Tag: writing

First Page Friday #14: YA

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Happy New Year Everyone! I have a good feeling about 2014! I’m ready for an awesome year!

For those who haven’t heard, I am adding a new service option for 2014 – Mentoring! Not only will this allow me to help writers who can’t afford (or aren’t ready for) a full edit, but I am also allowing writers to go in together to purchase enough hours to get high volume discounts! You can check out the details here. I hope this opens up my services to some writers who would not have been able to afford it previously.

And now, without further adieu, this week’s submission:

YA First 500 – Mari

When you’re born and raised in the same town, memories can become sprinkled like grass seed and spring up nearly anywhere. For Haley, every corner she turned she could easily recollect carefree days that she and Kevin had bounded through like rabbits.

During her walk home from school, she looked out over the field and remembered a late afternoon when Kevin ran so far ahead of her. The last of orange sunlight flashed in his eyes as he threw his head back and laughed, but there wasn’t always laughter between them. There were also memories of bruises and scars mapped out on Kevin’s flesh. The very thought of them made Haley’s own skin crawl.

She quickly shook away her thoughts as her eyes moved over her little house. There was nothing unique about it’s the old farm house’s set up or style. And had she not spent every day of her life there, Haley could’ve easily gotten confused.

Out on the front porch, her mother waved her hands frantically in the air.

“Haley!” she called out in her twangy voice. “Come quick!”

Haley’s heartbeat began pounding out of fear as she ran towards her house

“What’s wrong?” she wheezed as she reached the porch steps.

Her mother calmly shook her head. “Nothing, I just need you to watch your dad while I get dinner started.”

Haley dropped her backpack with a loud thud.

“What?!” she shouted. “You had me freaking out, Mom! I thought maybe Dad was dea—”

Her mom quickly cut her off. “Haley, hush!”

Haley placed her hand over her heart attempting to calm herself down.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Where is he?”

“Where he always is,” her mom replied with an irritated wave towards the side of the house.

*

Haley’s dad had begun falling down lately. He’d once been a strong looking man with a sense of determination in his walk, but both the cancer and his treatment made him frail. His doctor told him that it was far more likely he was only going to get worse.

One morning he’d asked his wife to move his rocking chair to the back porch. From then on he would spend every evening sitting out there with a blanket wrapped around his thinning shoulders.

Haley crept around to the back to look at him before making herself known. She could see that his eyes were closed, but by the way he drummed his fingers lightly on the arms of the chair she knew he wasn’t asleep.

She cleared her throat and he slowly opened his eyes to look at her.

“So…what, uh…what are you doing back here?” she asked, not knowing whether she should sit or stand.

It was harder than ever for her to hold a conversation with her father. She even cringed at the sight of his gray face that looked creased in light of the sunset.

“I’m just sitting, Haley,” he replied plainly in his gravelly voice.

Haley’s parents were opposites in nearly every way possible. Her father was very coolheaded, but stern in his ways. Her mother, however, flitted around faster than a hummingbird. Yet without a single word passing between them, it was obvious they shared a great love that not even Haley’s inquisitive mind could figure out.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

YA First 500 – Mari

When you’re born and raised in the same town, memories can become sprinkled like grass seed and spring up nearly anywhere. For Haley, every corner she turned she could easily recollect carefree days that she and Kevin had bounded through like rabbits. < Lots of people are born and raised in the same town (most people I would assume), so this isn’t much of a hook. There also isn’t any voice pulling me in, and I am immediately questioning whether this is actually YA (it doesn’t read like it). I am also questioning what the point of view is (omniscient?).

During her walk home from school, she looked out over the field and remembered < You never want to open a novel with a character remembering something. It indicates that you aren’t starting the story somewhere interesting enough to carry the chapter on its own. a late afternoon when Kevin ran so far ahead of her. The last of orange sunlight flashed in his eyes as he threw his head back and laughed, but there wasn’t always laughter between them. There were also memories of bruises and scars mapped out on Kevin’s flesh. The very thought of them made Haley’s own skin crawl. < Her remembering this does not move the plot forward nor is it relevant to what comes next so it feels tacked on just for the sake of conveying information you want the reader to know. It takes time, but writers have to learn ways to “hide” the fact that you’re conveying information.

She quickly shook away her thoughts as her eyes moved over her little house. < You don’t need to explain that a character’s thoughts have shifted in order to move on to different subject matter. There was nothing unique about it’s the old farm house’s set up or style. And had she not spent every day of her life there, Haley could’ve easily gotten confused. <I’m not sure what you mean. What would have made her confused?

Out on the front porch, her mother waved her hands frantically in the air.

“Haley!” she called out in her twangy voice. “Come quick!” < Dialogue should be in the same paragraph as action if it’s by the same character, so combine this line with the previous one.

Haley’s heartbeat began pounding out of fear pounded as she ran towards her house. < “Out of fear” is not needed because it is telling what has already been shown. “Pounded” is stronger than “pounding” because verbs ending in “-ing” are weaker than those ending in “-ed.”

“What’s wrong?” sShe wheezed as she reached the porch steps. < “Wheezed” is not a dialogue tag because you can’t wheeze words, so the “she” should be capitalized. 

Her mother calmly shook her head. “Nothing, I just need you to watch your dad while I get dinner started.” < This feels like a bait and switch. You’ve lured the reader in on the false pretense that something exciting is happening when really this is a totally ordinary day.

Haley dropped her backpack with a loud thud.

“What?!” < Don’t use both an exclamation point and a question mark. she shouted. “You had me freaking out, Mom! I thought maybe Dad was dea—” < This comes across as something a little kid might say (8-11), but not a young adult (14-18).

Her mom quickly cut her off. “Haley, hush!”

Haley placed her hand over her heart attempting to calm herself down.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Where is he?”

“Where he always is,” her mom replied with an irritated wave towards the side of the house. < The dialogue comes across as unnatural, mostly because there doesn’t seem to be logical motivations behind what they’re saying. Why would the mom act so frantic if there wasn’t an emergency? Why would Haley ask where her dad was if he always sits in the same place?

*

Haley’s dad had begun falling down lately. He’d once been a strong looking man with a sense of determination in his walk, but both the cancer and his treatment made him frail. His doctor told him that it was far more likely he was only going to get worse. < This is an info dump. Learn how to avoid info dumps here.

One morning he’d asked his wife to move his rocking chair to the back porch. From then on he would spend every evening sitting out there with a blanket wrapped around his thinning shoulders. < Find ways to show this rather than tell it.

Haley crept around to the back to look at him before making herself known. She could see that his eyes were closed, but by the way he drummed his fingers lightly on the arms of the chair she knew he wasn’t asleep.

She cleared her throat and he slowly opened his eyes to look at her.

“So…what, uh…what are you doing back here?” she asked, not knowing whether she should sit or stand. < Why would she ask this if she knows that her father always sits out there?

It was harder than ever for her to hold a conversation with her father. She even cringed at the sight of his gray face that looked creased in the light of the sunset.

“I’m just sitting, Haley,” he replied plainly in his gravelly voice. < She already knows this and so does the reader, so this conversation should be cut in favor of moving on to new/interesting information.

Haley’s parents were opposites in nearly every way possible. < This feels like the topic has changed too rapidly and without reason or transition. Her father was very coolheaded, but stern in his ways. Her mother, however, flitted around faster than a hummingbird. Yet without a single word passing between them, it was obvious they shared a great love that not even Haley’s inquisitive mind could figure out.

My Overall Thoughts

Overall, the tone is too young for YA. This is a very common problem I see in YA manuscripts (check out last week’s First Page Friday submission for the same issue). The writing style, tone, and Haley’s personality read at an MG level (about 8-11). Whether the content is appropriate for that age group, I would have to read more to find out. I made this video a while back about the differences between YA and MG and I think it will help you.

