Writer Wednesday: First Person or Third?

If you've read any of my books, you know I love first person POV. It doesn't matter if it's first person dual POV or if only one MC is telling the story. I like to be inside the head of the main character(s), experiencing everything while they do. I don't read very many books written in third person because I feel like the perspective distances me from the characters and story. Until...

Recently, I decided to rewrite one of my Ashelyn Drake books in third person. Why? Well, it's going to be in a boxed set with a bunch of other authors. Oh, did I not mention that before? ;) More news to come when I can say more. For now, I'll just say that I was encouraged to alter the POV of the story for a few reasons. At first, I panicked. I may have ranted and raved for a day. Then I sat down and got to it, and you know what? Close third person dual POV reads a lot like first person dual POV. With this particular book, I realized I liked third person better. I couldn't have been more shocked, but it seemed to suit the story. Now this doesn't mean I'll be writing in third person from now on. No way. My plan is try a book out in both and see what works better. Just like with anything else, I think you have to find what works for each individual book.

Which do you prefer as a writer, first person or third? Do you find the same is true for when you are playing the part of the reader?

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: A Tip For Tenses

Today's topic comes from Lidy, who asked:

"The trouble comes with which tense to use. Simple past or past progressive? But then I end up mixing and switching tenses. Is there a trick or tip to keep your tenses straight/consistent?"

First, for anyone not familiar with the term past progressive, let me explain it. Past progressive can indicate a continuing action or an action that was interrupted or happening when something else occurred. You write this tense by using a form of "to be" and a verb ending in -ing. Here are some examples with the past progressive in italics:

Continuing action:

Tom was being a bad friend.

I was writing all afternoon.

Interrupted/happening when something else occurred:

I was sleeping when my dog suddenly started to bark.

I was leaving the house when the phone rang.

Okay, so here's my advice. Avoid "to be" (helping verbs) at all costs. This is something I learned when I took writing courses. "To be" (in all its forms: is, am, was, were, are) is a sign of weak writing. Let me rewrite the examples above to remove the use of "to be" verbs.

Tom's actions made him a bad friend.

I drafted my book all afternoon.

As I walked out the front door, the phone rang.

My dog's loud bark woke me from a deep sleep.

Now I could've constructed better sentences, but this is just to give you an idea of how to do this so I kept my examples simple. Basically, avoiding "to be" will result in stronger sentences. However, if you are mixing past and past progressive, don't assume you're incorrect in doing so. There is a time and place for past progressive. The real question is, do you want to use past progressive when "to be" verbs are stereotyped as weak writing and can be avoided?

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: Description in First Person POV

Today's topic comes curtesy of Fiona Phillips, who asked:

"In your opinion, does writing from first person perspective limit the amount of description you can use (of surroundings, characters, etc.)?"

First, that's a great question, so thank you for posing it, Fi. If you're comparing first person to third person, then the answer is yes. Unless you have a main character who is extremely perceptive, you're not going to get the same level of description in first person as you would in third person. However, that doesn't mean you can't have a good level of description in first person POV. It just means you have to tackle it in a different way. 

In third person POV, you can easily set the scene, describing as much as you want. But with first person POV, you have to make sure the description is coming across in a more natural way. If the character is entering a scene that's unfamiliar to him/her, it's natural to take in the scene, thus describing it for the reader. However, a character wouldn't naturally walk into the house they've lived in for the past ten years and comment on all the details of the layout. What you would need to do is describe that layout in terms of where the MC is and what the MC is doing. The MC might toss his/her keys on the mahogany table against the wall as he/she walks in the front door. He/she might trip over the runner in the hallway on his/her way to the living room, where he/she flops down on the brown, leather couch and puts his/her feet up on the glass coffee table. See what I did there? I'm giving details to describe the scene as it pertains to the MC.

So, yes, you can have that description, but you need to tie it to the MC and present it as it makes sense. It's different from third person POV, but it can be done. I hope that answers your question, Fi!

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: The Line Between MG and YA

Today's topic comes from Sheena-Kay, who asked how to keep the line between your MG and YA works separate, especially when it comes to knowing to what extent you can go with MG vs. YA.

