Good morning, everyone!  Welcome to Writer Wednesday, where I share my little tidbits about craft and fiction writing. Today, I'm carrying on about the Antagonist.  In other words, the villain.

We all love to hate him, but have you ever stopped to think that as much as we hate the villain, we love the villain.  Yes, it's true.  For me, one of the worst villain's I've encountered is Hannibal Lector. I fear him, he repulses me, I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy...and yet, I don't want the feds to capture him again.

Why is that?  Well, I like to think it's because I'm not truly sick.  He's incredibly brilliant--course the true psychopaths are--and the fact he was able to get free from such a condemning situation is also, well, brilliant.  And that intelligence is a draw in some weird (sick?) way.

So let's talk about what makes a villain successful.

We've all met this guy...

A Villain Doesn't Just Wander Into The Pages

A villain is not the random guy stuffed into the plot who does atrocious deeds out of the blue.  He cannot be stereotypical like our friend Snidely Whiplash to the right.  A villain who does this is just...annoying... and a reader wants to swat him like a fly and get on with the plot.

Creating a true chaotic evil character is exceptionally hard in fiction, though totally plausible in gaming tables.  A villain cannot "do" something "just because."  He cannot be stereotypical and cartoonish like Mr. Whiplash.


A Villain Has Motivation

If he can't be chaos personified, he must have motivation.  By motivation I mean a goal, and a chain of actions, that the reader can relate to.  He must be human.  Even if that humanity is defined far different than our own.

One of my other favorite villains is Claudius in Gladiator.  His humanity is different than mine, but his motivation is something I can, as a human being, understand.  He felt betrayed by his father and wanted the same respect and success his father knew.  He was denied his birthright, and in that era, it was an insufferable shame.  Therefore, anyone who knew the truth and who could cast suspicion about his father's death, would be eliminated.  When he acts against his nephew and sister, he has suffered the deepest of betrayals, and you understand, as that is transpiring, that when he finds out the fit is going to hit the shan.


A Villain Does Not Set Out to Be Evil

Nobody ever decides they are going to be evil.  In a villain's mind, he is doing the right thing, even if he knows society is against his actions.  Think Waco.  Think of all the pirates we love so much--they were villains to society.  This all goes back to motivation and the very important question the author must know, without a doubt, why is the villain doing this?  He is infallibly right at the core of his existence, and this must go back to his ideals, moral perspective, and perspective of the world around him.

I watched a National Geographic special about big cats where clearly the majestic lion was the villain.  He purposefully and brutally hunted four cheetahs, which to the photographer (a cheetah researcher) was completely unlike lion behavior.  In later analysis with a lion researcher they concluded one simple fact:  Though the Cheetah does not impose upon the lion's hunting grounds or 'menu', it stands to reason that the Cheetah kills lion cubs if able, to protect its own population.  Therefore the cheetah has become a mortal enemy of the lion, and made the horrific massacre completely plausible.  Did the lion set out to be evil in the eyes of mankind?  No.  But to me, who saw the brutality and understands how terribly fragile the cheetah population is, this lion was a huge villain.  (We'll say nothing about the fact the cheetahs fell into the Too Stupid To Live category in this particular scenario.  Ahem!)


A Villain Has Emotion

A memorable villain has emotion readers can bond with.  The author can pull this out, making the villain more ...unforgettable.  Again, we can go back to Claudius for this example--he is in pain with every betrayal.  Yes, we want him to die and pay for his crime, but we understand and his suffering pulls at us.  Another renowned villain is Magneto from X-Men.  He's a holocaust survivor and he knows what evils humans can wreck upon the world.  He is afraid of humans.  And he is willing to do anything to protect the mutants.

The more emotion an author can wrest out of a villain, the more a reader can relate to him.  So don't be afraid to dig deep and get into his mind.


A Villain is Proactive

Just like your main characters, a villain cannot be reactive.  I would go so far as to say the entire core of your plot is your villain.  He must drive the action.  Otherwise, he is ineffective and doesn't create the threat the author desires.  This also somewhat translates to a villain must be alpha -- at least in his psyche.


Most Villains Have A Streak of Goodness

If your villain has a soft spot (of the normal not deranged kind) for puppies, this makes him more likeable.  If the author can portray this, even when he's at his most wicked, (or even better if a wicked moment is pre-empted by an unexpected softness) he again becomes more human.  Like in Silence of the Lambs, the serial killer has a pet dog who he clearly adores.


This is really just the surface of villains, but if you, as an author, can keep these points in mind you're one step closer to mastering The Villain.  The better you craft your bad-guy, the better your overall plot will stick in reader's minds.


Looking for a freelance editor?  Check out Finish The Story!

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Claire Ashgrove , Fiction Villains , fiction writing , Finish the Story , On Writing , Understanding Villains , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft , Writing Villains

This post is for a dear friend of mine.  Or maybe two.  Or three.  Or yeah, you too, you know who you are.

