TipfulTuesday: The Hidden Promise In Our Stories

I confess. I am one of "those" shoppers who walk through a bookstore, glancing at covers and titles, seeking one to pick up and peruse.

The huge Barnes and Nobel in my mall put up a new display for "new releases". I glanced through the forty books beautifully shelved. Sadly only one cover caught my attention. I walked on to the next display.

My point today will not be that a great cover sells. Although it sure helps.

My point also is not the title, back cover, and/or the first page enhances sales...although they seem to.

The key to a fabulous book is this: If a reader is enticed to buy a book, then takes it home and snuggles up in their comfy living room chair, opens the cover and doesn't read the whole story in her normal time, she will set down the book with the fabulous cover, amazing title, enticing back cover, and intriguing first page and most likely not pick it up again.

One writing instructor (sorry can't remember which one of the many I've heard) said:

We the writers make a contract with the reader, 

promising a story that will follow a course so compelling

she has to turn every page until the last.

This year, let's focus on ... not so much fixing a sagging middle, although this too is important--

But a growing overarching story that, like blowing up a balloon, expands, becoming with each word. Becoming what? Why the next recommended book by very appreciative readers.

For this reason, I chose today's photo. Colorful, cheery, glass-blown balloons floating in a Venetian store.

Some pitfalls to watch for:

1. While your MC should have a problem that gives the story purpose, she must be likable. Think Cinderella. We love her and feel for her plight from the beginning. Had the stepmother been the MC we probably would have put the book down.

2. When adding backstory, be careful not to repeat. Even when sprinkling in this essential information, as we are taught to do, readers will remember what was said before.

3. Shake up the beats. Lordy, lordy, do people really cry so much? Smile so much? Laugh so much? Instead, use setting, sounds, nature, anything that "is" to shake up those beats. Expand this essential storytelling time to bring meaning to the scene. Help readers see.

Let's aim for stories that "Become" until the last page.

~Mary Vee
Photo by Mary Vee

Link to Mary's books: https://amzn.to/2Fq4Jbm

Christmas is Mary Vee's favorite holiday. She loves to travel to places like New York City and Paris. Mary has been a finalist in several writing contests and writes for her king.  

Visit Mary at her Website, Blog, and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

What is Your Novel Missing? Strong Verbs, Unique Words

For my last several posts, we've been discussing what your novel could be missing based on, well, what I notice my novel is missing. If you didn't catch the previous posts, check out Senses, Deep POV, and Hooks. Today it's all about those strong verbs and unique words - or more simply, getting rid of repetitive words.

I'm learning and growing, which is always going to be happening as a writer and that's a good thing. But I still notice these aspects of my writing need help.

Strong Verbs

He walked into the store, footsteps sounding on the tile as he made his way to the counter.

OR

He ambled into the store, shoes slapping against tile on his way to the counter.

"See if you can do any better," Maggie said with a smile. She gave the pencil to her brother.

OR

"See if you can do any better." Maggie arched a brow and nudged the pencil to her brother.

The second example on both uses stronger verbs that give the reader a better visual and a better idea of the character. It's a good goal to aim for upon edits. Strengthen sentences with strong verbs to give a better or clearer picture, AND use words sparingly to make the sentence more powerful and concise.

Not every single verb has to be one of a kind, but adding them in here and there to capture the reader is good.

Patty threw the ball to James just as he turned, and it hit him on the shoulder.

Patty hurtled the ball at James as he turned, pelting him on the shoulder.

See? Better visual and I took out an unnecessary word.

Again, you don't have to go overboard with synonyms and inundate your novel with as many creative verbs as possible, but find those places where you can give your sentence a punch with a stronger verb.

Some verbs we commonly use that could be made stronger are was, walked, talked, saw, heard. Also, watch for those adverbs - words ending in ly.

Unique Words/Repetitive Words

I am a big offender with repetitive words. My characters smile every few paragraphs and lift their eyebrows nearly as much. The simple fix for this is a search and find. But it's also knowing what to look for. Sometimes I'm not aware how many times I've put a certain word until a critique partner points it out. So I've compiled a list of words that show up a lot or should be used sparingly or not at all.

Use sparingly

Like, was, just, heard, saw, felt

Watch for overuse

Glimpse, gaze, eyes (or rolling eyes), lips, shrug, grin (smile, dimples appeared, lips lifted, lips quirked, curved, or curled), smile, chuckle, tip, tilt, lift, turn, eyebrows or brows, rose/rise, walk, breath, nod, gave, look, see, hear

It's a good idea to find your overused words and compile them in a file so you know what to check for when you do your edits.

Two other common offenders?

That and Then

Shelly saw that Frank had lost most of his hair.

Sometimes using "that" is fine, but most of the time it's unnecessary. Read the sentence aloud to see if it sounds the same without using "that". It can also help keep word count down if you use it a lot.

Shelly stepped over a branch that had fallen from the tree. (in this case, it's okay!)

Here's an example using "then"

Monica brushed her hair and then left the room.

Again, using "then" on occasion is fine, just watch for overuse.

These are the ones I notice the most, especially in my writing. If you can find these and try to use more unique ways of saying what you want to say, there won't be as much repetition.

How about you? Do you have words you overuse and how do you go about getting rid of repetitive words?

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.blogspot.com

Self-Editing Checklist: Repetition

Do you ever find yourself repeating the same things over and over? Do you ever find yourself repeating... Okay, I'll stop.

All writers have repetition in their manuscripts. They're like little tics that keep jerking our fingers to the same spots on the keyboard. In the first draft, it's okay...We're just dumping the story out of our heads. But self-editing is the time to kill those tics and toss them in the trash bin.

Point #9 in my self-editing checklist is Repetition. (To see Points 1-8, click here.) There are three main traps to watch out for.

1) Chapters or scenes that accomplish the same purpose. Each scene should advance the plot, moving it forward and heightening the stakes. If you have two scenes that take place in the same location, they'd better be unique in the plot development to give the reader a sense that something is different.

2) Stylistic effects. Do you have a metaphor or simile in every sentence? Or in two sentences close together? Even if they're the most brilliant material you've come up with in your writing career, you need to cut one of them. Otherwise, they lose their effect.

Or how about this one...Your. Characters. Speak. Each. Word. As. If. They're. About. To. Die. In. Every. Scene. This technique can be effective in short snippets, but if you use it more than once or twice in a manuscript (personal opinion...not a hard-and-fast rule), you run the risk of making your reader throw the book across the room.

3) Word repeats. We all have pet words, and the more unique they are, the more they stand out. I never realized I had an addiction to the word "tingly" until my characters got the tingles in almost every scene. It made me want to rub anti-itch cream all over my skin. Your pet word will be different. But you won't catch it until you look for it.

There are some online tools that can tell you how many times a word is used in a particular section of text. Here's a link to Agent Steve Laube's blog where he talks about one such tool. Per his comments, it's not useful for an entire manuscript, but it can be used for shorter sections.

Ultimately, though, the best way to catch all these forms of repetition is to read the manuscript yourself. Then highlight the words or effects you see repeated.

Your homework for the next two weeks, should you choose to accept it: Analyze your overall scene list and watch for scenes that accomplish the same purpose. Look for repeat words and use the Find feature in Word to hunt them down and change them.

Do you have any pet phrases or words you use in your writing? What about stylistic effects? What are some tools you use to find them?

* Trash bin photo by winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
** Frustration photo by Graur Razvan Ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net