Okay, so we all know the age difference for MG vs. YA. YA is targeted at teens and the characters tend to be fifteen to eighteen. MG is targeted at the nine to twelve age group with the characters typically around the age of eleven to fourteen. (Keep in mind there are exceptions to every rule, but this is a good rule of thumb to go by.) Voice and content are the other two big distinctions.

One of the biggest differences I see is that middle grade is typically more hopeful with happy endings while young adult tends to have a lot of angst. While it's true that many middle grade readers might be cursing and doing things we ourselves didn't do at that age, you don't typically see that in MG books. The stories focus more on the adventures and the character's immediate surroundings—their relationships with family and friends. YA is more about finding your place in the world. There's a lot more self-reflection by the characters, and profanity and even sex can have a place in the story.

I like to think of middle grade as more innocent. A time when you believe the world consists of you, your friends, and your family. YA, on the other hand, is more realistic. You know there's this big world out there and you are struggling to fit into it.

Sheena-Kay, I hope that answers your question. If anyone has any tips for distinguishing between MG and YA, please feel free to leave them in the comments.  

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: So You Think You Can Edit?

Yeah, I'm cringing at that post title too. ;) You all know I like to amuse myself though, and that's what my brain concocted for the question submitted for today's Writer Wednesday. What is that question? Check it out:

"How does someone go about becoming an editor and how you know how good you are at editing?"

Okay, well answers for this are going to vary, so let me share my journey. First, I went to college to become an English teacher, which is exactly what I was for seven years before switching careers. So, I have a degree in English. While I loved literature, some of my favorite classes were actually grammar courses. Call me crazy but I love grammar rules. Yes, I'm the girl who corrects people's grammar on a regular basis. No, I'm not sorry about it. I love grammar.

From teaching, I moved into proofreading (for a school district actually). That's when I discovered I love to edit. So I set up a page on my website to offer my services, and then I blogged about it with a very special offer. I'd edit up to 10 pages for free so people could try me out. I offered that for one month, and I picked up my first clients. Luckily for me, they were happy with my work and I still work with many of them today, years later.

Once I'd been editing for a while, I started working for several small presses, which looked good on my resume and landed me more freelance clients. That pretty much brings us to today, where I'm in the fortunate situation to have a healthy list of regular clients. I'm busier than ever and even have to turn people away at times because I tend to book months in advance.

As far as how to know how good you are at editing, your clients will tell you. Repeats are happy customers. I can say that in order to be a good editor, you must live on Merriam-Webster and Chicago Manual of Style. I check everything against those sites.

That's my journey. A love of the English language, a degree, some free trials, and now more editing jobs than I could ever fulfill. :) 

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: Didn't You Just Say That?

April has been a crazy month for me with more edits than I've ever had in a single month. It also made me notice a trend. Writers tend to repeat themselves.

I found myself using the delete key quite often and commenting that something had already been stated, usually in the same paragraph or on the same page. As writers, we don't want to do this because it's insulting to the reader. Readers are smart. They'll remember things and even pick up on things the writer might not have realized. Trust me. I taught 8th grade language arts and saw it happen all the time.

Another error that goes in the same category is saying something in the narration that gets repeated in the dialogue that follows it. When this happens, it's usually is a case of Tell then Show. Just show. Let the dialogue speak for itself and use your narration for better things, like setting the scene or witty internal thoughts. 

So without repeating myself—See what I did there? ;) —trust your readers to be intelligent enough to remember what you've already told them. 

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: NaNoWriMo Tips

Even though I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, I do love to fast draft so I figured I'd share some tips for anyone who needs a little push to get over that middle slump that sometimes creeps up when we're drafting.