At some point in every author's career -- usually at the beginning for most -- an author asks what he should be writing, or where is it most advantageous to be writing, or what genre is selling and so forth.  I want to premise this blog with another blog article, from a woman I've not met personally, but consider a mentor in many ways:  Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  You should read This Blog Entry -- where she discusses this same topic, far more eloquently, and from a different standpoint, than I do.

We've all asked an agent or an editor a variant of this question:  "What's selling?"  And we've all heard, and simultaneously rolled our eyes, the answer, "Write what you want."

We, as insecure authors nurturing children, want guidance.  We want to up our chances at becoming the next bestselling author, the next #1 NY Times Bestseller, and the next big deal.  Maybe we don't conceptualize the question that way at the time--we just want an agent to sign us!-- but it's there, lurking, and wanting satisfaction.  And that satisfaction never comes.

So what should you be writing?

I can answer that without hesitation.  Write what you want.

Argh!  Yes, I know, you'd like to smack me right now.  But it's the truth, and if you're working with an editor  or agent who isn't telling you what you should be doing, count yourself as blessed.  Because that editor or agent is telling you, in so many words, write what you feel compelled to write, then we'll see if we can do anything with it.

In today's market that is a gift.  An author has never been more free to make choices about his or her writing.  Tired of being branded "like Evanovich"?  Would rather be branded "A must read for Grisham fans!"  This is your time to shine--the playing field is wide open.

Write that book that is calling to you, and then think about what you can do with it. 

Don't believe me?  Let me illustrate what happened to me for a little while.  I'll start by saying, however, I have never been pressured by my agent or editors to write anything specific.  I've never been told.

But I did open my mouth and ask my agent what she thought had the best chances after a bit of a pitfall on a particular idea.  She gave me her thoughtful and very insightful opinions.  I learned a lot in that conversation--about what the market was doing at that time, about where my potential books had possibilities (and didn't), and I walked away from the conversation totally energized...until it came to writing the first word on the project we agreed was the most marketable.

You see, I had another idea surging through the back of my mind.  And I didn't want to be working on that project that we mutually agreed was the best option.  Every word became a nail stuffed under my fingernails, until I didn't want to sit down at my computer and do anything.

One evening, on pins and needles, I communicated with her my frustration and my desire to work on this other project we had barely discussed.  And I set aside the painful project and that block came undone.  Words started to flow.  I completed what I think is the best novel I've ever written, threw myself into a brand-new market, and my agent loves the story.  (I must mention too that when I sent that letter I got nothing but support in response.)  Am I worried about it selling?  No, I'm not worried.  Of course I want it to sell, and sell big!!  But this book rocks, and if an editor doesn't feel the same, it will find a home somewhere and do well.

So you see, by seeking out "what the market wants" you aren't really following your passion for being an author.  You're writing someone else's project, not your own, and while it's completely plausible to do an excellent job, if your heart isn't behind what you're writing, you'll stall out.

In today's market, writing from your heart has little to no bearing on your sales potential.  If you want to write something for a niche market, you can conceivably corner all the sales in that market and still do quite well for yourself.  Your "risk" which scares traditional publishers might end up the next "50 Shades".  There is nothing holding you back.

Is it good to seek a little guidance?

Sometimes it can be helpful.  In my case, when we had the initial conversation, I had about three ideas I liked equally as well.  I just had a fourth come in and sideswipe me.  If the fourth hadn't happened, the project we agreed on might have been just as fulfilling personally.  But stop looking for someone to tell you what to do.

This is your career.  You went into it with hopes and aspirations.  That hope, that passion, carried forward to the book you published.  Don't let it go, and don't get stuck in someone else's mold.  Particularly if you have a project that you believe in, that may not fit a nice and tidy label.

What's a freelance editor's role?

I wanted to mention this too as an editor, because, with the wide-open horizons of self publishing, I see a lot of "non traditional" books.  That's the upside of self publishing.  You can publish whatever you want.  But I believe that if I see a book come in under one label, and it doesn't fit the expectations of that label, it's my job as someone who's taking your money to say "I think you would do better if you market it this way."  The opposite of that is, someone pays me, I work through the book, let it go, don't say a word, the book flops, and suddenly the editor is blamed.  And the editor should be blamed, so I say.

It's not good business in my opinion to take on a project that's say, labeled romance, when I know that romance readers aren't going to get what they're expecting if they plucked this off the romance shelves.  That can lead to negative reviews, which will ultimately lead to poor sales, and it can seriously damage a budding author's name.  You've paid someone to make the words work right.  Shouldn't that someone also offer their expertise on where what you've composed will likely grant you the best return on your invested dollar?

A freelance editor isn't "rejecting" your work in a conversation like this.  She's not saying "You can't publish this".  She's saying, "I see some inconsistencies for this market, that are not inconsistent in this other market, and if you make a small tweak here with your plot, you can fit this other market and have better earning potential."