Key Places to Improve:

  • The bait and switch opening (making it seem like Haley’s mother has a problem but really there isn’t one) is not a good idea. It gives the impression that you cannot create suspense on your own and possibly that you are not starting the book in the right place. To see this issue in someone else’s work, check out First Page Friday #3.
  • Watch out for info dumps. Information should be revealed gradually and naturally, not in big chunks. Also, focus on places where you can show things instead of tell them.
  • Increase the voice. Both YA and MG rely heavily on voice to catch the interest of young readers. There is no indication of voice in this opening, which makes it difficult to latch onto the story or characters. The lines are at times very distancing and pull the reader out of the moment.
  • Think about the dialogue between your characters and assess whether it is logical for the character and interesting for the reader. Right now, the dialogue is detracting from the opening rather than adding to it.
  • I don’t think you’re starting this story in the right place. Novels should open with an interesting and engaging conflict that immediately gives the reader a sense of who the main character is and what she wants. Check out this video I made on how to write and edit the set up of your novel. It explains this is more detail than I can get into here.

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 1

I know it’s hard to get a tough critique, but this book is not where it needs to be to stand out in the current market. Check out some bestselling YA or MG books (whichever you decide your book is) from your library and flip through them, making notes about the voice, pacing, dialogue, etc., then think about how you can restyle your novel to better fit the expectations of the age group. Voice is absolutely vital, as is a book that fits neatly in either MG or YA. I hope you stick with this book and find ways to improve it. If you have any questions, get in touch!

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Submit to First Page Friday – (currently booking third week of February and beyond)

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services and mentoring.

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Setting Writing Goals for the New Year

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It’s almost 2014! It’s time to ring in the new year with some writing resolutions! If you have a hard time setting or keeping resolutions, I want to share with you some tips for success in 2014.

Resolutions are Goals, Not Dreams

First things first, when setting your writing resolutions for 2014, remember that resolutions are goals, not dreams. Goals are things that you can achieve through your own willpower and dedication. Dreams are things that require (at least in part) luck, finances, or the participation of another person. (Yes, these are my own definitions, but trust me, they help a lot!)

So, for example, getting published is a dream, not a goal, because it requires a good deal of luck and relies on other people (agents, publishers, consumers, etc.). So getting published does not make for a good new year’s resolution since there is no way you alone can achieve it.

So what does make for good writing resolutions? Things you actively have control over. Here are some examples:

  • Finish my novel.
  • Read 3 books about writing.
  • Build my author’s website.
  • Submit 12 short stories.
  • Query the agents on my list.

Consider Your Time and be Realistic

There’s nothing worse than setting a resolution that you can’t even keep in January. So make sure to consider the amount of hours it will take to achieve your goals and whether you actually have that amount of time to spend on your writing. It’s great to challenge yourself, but it’s not great to set goals that can’t be achieved.

If you have only a few hours a week to spend on your writing, then choose a simple goal like “Finish editing my novel.” If you have a few hours per day, then you can start to look at bigger goals like “Edit novel one, write novel two, and plot novel three.” But a goal that big is only going to work for a close to full-time writer, so be realistic!

Set Long Term Rather than Daily or Weekly Goals

Daily or weekly goals can seem like a great idea. For example, “Write one hour everyday,” or “Write a short story every week.” But the problem with daily or weekly goals is that there’s no room for error. When you don’t have time to write for one hour on January 8th (probably because of #PitchMad), you already feel like a failure, making it difficult to jump back into your goal.

So what’s the solution? Set long term goals. Rather than writing an hour everyday, set your goal at writing 365 hours in 2014. That way you get closer to your goal by spending more time on your writing, and if you miss a day, you can easily catch up. Even if you can’t write for six months, you can double up your hours and still meet your goal.

Track Your Progress

Part of what I love about NaNoWriMo is that little chart that shows my progress. It feels great to be getting closer and closer to my goal. But you don’t have to participate in NaNoWriMo to track your progress. There are loads of online progress trackers (just google it) or you can make your own old-fashioned progress trackers by making a chart for your goals and filling it in (like those old fund drive thermometer charts you used to use in grade school).

How you track your progress doesn’t matter, but tracking it will make you far more likely to stay on track and reach your goals.

So what are your 2014 writing resolutions?

If they include working with an editor or mentor, please check me out. I’d love to work with you. If you have any writing questions you need answered, I take blog post requests in the comments or to my email: ellenbrock@keytopservices.com

If you liked this post, please share it!

Happy New Year!

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First Page Friday #13: YA

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Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a magnificent Christmas!

I am really looking forward to the new year for so many reasons! I’ll be starting with some new mentoring clients in January. I’m getting married on New Year’s Eve! My novel is going to be pitched to agents at the end of January, right before I head to Disney World for my honeymoon! I’m feeling so thankful for all the great things this new year is bringing me, and I truly hope the new year brings great things to you too!

If there’s anything I can do to help you have a great 2014, let me know! I have room for more mentoring and editing clients, I can sign you up for First Page Friday, and I’d be happy to make blog posts or video addressing any questions you have about writing, editing, or publishing. Just leave a comment or shoot me an email: ellenbrock@keytopservices.com

This week’s submission:

YA First 500 – Anonymous

Here in Grain Valley Township, we don’t have a paid fire department or ambulance crew to rescue us.We rescue ourselves.Dad has been a volunteer fireman, or first responder, since he was eighteen. My late grandpa also was one of the brave men who protected us, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. Dad always carries an emergency radio with him, fastened to the belt of his jeans. At night, the radio sits on the recharger, on his nightstand.No matter where he is or what he is doing, when the radio goes BEEEP! he leaps into action. The alarm means someone’s been in some kind of accident or one of our neighbors’ houses or barns is on fire. Itdoesn’t happen every day, but often enough. Too often, I say.Sometimes the first responders are called out of our small country church on Sunday morning. Beeping radios go off all over the sanctuary. And even if the preacher is in the middle of a prayer, the men leap up and bolt for the door.Being a first responder may seem exciting, but it’s stressful and dangerous. For one thing, they never know what kind of accident they’ll be responding to or how badly someone is hurt. And for another, since everybody knows everybody else around here, there’s a good chance that whoever needs help is related to one or more of the first responders, adding to the pressure.

It was shortly after eleven on Friday night, June third, almost a year ago, when Dad and Mom and I heard the beeper sound on the emergency radio. I was in the bathroom washing my face and getting
ready for bed when Dad rushed from the bedroom toward the kitchen and ran out the back door to his pickup truck, which was parked outside in its usual spot, keys left in the ignition as always.

I heard the words “two-car crash, both cars are on fire, 39 Highway, three miles east” as the screen door slammed. The engine roared and wheels spun on the gravel as he sped away into the night.

Mom came out of the bedroom in her robe, fussing with her short salt-and-pepper hair. With the radio gone, the house was quiet. We had no way of knowing what Dad would find out there on the highway.

“Maggie, have you heard from your brother or your boyfriend lately?” Mom asked.

“Not since before supper,” I said.

When the alarm goes out, whoever is closest to the station drives over, opens the metal door, and starts one or both of the fire trucks, depending on what the call is. Some of the other men show up within
two or three minutes, skidding to a stop and jumping from their pickups. They put on their boots, jackets, and gloves and dash to the trucks.

Through the screen door, we heard the sirens. Both trucks were on the roll.

“Why don’t you call your brother, see when they’ll be getting back home,” Mom said.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

YA First 500 – Anonymous

Here in Grain Valley Township, we don’t have a paid fire department or ambulance crew to rescue us.

We rescue ourselves.

Dad has been a volunteer fireman, or first responder, since he was eighteen. My late grandpa also was one of the brave men who protected us, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. < For the sake of cutting to the chase, I would leave this sentence out because it isn’t really adding anything necessary or relevant. Dad always carries an emergency radio with him, fastened to the belt of his jeans. At night, the radio sits on the recharger, on his nightstand.

No matter where he is or what he is doing, when the radio goes BEEEP! he leaps into action. The alarm means someone’s been in some kind of accident or one of our neighbors’ houses or barns is on fire. < This line seems like it’s over explaining things. It would make sense for a middle grade audience, but YA readers will already know what the alarm means. It doesn’t happen every day, but often enough. Too often, I say. < “I’d say” would make more sense here. “I’d say” is not past tense, it just means “I would say.” “I say” only makes sense if he actually says it, in which case, I’d put it in quotes. Alternatively, you could write “I always say.”

Sometimes the first responders are called out of our small country church on Sunday morning. Beeping radios go off all over the sanctuary. And even if the preacher is in the middle of a prayer, the men leap up and bolt for the door.

