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NOVEL EDITS

July 14, 2014 by in category Archives tagged as , ,
 
I spend more time editing a novel than writing it. Writing is done in a fit of passion, fingers flying furiously over the keyboard as I create heart-palpitating dialogue and brilliant flash-bang action that is never as good as I think it is. It’s sort of like a first date with an absolutely gorgeous human being who is funny and wise and wonderful – only not. What I might have seen in a sultry, shadowy bar after two glasses of wine is not what I face in the light of day. The sooner I acknowledge that, the better.
Editing is the day after the first date. It is addressed with objectivity, reserve, and grave consideration of the future of my novel. Okay, maybe it’s not as grave as assessing a man the morning after a first date but I’m darn serious about it.  It’s taken me years to discipline myself and admit that my writing is never publishable after the first – or even third – go-round.  In fact, it’s so hard to be objective that I made a list of bottom-line, life-and-death edits, so that I wouldn’t be seduced by my own pretty phrase, an arrogant word, or ridiculous scenario.
Here are the 6 edits I can’t live without (and neither should you).
      1)   Same Word Edit: If you use the same word over and over, learn a new one. Words lose their potency just like spices. It is sort of like whining, after a while it’s just another high-pitched sound.
       2)   The Thesaurus Edit: Don’t use big words, vague words, or unusual names. Readers will trip over them, be upset that you are taking them out of the story, and, worse, that you made them feel stupid.  A book is like a float down a river, you never want a reader to run aground.
        3)   The Logical Movement Edit: Move characters from point A to point B with sensible purpose and the story the same way. If you don’t, the reader will be puzzled and spend more time wondering how things happened rather than accepting that they happened.
       4)   Love or Lust Edit: Characters make love if there’s reason to be in love. Be clear about why your characters deserve to be cherished and admired. If they are just in lust, be clear about that too. The two ‘L’ words should never be confused.
        5)   I’m Tired Edit: Readers can tell when an author gets tired. Step away and recharge. Come back at it in full form. 

        6)   The Consistency Edit: A character must stay in character, details build a scene, red herrings need to be revisited and wrapped up. Life in a novel should be tidy at the end even if it’s a marvelous mess of storytelling.
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IT’S NOT PERSONAL, BUT IT SHOULD BE

December 15, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,
This morning I received three emails.
One was from a lady who in Scotland who read one of my books and joined my fan page. She wanted me to know how much she appreciated waking up and finding that I had responded to her messages.
 The second was from a man in Australia who sent me a list of things he liked about Silent Witness. He highlighted sentences that he particularly liked, but at the end of his note he said “thank you for making Hannah so intelligent.”
The third was from the woman who wrote me my first fan letter. We’ve been pen pals for 28 years. Now we communicate on the computer, but every once in a while we still send one another a card, remember birthdays, the holidays and share information on grandchildren (hers since I only have a grand dog).
The point is that what authors do is extremely personal. It begins with our characters. If we don’t feel them in our souls and translate that feeling into words on the page, our books will be enjoyed but not treasured. When we do make that magic happen and a reader reaches out, opening a personal dialogue with them will make a reader into a fan. In some wonderful instances our efforts also create a friend. 
Here are my top five rules of engagement:
1)   Know the personal history and habits of every character in your book and write as if you live and die with them.
2) When a fan writes, write back with more than a thank you. Acknowledge that you appreciate the time they took to write to you. I am always excited when someone takes the time to read my work; that they go the extra step is like having a cheerleader in my corner. I want them to know that.
3) Start a personal dialogue slowly. There are those fans that would like more of your time than others and those who wish to have a more personal relationship than you might be willing to enter into. It is up to you to set the parameters. For the most part, though, these relationships will be casual, fun and fulfilling for both sides.
4) If a reader contacts you about something in your book that touched them, expound on what got you to that place. For instance, Hostile Witness was inspired by a case my husband handled. As a criminal judge, he sentenced a sixteen-year-old boy to life in adult prison. The character, Hannah, and the plot of that book were based on this experience. It is a bit of personal information that is not too intimate but is interesting to readers.
5) Truly enjoy your interaction with readers, other authors and reviewers. Never look at it as a chore.
We are, perhaps, the luckiest people in the world. Despite the fact that our profession is solitary, the result of our labor is a book that reaches hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. When they reach back, that is the hallmark of success. Embrace real life dialogue; it is part of the joy of writing.

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Smart Alec (Syndrome)

October 15, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

Ingrid Bergman/Gaslight

“Are you trying to gaslight me?”
I asked a friend that when she swore I had never delivered the book I promised to loan her.  Instead of laughing, she looked at me like I was speaking another language and in a way I was. My friend had never seen the movie Gaslight in which the dashing Charles Boyer attempts to drive the vulnerable Ingrid Bergman mad by lowering the gaslights and insisting the change in lighting is all in her imagination. The plot is a bit more intricate than that, but the point is that my frame of reference was completely foreign to my friend’s and the joke fell flat.
As authors we often write with abandon when we’re in the zone. We research all sorts of things that we believe will give our work legitimacy. To us this information is perfectly sound and critical to the integrity of our novel; to the reader that same information can be confusing or, worse, interpreted as arrogant.  The last thing an author wants to do is take her reader out of the story. The other last thing an author wants is to have the story suffer because she doesn’t include critical information.
How do you walk the fine line between being a smart author or a smart Alec? Take a deep breath, recognize the pitfalls, and apply your talent to finding new ways to communicate even the most intricate information.
Genres that are most susceptible to the Smart Alec Syndrome include :
  • ·      Procedural (police, medical, legal, etc.)
  • ·      Historical
  • ·      Literary

Symptoms of the Smart Alec Syndrome are the use of:
  • ·      Foreign words and phrases
  • ·      Insider references
  • ·      Acronyms
  • ·      Historical, legal, medical references
  • ·      Rare, anachronistic, and/or exotic words

Cures for SAS (Smart Alec Syndrome) can include but are not limited to:
  • ·      Use opposing dialogue for explanation and definition. This may be accomplished  through agreement, amusement, derision, etc.
  • ·      Use the omniscient voice to explain and explore a concept
  • ·      Find another way to explain the word or references that retains the integrity of your work
  • ·      Choose the vernacular but craft a sentence that reflects the tonal uniqueness of the original choice
     Analyze and adjust your work and you will be a Smart Author not a Smart Alec.