To me, that's far better than letting a book go out to the world with aspects a hard-core reader will scream about, and passively set a book up to not do well.


Back to my point:

Write what you want -- there is no should be.  The passion you have for the project of your heart will prevent you from completely stalling out.  If it sells, the energy you've created in those words will carry it over mountains.  Should you discover the book won't fit into a traditional publisher's line-up, then you have a multitude of options in front of you.  Figure out what to do with the book after it's written.

And if someone involved with your career is telling you not to do something because it isn't marketable, then seriously, take some time out and evaluate whether this person is working for you or against you.  I offer this simple anecdote from my years of raising horses:

If I hire someone to promote my medal-winning stallion, and that employee tells me he's not pushing the horse because his coloring isn't flashy enough, I will be finding someone else to promote my stallion.  Instantly.




~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Claire Ashgrove , Fiction Market Trends , fiction writing , Finish the Story , On Writing , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft

Good morning, everyone!

It's Writer Wednesday again, and today we're talking about pen names.

Several of my friends have seen their first book contract in the last six months and I've been asked about pen names quite frequently lately.  I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

So, let's look at what a pen name does first of all.

1.  It establishes an expectation for the reader.  The reader assumes that all books published by Joe Penname will have something similar.  Likely voice, perhaps structure, perhaps tone, and so forth.

2.  It establishes an author's first 'brand' -- it sets you apart from other authors in some fashion.  And it is where you want your readers to find you.

3.  It establishes a 'brand' for book buyers. For instance, Stephen King's full name is Stephen Edwin King.  A book buyer (likely) will not know Stephen Edwin.  Tell them Stephen King (or even King), and they make an automatic association.

Can I use my real name?

Mm... for the most part, yes, with a few exceptions covered below.  It is perfectly okay to use your real name, unless your real name is unpronounceable or, by some sad stroke of the fates, could be profane, or stand out for inappropriate/laughable reasons.  (This is the perfect time for Fred E. Kruger to consider a new name.)

Given that, how do you choose a pen name?

Really, a pen name boils down to personal preference.  There are several schools of thought, ranging from use something you'll never fail to answer, to pick one that will alphabetically fall in line near an author who's a household name.  I personally chose my original pen name -- Claire Ashgrove -- based on how I personally shop for books.  I start at the A's and browse to the Z's.  If I find a book I like, I usually stop browsing.

There are a couple things I think are important, which may be strictly myth, but do show some factual backing.

a.  Thriller, Horror, Action, and Fantasy / Sci-Fi trend with masculine sounding names selling better
b.  Do not choose a mouthful of consonants and make it somewhat simple for people to remember

When do you need a pen name?

This is super easy.

1.  When you, for whatever reason, don't want your real name associated with your work.  If you're writing erotic romance, or erotic fiction, and say you perhaps work for the Catholic Church... you might consider this option.

2.  If you are already published and you're wanting to separate a new genre from another genre.  In my case, I wanted a clear definition between what readers could expect as Tori St. Claire and what they'd get as Claire Ashgrove.  I'm not 'hiding'; I just didn't want to shock someone, and since books don't come with ratings warnings usually, this was the best way to go.  I have M.J. Marshall for my work on the Kill 'Em All project, because it's a 180 from anything I've ever published.  And I have two other pen names hiding around here for the same purposes.

3.  Remember that part up above where your pen name establishes a brand for the book buyer?  Well, it's not something anyone likes to talk about, but there are many authors who have experienced the unfortunate case where the best project in the world didn't sell like it was 'supposed to'.  Now book buyers hear that name and won't buy the book.  The author is forced to re-establish under a new name.  If you're having to let go of your real name for this reason, that can be a little disheartening.

That's it, really, as for when you need a pen name.



Questions?  Thoughts?  Feel free to comment away!


Looking for a freelance editor?  Try Finish The Story!  Proudly editing USA Today Bestselling Author, Nana Malone.





~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Claire Ashgrove , Editing remarks , fiction writing , Finish the Story , Pen Names , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft

Good morning, everyone!  Welcome back to Writer Wednesday.  Today I want to talk a little bit about cross genre writing since everyone seems to be dipping into different markets.

It's very logical for authors who have varying interests to delve into different genres, particularly when digital publishing has opened so many doors.  In fact, I am a huge supporter of exercising creative talent wherever there is a calling for it.  Goodness knows I have done so and I will continue to do so.

But there are a couple things I've been discussing with authors lately that have opened my eyes to a few hurdles that aren't always anticipated.  And if you're able to make a plan for those hurdles you're far more apt to succeed than if you suddenly find yourself facing them unprepared.