Being a first responder may seem exciting, but it’s stressful and dangerous. < This too feels like you’re over explaining, almost like you’re talking down to your reader. For one thing, they never know what kind of accident they’ll be responding to or how badly someone is hurt. And for another, since everybody knows everybody else around here, there’s a good chance that whoever needs help is related to one or more of the first responders, adding to the pressure. <This is an interesting concept – that the first responders could be there to help someone they know – but this line falls flat. “Adding to the pressure” just doesn’t sound very intense.

It was shortly after eleven on Friday night, June third, almost a year ago, when Dad and Mom and I heard the beeper sound on the emergency radio. I was in the bathroom washing my face and getting
ready for bed when Dad rushed from the bedroom toward the kitchen and ran out the back door to his pickup truck, which was parked outside in its usual spot, keys left in the ignition as always. < This slows down the action while not adding anything, so I’d cut it.

I heard the words The radio screeched, “two-car crash, both cars are on fire, 39 Highway, three miles east” as the screen door slammed. < This modification (or one similar) makes the sentence easier to read. The engine roared and wheels spun on the gravel as he sped away into the night. < I’d cut what’s in red because it’s a cliche.

Mom came out of the bedroom in her robe, fussing with her short salt-and-pepper hair. With the radio gone, the house was quiet. We had no way of knowing what Dad would find out there on the highway.

“Maggie, have you heard from your brother or your boyfriend lately?” Mom asked. < Prior to this point, I thought the narrator was a boy. Also, as a reader, it seems like the topic is very abruptly changed here. It would help if the mom first addressed the fact that her husband rushed off. For example: “Another accident.” Mom sighed, then turned to me. “Have you heard from your brother or your boyfriend lately?” (Or perhaps something that connects the two concepts more clearly)

“Not since before supper,” I said.

The topic has suddenly changed back to the first responders again, but for me (as a reader), I don’t see any transition. > When the alarm goes out, whoever is closest to the station drives over, opens the metal door, and starts one or both of the fire trucks, depending on what the call is. Some of the other men show up within two or three minutes, skidding to a stop and jumping from their pickups. They put on their boots, jackets, and gloves and dash to the trucks.

Through the screen door, we heard the sirens. Both trucks were on the roll.

“Why don’t you call your brother, see when they’ll be getting back home,” Mom said. < Does her saying this have something to do with the emergency? It reads like there’s too much flip-flopping between the brother and the first responders without any explanation as to why.

My Overall Thoughts

This reads too young for YA. I’d have to read more to know whether or not it would be appropriate for MG (middle grade), but it definitely reads like it’s written for kids with poorer reading comprehension and who would need more things spelled out (perhaps ages 8-11).

Key Places to Improve:

  • Give Maggie more room to shine in this opening. She is little more than an observer in an opening that seems to really be about her father. It’s always a good idea to show the main character being proactive in the opening scene so that the reader knows this is someone who is active and who they can root for.
  • The voice is not particularly strong and isn’t giving me a good sense of who Maggie is. Developing a strong character voice can be difficult, but it’s vital for MG and YA. This just reads a bit too bland to stand out in today’s MG and YA markets.
  • Give the reader a reason right off the bat to know that this is Maggie’s story, that there’s something unique about her experience. Pull us into her world and her perspective and show us why it’s an interesting place so that we want to stick around. Put us in her shoes, not her father’s shoes from her perspective.
  • The biggest setback of this opening is that it isn’t gripping. We know something interesting is going on with the father, but Maggie isn’t there, and what she is perceiving in the moment feels like an afterthought and not a very interesting one. You’re not giving me any reason to be interested in Maggie. She doesn’t seem to be feeling any emotions about her father’s actions, so why should the reader?

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 2.5

Your writing is clear and easy to follow, but sometimes too much so, making it seem like it’s talking down to the reader. Spend more time focusing on Maggie and what she does and how her father impacts her life and less time on having her describe things she isn’t even participating in.  Her witnessing her father rushing off late at night could be interesting, if you place the reader firmly with Maggie and her thoughts and feelings rather than trying to explain the details about what her father is doing. Basically, show instead of tell and keep it focused on Maggie. I want to know why this story matters to Maggie, not the specifics about what her father is doing.

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Submit to First Page Friday – (currently booking February)

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

Holiday Editing and Mentoring Sale Going on Now!

Get 10% off developmental edits and 25% off mentoring/coaching if booked before January 1st!

About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services and mentoring.

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Help First Page Friday be a Success!  Please use the buttons below to share this post. The more views, the more submissions, the more First Page Fridays!

Why is it so Hard to Get Published?

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This is a question that a lot of writers ask. Maybe they’ve been submitting their book for a long time and haven’t gotten any interest, or maybe they got some interest but their book still wasn’t picked up by an agent or editor. Most of us know that getting published is extraordinarily difficult, but why is it so hard? Let’s look at some of the reasons and what you can do about it.

Your Book is a Little Fish (and the pond is really big!)

Publishing is like a national (and sometimes international) competition. Agents and editors are looking for the best of the best, the cream of the crop. Not only are they looking to weed out the writers who are terrible, but they’re also weeding out those who are just okay, those who are pretty good, and even those who are great. They are looking only for the writers who are fantastic.

Publishing is like the writing Olympics. You have to train to get there, and even once you make it, you still have to beat out tons of extraordinarily talented people to get to the top. So your book is a little fish in a great big pond. Sometimes even exceptional work doesn’t stand out.

Solution: Figure out what makes your writing extraordinary and put that in the first few pages of your novel. Maybe it’s your character’s unique voice. Maybe it’s an unusually short, choppy style. Or maybe it’s a really cool idea that hasn’t been explored before. Whatever it is that makes your writing stand out, make sure the agent or editor will see it (or at least an intriguing hint of it) in the sample pages, and make sure it’s in your query letter too.

Publishing is Subjective (it’s all about opinions!)

While there are obviously standards that most readers expect a book to adhere to, writing as a whole is not very objective. Chances are, if you read through some of my First Page Friday posts, you won’t agree with all of my critiques, because we all have our own opinion about what makes a book great.

When you send your book to that agent or editor you love, they have to form a decision as quickly as they can so that they can move on to the next query letter (or partial or full manuscript). So not only are you at the mercy of their opinion, but you’re at the mercy of decisions that are often made in seconds.

Solution: Know that you can’t please everyone. Don’t pin all your hopes and dreams on one or two agents who you know are perfect for you. Query widely to everyone who might have an interest in your book and don’t let rejections get you down. Shake them off and move on, even if they come from someone whose opinion you really respect. They may have just rejected you because your book is too similar to something they already represent or because they were having a bad day when they read your query. Don’t try to analyze a rejection unless there’s feedback attached.

Publishing is About Marketability (sales, sales, sales!)

This is the part of the picture that a lot of writers don’t understand. Agents and editors want books that will sell, even if they aren’t as well written as another book in the slush pile. Publishers have to be able to place your book on the shelves, meaning that it has to fit in an established genre. It also has to have an audience that the publisher has the ability to reach, which can be different for different publishers.

This is why a crappy movie/TV tie-in book or one that focuses on a current area of public interest can rocket to the top of the bestseller list even if the writing is mediocre. It’s why a famous author can write a book that’s just okay and still make a killing. Meanwhile, your beautiful steampunk space opera horror story sits on your computer’s hard drive because publishers couldn’t figure out where to place it in the bookstores.

Solution: Know your genre and demographic. Figure out who you’re writing for so you can convey that to agents and editors, and make sure that your writing meets the expectations of readers in your genre. This does not mean you can’t be innovative and blend genres, but you should be able to identify the books that would compete against yours. Some agents and editors like this to be typed right into the query letter (for example: My book will appeal to fans of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series).

Want to learn how to write killer first pages and query letters? Check out my critique workshops.

 

First Page Friday #12: Contemporary YA

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Happy Friday everyone! And Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take a moment to say that this is a super busy time for me because of the holidays, Pitch Wars, and because I’m getting married on New Year’s Eve! So I am behind on my emails and probably will be until the first or second week of January. If you don’t hear back from me right away, don’t panic!

