Character Connection: The Writing Life

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had an amazing week full of uplifting experiences and building memories.

Last Friday, I shared a line I cut from my latest piece, Chasing Forgiveness. If you missed out, check it out here.

Source

Chasing Forgiveness is told in first person from two different points of view--Madeleine and Amelie. Thanks to beta comments, I realized I needed to flesh out one of the characters a bit more, as she was lagging behind her story partner.

In the process, I discovered something: the character who needed more details was the one I identified with the most. I found it more fascinating to dive into the mind of Madeleine, because she's less like me. Amelie, on the other hand, is very much like me. 

Madeleine embodies many traits I admire but don't always emulate. She's eager to embrace change and power, she follows gut instincts and enjoys spontaneity, and she doesn't let fear rule.

Amelie is the older sister and more level-headed. She wants to be needed, trusts her heart, and is more guarded.

I love both characters, but I found Madeleine more exciting to write, because I want to incorporate more of her qualities--ones I have but are more dormant--into my life. Still, Amelie is the voice of reason and the nurturer, which we all need to be in touch with as well.

Do you find yourself more drawn to characters who are like you or different?

Next week, I will share which actresses would play Madeleine and Amelie in a movie adaption. Until then, have an awesome weekend and beginning to March.

Pronouns: Grammar & Editing Tips

Ah, the pronoun. Such a nifty way to avoid repetition. Thanks to she (and others like he, I, you, it, we, they), authors don't have to constantly reuse character names or bog down story with repeating nouns. 

wigflip.com

Sometimes, pronouns cause confusion because they take ownership of the closest, preceding noun (antecedent), and the last thing a reader wants to do is go hunting for that noun or be utterly confused.

So, a writer should make sure the pronoun is clear.

Example:

David and Bill went to the store, and he enjoyed his newly purchased candy bar and cherry pie. It was the best thing he ever tasted.

He = Bill

It = Cherry Pie

If that is the meaning the author intends, the sentence works. However, if he is meant to be David and/or it refers to the candy bar, then some reworking is needed. The his and he subsequently used refer to Bill as well. 

Okay, so just remember... the pronoun refers to the closest, preceding noun. 

Sometimes, the pronoun is used correctly, but the sentence is still suspect.

Example:

Several Miami strippers donated boxes of clothing, and they can be viewed at the church bazaar next Saturday.

Whoa. Wait a minute. Yes, they = boxes of clothing, but a reader might do a double take and think the strippers can be viewed at a church. That's a whole different story. *snickers*

Better to rework the sentence for clarity...

Several Miami strippers donated boxes of clothing, and these items can be viewed at the church bazaar next Saturday. 

Also, if it's been a while since the noun the pronoun refers to was used, clarify by repeating the noun. You don't want to make a reader search back a couple of paragraphs to figure out who he/she/it is. 

Furthermore, pronouns should not refer to something that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Example:

If it's cheaper, then definitely buy the red blouse. 

Instead...

If the red blouse is cheaper, then definitely buy it.

I could go on forever about pronouns, but the examples above cover a lot of material. 

An exception (because there's always one, right?)...

Dialog is independent of prose. A noun mentioned in dialog, would not be the closest, preceding noun for the sake of a pronoun in prose.

For example, if a main character (Kevin) is highlighted in prose but mentions a Gary in dialog, Kevin is still the he when prose begins again.

For more information, visit this great post by Grammar Girl: Pronouns and Antecedents. 

Is there an editing/grammar issue that's always caused you trouble? If so, share it in the comments so I can feature it in a future post. 

UtopYA Sale & The Beast of Ravenston : Indie News & Highlights

Good Monday morning!

It's time for another installment of Indie News & Highlights, and I've got some good stuff today. 

Let's get it started (feel free to sing along)...

Early Bird Ticket Prices for UtopYA 2015 end on 2/28/151

Please don't miss the opportunity to come to this inspirational, empowering, creative, cutting edge, and uplifting conference. If you love the written word--whether an author, a reader, a blogger, an editor, and so on--please come. It's an amazing community and atmosphere.

heart emoticon I went last year, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only did I make lifelong friends, I came away a better person/writer/word lover. 



heart emoticon

Keynote speakers: Denise Grover Swank, Kim Holden, and Lauren Miller. In addition there will be many exhibitors (including me/IBGW!). Find the complete list here. 

If you have any questions, please let me know. I love talking UtopYA! Buy your tickets here. 

*****

The awesome Kelly Martin is at it again. The Beast of Ravenston (A Shattered Fairy Tale #2) debuts March 3, 2015, and she's hosting an awesome Facebook party to celebrate. Click here to RSVP and find out more.

About The Beast of Ravenston

Elizabeth Adams, a former maid of the evil sin collector Frederick Dodsworth, is sent to the isolated town of Ravenston to be the servant of notorious duke Nicholas Wellington -- nicknamed "The Beast" because of his bad temper and scars that have disfigured him from a fire. Nicholas makes a deal with Mr. Dodsworth: the name of the person who set the fire in exchange for making Elizabeth's time at Ravenston a living hell.

