Books, books, and more books…

I get a lot of my books from the public library.  That way, I only buy the ones I really love.  Sometimes, the wait time for the most popular books can be forever.  For instance, the list at my library right now for “Mockingjay” is 2,440 people long.  Now, I requested this early so I’m under 100, but still.  Do you know how long it’s going to take for some of those people to get that book.

Because some of the wait times are so long, I usually have one book at a time.  However, in the last three days, I’ve been notified of three books that are waiting for me to pick up.  I guess I’d better get reading!!!  You can’t renew these books because there’s someone else in line right behind you who wants it.

Anyone else do it the same way?

It’s Done!!!!!!! (Do you think that’s enough exclamation points?)

I just finished editing my entire manuscript.  This final edit was a little tedious because I was looking for too many adverbs and adjectives, or words that I repeated way too much.  But it was worth it.  Now I’m looking for beta readers who haven’t ever read it before.  I want new eyes.  I want someone who can tell me if everything makes sense now that all the changes have been made.  I’ve had a few offers from people on Absolute Write, so I’m feeling pretty good right now.

I’m also going to get some people to read it who aren’t writers.  I want opinions from regular readers.  I want to know if they like it and would buy it or recommend it to a friend.

Hopefully, I’ll have heard back from all the readers by the middle to end of August.  I’ll read all their comments and then make the necessary changes.  Then I’d like to let the manuscript sit for a few weeks.  In that time, I’ll polish up the query and try to get a synopsis ready to go.  And then…(drum roll), I’ll read it one more time and start sending out queries.

It’s a lot of work but I’m more hopeful than ever.

Writing Sample #?

Ethan turned the heavy, iron key in the lock and stepped into the tower room.  It didn’t look much different than it had a few weeks before.  And it was still as overwhelming.  What normally would have taken up a large portion of a decent-sized library was basically thrown into a room not much bigger than a closet.  And from what he’d been able to tell, without any order or reason.  Books were strewn everywhere, some piled, most haphazardly shoved into the nearest corner.  Forced into any remaining space, cracked, rolled parchments stuck out at odd angles, and loose papers littered the room as if the wind had picked them up, only to abandon them a moment later.  To make matters worse, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.  The smallest movement sent it flying, saturating the air, and catching the light that streamed through the two small windows.

Those pesky adverbs!!!

I recently posted my latest version of chapter one on Absolute Write, and I got some really great responses.  Everyone liked it!  However, one person made a very insightful comment.  She told me to watch my adverbs.  So that’s exactly what I did.  I went back through the entire first chapter and highlighted every single one.  And then I realized something:  over half of them are completely unnecessary.  Either the dialog provides enough setting to fill in the adverb, or it was just overdone.  So now I’m going back through every chapter and doing the same thing.  It doesn’t take very long, and it’s well worth it.  I haven’t cut every adverb.  Some of them actually do add.  But I’ve cut a bunch.  This is exactly why I like feedback.  So thanks.

She smiled, he frowned, someone else did something I can’t remember…

I was reading a post on Nathan Bransford’s blog where he was discussing author’s bad habits.  One of the ones he mentioned was using the same words too often.  I mean how many times can someone smile on the same page?  Same chapter, yes, maybe there can be a few, but…well, you get the idea.

So I went back through a few of my chapters to see if I make that same mistake.  In general, I think I’m all right.  As far as each individual chapter goes, I don’t repeat too much.  That said, in the book overall, I’m wondering if there are some things I repeat a lot.  For example:  there are a number of places in my story where the main character is frustrated.  What do people do when they’re frustrated?  They take a deep breath to try and calm down.  They throw their hands in the air.  They shake their head in frustration.  They pace.  There are only so many believable things people do.  Coming up with new and creative ways to say it or even different ideas that convey the message someone’s frustrated is difficult.  I can’t just say, “He’s frustrated.”  Where’s the showing in that?