Also, I will be here next week with a new First Page Friday (I’m not taking the day off for the holidays). So I hope to see you here!

This week’s submission:

YA First 500 – By Rhay Christou

When I was little, Daddy swore I’d grow up to be a kick-ass princess, vanquishing dragons and saving the world. Since he was surely better than Santa Claus and Superman and Jesus Christ all rolled together, I believed my daddy. But sitting here, in the middle of Al’s abandoned auto shop, with Aden stabbing black ink into my skin, it was impossible to put much faith in fairytales.

Again, Aden jabbed his sawed off twelve-gauge guitar string into my wrist, and again my arm jerked. The homemade needle skittered flat topping the O, and Jared Marcum reached across the scarred card table. He scattered the baggies of pot and bottles of pills and the pile of cash I’d handed over. He cinched my palm in his grip and stretched my arm so far across that table my fingertips brushed against his stained wife beater.

 “Stop squirming, Taylor.” His voice was raspy from over indulgence, and the whites of his blue eyes were red lined maps to nowhere. He pinned my wrist to the pleather as hard as his don’t-you-move look pinned me to the wobbly foldout chair.

I swallowed. I nodded. I did not fight.

 But Aden didn’t get back to poking. Instead, he half-turned on the stool he’d stuck between my knees and scratched his hand across his bad buzz-cut. Shooting Jared a questioning look, he sliced me a kick-the-tires and check-under-the-hood, appraising leer. 

Not that he could have found much in me worth buying. With crazy-wild hair and my best asset being my shimmering green eyes, I was cute, maybe. But too short, too flat, I’d never be one of those tall, voluptuous blonds that hot guys watched saunter and sashay.

 I’d never be worth all this warped effort.

But as the right hand of the Rowdy Redneck gang’s homegrown God, Aden always made sure Jared got what he wanted. And right now, Jared wanted me.

“Don’t move.’ Aden snapped his tricked-out electric SpongeBob toothbrush back to life and re-dipped his needle into his ash and vodka slurry. “You want the tat to look like shit?” His glare buzzed my pulse and soured my tongue.

 “Don’t matter.” I toughed up my voice and pressed down on my knee, jittering a rhythm off-kilter to the pounding beats and sex rhymes blaring from the speakers. I stared down Jared’s hand, promising pain and swallowed the awful taste eating its way through my mouth. I gave Aden one hundred percent of my attention.

 It wasn’t his cockeyed stare that made some of the toughest Trojan football players drop their gaze and back out of his way. It was the loaded gun he supposedly carried behind that glare that got all those boys quaking.

I would not shake. I would not cry. I would not give either of these boys the satisfaction of looking away. It wasn’t that I had a death wish or was all that brave. The difference between those big old football players and me was the minute the last bell rang, they climbed into their SUVs, pickups and Beemers and drove across the bridge back to Tulsa or out south to their McMansions.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

YA First 500 – By Rhay Christou

When I was little, Daddy swore I’d grow up to be a kick-ass princess, vanquishing dragons and saving the world. Since he was surely better < “Surely better” could imply that she still feels this way, and I think it would be stronger to indicate that she used to think that but doesn’t anymore (unless she still does feel that way). than Santa Claus and Superman and Jesus Christ all rolled together, I believed my daddy. But sitting there, in the middle of Al’s abandoned auto shop, with Aden stabbing black ink into my skin, it was impossible to put much faith in fairytales. <I don’t think this opening paragraph is working as well as you want it to. It isn’t really telling me much about the character. The first line made me think this was going to be a fantasy where princesses and dragons really exist, which set me up to expect the wrong kind of story. It feels like you are focusing more on voice with this paragraph than on relevancy to the story.

Again, Aden jabbed his sawed off twelve-gauge guitar string into my wrist, and again my arm jerked. The homemade needle skittered flat topping the O <I don’t understand what this means. Maybe that’s because I don’t know anything about tattoos, but I can’t visualize how the needle could’ve “skittered flat.” , and Jared Marcum reached across the scarred card table. He scattered the baggies of pot and bottles of pills and the pile of cash I’d handed over. < Why does he scatter these things? Also “scattered” makes me imagine him sprinkling the pot and pills across the table when I think what you really mean is that he’s shoving them out of the way. He cinched my palm in his grip and stretched my arm so far across that table my fingertips brushed against his stained wife beater.

 “Stop squirming, Taylor.” His voice was raspy from over indulgence, and the whites of his blue eyes were red lined maps to nowhere. <This feels a little too forced with the voice. If you keep it, “his bloodshot eyes” would make more sense to me. As it is, “red lined” made me think about a line around his eye, like “red ringed.”  He pinned my wrist to the pleather as hard as his don’t-you-move look pinned me to the wobbly foldout chair.

I swallowed. I nodded. I did not fight.

 But Aden didn’t get back to poking. Instead, he half-turned on the stool he’d stuck between my knees and scratched his hand across his bad buzz-cut. Shooting Jared a questioning look, he sliced me a kick-the-tires and check-under-the-hood, appraising leer. <I had to read this twice, then read the next sentence and come back to this one to understand what you mean, but it still reads like Aden is looking at two people at once.

Not that he could have found much in me worth buying. With crazy-wild hair and my best asset being my shimmering green eyes, I was cute, maybe. < Self descriptions always read as awkward. Since none of this really matters or affects the plot at this point, I’d leave it out. But too short, too flat, I’d never be one of those tall, voluptuous blondes that hot guys watched saunter and sashay.

 I’d never be worth all this warped effort. < Whose warped effort is she referring to?

But as the right hand of the Rowdy Redneck gang’s homegrown God, < This is difficult to understand, and I found it confusing even after two or three reads. Aden always made sure Jared got what he wanted. And right now, Jared wanted me.

“Don’t move.’ Aden snapped his tricked-out electric SpongeBob toothbrush back to life and re-dipped his needle into his ash and vodka slurry. < Why did he temporarily stop tattooing her and why does he resume again? It’s not clear. “You want the tat to look like shit?” His glare buzzed my pulse and soured my tongue.< I don’t know what emotion you’re trying to indicate with this description.

 “Don’t matter.” I toughed up my voice and pressed down on my knee, < What is she pressing down on her knee with? Her other hand? Why?  jittering a rhythm < What do you mean by “jittering a rhythm”? Do you mean that she’s tapping her foot? If so, why does that require her to press down on her knee? off-kilter to the pounding beats and sex rhymes blaring from the speakers. I stared down Jared’s hand, promising pain <This reads like she is promising pain, not that Jared’s hand is. and swallowed the awful taste eating its way through my mouth. I gave Aden one hundred percent of my attention. <I don’t understand what emotion she is experiencing.

 It wasn’t his cockeyed stare that made some of the toughest Trojan football players drop their gaze and back out of his way. It was the loaded gun he supposedly carried behind that glare that got all those boys quaking. < What does this have to do with anything? If it’s the reason she’s giving him her full attention, you need to find a  way to clearly connect the two concepts.

I would not shake. I would not cry. I would not give either of these boys the satisfaction of looking away. It wasn’t that I had a death wish or was all that brave. < This reads like what you’re saying is that not crying, shaking, or looking away means that she has a death wish. I’m sure that’s not what you mean, but a bit of clarification would help. The difference between those big old football players and me was the minute the last bell rang, they climbed into their SUVs, pickups and Beemers and drove across the bridge back to Tulsa or out south to their McMansions. < This is another sentence that doesn’t seem relevant to me. How does this tie into her not having a death wish?  Make sure your paragraphs are staying focused.

My Overall Thoughts

You do a nice job introducing this as a gritty story, but I think too much emphasis being placed on voice makes this difficult to follow, which prevents readers from really getting sucked in.

Key Places to Improve:

  • The voice feels a bit forced to me at times, like you are trying too hard to write something edgy. Remember that clarity must always come first. Many lines of narration were confusing and difficult to understand.
  • Make sure there are logical connections between sentences and paragraphs. Work on transitions between topics. If a subject is brought up, it needs to relate in some way to the situation so that readers can easily follow the thought process.
  • Something to differentiate Jared and Aden would help a lot in keeping them straight. I found that I never knew which was which and was sort of reading them as the same person. A different speech pattern, a distinguishing feature or personality trait, etc. would help keep the two straight.
  • The narrator’s emotional state was not clear to me. I wasn’t sure if she was afraid of the boys or just nervous about getting a tattoo.
  • It also wasn’t clear to me what was going on. Why was she getting the tattoo? Did she want it or not? Were the boys making her get a tattoo? If so, why? I felt more confused than intrigued about these details.

