Five Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

     

By guest blogger and award-winning author Linda Goodnight.

                         

What a treat to be invited back to Seekerville! Thanks to Ruthy for asking me. By the way, I’ve been reading Ruthy’s books while cruising up to lovely Canada, and people, this Yankee girl can write! She knows how to grab you from the first line and compel you to turn those pages.

Which brings me to today’s blog topic. I judge a lot of contests and read numerous new authors’ work for review and endorsement. Many times I see the same mistakes repeated over and over again. Wondering if I was the only one, I did an unscientific survey of veteran authors who also judge manuscripts on a regular basis.

 In their responses, several issues rose to the top of the list. This blog will focus on five mistakes new (and sometimes veteran) writers make and a few tips for avoiding them.

1. Weak opening sentence and/or first paragraph

Research indicates authors have only a few seconds to convince a reader to buy our books. A few measly seconds! That means the first sentence and even the first paragraph have to be extraordinary. In a very short space of time, we must interest the reader, set up the story question, give insight into the point of view character, and indicate the book’s tone and setting, all while thrusting the story ever forward. Whew! That’s a lot to ask from only a few words.

Here are a few ways--though certainly not the only ways-to write that all important opening:

1. Make it short and punchy.

Ex: He wouldn’t do this. Not again.

(from Lone Star Dad)

2. Raise questions in the reader’s mind.

Brody hated Fridays. He knew what would happen if he went home. So he didn’t.

     If I did my job, you’re wondering who Brody is, about what happens on Friday and why he’s anxious about going home. This is from my newest book, The Rain Sparrow, available right now, y’all!

You can find The Rain Sparrow Here!

  

3. Powerful, surprising or shocking. The sharp metallic click meant one thing. Someone had a gun pointed in Colt Stafford’s general direction. (Back in the Saddle by Ruth Logan Herne.) I loved this book!

4. Set the tone or mood.

   Secrets are like boils. They fester and throb, but until the hard core of truth is released, there is no relief.

   Valery Carter lived every day with that festered, throbbing boil. 
                                                             (The Innkeeper’s Sister, coming May, 2017.)

2. Starting the story in the wrong place

Leave out long descriptions, introspection and the tendency to “work the reader into the story” with too much set-up. Find the powerful moment of change in your character’s life that drives your plot, that gets your main character moving toward her destiny. This is your inciting incident, your kickstarter. As painful as it may be, go back and delete any pages before that moment or event. Sometimes this means cutting the entire first chapter. Trust me, I know this from painful experience. I had to do it in my first three books for Harlequin! Start with the problem your character must deal with NOW.

3. Info dump

This happens when the author needs the reader to know something so she dumps the information into a single paragraph. This not only makes your reader’s eyes roll back in her head, it’s passive voice or the dreaded “telling”. Resist this urge. Instead, dribble this information in naturally through action, bits of internalization or even a little natural dialogue. Notice I said, a little dialogue. Resist the urge to tell your reader through soap opera dialogue. “Harriet, you’ve been working for pennies since your father ran away with the bearded lady in the circus and your mother died. She had a heart attack last winter while feeding the pigs, leaving you, at barely eighteen, and your ten year old brother homeless.” Don’t laugh. I’ve really read passages like that.

5. Pacing problems

Pacing is the speed at which your story progresses. Every book should have moments of speedy action followed by slower passages to let the reader ponder and catch her breath. Some genre, like suspense, are by nature faster paced while others move a little slower. However, today’s reader expects a fairly snappy pace, regardless of genre. An author should learn to control the momentum of her book by taking advantage of pacing tricks. Here are a few:

·         For faster pace, use short sentences, short paragraphs, short chapters.

·         Control the movement of time by summarizing transitions and large blocks of time that are not particularly relevant to your action.

·         Rapid fire dialogue with few, if any, tags.

·         Make readers wait. Drop hints that something important is coming but don’t satisfy their curiosity. They’ll turn pages fast to find out the answer.

·         The ticking time bomb is another way of making the story move at a breathless speed. People read faster when they think the dam is about to burst, the bomb about to go off, or when the hero only has a few days to come up with the money before he loses the ranch.

·         Sometimes you need to slow the pace. During periods of introspection, description, or love scenes draw out the moment of time with longer sentences and paragraphs. Provide more sensory detail. Live the scene moment by moment.

5. Backstory, too much too soon.

This was the number one problem mentioned on my handy author survey. Editors and agents mention it most often too.

Backstory is the sum total of everything that’s ever happened to your main characters before the book opens. Backstory, which provides motivation for the character’s actions, is important to your book--but not on the first page. Preferably not in the first chapter or at least, not much. Remember, backstory takes the reader BACKWARDS and slows the pace. Your opening pages should move forward.

Setting up your story with hints of the past is necessary to ground the reader and give the character life and a reason for us to like her, but keep this set-up very brief and try to weave it into the action. A well-placed hint will give clues to the character’s inner wound, her reasons for behaving as she does. A hint will also raise the readers’ curiosity and compel them to turn pages. Reveal only a few crumbs, holding back the secrets as long as possible.