Another example that comes to mind is a scene where everyone’s happy.  They’re laughing and smiling, right?  But I can’t just write “laugh” and “smile” every two sentences.  I have to convey the tone and message that everyone’s happy without actually saying it too much.  You understand the dilemma.  Hopefully, there are some of you other writers out there who understand.  What do you do?

Writing Sample #2…and 3

As I’ve been editing everything, I’ve come across a few places I really like.  I’ll share them as I find them.  Today I have two.

She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but the tiniest hint of a smile hovered about her lips, only emphasizing the intelligence in a pair of striking, green eyes that dominated her face.  Her chestnut hair fell smoothly down her back, the only ornamentation a single ribbon woven around her head.  She had a nice voice, not one of the fake society voices ladies adopted when they were flirting.  And unlike the silly girls who giggled and could barely get a coherent word out, Sophia was never intimidated.  He found it completely refreshing. 

And another…

Ethan knew the Guard, especially Cadoc, usually did do whatever it took.  Their fanatical devotion to the regent led to hideous atrocities — all in the name of the law.  He’d seen the charred remains of farmhouses, their stone chimneys standing desolate amidst once lush fields.  He’d heard of men nearly beaten to death, children forced to work off their parents’ debts, women made to…he shuddered — they might have preferred death.

Hope you liked!!

Chapter One — New and Improved.

I finished going through my entire manuscript.  I’ve made all the edits, but I haven’t entered them all in the computer yet.  I admit, I like to edit better on paper.  It’s kind of a pain printing it all out, but I like to write in the margins and stuff.

Anyway, when I was finished, I went back to the first chapter.  I’ve had the almost-finished version up on the blog for a while, but I added a few little polishing details.  It’s now posted under “My Book.”  I think that all the little things that bothered me just a bit are now fixed.  And I feel more hopeful than ever!

Writing sample…

So…I’ve been reading a lot of other writer blogs lately and one thing so many of them do is post small excerpts from their work in progress.  I thought I’d do the same.  I’m trying not to put anything out there that would give away the portions of my story that I think are better discovered within the actual pages, but I do have some short sections that I love, either for the imagery or the emotional nature of the piece.  I’d love to know what you think.

Ethan read the same sentence for the fourth time.  It was pointless; he couldn’t concentrate.  He rubbed his eyes and looked up.  The library was one of his favorite rooms in the castle.  It was a perfect combination of functionality and beauty.  Three of the four walls jutted out from the northern side of the main castle.  Stacks of bookshelves alternated with tall narrow windows, giving a landscape view overlooking the sheer cliff on which the room was built.  It had become somewhere Ethan could find peace and quiet, a place to think.  It was the one place he could be completely alone, where he could escape the suffocating atmosphere of the rest of the castle, and society. 

Some scenes are better than others…

OK, so the title of this blog isn’t completely accurate.  Some scenes are more fun to read (and write) than others.  For me, that’s because those are the scenes where something happens that changes the main character in some way.  Maybe it’s when the mc has a realization.  Maybe it’s when the course of their life changes.  Maybe it’s when they fall in love.  You get the idea.  All books have those scenes where the mc makes decisions, changes course, or matures.  I love those scenes.  They are the ones that make me want to read on.

And then there are all the other scenes.  They are just as important to the entire book.  Without those, the mc would go from “I hate all women” to “I’m in love” without any explanation.  How they got there and all the little details that played a part are important. 

Why am I writing about this today?  Because the first kinds of scene are the ones I have entirely mapped out in my head before I even type one word.  I know where the characters want to go and I get them there.  I see the momentous changes, I know what I want to happen, I know how I want the characters to react.  These scenes are the easiest for me to write.

The second kind of scene is much more difficult.  Every scene still needs to move the story forward, while at the same time developing character, conflict, and buildup.  Sometimes this is so hard.  Especially if you want the story to be believable and not contrived.  Getting the reluctant hero in the story to step up involves a lot of little things.  Those things need to be interesting.  They’re also the scenes where I tend to get writers’ block and slow down, procrastinating over and over again.

Anyone else have the same problem?