Yeah, But . . .

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

#writetip

How do you overcome the ‘Yeah, but . . .” syndrome? It’s oh so tempting to respond to critique with the dreaded ‘Yeah, but . . .’ –  the temptation to explain why you wrote something the way you wrote it.

My advice is delay a rebuttal. You might be surprised what your brain does with the critique if you let it mull over what’s been said. If the answer comes to you in the middle of the night, be sure to write it down.

My reader, Sue is particularly good at pointing out where I need more emotion in a scene.

My reader, Janice points out where I need one level of emotion for the main characters and another for the secondary characters.

They are usually right. They don’t tell me how to fix a problem, only that the scene has one. Invaluable, but only if I’m willing to hear them.

My trick – I don’t respond to critique right away. I listen to it, go away and think about it, and then I have a non-emotional response and can decide logically if I want to make the requested changes or not.

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Beach Parties

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

#sailing Cold weather doesn’t deter a good gathering on the beach.

When cruising, the dingy becomes our car. The shoreline becomes the parking lot. The beach becomes the bar.

Happy Hour is a popular activity, but sometimes there are too many of us to meet on a boat, hence the beach!

Dogs are welcome and can roam free.

But be careful – you might get wet feet getting to your car!

Romantic Thriller

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

#writetip

How you see your work and how someone else sees your work can be quite a surprise.

Romantic Thriller? I thought I was writing a Suspense novel. Then, my agent commented that my second novel, The Final Gate, could be positioned as a Romantic Thriller if I added a little more romance.

Oh, Oh, I think. I like to read novels that are full of action, so that’s what I like to write. But Romance? Who knew?

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been reading Romantic Thrillers to get a feel for the genre and discovered my novel is not that far off. But . . .

I spent three months on rewrites, that’s the fun part, and now I’m back to proofreading. I’ve just sent The Final Gate to my favourite readers for comments, so I’ll see how they like the new romantic version.

This is a change for me, and I’m nervous about the feedback.  I guess I’ll have to wait and see . .

Maybe my husband will send me flowers for all the hard work I’ve done – that’s kinda romantic.

 

Curious Jasper

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#dogs #sailing How many ways can you entertain your dog while cruising? Jasper came spear fishing with us and used his skills to search for lobster.

The lookie bucket has a bottom made of plexiglass and gives us a great view of the sea bottom. Some of us don’t like to get in the water unless there is something interesting to look at.

The bucket is an essential tool on all cruising boats and is easy to make. Well, I think it was easy because my husband made it. We use it to check our anchor if neither of us wants to swim on it. A good night’s sleep depends on the set of the anchor!

Jasper thinks he’s being a big help, although we’re not sure what he’s actually contributing here except to make us laugh.

Check out DogLeaderMysteries if you like to see photos of dogs. There are some fun one’s every Friday on DogLeaderMysteries.

Capitalize your parents?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

#writetip Should you capitalize parents? Proofreading is an endless task and here’s a mistake that’s easy to make.

Should you capitalize mom? (or dad, mother, father, aunt, uncle, you get the gist)

This short example shows you when you do and when you don’t.

“I don’t want to go, Mom. Really I don’t,” Ian said.

“You must,” Ian’s mom said.

Ian hesitated but obeyed his mom.

If you’re using mom as the name, then capitalize. If not, then don’t. Pretty easy, except when proofreading, one tiny letter is hard to see. I do a search for each mom, mother, dad, etc. and check to see if I’ve used them right.

Cruising Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

#sailing It’s Wednesday again and time to post about cruising in the Bahamas.

I thought it was time to share some other boats that we cruise with. Buddy boating is a lot of fun, and we tend to meet with different friends on and off throughout the season. Here is Jabulani (Africat 42) chasing us into an anchorage after a beautiful day on the Bahama Banks.

We have a Lagoon 380, S2, but hang with all kinds of boats. The power catamaran can blast past us if they want, but they like to be social too. Part of the fun of being in the isolated anchorage is bringing our own friends with us.

Someone always catches a fish, and then they get to provide dinner.

Stilted Dialogue?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

#writetip Do you think your dialogue is stilted?

Here’s a quick tip. Look for dialogue where you don’t use contractions and rewrite with a contraction.

“I can not find my rain gear.”

Or

“I can’t find my rain gear.”

Which one sounds less stilted to you?

Kayaking Dog

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

#dogs Farley loves to kayak, although today I think I might have overdone it with him. Don’t you think he looks tired? Even though it’s me who does all the work, he gets a nap.

If you’re thinking of bringing your dog cruising and bringing a kayak, it’s a good idea to test the kayak first. I had to find one big enough that Farley could get in it too.

How Do You Proofread?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

#writetip Proofreading takes intense concentration. Do you have method you’d like to share?

I’m talking about the final proof, after all your readers have given you feedback, you’re not going to make any story changes, and are about to send your manuscript to your agent or publisher.

It takes me about an hour to proof 5 double spaced pages. That may seem slow, but I think worth the effort.

First, I look at each character in a line, then the sentence, then the paragraph, then the page, and finally the scene.

This is where I check every punctuation mark, check for their/there swaps, and grammar errors. For example, I force my eye to look for a period at the end of every sentence.

The only editing I do at this phase it to ask whether I need every word.

If I start to skim, I take a break, let my mind relax and get back to it.

What is your process?

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Guests on a Cruising Catamaran

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

#Sailing  Keeping guests entertained is easy on a catamaran, especially it the guests are adventurous. This was the first time spearfishing for our guests and they loved it. Not only was it an adventure – they brought home dinner. Lucky for us we had an excellent chef visiting too.

Other things to do with your guests . . . beach walking, playing the surf, swimming, kayaking, windsurfing, shell collecting . . .  You get the gist of it.

Happy Spearfishing!