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 2

If clarity issues were resolved, this would definitely have potential. I found the subject matter interesting because it wasn’t the typical lighthearted YA story, but the voice became a source of confusion and distraction rather than strength.

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Submit to First Page Friday – (currently booking 4th week in January)

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

Holiday Editing and Mentoring Sale Going on Now!

Get 10% off developmental edits and 25% off mentoring/coaching if booked before January 1st!

About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services and mentoring.

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Help First Page Friday be a Success!  Please use the buttons below to share this post. The more views, the more submissions, the more First Page Fridays!

 

First Page Friday #11: Contemporary Romance

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Happy Friday the 13th!  I hope it’s a lucky one!

This week’s submission:

Contemporary Romance First 500 – By Mindy Hardwick

“There is a man. He is a man from the past.” Dallas peered into the crystal ball. A gust of crisp fall air blew her fortune telling booth sign to the ground. Dallas shivered and pulled her purple cape around her. After living in San Diego for ten years, she wasn’t used to the cooler fall temperatures of the Oregon coast river town.   “What does he look like?” Dallas’s only customer of the afternoon leaned forward.“He has dark…”A loud burst of laughter jarred Dallas. She looked up and frowned. A large crowd gathered around the booth to her left. A hanging stenciled sign read: Plots to Hell. It was all a ploy to support the Riverview Fall Festival. Buy an imaginary plot to hell for your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend and receive a certificate to hang on your wall. It seemed foolish to her, but the booth had a steady stream of traffic.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear what you said. Can you repeat it?” The woman smiled at Dallas. “There seems to be some competition.”

Dallas gritted her teeth. Everyone wanted to buy one of the imaginary plots and it was costing her customers. “Excuse me. I will be right back.”

Dallas strode across the wet grass. She pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the front of the make-shift booth.  “Hello,” Dallas’s voice rose above the crowd as she tried to attract the tall, slender man’s attention. “I am trying…”

“Yes?” The man turned. His jet black eyes met hers.

“Bryan.” Dallas sucked in her breath. She knew coming home to the small town where she grew up would be challenging. But she couldn’t let that challenge stop her. Dallas took a deep breath.  She squared her shoulders and looked Bryan straight in the eye. She wasn’t the same love struck teenage girl. She was a grown woman, who, up until two months ago had a very successful design business. She had fallen in and out of love and had no reason to be worried about her old feelings for Bryan.  “I am trying to give fortunes. My booth benefits the town’s weather disaster fund. My customer cannot hear her fortune.” Dallas looked around for the cause Bryan was supporting. Every booth was supposed to support a local non-profit. The only sign Dallas saw was Riverview Real Estate Company.

Bryan gazed at her empty booth. He turned back to her, winked, and said. “Ladies and Gentlemen. Who will buy the next plot from hell?”

Dallas fumed. Without thinking about how she would pay for it, she said loudly. “I will buy the next plot.”

“Sold.” Bryan said. “To the fortune teller.” He waved his hand at a tall and gorgeous blonde woman working behind him at a long table. “Please bring your payment to my assistant. She will give you the certificate and you can fill in the name for your plot.”

Dallas faltered. What was she thinking? She didn’t have money to buy foolish things like imaginary plots to hell. She barely had grocery money.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

Contemporary Romance First 500 – By Mindy Hardwick

“There is a man. He is a man from the past.” < Starting with a strange line of dialogue is a bit jarring. I would put this after the second line so that it’s clear it’s dialogue relating to a crystal ball. Dallas peered into the her crystal ball. < Changing “the” to “her” clears up two problems – it makes it clear that she is a female (I assumed she was male) and it makes it clear that she is the one telling the fortune (rather than getting her fortune told by someone else). A gust of crisp fall air blew her fortune telling booth sign to the ground. < I’d like a clearer picture of this booth. Is it just a little stand? Is it like a tent? Did the sign fall from a pole or was it just a paper sitting on a table? Where is the booth located? Dallas shivered and pulled her purple cape around her. After living in San Diego for ten years, she wasn’t used to the cooler fall temperatures of the Oregon coast river town.  

 “What does he look like?” Dallas’s only customer of the afternoon leaned forward. < I’d rather have a description and name of the customer here and then learn that it’s the only customer of the afternoon in a separate sentence.

“He has dark…”A loud burst of laughter jarred Dallas. She looked up and frowned. A large crowd gathered around the booth to her left. < At first I thought you meant there was a crowd around her booth. It would help if you made it clearer from the first paragraph where exactly this booth is – in an amusement park? On a boardwalk? At a fair? A hanging stenciled sign read: Plots to Hell. It was all a ploy to support the Riverview Fall Festival. Buy an imaginary plot to hell for your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend and receive a certificate to hang on your wall. < It’s not clear if this is a tagline, a thought, or just mistakenly in present tense. It seemed foolish to her, but the booth had a steady stream of traffic.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear what you said. Can you repeat it?” The woman smiled at Dallas. “There seems to be some competition.”

Dallas gritted her teeth. Everyone wanted to buy one of the imaginary plots and it was costing her customers. < It’s not clear to me why it would cost her customers since it would attract people to the area and it’s an unrelated service. “Excuse me. I will be right back.”

Dallas strode across the wet grass. She pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the front of the make-shift booth.  < I’m struggling to picture the scene. Where are they that there is wet grass? How big is the crowd? “Hello,” Dallas’s voice rose above the crowd as she tried to attract the tall, slender man’s attention. < What tall, slender man? Presumably the booth owner? “I am trying…”

“Yes?” The man turned. His jet black eyes met hers.

“Bryan.” Dallas sucked in her breath. She knew coming home to the small town where she grew up would be challenging. But she couldn’t let that challenge stop her. < These two lines are telling something that you could easily show. Dallas took a deep breath.  She squared her shoulders and looked Bryan straight in the eye. She wasn’t the same love struck teenage girl. She was a grown woman, who, up until two months ago had a very successful design business. She had fallen in and out of love and had no reason to be worried about her old feelings for Bryan.  < It’s not clear to me what falling in and out of love has to do with having or not having feelings for Bryan. I also think you’re telling here when showing her feelings would be stronger. “I am trying to give fortunes. My booth benefits the town’s weather disaster fund. My customer cannot hear her fortune.” Dallas looked around for the cause Bryan was supporting. < I thought she already knew that he was supporting the festival? Every booth was supposed to support a local non-profit. The only sign Dallas saw was Riverview Real Estate Company.

Bryan gazed at her empty booth. He turned back to her, winked, and said. “Ladies and Gentlemen. Who will buy the next plot from hell?”

Dallas fumed. Without thinking about how she would pay for it, she said loudly. “I will buy the next plot.” < Why does she buy a plot? What does she think it will accomplish? Make her motivations clear.

“Sold.” Bryan said. “To the fortune teller.” He waved his hand at a tall and gorgeous blonde woman working behind him at a long table. “Please bring your payment to my assistant. She will give you the certificate and you can fill in the name for your plot.”

Dallas faltered. What was she thinking? < As a reader, I want to know what she’s thinking too. What makes her go from angry to buying a plot? Is she trying to show him up? If so, how? She didn’t have money to buy foolish things like imaginary plots to hell. She barely had grocery money.

My Overall Thoughts

I think this could work well as an opening with a few modifications and clarifications. Overall, the writing feels a bit too sparse – too lean on the details. Fleshing things out a bit would help root the reader in the story.