Voice

Be sure you've done some research in the new market you're looking at.  One of the biggest things I see as an editor is a writer switching into a genre that is completely unrelated to what they've been writing, and their voice won't fit.  For instance:  You can't very well write a thriller with a chick-lit voice.  Or at least it wouldn't be very easy to do so.  That would be some serious craftiness on an author's part!  It's very easy to shift within the same core genre:  historical romance to paranormal romance, for instance.  It's not so easy to shift without a little extra leg work into something that is a 180 from what you've already learned, even though the core aspects of basic craft are pretty much the same.

So study the field you want to be in and train your voice into that established expectation.  Sure, it's good to keep some of what makes you you, but keep your tone in line with what the genre expects.  Readers have expectations, and if you fall short, that makes the next book that much harder to sell.


Readership

Another very common and often overlooked hurdle is your readership.  Do not assume that because you have very strong sales as a fantasy author, that when you release a mystery your readers will follow you because they are devoted to you.  The sad fact is most readers are devoted to the story(ies) you've written and will continue to gobble you up in your established genre.  You can bank on losing about 50% of your readership, which means you'll need to make that up with more readers.  The more you divide yourself between genres, that's fewer and fewer carry-over readers.

Which directly translates to:

Marketing

If you're launching a new genre, you need to approach that first book like you approached your very first book published.  You need to have a plan, you need to connect with that new readership, you need to sell yourself all over again.  Then you may see more cross-over readers, but not likely on the initial out of the gates, unless you are already a NY Times or USA Today Bestseller--routinely.  At that point, even then, your readership is going to drop, but in those sales numbers, it isn't as obvious or impacting--usually.

Commitments

Once you've stuck your foot in the new pond and wow'd the spectators with your swan-like swimming ability, you have to keep coming back to swim in that pool.  Meanwhile, you're swimming in the pool across town.  You're bound to encounter the problem of needing to be in two places at once.  Either because your self-publishing schedule demands releases hit close together, or because your publisher has said you will have x book done by y date, and y date is the same date as your other publisher wants something else.

Think this through.  Particularly if you are in any position to discuss projected deadlines with an editor.  Have a game plan for how you intend to be in two pools at once, and keep in mind many publishers will include in their contracts that you can't release a competing work for thirty days either side of what they are putting out.

Be prepared ahead of time; have an emergency action plan.  And, even better, use your free time to get ahead of your deadlines as opposed to perhaps running off on a brand new idea.  Get the idea down so you don't forget it, then finish up what you've already planned so deadline crunch doesn't end up kicking you in the rear.  In short, know what you are capable of and be honest with that self evaluation.

Pen Names - Do I have to have a New One?

Claire is saving that discussion for the next blog post.

Sum it Up:

1.  Make sure your voice matches your new project appropriately.

2.  Readers dictate a book's expectations.  Insure your new endeavor meets and exceeds those expected elements.

3.  You can't count on the same numbers you're currently bringing in, and often, when launching into a new genre, you will lose readers.  Create a marketing plan that is specific to your new genre.

4.  Be prepared.  Don't let deadlines take you by surprise--plan for them and give plenty of room to adjust.




Looking for a freelance editor? Finish-the-story.com wants to work with you!



~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Cross-Genre Writing , Editing Tip , fiction writing , Finish the Story , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft

Good morning, friends!

Lately, I've seen a lot of books through Finish The Story that come in labeled 'romance' only to discover that, in fact, they are not.  They are good fiction, some even good fiction with romantic elements, but they are not...romance.

This coincides with some observations I've made at some different conferences I've gone to, where the majority audience isn't a romance reader.  There seems to be a common misunderstanding that if a book involves romance at all, if that human emotion of love is present, the author is composing (or has composed) a romance.

Unfortunately, that's not so.

So what constitutes a romance?

There is a generic 'formula' that is often espoused as being the core of romance: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy looses girl, boy wins girl for a happily ever after.  This is mostly true, but that really over-simplifies things and doesn't always cover all the bases.  I prefer this:  A romance novel is centered on the developing relationship between the hero and the heroine.  Everything that happens in the book therefore relates and impacts that relationship in some way.

Conversely, in other genre works where there are romantic elements, the core of the book is not founded on that romantic relationship.  In other words, the romantic relationship is secondary to the plot.

One Key Determinant

It's true -- to be a romance the book has to have a happily ever after ending.  The girl has to get her guy.  Really, I'm a pretty hard core believer that there are no exceptions to this.  (excluding a series where the hero/heroine are dancing around each other and that romantic relationship carries over into the forthcoming books...but that's a fine-line and not generally applicable to this discussion.)

So, if your book is like dear Mr. Tearjerker Sparks.... you don't have a romance.  You may have a love story, but you don't have a romance.  If your book ends like Gone With the Wind, you don't have a romance.  If your book ends like I Am Legend, you don't have a romance.

The couple must be together, solidly, at the end of the book.

Do I have to have all that mushy / hot sexy stuff?