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THE NAKED NOVELIST

September 15, 2012 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , ,

Recently, I spoke at a conference in Massachusetts. My presentation was an hour long.  For the other 47 hours I was there I mentored aspiring novelists. On the flight home, I wondered why I had bonded with so many of these amazingly talented, bright and interesting people in a way I never had at conferences before. It was because we shared something. In this brave new world of publishing, we all came naked to the table.
Obviously, I am not being literal. In some ways, a Lady Godiva moment would be preferable to that of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Sitting down with an agent, editor or published author to bare your creative soul is incredibly daunting. The new writer faces rejection of their vision, their dream, and their talent.
Because I started writing on a dare, because I had not dreamed of being a novelist all my life, I didn’t feel that creative vulnerability early in my career. It was only later, after I had published, after I flexed my writer’s voice, after I had touched someone who read my words, after I had seen books with my name covering a wall in a bookstore, when I saw my book on the USA Today best seller list that I craved what those writers did. It was also then that I was stripped bare in front of agents and editors who seemed to accept me as easily as they dismissed me; who thrilled at my successes and went on to someone else when there was a brighter star on the horizon. Because I was a businesswoman before I was a writer, I understood that publishing was a business, agents and editors had bottom lines and that fate, luck and fashion sometimes separated the bestseller from everyone else. It doesn’t make the journey any easier to understand that.
Still, I could not complain. I was making a living as a writer. I was grateful and happy. Then things changed again. I became an indie author: self-published, creatively naked as a jaybird, down the chute after being up the ladder, back to square one.
No great publishing house lays claim to my work, there is no editor validating my vision, no sales force singing my praises to booksellers who will pile my books in a pyramid on a table. There is, in fact, no book to hold or sign.  There are only the words I have written and saved to a file, a cover made of pixels and the upload to Amazon and Nook and Smashwords.  Now, it’s me and the reader. I am a click away from praise or complaint.  I have come naked to the table and I gotta say it is chilly in the chair.
I hope the writers I spoke with at the conference learned something from me. Here’s what I learned from them:
  • Published or not, we are brothers and sisters under the skin
  • Be courageous and present your work with pride
  • If you are asked for an opinion, give it knowing you have a responsibility to be honest
  • Our passion for the written word will keep us warm
  • Help a writer when you can, good things will return to you

So, a salute to the writers I met in Massachusetts. You were an incredibly creative and courageous group. My wish is that you will all be clothed in publication glory sooner than later.
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What A Dog!

May 15, 2012 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , ,
My grand dog Tucker

Today a lady wrote to tell me she loved my book Hostile Witness* because I hadn’t killed Max. I’ve been traveling a lot in the last three weeks and it took me a minute to figure out who Max was and why it was so important to her that he was alive. Max, of course, is Josie Bates’ dog; Josie is the heroine of the witness series. I was touched by the reader’s concern for the fictional canine.

As an author and a reader I had to ask myself: Why is a book that includes animals richer, more entertaining, and more engaging than one without? The answer was simple: Animals bring out the best and the worst in a human character. This makes for great drama and provides an emotional touch point that is critical for an exciting read.

Max-the-Dog (his legal name) was originally created as a reflection of Josie, his mistress. Both had been abandoned, both had to fight for their lives, both were protective of others. But Max became so much more than Josie’s mirror as the series unfolded.

Here are four ways Max made a difference in the witness series:

HE ENHANCED HUMAN CHARACTERIZATION: Those who attack him were inherently more evil than a bad guy who ignored him. Those who love Max were more admirable because they cared for and protect him.

HE WAS AN ANIMATED SOUNDING BOARD: Internal dialogue can be tedious. Allow a character to speculate to an animal and the rhetorical questions or monologues sound natural.

HIS PRESENCE SET A TONE: A scene tone can be set by the way a human character speaks to or interacts with an animal counterpart. A whispered warning creates a much different tone than a screaming command; a languid pet conjures up different visions than a playful ruffling of fur.

HE HELPED MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD: An animal’s needs can put a human in a place they might not have been in. For instance, in Privileged Witness, Josie took Max out for his evening constitutional and ran into her fugitive client who was hiding outside. Without Max, Josie would have no reason to go outside and never would have discovered her client. An animal’s heightened senses can also assist a human to warn of danger or alert a human to a change in their surroundings.

From The Hound of the Baskervilles to Lassie and Blue Dog, My Friend Flicka and The Black Stallion, The Cheshire Cat and Puss-in-Boots, animals have frolicked as humans, served to reflect human frailties and strengths, and just plain worked their way into reader’s hearts because of who they are.

So, to the kind lady who was concerned about Max, have no fear. He will never come to a violent end. No matter what happens to him, his presence or lack thereof, will be a decision motivated by story and plot and, of course, love, because Max is as real to me as if he sat at my feet while I wrote my stories.

*Hostile Witness is free for all e-readers and is also available in print.

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