story. Merely describing a warm, sandy beach allows the reader to picture the place. Showing the effects the weather has can make that picture even clearer. But having your characters react to that environment and describing intricate details about the space can really bring the environment to life. So here are some things you can focus your attention on.

Lighting. It’s easy to establish whether it’s day or night during a scene. However, writers often forget some of the other effects that time of day can bring. For instance, if it’s night, is there a full moon, a partial moon, or no moon visible at all? Different moon phases affect the light reflected off it, thereby altering shadows as well. Certainty of what one can see in the surrounding area depends strongly on lighting, and characters’ (as well as readers’) speculations about it can change when an environment is dark or dimly lit. Keep in mind how the lighting of any given scene might affect surrounding objects and characters, and use it to your advantage; describe physical features of characters and/or objects using these changes.

Time of day/Day of the week. Time isn’t something writers always focus on in great detail for scenes, but it does have a direct effect on the environment and can help establish one. During rush hour on a weekday, for example, there would be much more traffic (and background noise) on a main street than there would be on the weekend. On the other hand, a place like a mall might experience more crowds on the weekend rather than a weekday, especially if it’s a holiday. Take time of day and day of the week into consideration when it comes to the surroundings during a particular scene. You might be surprised how it can change the outcome of your characters’ actions or responses to one another. It might even introduce unforeseen conflict.

Reaction of the characters. Believe it or not, even dialogue and body language can help build the environment and pace of a scene. How you respond to the things around you can indicate quite a bit about what is going on. Shivering for instance, indicates the temperature might be chilly. Fidgeting and darting eyes show nervousness, a clear sign that something bad has happened or is about to happen. And short, choppy dialogue can indicate action, conflict, and emergency situations, adding to the pace already established by body language. If you’re not sure what body language to use to convey specific emotions, check out the book The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. It gives a wide range of actions that characters can perform to express emotions without dialogue.

Senses. In any given environment, there will be smells, sounds, textures, tastes, and a sense of temperature. You don’t need to describe every one of these for every scene you write, but providing as much detail as you can, particularly for new or unfamiliar objects/places, can really enhance the scene. An old building holds far different features than a new one, and a busy city has a far different kind of background noise than your typical suburb does.

Nature. For the most part, writing in a few descriptions about the weather is easy. It’s one of the first things a writer learns to incorporate into his/her writing as part of the environment. What is easy to forget is the rest of nature, especially the living parts. If you’re writing a story that takes place in an existing geographic location, research the plant and animal life in the area. Find out what types of plants grow there and during what time of year. Find out what animals are natural inhabitants of the land (and water). One of the biggest complaints I hear from people when a book is written about a city they are familiar with is that the writer got the environment wrong. They mention animals, plants, and sounds that aren’t really prominent there, or they get the overall sense of culture wrong. If you’re picking a place you’re unfamiliar with, make sure you know what you’re talking before tackling the project of its environment.

Foreign objects or material. New and unusual objects are sure things to take note of. The technique of describing an object in detail is also effective for noting red herrings giving hints about later plot points. If the object is something a character comes in contact with, describe the texture and temperature of the object as well as its shape, size, and color.


My overall advice about establishing environment and pace is to include as much detail as possible in your first draft. It’s much easier to remove things later than it is to add them in.

(Source: rmnsediting.blogspot.com)

aclutteredwritersbrain:

I’ve heard a lot of opinions over the last couple years on what does and does not make one a “real” writer, and frankly it’s getting a little annoying.

“A real writer doesn’t need inspiration.”

“A real writer writes every day.”

You know what a real writer does? A real writer writes, and feels a need to do so.

That’s it.

There are writers who need a little bit of inspiration via prompts and photos now and then, and there are writers who can jot down a story on the spot, no matter the subject. There are writers who write diligently every single day, sometimes even on a fixed schedule, and there are writers who don’t. That doesn’t make one writer more talented or more worthy of publishing than the other.   

If you have days where you just don’t feel like sitting down and typing up a story, that is perfectly OK. Those who write should feel welcome in a community of other writers, not be ostracized or vilified because their methods are different.  

(via referenceforwriters)

despitenothing asked: hey hey heyyyy SO Problem: I want to start editing, but it's really daunting because my manuscript is 413 pages and.... only three chapters. There's a prologue, chapter one, and then chapter two which is 403 pages long and I was wondering if you had any advice to give regarding how to split up chapters, what makes a chapter, acceptable chapter lengths, etc.

I would say in this case you don’t have chapters per say, but parts, which is fine. A lot of authors don’t write in chapters. It’s your voice so you can break it up however you see fit.

If it’s the first draft I wouldn’t worry about it to much, just remember you have to edit it how you wrote it: one page at a time.

yeahwriters:

I Dare You To Write

A new writing prompts blog designed to drag you out of your comfort zone and hopefully challenge you to write like you’ve never written before.

Come take a look if you’re brave enough

Idareyoutowrite.tumblr.com

(via writingfireandice)

mooderino:

It’s important to know that no matter how obvious and sensible a piece of writing advice might be, there are always going to be circumstances when it won’t hold true. Or when there are other, equally effective ways to tell the story.

It’s all open to debate and depends on context and specific examples. An unmitigated disaster for one writer, may be an unqualified success in the hands of another.

It would be a lot simpler if there were solid, unquestionable, carved in stone rules that we could all learn and then go from there.  So here are three universally true things that apply to all writers at all times in every situation(I am 1,000,000% not exaggerating for effect).

Read More

(via writeworld)