• Keep momentum  I'm going to start with this one because we all know that the excitement of NaNo drives you in the beginning, but it's tough to keep that excitement up mid-month. The key is to keep going. Don't slack on those word count goals. Keep up the pace you've been maintaining.
• Don't be afraid to jump around  If you get stuck on a scene, skip it and go back to it later. Keep pushing ahead. Sometimes when the middle starts to get to me, I jump ahead to the climax because it's exciting and fast paced. That gets me into the groove again and keeps the words flowing.
• Set small goals  Daily word count goals can sometimes be overwhelming. Break them up into what you want to write in a twenty-minute span. Setting short goals, means you'll feel a sense of accomplishment sooner, and that can motivate you to keep going and write more.
• Reward yourself  You know that cookie you're dying to eat. How about after you reach 1,000 words? Give yourself a reason to want to get those words down and then reward yourself for a job well done.
• Share your goals and progress  When I ran competitively, one of the things I did before a race was tell everyone what time I wanted to run. If they knew my target time, I'd feel accountable because I knew they'd ask me if I met it. Tell people your goals and then check in with your progress. Don't let writing be a solitary experience.
• Feed off the energy of others and inspire others just the same  Feeling like you're in a slump? Don't post about that. Encourage others to keep going and let them do the same for you. Think positively. Cheering on others just may spark some creativity in yourself.

Good luck NaNoWriMo participants! You can do this. Keep those fingers flying across the keys.

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

Writer Wednesday: Do Editors Google Authors?

Today's topic comes courtesy of Miss Leandra Wallace. Leandra wants to know if editors check out an author's site if they are interested in their work.

Why, yes. Yes, we do. :) If I really love a submission, I definitely get curious about the author. So I look them up. What am I looking for? Well, I want to see that you are active on social media. That could mean a lot of things though. Some authors like to have websites that include any books published, a bio, and little more. Some are all over social media: Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, you name it. Others just blog and leave it at that. Basically what I'm looking for is that you are willing to interact with readers and you have a place for readers to find you and contact you.

So don't feel you need to join every social media site out there. Actually, don't. I'd rather see a writer join a few and be interactive than be on a ton of sites and never post. So choose what works for you and do that well.

Now if I can't find an author, this would prompt me to ask him/her about his/her online presence. It doesn't mean a definite pass on a manuscript, but I'd need to know that the author is willing to build an online platform—and well before the book's potential release date.

*If you have a topic you'd like me to cover in a Writer Wednesday post, feel free to leave it in the comments.*

Writer Wednesday: Merriam-Webster and Chicago Manual of Style Are Your Friends

If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you'll remember that last month I mentioned being mindful of different spellings of words depending on how they are being used. Yes, I'm talking about the same word being spelled differently if it's used as a noun, verb, adjective, etc. Crazy, right? That's the English language for you. ;)

Grammar geeks like me thrive on this stuff, but the typical writer does not. My suggestion is to make Merriam-Webster and Chicago Manual of Style your best friends. I always have a tab open to Merriam-Webster to make sure I'm using the proper spelling for words. I also refer to Chicago manual of Style's hyphenation table quite frequently. As an editor, I have to do this because I don't want errors in my clients' books. But all authors should do this. Here's an example of what I mean:

speed dial — This is the noun form. I hit four on my speed dial.

speed-dial — This is the verb form. I speed-dial Trish.

Spell check (Ugh, don't get me started on spell check!) won't catch these mistakes. (Spell check is stupid. It often suggests changes that are incorrect! Oops, there I go again.)

So, if you're unsure of a word—whether to hyphenate it, write it as one word, or write it as two—check Merriam-Webster and Chicago Manual of Style. (Seriously, bookmark both of those pages!) Your editor will love you for it. ;)

Writer Wednesday: Time Management Tricks and Tips for Summer

June is an editing month for me. I have four client edits scheduled. Yes, I'm a crazy woman. On top of that I have critiquing for Rate Your Story and editing for Leap Books. I also know I'm getting edits on my 2016 title with Spencer Hill Press, Fading Into the Shadows soon. So how do I fit it all in, especially when Thursday is my daughter's last day of school before she's home with me for the summer?