So there you have them, five problems that crop up frequently, along with some tips for making those opening pages sing. Special thanks to these brilliant authors for sharing their thoughts: Lyn Cote, Laura Iding, Deb Kastner, Lynette Eason, Erica Vetsch, Suzanne Dietz, Mindy Obenhaus.

Now, it’s your turn. What problem areas crop up in your own work or when you’re judging contests? And what tips do you have for avoiding those or any of the above problem areas?

Ruthy here!! I love it when Linda visits. If I had a list of people I'd be honored to sit and spend an afternoon just listening to, she'd be right up there on the list! She amazes me, and her body of award-winning work is so well-deserved. (she may have paid me in cookies to say that!!!)

Linda has graciously offered one U.S. commenter a copy of either "The Memory House" or "The Rain Sparrow", her two beautiful single title books! I brought a clean cat dish, and I'll happily tuck your name into it when you leave a comment today.

And Linda... thank you for being here, for being you and for being the kind of example I show to other authors and say... "This... this is what you should strive for."  :)

Author Linda Goodnight has written more than fifty books and has been published all over the world. 

Her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and the Christian Bestsellers lists, and she has won numerous awards for her writing including the prestigious RITA. A former teacher and nurse, she lives in Oklahoma and now spends her day making up stories. Her latest book is titled, The Rain Sparrow, and is available from Amazon and anywhere else books are sold. Connect with Linda on Facebook and her website: www.lindagoodnight.com

The End is in Sight!

With Award-winning, Best-selling author Linda Goodnight!

The End is in Sight!

Linda Goodnight here, thrilled to be invited back to Seekerville to share some editing tips and other fun things. Hugs, kisses and bows to the fabulous Ruthy for the invitation.

For a month now, you brave, brilliant writers have pounded away on Speedbo full steam ahead, compasses pointed true north. No limits! You are, in short, doing something that the majority of the populous will never do. You’re writing a book.

Pause here for cheers and to ring Mary Connealy’s cowbells and blow those blower things you have leftover from New Year’s Eve. Really. If you’re still writing anything, you’ve earned the high praise.

In celebration of all you’ve accomplished I give you this extra bit of encouragement to keep on keeping on:

What could be more encouraging than a little Superman eye candy? Henry Cavill, aka Superman, was my visual aid for Eli Donovan, the hero of The Memory House, which-ahem-releases today!

I’m actually launching my first women’s fiction novel from HQN here at Seekerville. At this moment, somewhere in the world, a copy of The Memory House is sitting on a shelf, waving its branchy arms, awaiting a reader. So, remember handsome Eli and grab a copy (or leave a comment and win one!) And with my compliments, have a virtual glass of peach tea made my heroine, Julia, at her antebellum bed and breakfast in rural Tennessee.

I’ll even throw in a delicious banana nut muffin for sustenance because, let’s face it, sometimes writing is hard. Lots of times it’s hard, but those times separate the real writers from those who mostly wish they could or those who talk about writing but never do.

The Memory House was not an easy book to write. If I’d quit all the times the writing was hard, I wouldn’t be celebrating today. That’s another key to perseverance. Envision the day your book launches, the day when you hold your book in your hands or see it on the shelves. Visualize. Dream.

Though I have about fifty titles under my belt, I’d never stretched as far as I did with The Memory House. There were days when I sat with my head on my desk and prayed more than I wrote. But I also experienced days of pure joy and creativity and the absolute wonder of seeing the ideas and people in my head come to life.

Isn’t that the best feeling?

So, if Speedbo has brought you to the end of your manuscript, congratulations! Now, it’s time to edit. Don’t groan. Editing is fun because-think about this-the hard work is over! The story is on the page.

To edit, I usually go through the manuscript a minimum of three times, and each pass has a different focus. I also use little sticky flags to mark places that need work. Below are some of my editing strategies. Keep in mind everyone has different techniques so this method is not in concrete. But it works for me.

1.     Print a hard copy and move away from the computer. This tells your brain you’re in editing mode, which is different from writer mode.

2.       Read through the pages paying attention to major developmental items. Does the story make sense from beginning to end? Are the characters believable and realistic? Would they really behave this way? Is the dialogue stilted or silly or out of character? Is there enough white space? Are there too many pages of narrative? Would you want to read this scene/book if it wasn’t yours?

3.   I generally scribble notes at the top of each chapter about the content and whether I think it needs a little or a lot more work.

4.   Flag any areas where your attention drifts. You may need to rewrite, tighten, or cut those passages because if you lose focus, so will your readers. Also pay attention to scenes that feel flat. If so, make a note to check for those all-important five senses, especially crucial in scenes where the emotions are heightened. (If you struggle with this, read Julie Lessman’s books. She does a great job of squeezing in those five senses.)