A romance does not need to have graphic sexual scenes included.  There are many, many romances that do not.  Many are inspirational (faith-based), many will allude to the dirty deed and leave the reader to imagine what happened.  Others go all the way and throw that bedroom door wide open.  The heat level doesn't relate to whether it's a romance or not--which is also why erotica is not erotic romance.  It all boils down to the focus of the plot.  If you're saving the world from flying monkeys you're not writing a romance, unless that is an external conflict to the core plot of two people building a forever relationship.

It really is that simple.

So to sum it up, it really is that simple.  Look at your manuscript and answer these two questions:

1.  Is my entire plot goal to bring two people into a forever relationship
2.  Do I have a happily ever after

If the answer is yes to both, chances are you have a romance on your hands.  If it's not, you're probably writing something else and have incorporated a human emotion everyone in this world can relate to -- love.




Looking for a freelance editor?  Check out Finish-The-Story.com  We're proud to announce we've reached our first milestone-- our client Nana Malone is now a USA Today Bestselling Author!




~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Editing remarks , Editing Tip , Finish the Story , romance , romance novel , what is a romance , Writer Wednesday

Good morning everyone!  I'm very pleased to bring a friend to the blog today.  Megan has her book, Anchor Me out today.  I was lucky enough to be a part of this book's development, and Megan has a natural gift with writing.

Anchor Me
Contemporary Romance




I asked Megan to put together a blog post for today.  Here's a bit about her inspiration.


Let's take a peek at Anchor Me!




Jillian muttered a farewell. Mark exhaled, and she finally raised her eyes. He looked at her steadily, and she quickly darted her gaze away, searching for something to do to keep her mind busy. Ah yes, algae scraping the 220. Clearing her throat, she eased out from behind the counter and grabbed the algae magnets. She plunged one into the water on the inside of the tank and caught it with its match on the outside. Slowly, she moved her hand across the glass, taking the magnets with her.

“Hey,” he said quietly to her back. “Sorry to just show up. Didn’t think you’d take my calls…” Mark’s deep voice trailed off. That voice. His voice.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she looked at him. His dark brown eyes looked almost black, reflecting the dark shapes in the water. He wore the expressionless mask he was so good at donning.


“You could have just sent a card. Or flowers,” Jillian said quietly. The fog in her head became thicker, and she felt light-headed. She struggled to think when she’d last eaten. She faltered and put her other hand on the tank to brace herself.

He moved toward her with his hand out. It was probably just a gut reaction on his part, but she instinctively took a step away, and he stopped abruptly. Hurt flashed in his eyes. He glanced at his hand—stretched out to touch her? Catch her? He pulled it back and scratched the side of his head over his ear, ruffling thick, dark brown hair out of place.

That hair. His hair.

He steeled himself and hardened his face. The muscles in his jaw twitched with restrained irritation. “I wanted you to know I am really sorry about Gabe. I honestly can’t believe it happened and…I’m really torn up about it.”

Jillian’s ears burned with heat, and she knew her forked tongue was next. “Well, I’m so sorry to hear you are taking this so hard,” she snarled through clenched teeth. The sting of tears threatened as they always did when her anger rose, but she knew none would fall.

He sucked in a breath, and then he spoke slowly, his voice thick. “That’s not fair.”

She remained silent.

He took a deep breath. “This isn’t…I didn’t know…You know what, sorry. I thought coming here and offering my condolences was the right thing to do. But apparently not. Fuck it.” He held up his hands and began to walk toward the front door.

His words slashed at her. He only swore when he was angry, and any extreme emotion was rare for him. Her heart ached, and she knew she should say something. She wanted to, but her voice caught in her throat. She pulled away the magnet. The one inside the tank plunked down into the gravel. Grit swirled up from where it landed.

She turned to face the front door and opened her mouth in the same instant Mark whirled around and opened his.

“Okay—”

“You know—”

They both stopped and stared.



About the Author:







~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Claire Ashgrove , Contemporary Romance , Finish the Story , Megan Erickson , New Release , New Voices , romance novel

Good morning, everyone!  Today's writerly perspective isn't about craft, or the technique of writing, but about how to handle an editor's remarks...appropriately.

Let's look a little at the process:  For one reason or another, you've entrusted an editor with your manuscript.  On the surface, particularly for traditional print, it may seem as if you have no choice in who is editing you.  Alas--wrong.  As an author, it's your responsibility to research the houses you are shopping your book with.  If you don't trust the editing staff of one house or another, you have no business shopping your manuscript there.  Read what the house is publishing, check out each individual line that corresponds with your work.  If you like what you read, there's a good editor behind the scenes.

With self publishing, options are broader.  The same research applies: look at some of their titles, ask them for references, analyze what comes back both in your initial correspondence and the 'test-edit' -- the remarks you receive from your sample.

So, all that accomplished, you have an editor, and now you must extend faith.  Just as an editor extends faith that you're willing to improve.

What happens then, when you get a manuscript back filled with red marks in the columns and comments all over the place?

In short form, particularly in self publishing, you can reject every darn thing he or she says.  But if you do so, why did you decide to hire the editor?