Key Places to Improve:

  • Location – A sense of location is really important in setting a scene, but it’s unclear where her booth is located, how many other booths are in the area, what type of booth it is, etc. Take some time to flesh out those details.
  • Voice – There wasn’t much sense of voice in this opening. I should be getting a sense of Dallas’s personality traits, but I’m not, for two reasons: 1. The word choices didn’t provide insight into her personality, and 2. Her motivations were not clear (Why is she so upset about this other booth? Why does she buy a plot in hell? Why is she even fortune telling in the first place?).
  • I struggled a little bit with her logic because I don’t understand why the “plots in hell” booth would compete with her fortune telling booth. Additionally, when it is explained in the narration that the “plots in hell” booth is fundraising, it makes her seem a little petty that she would make a fuss about its success. This plot point would make more sense to me if either: 1. The rival booth was also fortune telling and stealing her thunder, or 2. She hated or was opposed to the cause the booth was fundraising for.

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 2.5

The writing itself was not bad, but perhaps a little on the bland side. It was definitely too sparse and vague, like a draft written with just the bare bones. If you pump up the voice and flesh out the details, this could work  well as an opening for a romance.

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Connect with Mindy

You can connect with Mindy on Twitter, her website, and at her blog.

Submit to First Page Friday – (currently booking 3rd week in January)

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

Holiday Editing and Mentoring Sale Going on Now!

Get 10% off developmental edits and 25% off mentoring/coaching if booked before January 1st!

About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services and mentoring.

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Help First Page Friday be a Success!  Please use the buttons below to share this post. The more views, the more submissions, the more First Page Fridays!

How Much is Too Much Backstory?

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Balancing backstory is a challenge for many writers. You have all of these awesome ideas about your characters’ histories and what brought them to this point, and you just want to share all of it with your readers. Most writers know that there’s a point where backstory becomes too much, but that point can be hard to identify. Here are some tricks to help you assess when backstory has become too much.

The Ratio of “Now” to “Then”

The “now” of your novel is anything that happens in the moment (regardless of whether the novel is in past or present tense). The “then” of your novel is anything that happened in the past, even if it happened moments before the start of the chapter. Identify everything in the chapter (or scene or section) that happened in the past, even if it’s just one line (For example: Elise had met Carol two years ago.) and highlight it or change the color of the text.

Now look at the ratio of “now” to “then.” You should never have a chapter, section, or scene that has more “then” than “now.” Marking sections in this way can be extremely enlightening. Many writers have no idea how much the past is dominating their writing. Leave the highlighting as you edit, and keep cutting down until at least 50% of the chapter is happening in the “now.” It’s normal to have a few chapters that are backstory heavy (up to 50%), but for the majority of chapters, you want the backstory cut down to far less.

The Importance of the Information

It can be hard for writers to make cuts to their work, but it’s vital that you be ruthless when it comes to backstory. Think critically about whether or not the information is important. Ask yourself: Does this truly enhance the reader’s understanding of the story? Will the reader’s ability to understand the story be damaged if this backstory is cut?

It can be tempting to include everything you know about your character in your novel, but readers don’t need long histories to explain superficial decisions or to justify every personality trait. So be realistic about whether the information is truly important.

The Value of the Chapter, Section, or Scene

Sometimes writers can create what looks like a chapter or a scene when really it is just a framework for the dumping of backstory. Analyze each section, scene, and chapter, and determine what purpose it serves other than revealing backstory. Each scene should have a purpose in the “now” – a purpose that moves the plot forward.

The biggest red flags are scenes where the character’s mind is wandering; where they’re looking out a window; where they’re eating, drinking, or smoking; where they’re waiting for someone or something; where they’re driving; and where they’re waking up or falling asleep. Pay close attention to these scenes and make sure that they are serving a purpose other than as a vehicle for dumping backstory.

Need help revealing backstory without info dumping? Check out this article.

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First Page Friday #10: Literary Fiction

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First Page Friday #10! Woohoo! We made it to the double digits!

I took last Friday off due to Thanksgiving craziness and really missed it. I enjoy First Page Fridays so much, but I’ve been wondering how you feel about it. Is there any way I could change things up to be more useful? Do you like the grades? The surveys? Are there any sections you’d like to see me add? Please leave a comment.

Also, if any of my previous First Page Friday participants have any success stories or news they’d like to share, please get in touch. I’m sure the other blog readers would love to hear about it.

And lastly, I am opening up to new mentoring clients. You can read more about it here. It is on sale for the holidays – 25% off! You don’t have to use the time over the holidays, you just have to pay before January 1st.

This week’s submission:

Literary Fiction First 500 – By Carol Dunbar

FALL
In the morning before Luvera came charging up the driveway, panicked and honking the horn, Elsa Arnasson is doing the laundry. She comes out of her little, unfinished house with her wild hair caught up loose and haphazard at her neck, wearing her son in a backpack carrier and holding a basket of wet clothes. She slides her feet into shoes and crosses the temporary porch. Still new to living in the country and the quiet it offers, she steps out into the sun and stops, to look out at the day.There is nothing about the scene before her that might suggest catastrophe. The yard is littered with yellow leaves, the poplar and birch nearly bare now, the oaks still holding onto theirs, rust colored and brown. A small wind turns leaves cartwheeling past her feet, past the fire pit he dug for them, past the folding chairs they put out within hearing distance of the baby monitor. Farther out across the yard stands a row of pine, their boughs heavy and dark, watchful and protecting.

From out of this, a puff ball comes floating along. She sees it first down by the garden. Like the white part of a dandelion only larger, it drifts up the hill and crosses the yard. It approaches, this airy jewel suspended in sunlight; it captures her full attention then because of the way it hovers there, right at eye level, lingering in front of her, sitting on a current of air. She watches it and it seems to watch her, friendly, interested even. Elsa forgets about the laundry basket in her hands and the baby on her back. A feeling of rightness buzzes inside her, this beautiful day, this house they are building and their two children, all of it exactly the way it should be and she cannot imagine a better life or feeling that things are wrong. Then without prelude, the puff ball whirls backwards and away, spinning into the trees.

Had she known what would be coming next, she might have made more of this, but as it happened, she stands there watching, and it blows away, and she smiles. She chalks it up to life in the country, something mysterious, maybe even silly. It made her happy, and now she had work to get back to.

She walks up the hill through the woods to the clothesline behind their house, her insides still buzzy, unhooked a bit from time. Finnegan on her back plays with her hair, wrapping strands of it around his fist and trying to fit that into his mouth. She wades through the leaves, approaches the clothesline, where it should be, and it is no longer there. The bears again, she thinks, and sets her basket down.

Again she looks up at the trees, through the nearly bare branches and the sky pressed bold and blue beyond. She goes to her basket, and hangs a towel on a branch. She smiles, and starts draping clothes, red and blue and striped kitchen towels.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

Literary Fiction First 500 – By Carol Dunbar

FALL

In the morning before Luvera came charging up the driveway, panicked and honking the horn, Elsa Arnasson is doing the laundry. < I find the mixing of tenses in this first sentence jarring. She comes out of her little, unfinished house with her wild hair caught up loose and haphazard at her neck, wearing her son in a backpack carrier and holding a basket of wet clothes. She slides her feet into shoes and crosses the temporary porch. <What is a temporary porch? A little more info here would help paint a stronger picture for the reader. For example: ..crosses the bare wood planks of the temporary porch. Still new to living in the country and the quiet it offers, she steps out into the sun and stops, to look out at the day. <I suggest cutting this. The next line implies that she is looking. Generally, you want to avoid outright stating that a character is looking at things or thinking about things because it is so easy to show/imply. 

There is nothing about the scene before her that might suggest catastrophe. The yard is littered with yellow leaves, the poplar and birch nearly bare now, the oaks still holding onto theirs, rust colored and brown. A small wind turns leaves cartwheeling past her feet, past the fire pit he dug for them, past the folding chairs they put out within hearing distance of the baby monitor. Farther out across the yard stands a row of pine, their boughs heavy and dark, watchful and protecting.

From out of this, a puff ball comes floating along. She sees it first down by the garden. Like the white part of a dandelion only larger, it drifts up the hill and crosses the yard. It approaches, this airy jewel suspended in sunlight; it captures her full attention then because of the way it hovers there, right at eye level, lingering in front of her, sitting on a current of air. She watches it and it seems to watch her, friendly, interested even. Elsa forgets about the laundry basket in her hands and the baby on her back. A feeling of rightness buzzes inside her, this beautiful day, this house they are building and their two children, all of it exactly the way it should be and she cannot imagine a better life or feeling that things are wrong. <I find the wording of this sentence difficult to read and understand. Then without prelude, the puff ball whirls backwards and away, spinning into the trees.