After seeing what he's capable of, Nicholas fears he has truly become the beast he is rumored to be and tries to make the consequences of his horrible actions up to Elizabeth somehow. Spending time with her causes feelings he'd long forgotten, and he finds himself falling for the gently beauty. He can't let that happen, however, because he has to know who set the fire. He has to know who to punish. And he has to atone for his part in his wife's death.

Years old lies are revealed.
Secrets are uncovered.
And one man has to choose between the family he desires and the revenge he's waited so long for.

After all, a beast is always a beast. 

Add it on Goodreads

*****

If you have any Indie news to share, please let me know. I hope everyone has an amazing week full of great new finds.

Let it Go: The Writing Life

I just sent Chasing Forgiveness, a Tala Propehcy novella, to my editor (the amazing Jo Michaels). I spent over a week editing based on my beta reader comments (even added a chapter).

I love editing, but sometimes it means letting go of lines, scenes, or chapters you love.

So, I thought... why not share one I really hated letting go.

This one was tough to let go, because it means so much to me personally. 

It's a wonderful reminder to be careful what we say. If someone thinks you hate them, it's easier than knowing it. Trust me. I'm all about hope.

Chasing Forgiveness is written in first person, past tense with alternating point of views. It taught me a lot about my writing. Tune in next week to see what.

Have you ever had someone confirm something you wished they hadn't, something that forever changed your relationship?

Apostrophes: Grammar & Editing Tips

Isn’t it amazing how important the smallest of punctuation marks can be? 

Consider the apostrophe--small in stature, a simple ’, but huge in importance. After all, an apostrophe either takes the place of missing letters or assigns ownership. It is also used to show multiple letters, such as the student received many A’s on her report card. More on that in a moment.

If Charlie has a dog, it’s Charlie’s dog. The only somewhat confusing aspect to making names possessive… names that end in s. According to AP Style, the newest consensus is to leave off the additional ’s. So it would be Charles’ dog and not Charles’s. However, it is not incorrect to say Charles’s, and that style is favored by Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, although to me it is quite clunky.

In the case of biblical references, everyone seems to agree—Jesus’ and Moses’ is the way to go.

Interestingly, this was a debated enough issue that the Arkansas House of Representatives introduced a bill to clarify the state’s possessive, known as the Arkansas’s Apostrophe Act.

And of course there is the exception of it’s. Since it’s is it is, the possessive of it is its, no apostrophe.

Back to the student that received many A’s on her report card. The A is not A is and it’s not possessive, so why the apostrophe? Because otherwise it is the word As (same problem for the letters I and U which would become Is and Us without an apostrophe).

How big of a deal can a misplaced or missed apostrophe really be?

Let me give you a quick example…

The girls decision meant life would never be the same.

In a story, it’s important for the reader to know if that sentence should read girl’s or girls’ (one girl or multiple girls). Writers don’t want their readers scratching their head for too long, because then readers disconnect from the story. Never a good thing.

How can anybody remember all these rules, especially ones that the grammar experts disagree on? 

That’s just one of the reasons a good editor is important. They do the research and give you their advice. Just as importantly, they make sure it is consistent throughout your work. Your readers will thank you for it.

*****

I originally published this post on the Indie Books Gone Wild website here.  

Another great graphic...

Is there an editing/grammar issue that's always caused you trouble? If so, share it in the comments so I can feature it in a future post. 

Magic & Romance: Indie News & Highlights

Time for another edition of Indie News & Highlights. 

My friend, Devyn Dawson, has an exciting re-release coming up this week with a gorgeous new cover and a Facebook party (2/19 & 20).

Find out more on her website.

*****

NL Greene, who I worked with on Fractured Glass, will debut the final book in the Mystic series, Secrets Revealed, on April 30, 2015. I'm SO excited for this one. Here's a peek at the cover...

You can pre-order it on Amazon now! If you aren't familiar with the series, check out my reviews of the first two books, Magic Unfolds and Illusions Begin, here.

For more information, check out her website.

*****

Looking for romance...

In addition to Casey L Bond's Crazy Love, which debuted on Valentine's Day, Kelly Martin has a new Valentine's release Trouble Enough: A Collection, which also includes stories from Wendy Knight and Leah Sanders.

Kelly's piece is Unforgettable. For more information and individual story descriptions, check it out on Goodreads here. Or, for 99 cents, order a copy on Amazon. 

*****

If you have any Indie news to share, please let me know. I hope everyone has an amazing week full of great new finds.

Back it Up: The Writing Life

Consider this a public service announcement...

www.wigflip.com

After multiple PC crashes and viruses, I finally decided to go Mac and got one for Christmas. 

It took a little adjustment, but I loved it. 

Then, six weeks later, the spinning color wheel started and wouldn't stop. This lead to my system shutting down. 

After two hours at the Apple store, a technician figured out it was a factory-installed software issue. Not my fault. He restored everything to factory settings, but all the work I'd saved since January 1 was lost.

"No problem," he said. "We can reinstall it from you backup."

Can you imagine the horror on my face? It registered right away with him, and he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry."

I'm usually good at backing up, but it didn't seem as important with a new computer.

It's been a week, and I'm still re-doing work. 

So, please... BACK IT UP! I know it's a pain, but it's more of a pain to redo things.