Your Editor Is Your Friend

An editor isn't out to cut-down your work.  That's the most important thing to understand.  An editor also doesn't want 'bad product' reflecting on his or her name.  And last, the editor wants your book to succeed.  Otherwise, she/he wouldn't be editing.

Editorial remarks come from a perspective that isn't tied to the story.  An educated perspective from someone who understands technical, market, and overall plot needs.  It's not just about fixing sentence structure or incorrect punctuation.  It's about looking at everything as a whole and crafting the best possible product for readers (and, in turn, for the author's bottom line.)

Editorial remarks can point out small things that, on the surface, may seem unimportant -- who cares if there are intruders, or commas in series?  Or if a specific car can really reach a claimed speed. Or what sort of helmet existed in the specific year.

Editorial remarks can also cover larger issues: characters who come off as psychotic when they aren't supposed to; gaping plot holes, and structure issues.

All of them are designed to draw your attention to a noted issue.  Most often, the editor is correct.  But it doesn't mean he/she is right.  If she's changed the entire plot by altering a poorly structured sentence, that's not particularly right.  The grammar change is correct, however.

So what do you do?

Thoughtfully Review

Well, review everything for starters.  Is there an overall theme?  Is she continually hitting the same 'issue' -- passive voice cropping up all over?  Or is it all about small details that could possibly be excused?

Your job as an author is to use that faith you entrusted to the editor you hired and evaluate whether the remarks damage or incorrectly change your story.  If they don't, I pose the question: What harm comes from spending the time to improve?  If you've been called out for passive writing, does it harm your story to nix it and put in active passages?

Editorial remarks should adhere to their purpose -- to improve what's already written.  If they don't, by all means, raise the objection with your editor.  Open a conversation to see if you can understand why they might have been made.

If they do offer a means of making your work more competitive, or can improve what you've already put forth, think solutions through.

Determine The Real Issue

Another thing I've learned is that the remark may not relate to what is specifically stated.  Nine times out of ten, if an editor has called out something and you object with the editor, you've failed to ground something you thought you did.  Often you can solve the issue by addressing that, as opposed to making a sweeping change.

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

Discover what means the most to you.  What remarks can you shrug off with a "eh, if it makes her happy, fine."  What remarks have you saying, "No way ever."  Pick the battles accordingly.  There's no sense in starting an argument over a remark like, "I don't really see why she'd say this, please reword."

For instance, one of the remarks one of my editors made was "I don't really know anything about her family, at all.  Are they still living? Are they dead? I'd like to see more."  It didn't hurt me, or the manuscript to add in a sentence or two.  I made her happy.  I still don't see that as a detrimental remark, but it took all of five seconds to address something that bugged her enough to make a mention of it.  And chances are, if it bugged her, it will bug someone else.

Don't Make Excuses

Use your wisdom, your judgement, and really think things through.  An editor didn't spend 18 hours editing a manuscript just to drive you nuts or tear your baby apart.  She did so with thought and consideration for the likely success of your work.  Do what you can to really decide whether it's an improvement.  And don't just wave off the remarks with, "She doesn't understand my genre.  She doesn't know what she's doing.  I did it deliberately.  Other books in my genre are written like this."  (And so forth.)  Doing so only wastes the editor's time, as well as your money.  Rely on that trust you extended, and consider thoroughly if making the change will give you a better book.

And that's my long-winded two cents!




Looking for an editor?  Check out Finish The Story!



~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Claire Ashgrove , Editing Process , Editing remarks , Editing Tip , fiction writing , Finish the Story , Indie Authors , On Writing , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft

Good morning, everyone!  Welcome back and happy hump day to all of you!

So many times writers are told "Your story doesn't start here, but there."  So many times, writers don't understand why they are told this.  I mean, after all, we've done hard labor getting those words out, and often the writing is clear and engaging.  So what gives?

I want to preface the rest of this discussion with the remark that this is very simplified. As your writing grows, these rules will flex.  But here's a good place to start if you're on your first endeavor, or you're hearing something along the lines of the above.

We live in an instant gratification world.  Readers of genre fiction want to be entertained, and they want the entertainment now.  Their patience for reading great prose that is building on a theme with a full moral to the story is... waning.

A writer is therefore presented with the problem of snagging the reader's interest immediately.  We stress first sentences, we stress closing chapter hooks.  We stress all kinds of things.  What it boils down to is conflict.  Conflict always drives the action of the story.  If you're in a lull, stir up the conflict again.  (Sagging middles are great places for people to die.)

Conflict also establishes expectations in the early pages.  If conflict is presented, the reader has a pretty generalized understanding of what is going to happen on the next few chapters and the stronger that conflict, the more promising the remaining pages are.

So in a book's beginning, bringing that conflict front and center right away is key.  You want the following tidbits of information in your first chapter:

WHO - is the character
WHAT - does the character want
WHY - can't the character have it

If you're writing romance, particularly category romance, you want this same information for both hero and heroine in the first chapter.  Or as close to the first chapter as you can get.