5.      The second pass is to fix all the things you found on the first pass! Sometimes during this edit, I find places I can deepen and strengthen. I also find where I’ve overused the characters’ names in dialogue or used my demon words too often. We all have them. Figure out which words you overuse (Really? Just? Heart?) and reduce the number of them or grab Rodale’s synonym finder for an alternative.

6.      The third and final edit is for grammar, punctuation, typing errors, and those tiny tweaks you may have missed before. And voila’, you’ve reached the magical, The End!

In honor of your accomplishments this month, I’m giving away a signed, print copy of The Memory House. All you have to do to be entered is to leave a comment!

Now, let’s get this conversation started. Tell me how Speedbo went for you. Was it hard? Did the words flow? Did you carve out the whole week or thirty minutes here and there? Will you keep going?  If you’d rather, share an editing tip or a favorite line from your manuscript. Or just talk to me about anything. I’m a good listener.

NY Times and USA Today Bestseller, Linda Goodnight’s stories have won the RITA, the Carol, the Reviewer’s Choice, and numerous other industry awards. A small town girl, Linda remains close to her roots, making her home in rural Oklahoma. She and her husband have a blended family of eight, including two teenagers recently adopted from Ukraine. Connect with Linda on Facebook, Twitter, or at www.lindagoodnight.com, and look for her new book, The Memory House, available right now!!

Linda’s blog tour continues all week. For details and more chances to win a copy of The Memory House, see the blog schedule posted here. www.lindagoodnight.blogspot.com

Ruthy here: I love Linda, she's such a great example of all that's right in this business and the world that I had to get her over to Seekerville and celebrate the release of her new single title "The Memory House". I can't wait to buy it and read it, and I'm grabbin' hold of a nice, tall glass of peach tea right now!

And Ruthy-cookies, of course! 

Linda Goodnight on Writing for Harlequin Romance

When the old Silhouette Romance line ended, I was invited to ‘move’ over to London and write for Harlequin Romance. Though I also write for Love Inspired out of New York, I jumped at the invitation, and I’m happy I did. Senior editor Kim Young and the team are fantastic to work with. They are fast, professional and encouraging-and what American doesn’t love those delightful British accents!

Harlequin Romance remains the ‘sweet’ or traditional line of less sensual stories, but otherwise the line has “come a long way, baby” from your mama’s books of the ‘70’s. Remember those? The hero treated the heroine like dirt until the last few pages? And the heroine was a wimpy doormat waiting to be saved by a man? Or they hated each other every moment, usually for stupid reasons, but passion overwhelmed and they lived happily ever after? That scenario won’t fly anymore. (Thank goodness!)

Today’s Harlequin Romances are modern and realistic. Heroines have to be strong, sensible, and able to stand on their own two feet. Heroes are successful and strong and decent-no jerks allowed! The pair doesn’t have to like each other at the beginning, but they better have a really good reason.


Here are a few things to remember if you’re interested in writing for Harlequin Romance:


1. Emotion, emotion, emotion, with happy endings, of course. HR is all about falling in love, but we have to make the characters suffer a lot to get that love reward in the end.

2. Character driven, couple focused with emphasis on the heroine, although the hero’s point of view is not only allowed, it is encouraged. Because of the short word count (50K to 55K) think of these plots as linear—start with the heroine and hero and tell their story straight through to the happy ending. There isn’t much room for subplot, although I’ve been known to squeeze in one anyway to create conflict for the couple. My February 2010 book, HER PRINCE’S SECRET SON is crammed with plot so my editors kindly warned me to keep the focus on the main characters while allowing the subplots to swarm around them.

3. Hook heroes remain very popular-cowboys, royalty, sheiks, millionaires.

4. Marriage of convenience, wedding, nanny, secret baby, forced proximity stories are very popular, too. The more hooks you can cram into a book, the better! I’m convinced I sell because I load the books with hooks and say so up front in the synopsis.


5. International appeal-HR is sold all over the world. This is great for my royalties, but because we have readers from Norway to Venezuela, we must write a story with broad appeal. Determining what will appeal to other cultures is the hardest part for me. I’ve learned to focus on those popular hook elements, then trust my gut and write the story of one man, one woman and their issues and developing love.

Best of all, London is always looking for new voices in Harlequin Romance!



Winner of the RITA Award for excellence in inspirational fiction, Linda Goodnight has also won the Booksellers’ Best, ACFW Book of the Year, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times Magazine. Linda has appeared on the Christian bestseller list and her romance novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Active in orphan ministry, this former nurse and teacher enjoys writing fiction that carries a message of hope and light in a sometimes dark world. She and husband Gene live in Oklahoma. Readers may contact her through her website: www.lindagoodnight.com


Today you have the opportunity to win one of two Linda Goodnight books by posting a comment. Winners will be drawn at 8pm MST.



More Harlequin Romance resources:


Harlequin Romance Authors

Harlequin Romance Meet the Editors Podcast

Harlequin Romance Writing Guidelines from eHarlequin