Had she known what would be coming next, < This is considered a pretty cliche line in omniscient. It might bother some and not others, depends on the reader. she might have made more of this, but as it happened, < “as it happened” doesn’t really make sense in present tense because it’s actively happening, but I have a stricter opinion about the use of present tense than some other editors. she stands there watching, and it blows away, and she smiles. She chalks it up to life in the country, < She chalks what up to life in the country? The puff ball’s existence? The happiness she derives from it? something mysterious, maybe even silly. It made her happy, and now she had has work to get back to.

She walks up the hill through the woods to the clothesline behind their house, her insides still buzzy, unhooked a bit from time. < “unhooked a bit from time” does not hold any meaning to me. It’s not an experience I can relate to. Not that that makes it inherently a problem – others may completely disagree. Finnegan on her back plays with her hair, wrapping strands of it around his fist and trying to fit that into his mouth. She wades through the leaves, approachesing where the clothesline, where it should be, and it is no longer there. < This rewording makes more sense because she can’t approach the clothesline and then have it not be there. The bears again, she thinks, and sets her basket down.

Again she looks up at the trees, through the nearly bare branches and the sky pressed bold and blue beyond. She goes to her basket, and hangs a towel on a branch. She smiles, and starts draping clothes, red and blue and striped kitchen towels. <Wording of this sentence is a bit awkward. Are the clothes she’s draping kitchen towels? That’s how I read it initially, but I think what you mean is that she’s draping clothes as well as red and blue and striped kitchen towels, but then that still has a clarity issue – are some of the towels red, some blue, and some striped or are they red and blue striped?

My Overall Thoughts

I don’t doubt your ability to write. This has a nice, pretty sound to the language. However despite the nice writing, too little was going on to draw me into the story, but the writing carries my interest enough that I would give you another few pages to hook me.

Key Places to Improve:

  • Clarity comes first. Always. If you have to write an ugly sentence that readers can understand, that’s better than a pretty one they can’t. Lovely language can get you pretty far, but clarity and substance will still trump it every time. So read your sentences carefully. Make sure they make sense.
  • The puffball had such a prominent position in this opening that I would expect it to have a major impact on the catalyst of the story. If this is not the case, you may need to downplay it.
  • Some sort of conflict had better be introduced within the next few hundred words or you’re going to start losing readers.
  • The present tense combined with a few past tense omniscient phrases (“as it happened,” “in the morning before,” “had she known”) kind of made my head spin, however it is not “wrong.” It’s just a matter of preference.
  • My biggest concern is that perhaps none of this opening matters, that you are just trying to be poetic by including the puffball, when really it does not tie into the story arc. If that’s the case, it makes this opening a bit too meandering and you might want to start a bit later.

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 3

This is a tough one to grade because it depends a lot on where the story goes from here. If these opening paragraphs tie in well with a conflict that begins within the next few hundred words, I’d probably bump this up to a 4. If no conflict occurs and these paragraphs are style without substance, I’d probably bump it down to a 1 or 2.  If you focus on clarity and substance (no pretty words just for pretty’s sake), I think you’re probably on the right track with the novel as a whole.

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Submit to First Page Friday

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

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About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services and mentoring.

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The Difference Between Omniscient POV and Head Hopping

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The difference between omniscient point of view and head hopping is something that stumps a lot of writers. But there are big differences between the two, in this article, I outline the basics.

To be clear, this article is about head hopping in omniscient POV. It is not about third limited POV (changing perspectives at chapter or section breaks). I recommend reading this article first if you aren’t familiar with third limited POV.

Omniscient POV is Only One Viewpoint

One of the biggest misconceptions about omniscient point of view is that it allows you to go into the viewpoint of any character in your story at any time. This is not true. Omniscient point of view only has one viewpoint – the viewpoint of the narrator. This narrator stays the same throughout the entire novel.

The narrator does not “go into” the viewpoints of the other characters, because it doesn’t have to. The narrator already knows everything about all of the characters. This may seem like splitting hairs, but it’s a very important distinction: The narrator does not go into different viewpoint, it simply chooses which information to convey about which characters at which moments.

Omniscient POV Only Has One Voice

Probably the most glaring error in omniscient point of view is when the voice changes when describing the thoughts and feelings of each different character. This is a blatant giveaway that the work is head hopping rather than omniscient. Since omniscient sticks to only one viewpoint – one narrator – it must always stick to one voice.

This means that the vocabulary, sentence structure, and word choices should not change when different characters are explored. Margo may speak like a stuffy old woman while Tom swears like a sailor, but when their emotions and thoughts are described in omniscient, the narrative should read with the exact same voice unless it is italicized as a direct thought.

There are some cases where it can be very clearly implied that the narrator is describing the thoughts of a character and some writers will choose to add a bit of the character’s own “flavor” to the writing in this circumstance without using italicized text. If done well and sparingly, this is okay. The important thing is that it be clear 100% of the time whether an opinion is the narrator’s or the character’s.

Omniscient POV is Strategic

The omniscient narrator is a storyteller who chooses when to reveal emotions and thoughts of characters as it is important and relevant. There is a strategy there. A strategy to build suspense, to engage the reader, and to focus the story. It does not delve into the thoughts and emotions of characters on a whim. There is a logical and important reason for switching the focus to different characters.

Head hopping, on the other hand, often has switches that are erratic, that serve no purpose, and are put there simply because it’s easier to switch perspectives all the time than it is to convey things without going into the heads of different characters. While omniscient POV feels strategic, head hopping often feels lazy, sloppy, or accidental.

*ETA: As a few commenters have pointed out, there are writers who use head hopping strategically (rather than sloppily) and are able to “hide” the head hopping by switching at key moments in a scene. If you are fully aware of what you are doing and have a strong grasp of POV and feel that this is necessary in your novel, you might be able to get away with this. But since it’s difficult to pull off well, a section break is generally clearer, and publishers tend to view it as a sign the writer is not knowledgeable about POVs, I personally would not advise taking the risk.

Omniscient POV is Omniscient

Omniscient means “all knowing.” It does not mean “jumping into the heads of different people.” The omniscient narrator knows everything – not just the thoughts and feelings of the character it’s currently delved into – it knows the thoughts and feelings of everyone, at all times, including before the story started and after the story ends. The omniscient narrator knows what’s happening halfway across the world. It knows the temperature outside, the exact time of day, and how many buttons are on the mailman’s jacket. It knows everything.

Well…most of the time. It is possible to have an omniscient narrator with limited knowledge, but this is typically only in cases of first-person omniscient narrators who are characters that gained the information through supernatural means or after the fact.

Knowing everything does not mean the omniscient narrator does or should reveal everything (again, it must be strategic). The narrator may choose to omit things to make the story more interesting or exciting. In many cases, omniscient narrators seem “God-like.” But head hopping does not evoke the God-like, all-knowing feel of the omniscient narrator, it reads like we’re simply jumping between the brains of ordinary characters. In other words, in head hopping there is no sense that there is one consistent voice “behind the camera” directing the novel and pulling the reader through the story.

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First Page Friday #9: Literary

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Please read the chapter without my notes and record your feedback in the poll before moving on to my critique. This really helps the author. Thanks!

The Submission:

Literary First 500 – By Nicola

Before my mother died, Kenny was not my friend. He didn’t have any friends. No one even hung around with him much. He was okay, sometimes, if there was no one else to play with, but mostly we tried to ignore him.  He lived in another part of the street and didn’t belong to our gang. There were lots of Catholics in our neighborhood so there were enough kids to go around without him joining in; we thought he had a snotty nose and big freckles and his clothes were handed down way too many times.  He had straight, mousy-brown hair that hung down over his eyes in the front and knotted up like a bird’s nest in the back. We would leave him out on purpose, when we didn’t need him for a game, which was almost always.  He would stand a little way back and watch, his hands deep in his pockets, trying to look like he didn’t care, and didn’t really want to join in. He stood, or kept himself busy with the stone beneath his shoe, or the coins in his pocket. And I thought he must have just gone home when the rest of us did at five o’clock on Saturdays, when our mothers stood on the back steps and called out “Dinner! You’ve got five minutes or your father’s going to hear about it.” People still said things like that then.Except, after the excitement of my mother’s death had died down, and after the social workers who made us dinner and did our laundry had stopped coming, then there was no one calling me home. There was no dinner. And then I found something out: Kenny didn’t go home like the rest of us. When all the other kids ran home, he stayed there still, with his tennis ball, or soccer ball, or empty handed, watching the other kids run back up the hill from the park and disappear around the backs of houses.The first time I realized no one was calling Kenny, I was waiting to hear my name, and when I didn’t I waited a bit longer, then ran home anyway. No one called him either, and when I turned at the top of the path to look back, he was still there, looking down at his sneakers.