Notice what aren't core elements: how did the character get here? where is here? any external influences that have contributed to this situation.  That is not to say those are not important details.  They are simply not your first chapter objective.

This also doesn't mean you have to tell us heaps of back story to answer those questions either.  We do not need to know that Jim was heading out for his flight, got a flat tire, had to walk thirty miles to get assistance, wore a hole in the toe of his shoe, and missed his flight.... unless Jim wants to be on time for his job interview.  If Jim is arriving in Louisiana after these escapades, and Jim's goal is to get to the front of the McDonald's line, simply because he's hungry, none of how he got there is important.  The story begins with Jim staring at the person's head in front of him, swearing up a blue streak because his stomach is in knots.

Those three items also don't have to be detailed in depth.  In some situations you will want to only drop a hint.  Just enough to play to the objective, but without giving away elements that you intend to draw out as the story moves forward.

I've really simplified this, but it's a topic that could be written on for days.

In Sum:  Tighten out the extemporaneous.  If your first chapter doesn't address those points, as they relate to the plot of your book, chances are your story is not starting at the point of action.  Action moves your story forward.  Start it as close to the action as you can, and you have a natural propeller for the forthcoming pages.

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Finish the Story , Writer Wednesday , Writing Craft

FANBOY I think I will take mine about 6' 2", 190lbs (all muscle of course), shaggy black hair, and... oh we're not talking about those?

Unfortunately, no.  FANBOY is a mnemonic device to help identify conjunctions and is used with compound sentences.  And what is a compound sentence?  It's when you use a conjunction to join two independent clauses... in a nutshell.  And it is used very frequently in writing.


The breakout:

For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet

Examples first:

"He went to the bathroom, and he brushed his teeth."

"He went to the kitchen and took out a green bowl."

Both of these sentences use and.  Only the first is a compound sentence (as defined above).

The first sentence joins the two independent clauses of:  "He went to the bathroom"  and "He brushed his teeth."  An independent clause has a subject and a predicate.  If you were to replace the 'and' in this sentence with a period, it would form two sentences.

In simple speak, that means each part of the sentence, before and after the conjunction forms its own sentence.

If you were to replace the 'and' in the second sentence, you would not have two separate sentences.  You would have one sentence: "He went to the kitchen." and an incomplete sentence "Took out a green bowl."

So what's this leading to?

Comma placement in a compound sentence -- frequently omitted or placed incorrectly.

If you have a compound sentence the sentence demands a comma before the conjunction.  Not after the conjunction as a lot of us feel like it should read. Before.  Always before.  And I cannot count the number of times it is mixed up.  It's often mixed up more than it is omitted.

Quick Recap:

Check your manuscript for the instance of FANBOY words.  Each time you encounter one, check to see if the part before the conjunction and the part after form two separate sentences.  If they do, put a comma before the conjunction (where you would normally put the sentence terminator.)  If they do not form two separate sentences, do not insert a comma.

See you next week!




~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Compound Sentences , Editing Tip , Finish the Story , Writer Wednesday

I'm on an editing kick this month, but I don't think that's harming anyone, because there are so many people delving into publishing their first work.  I hope you'll take something away from these short blog topics, and in so doing, improve your sales when you set that puppy free!

Today I want to talk a bit on editing in general.

Why is it important?

There's the obvious answer that you don't want to put a book out full of grammatical errors and typos.  That just looks bad.  It makes an author seem unprofessional, and even authors who edit hire editors to avoid that.  Everyone makes mistakes, and I've yet to see a perfect book published by anyone, or any house.

But beyond the surface layer, particularly if you're dealing with romance, there are certain expectations readers have when they put money out for a book--no matter the length.  They want to be entertained, foremost, and they don't want to be sidetracked by things that don't make sense.

An editor will look for story gaps, dropped plot, characters who behave one way in the first part of the book then suddenly change their behavior.  (Character consistency).  He or she will read with a careful eye for redundancy, word choice, pacing issues -- making sure the story doesn't drag or doesn't move too quickly in key areas.

All these things contribute to making a story tighter, to creating characters that are memorable, and ideally, help you launch a great book...not just a good one.

Dangers of Avoiding Editors

Without editing, you are essentially the only person who has vetted your story, and there's no one closer to the story than you are.  It's like that clay pot you made in grade school.  It was gorgeous, amazing, awesome, and the best ceramic project in the class to you...and your mother.  To any person not directly tied to you there was no 'amazing, wondrous' creation made.  There was a lumpy, off center, oval shape that resembled a pitcher more than it did a pot.

Your story is like that pot.  Readers are brutal -- and not because they mean to be.  But as a reader you know a good story is like aged wine, and a bad story is like drinking lemon juice.  The reaction is strong.  As an author you want the readers feeling like they drank wine.