I thought I'd share some of my tips and tricks for making extra time in the day. Here's a few ways I try to carve out extra writing and/or editing time:

• Get Up Early  There's so much to be said for being the only one awake. It's quiet and there are no distractions.
• Even Ten Stolen Minutes Can Be Devoted to Working  If my daughter decides to play on the iPad for ten minutes, I get my laptop and get as much done as I can in that time. Ten minutes might not seem worth it, but trust me, if you take ten minutes here and there, it adds up.
• Work During Commercials  At night, I like to watch TV before bed, because I'm usually busy working all day. So I kick my feet up and relax. But…I hate commercials. So, I bring my laptop to the couch and I work during commercial breaks.
• Work Outside  My daughter loves to be outside, but the second the neighbors come out, I'm old news. She ditches me to play with them. I bring my laptop on my deck so I can keep an eye on her and get my work done.
• Only Use Social Media for a Few Minutes at a Time and Only on My Phone  We all know that social media is part of what we do. You can't avoid it if you want to build a platform. But…you can make sure you limit your time on it. I use my phone with the speech to text feature, which is quicker than typing responses on blog posts. I can also steal time, like when my daughter is showering, to post to FB and Twitter, which I have linked so posting to one posts to the other. It's a definite time saver.
• Designate Daily Work Time  I told my daughter that right after we have breakfast, I need to work in my office for about two hours. That will be her time to play in her room, either with her Monster High dolls or on her laptop. Designating specific time like this establishes a routine for my entire household, which helps me a lot.

Do you have tricks for carving out more time in your day when summer rolls around?

Friday Feature: Prodigal/Raven Blog Tour

Please welcome Tyler Jolley and Sherry Ficklin to the blog today! Tyler and Sherry are amazing people as well as amazing writers, and they have a video for you all today. But first, check out their books.

Two journeys. One inescapable outcome. No time to lose.

What should be a routine mission leaves Ethan with a serious problem. He's fractured—a break between mind and body that leaves him at the mercy of his Rifter abilities, which are quickly tearing him apart. He will have to trust the only person who might know how to fix him, a mysterious Rifter named Stewart Stills, who seems to have a special connection with the time stream.

Forced to face his dark past and a decision he may never forgive himself for, he will be trained unlike any of the others, to become a true guardian for time. If he accepts, it will mean leaving everyone he loves behind. If he refuses, time itself could unravel. After a glimpse of the dark future awaiting them all, he will have to choose between destiny and desire. Will he rise up and take his place as a defender of the natural order, or will he watch as all of time burns at the hands of the girl he loves?

Welcome to the time war.

Stein has been with the Hollows for as long as she can remember. Taken as a child, she has no memories of her past—and that's always been fine by her. Until the day she stumbles across a hidden journal containing the devastating truth about her paternity. Now everything she thought she knew—and everyone she thought she could trust—has changed. The truth about who she is and where she came from is a secret so deep, it will rock the Hollows and the Tesla Institute alike.

During a test to verify her bloodlines, Stein makes a terrible discovery. She is carrying a rare genetic mutation that is slowly killing her. Unsure who to turn to and running out of time, she has no choice but to turn to Tesla—her most hated enemy—for help. But can she trust the man who she's been fighting against her whole life, or will she end up another piece in his deadly game of cat and mouse with the people who betrayed her so long ago?

Tyler H. Jolley is a sci-fi/fantasy author and full-time orthodontist, periodontist (see: Overachiever). He divides his spare time between writing, reading, mountain biking, and camping with his family.

Sherry D. Ficklin is a full-time writer and internet radio show host with more mouth then good sense. She has a serious book addiction, but continually refuses treatment, much to her husband’s chagrin.

Tyler and Sherry met one fateful day and bonded over their love for books, science fiction, and donuts. Their first co-written novel came shortly after. Now, they still do all those other things, but also go to various steampunk conventions and events under the guise of ‘research’. They can often be found lurking on the Lost Imperials Facebook page or over on the official website, www.thelostimperials.com.

Preorder link US amazon: http://amzn.to/1GSqTfq & http://amzn.to/19Pp05Q

Preorder link UK amazon: http://amzn.to/1NHblLu & http://amzn.to/1yKmfJs

Preorder link B&N exclusive FLIPBOOK: http://bit.ly/1ICxcCI

Tyler and Sherry have some GREAT tips for you about what to bring to writing conferences. Seriously, this is a great list. Check it out:

Thanks Tyler and Sherry! For those of you who have attended conferences, is there anything you'd add to Tyler and Sherry's list?

Want your YA, NA, or MG book featured on my blog? Contact me here and we'll set it up.