#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?
#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?
#writetip
A friend of mine with a background in translation asked if she could translate my novel, Fracture Line, into German. I, of course, very quickly said yes.
It’s an interesting process to go through with a surprising benefit.
As she is translating, she it looking at every word. This means some great proofreading is being done. It also means she pushes me on word usage, questioning me on whether I’ve picked the best word or not.
My German isn’t bad, but it’s not great, and I must say it’s fun to read my novel in German. She’s sent me the first 10 chapters for review and I’m stretching my brain, trying to read in another language.
The process is improving my German, and we are having some fun discussions about when to use ‘Du’ and ‘Sie’, and how in the world do you translate bull wheel?
#writing
My wonderful agent, Margaret Hart, and her team at the HSW Literary Agency have come up with a new blurb for Burnt. It still amazes me how many people it takes to write a novel, even when it comes to the blurb and the synopsis.
I was very flattered that they came up with a new and improved version of the blurb. They have read all three of my novels, are familiar with my voice, and were able to tweak my original blurb and it still sounds like me. Pretty cool!
Here is the new blurb . . .
Instead of exchanging vows with her fiancé, Ben Timlin, Kalin Thompson spends her wedding day trapped by a forest fire in the mountains of British Columbia—and the pregnant friend trapped with her has just gone into labour. Meanwhile, Ben hangs from the rafters of a burning building, fighting for his life…
When the cause of the fire that ruins Kalin’s wedding and levels half of her beloved ski resort is declared as arson, finding the firebug responsible becomes Kalin’s personal mission.
In the course of her investigation as director of security at Stone Mountain Resort, Kalin gets on the wrong side of small-town corruption and uncovers more than just arson. There are those who will go to extreme measures to keep Kalin from exposing their secrets. But Kalin will go to extreme measures to protect what is hers.
#writing
Do you struggle with naming your novel? I do.
My novels are Fracture Line, The Final Gate, and Burnt.
After submitting The Final Gate to my agent, Margaret Hart, I received feedback from her editor that I should change the title.
I think I’m on title 200, and I’m still working on it.
After picking a title, then comes the research.
Then comes the test market. Sending the title out to the people who have read my novel should give me some feedback. But what is they all like different one.
There are so many things to consider. I think I’m finding the harder than writing the novel, the blurb and the synopsis. Yikes!
How do decide what your title should be? And if you happen to read the blurb for The Final Gate, can you send me a title?
#writetip The dreaded synopsis surprised me. We all know how hard it is to write but . . .
I discovered a hole in my plot during the process of writing the synopsis. I was having a difficult time getting the story described in under two pages of double spaced text.
Then I realized the novel wasn’t coming full circle and I couldn’t relate the ending to the beginning. Why? I didn’t close off one of the story lines. I don’t think I would have discovered this if I hadn’t written the synopsis.
My point? Maybe the synopsis is not just for your agent or publisher. Maybe it’s good for you too.
Thoughts?
#writetip Are you struggling with writing your blurb? Your novel is finished and you are getting ready to submit it, but the blurb just doesn’t sound right?
Why not ask a couple of your readers to write a blurb for you? A person that is not as close to the novel as you are might have an interesting take on what should be in your blurb.
You may get a whole blurb out of the exercise, you may only use one line, but it is sure to spark your imagination.
#writetip I guess I’ve been fishing a lot lately, but Hook, Line and Sinker made me think about how I review scenes.
How about: Hook, Tension, and Point of Scene?
These are three useful things to ask yourself after writing a scene. I write thriller/mystery novels, so the pace has keep moving.
If the scene doesn’t have a hook early on, why would anyone keep reading?
If there is no tension, why would anyone keep reading?
If you can’t state the point of the scene, why did you write it?
As usual, only my opinion . . .
#writing I’ve submitted my third novel, BURNT, to my agent, Margaret Hart, at HSW Literary Agency in Toronto. So it’s time to relax? Not quite. I’ve got to update my books pages on this blog, the Crime Writer’s of Canada web page, my agent’s web page, LinkedIn and on and on and on . . .
This is the third novel in my Kalin Thompson series. Here’s what it’s about:
Kalin Thompson’s life spirals out of control on her wedding day. Instead of exchanging vows with her fiancé, Ben Timlin, she finds herself trapped by a forest fire and is forced to deliver her best friend’s baby on the shore of a glacial lake high in the mountains of British Columbia.
While Kalin tries to keep her friend and the baby safe, Ben is hanging from the rafters of a burning building, fighting for his life.
Arson is declared the cause of the forest fire.
Arson ruins her wedding day.
Arson turns her new home and half of her beloved ski resort into ashes.
Finding the arsonist becomes her personal mission. Kalin, the director of security at Stone Mountain Resort, gets on the wrong side of small town corruption and uncovers more than just arson. There are those who will go to extreme measures to keep Kalin from exposing their secrets. Kalin will go to extreme measures to protect what is hers.
#writetip There a many different ways to write a novel, but one thing most have in common is the story is broken into chapters.
How do you do this?
Do write in chapters, plotting the entire novel ahead of time?
Do you write the novel in scenes and then group them into chapters?
Or, do you write one long scene and then break into scenes and group into chapters?
I tend to write in scenes. This gives me a small section to write. As the saying goes, Inch-by-Inch, Life’s a Cinch. I find it less overwhelming to write a scene than attempting an entire novel.
Once I’ve completed a draft and have all my scenes printed, I try grouping them into themes. If I can give several scenes one name, then I make it a chapter. If I can’t, then I look for another way to group scenes. I don’t focus on the length of a chapter. I think it’s more important to have the grouping right than to have consistent chapter lengths.