Two More Points of Editing

Above, I highlighted what a developmental editor would frequently look for in a manuscript.  I neglected to mention the value of a copy-editor and a proofreader.  A copy-editor has a different skill set than a developmental editor, and when the editor is trained to do both, he or she is reading with a different objective if he's copy editing.  It's not so much an analysis of the work as a whole, or even chapter by chapter.  It's specialized to grammar, redundancy, word choice, sentence structure, and technical inconsistencies like if your secondary character's hair is blond in chapter 1, brown in chapter 15 and red in chapter 22.

A proofreader doesn't really need to have a specialized focus.  He or she is going through the manuscript one last time, looking for things that were not addressed in both other editing passes.  Things like a track changes error, or an extra space, or a too, to, two confusion, or even layout issues such as a blank page in the middle.  The proofreader is the person who wields the silver polish, so to speak.

More on editors and the relationship with them, next time!






Looking for an editor?  Check out Finish The Story!

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Editing Process , Finish the Story , Writer Wednesday

The editor is back this week!

Last week we talked a little about passive writing.  Today I want to expand on that with intruders, or intruder words.

Intruders do exactly what they imply -- they intrude on the reader.  This can also be classified as author intrusion, in some respects, though I tend to group that separately.

Let's start out with some intruder examples:

"He wondered what color her hair would be if she freed it from that floppy hat."

"He handed her the dress, and he knew she didn't like it by the way her face scrunched."

"He saw the dog run down the street, chasing the calico cat."

Other than they are a bit simplistic, these are perfectly correct sentences -- grammatically   Not so much when it comes to fiction writing.  All of them intrude on the author.

There's a whole bunch more than this, but the following words are common typical intruders:
knew
thought
wondered
felt
saw
pondered

Any word that resembles any in that list is most likely an intruder.  They weaken writing and turn it passive.

So how to fix?  Well, the reason these intrude is because nine times out of ten they occur when we are in the narrating characters point of view.  If the character knows, then we don't need to be told he knows.  Simply stating it in a descriptive manner makes the writing more effective.  So let's look at fixing those three sentences:

"He wondered what color her hair would be if she freed it from that floppy hat."

Assuming we are in his point of view, this is written more actively by just stating the question:

"What color would her hair be if she freed it from that floppy hat?"  

If we are in his point of view, that becomes an internal thought that most likely would be italicized as well.

Next!

"He knew she didn't like the dress by the way her face scrunched."

This is a little more difficult to fix, but can be achieved by adding just a little more detail and dropping the 'he knew'.  The detail specifies the way her face scrunched.

"He handed her the dress, and her face scrunched like she'd eaten a rotten egg."

Last!

"He saw the dog run down the street, chasing the calico cat."

Again, we're in his point of view and we are seeing what he is seeing.  We don't need to be told he sees something... just show us what we're seeing.  Case in point:

"The dog ran down down the street, chasing the calico cat."

In Sum:

By omitting intruders writing becomes more active and often more engaging.  In some cases it can become more descriptive as well, which further improves story-telling.

See you next week!





Publishing a book?  Check out Finish The Story for quality editing!



~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Editing Tip , Finish the Story , Intruder Words , Passive Writing , Writer Wednesday

Good morning, everyone!  A while back, I mentioned I'd be starting a Writer Wednesday topic, and deadlines delayed that progress.  Today we're going to kick it off with a quick and easy way to detect passive writing.

I gave a presentation on editing at my local RWA chapter this weekend, and from some of the remarks in the room, I gather there's a lot of people who hear "Writing is passive", but they don't exactly know how to identify it or how to fix the problem.  This is, coincidentally, one of the things that I see predominantly in the work I freelance edit for Finish The Story.

Let me also add in that there are numerous ways writing can be passive.  This is one format, and one tip to fixing.  I'll address some others over my weekly topics.

So let's look:

"The moon was rising on the horizon, it's pale light a silver blanket on the field of wheat."

"The foxes were grouped together beneath the rock, and the eldest was sticking his tongue out at the youngest."

What's wrong with these sentences?  If you know, skip the lesson and go write some more words in that work in progress!

On the surface, they appear vivid, they're descriptive, and the grammatical structure is correct.  But both of these sentences are passive.  How so?

The "was" + "ing" combination.

Authors are told to stay away from was.  Yes, this is true, but it's impossible to write was.  The bigger issue comes with 'was' + 'ing' -- when it comes to passive writing.  (There are other ways 'was' negatively impacts writing.)

When you link was with an 'ing' verb, it automatically becomes passive.  The best fix for this is to replace that combination with the past tense.  Your sentence instantly becomes more active.

"The moon was rising rose on the horizon, it's pale light a silver blanket on the field of wheat."

"The foxes were grouped grouped together beneath the rock, and the eldest was sticking stuck his tongue out at the youngest."

~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com

Labels: Editing Tip , Finish the Story , Passive Writing , Writer Wednesday