A couple of weeks later, I didn’t go home either, and Kenny talked to me then. He asked me if it was because a dog bit her—her dying. I told him it was, and I wondered for a long time after that if it was true. I was eight years old. Before my mother died, I had never known anyone who had died.  And, I had never even thought how many ways there might be to die. Dying from a dog bite seemed as good a way as any other. And there were some pretty mean dogs around.

But I didn’t know for sure how she died. And didn’t want to. No one had told me the details. I didn’t know what day she died, or what time it was, exactly.  I never visited her grave; I didn’t know where she was buried. No one told me, and I didn’t ask.

The thing is: it was important not to know. Not knowing the truth made my fictions all the more reliable.

Reader Participation – What Do You Think?

Before reading my take on this novel opening, please take a moment to record your thoughts in the poll below.

Your thoughtful critiques and suggestions for the writer are also welcome in the comments section. Explaining your vote gives the author even more insight into where they’re hitting the mark and where they can improve.

The Writeditor’s Feedback

 Critique Key

Original Text is in italics.

Red is text I recommend removing.

Green is text I recommend adding.

Blue are my comments.

Literary First 500 – By Nicola

Before my mother died, Kenny was not my friend. He didn’t have any friends. No one evern hung around with him much. < “Much” is a weak way to end a sentence. I would rephrase. He was okay, sometimes, if there was no one else to play with, but mostly we tried to ignore him.  He lived in another part of the street and didn’t belong to our gang. < This sentence feels disjointed and unneeded. I would cut it. There were lots of Catholics in our neighborhood so there were enough kids to go around without him joining in < The flow would be better without this sentence.  ; we thought < There’s no reason to say that it’s what they thought. It just weakens the sentence. he had a snotty nose and big freckles and his clothes were handed down way too many times.  He had straight, mousy-brown hair that hung down over his eyes in the front and knotted up like a bird’s nest in the back. < Personally, I would also cut this sentence for flow and because it doesn’t connect as nicely to the next sentence. Kids might not want to hang out with a poor, snot-nosed kid, but I don’t think they’d care what his hair looked like. We would leave him out on purpose, when we didn’t need him for a game, which was almost always.  He would stand a little way back and watch, his hands deep in his pockets, trying to look like he didn’t care, and didn’t really want to join in. He stood, or < Not needed because we already know he’s standing. kept himself busy with the stone beneath his shoe, or the coins in his pocket. And I thought he must have just gone home when the rest of us did at five o’clock on Saturdays, < This sentence feels disjointed from the rest of the paragraph because it seems unlikely that the narrator actually put any thought into whether or not the kid went home in the evenings, especially since this is a kid they ignored and didn’t like. Rephrasing would help. For example: “I guess I just assumed he went home when the rest of us did…” when our mothers stood on the back steps and called out “Dinner! You’ve got five minutes or your father’s going to hear about it.” People still said things like that then.

Except, after the excitement of my mother’s death had died down, and after the social workers who made us dinner and did our laundry had stopped coming, then there was no one calling me home. There was no dinner. And then I found something out: Kenny didn’t go home like the rest of us. < This sentence is telling as well as vague. How did the narrator figure that out? When all the other kids ran home, he stayed there still, with his tennis ball, or soccer ball, or empty handed, watching the other kids run back up the hill from the park and disappear around the backs of houses.

The first time I realized no one was calling Kenny, I was waiting to hear my name, < There is not a clear connection between this and the previous paragraph. Is this after people stopped calling her home? Is it the first day she wasn’t called? If so, you could restructure this so that the first sentence of the previous paragraph leads into this paragraph (cutting out telling and creating a better flow). For example: “Except one day, after the excitement of my mother’s death had died down, and after the social workers who made us dinner and did our laundry had stopped coming, no one called me home. I waited to hear my name, and when I didn’t, I waited a bit longer, then ran home anyway. No one called Kenny either, and when I turned….” and when I didn’t I waited a bit longer, then ran home anyway. No one called him either, and when I turned at the top of the path to look back, he was still there, looking down at his sneakers.

A couple of weeks later, I didn’t go home either, and Kenny talked to me then. He asked me if it was because a dog bit her—her dying. I told him it was, < I would like a stronger indication at this point that she doesn’t actually know how she died. Restructuring this paragraph and combining it with the next one would be ideal. For example: …dog bit her – her dying. Dying from a dog bite seemed as good a way as any other. And there were some pretty mean dogs around, so I told him it was. But I didn’t know for sure how she died. And didn’t want to…   and I wondered for a long time after that if it was true. I was eight years old. Before my mother died, I had never known anyone who had died.  And, I had never even thought how many ways there might be to die. Dying from a dog bite seemed as good a way as any other. And there were some pretty mean dogs around.

But I didn’t know for sure how she died. And didn’t want to. No one had told me the details. I didn’t know what day she died, or what time it was, exactly.  I never visited her grave; I didn’t know where she was buried. No one told me, and I didn’t ask.

The thing is: it was important not to know. Not knowing the truth made my fictions all the more reliable.

My Overall Thoughts

You said you weren’t sure of the genre. From this sample, I’m going to have to go with literary. You suggested this may be YA, but unless the bulk of the story is told from the perspective of a teenager and contains issues relevant to teen readers, it’s most likely not YA.

Your voice is very engaging and easy to read, which is great, however it does seem structurally disorganized at times.

Key Places to Improve:

  • Make sure that the structure makes sense. That’s really your only issue here. Some tips on structure:
  • Make sure the right information is conveyed at the right time. Don’t wait to convey clarifying information because it requires the reader to untangle preconceived notions, which is hard to do.
  • Don’t break up information of the same topic with other sentences or paragraphs. Group sentences making the same point together so that it doesn’t feel like a point is left and then returned to – this creates a sense of redundancy.
  • Cut out sentences that aren’t needed. Be ruthless. Unneeded sentences really disrupt the flow. Consider carefully what the reader needs to know.
  • Also, watch out for sentences that make the same point as another sentence, even if in a slightly different way. This gives the sense that the plot is stagnating.

The Writeditor’s Grade (out of 5): 3

Though there were some major structural issues, I really liked your voice. I could definitely see the potential in this. It felt like a diamond in the rough, rather than just a hot mess. Focus on line editing as you move forward, and do research into literary fiction if you aren’t familiar with it.

A note on the grading scale: The rating of the first chapter does not indicate the rating of the novel as a whole nor does it indicate the writer’s overall ability.

Submit to First Page Friday – Pretty Please! I’m out of Submissions!

If you’d like to submit your novel for First Page Friday, please send the following to ellenbrock@keytopservices.com:

  • The name you want me to use in the blog post (real name, alias, or anonymous).
  • The genre of your novel.
  • The first 500 words (give or take, don’t stop in the middle of a sentence) pasted into the body of the email.
  • Any links (Twitter, Blog, Goodreads, etc.) that you’d like included in the post (not required).

Please do not submit if you are not okay with your first page being posted, critiqued, and edited on my website.

About the Editor

Ellen Brock (AKA The Writeditor) is a freelance novel editor who works with self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors as well as e-publishers and small presses. She owns the editing company Keytop Services and the writing and editing blog The Writeditor. When not editing, she enjoys reading, writing, and geocaching. Check out her freelance novel editing services.

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Help First Page Friday be a Success!  Please use the buttons below to share this post. The more views, the more submissions, the more First Page Fridays!