The Beauty of Brevity

by Guest blogger Julie Lessman

Hello, Julie Lessman here, and despite the fact that most of my books can be used as doorstops, I do believe the statement above bears some truth. Which is probably why the judge mentioned above did not score me very high on A Passion Most Pure. Sigh. Because the truth is, I’m just one of those 500+page authors who thinks the only definition of “brief” is Hanes underwear. 

But honestly, can I help it if I was at the end of the alphabetical line when God gave out talents, gifting me with verbosity rather than brevity?

Yes, I can. And so can you. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that most of our prose has to be short and succinct because frankly that would be pretty boring, and the majority of us would be out of business. But I am saying that we need to use our words wisely. It’s my contention that every single word we use in a sentence should have a purpose, be it for clarity, description, rhythm, pace, drama, analogy, etc.—or just plain beautiful sound. 

Another judge once told me that if our sentences are too beautifully written, to the point they stop a reader in his or her tracks just to reread it for sheer pleasure, that’s not a good thing. Apparently this judge felt that anything that stops the flow of the novel—including beautiful phrases or sentences—risks pulling the reader out of the story, thereby distracting from the overall pleasure. 

I couldn’t disagree more. 

Yes, I agree you NEVER want to pull a reader out of the story with things like:

—Inaccurate Historical Facts (i.e. I originally had chocolate chip cookies in my WWI-era A Passion Most Pure when they weren’t invented until mid-30s)

—Chalkboard Word Usage (i.e. words that are so wrong, they almost sound like fingernails on a chalkboard, such as one book I read where the author had the heroine “skipping up to her front door” during a tragedy)

—Unfeasible Plot Points (you know, the kind that make you roll your eyes? )

—Unnatural Dialogue

—Incorrect Etymology (i.e. I have read some form of the term “wrap one’s mind/brain around it in at least six historical novels when this is clearly a modern term)

—Trite or Overused Phrasing (i.e. At least half the novels I read have some form of the phrase “his/her smile did not quite reach his/her eyes, including my first book, so now when I see it in any book, I cringe).

—Poor Grammar or Typos (i.e. When I was a travel writer, the biggest typo I ever made was in a travel piece on Kauai in which I praised the island’s beaches with the following sentence: The island of Kauai is famous for its beautiful whores (should have been shores).

—Run-on sentences

—Lack of Clarity

But beautiful prose that captures your heart? Oh, honey, I highlight phrases like this in every book I read, often earmarking those authors as new favorites because of their gift with words. And I’m not alone, either. Check out this article by Jennifer Schafer of BuzzFeed on 51 Of The Most Beautiful Sentences In Literature.

Soooo … I thought it would be fun to list some “beautiful” brief lines from some of my favorite authors including the Seekers, along with the author’s explanation (or mine) as to why they (or I) love their particular line(s). Keep in mind that my definition of “brevity” is a sentence or sentences that accomplish any of the following things in a mere sentence or so, packing more punch into a novel with the least amount of words.

—Inspires

—Educates

—Paints a Picture

—Reveals a Truth

—Is Clever

—Is Humorous

—Is Profound

—Challenges

—Transports the reader

—Steals One’s Breath

—Elicits Emotion

HERE WE GO:

1.) He wept. — The Bible, John 11:35. The shortest verse in the Bible, but surely one of the most potent and powerful in Scripture.

2.) My parents were lace-curtain Irish, righteous as three popes. —Irish Born by Nora Roberts. This is a line that has stayed with me when I used to read secular novels, and the reason is that in nine measly words, Nora Roberts painted an entire heritage for me that spoke volumes in very few words. 

3.) Too tiny for six and too thin for any age, she had long dark hair caught in a single, bedraggled braid and blue eyes awash in fear and wishes. — Texas Tea by Mary Connealy from The Seekers new Historical Novella collection, With This Spark. I love this description by Mary because it paints such a vivid picture of the heroine as a child, plus the slight “sh” alliteration with “blue eyes awash in fear and wishes.”

4.) Though the air carried the scent of mowed grass, spring flowers and fresh-turned dirt, the vile odors that had clung to Max filled her nostrils still, as if he stood at her side, not laid out at her feet. — The Bounty Hunter’s Redemption by Janet Dean, a strong sensory description that Janet says, “tugs at her heart when widow Carly recalls the terrible marriage she’d endured as she stands before her dead husband’s grave.”

5.) I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK TO THAT LIFE. EVER. —Stealing Jake by Pam Hillman, who told me, “I received my copies of Stealing Jake last week and the sentence Tyndale put on the back slapped me upside the head. Seeing those ten words, bam, bam, bam, brought Livy’s struggle back full force. The line isn’t beautiful, but it is powerful.” I agree, Pam!

6.) Drops of rain fell, then paused. The wind increased, and the trees lining the road’s edge rubbed together, whining. — Healing the Lawman’s Heart by Ruth Logan Herne. Ruth likes this line because it’s “all about timing. Gods. Ours. Our ineptitude. Our inability to listen the first time.... when we really should.” I like it because of the word “whining,” soooo audible and visual!!

7.) He stepped into her personal space and she realized that the tantalizing aroma she’d smelled when she first walked into the house was the fragrance of coming home. — No Time for Love from the With This Kiss Contemporary Collection by Tina Radcliffe, who says, “this is from the heroine's point of view as she realizes she has fallen in love with the hero. It succinctly says it all for her.” For me, too, Tina, because “coming home” for each of us often relates to smells.

8.) Hope had never served her well. — The Thorn Bearer by Pepper Basham. I Frankly, I had trouble picking just one of Pepper’s lines because she has a gift for unique phrasing. I chose this one because it’s short and powerful.

9.) He wanted desperately to stay, just a little while longer.  But he couldn't be here, in this place, with her.  It was calm here.  She was innocent and beautiful and perfect. 

         He was not.  He didn't want his mess or his mental illness or his past anywhere near her.  He wanted to protect her from a lot of things, but most of all from himself. — A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade, who says, "These lines are among my favorites from A Love Like Ours because I love romance!  To me, it’s just plain old romantic when a tough, battle-scarred man (like Jake Porter) tries everything in his power not to fall for his heroine.  And can’t help falling for her anyway.  That struggle, that tension, is just so juicy to read!"

10.) And finally, since I’m obviously more familiar with my own favorite lines in my books AND because this is my blog, here’s a few phrases and lines from my books along with why I like them:

— As writers, we are always looking for new ways to say things and bring emotions to the surface in a visual way, so I am especially fond of the following phrases because to me, they are like movie “action” clips that I can actually see, per a prior blog of mine, Keeping It "Reel" ... Or a "Novel" Approach to Putting a Movie in Your Reader's Mind.

 

A Passion Most Pure:

A sick feeling cowered in her stomach.

The oxygen swirled still in her lungs.

Heat roared to his cheeks.

AND here are a few full lines from my books and just why I like them:             
                            

A Passion Redeemed:

He studied the strong line of her jaw, the lush, full lips so ripe for tasting, the graceful curve of her neck plunging toward a body that took his breath away. Friends? Not likely. Okay, for some reason, I love the word “plunging” here because it has a double meaning that applies to the hero as well, who is “plunging” into the waters of attraction against his will.

Dear God in Heaven, he wanted her … but he didn’t want her. I really like the accent-mark effect on the word “her” in this line, which to me, states two different feelings in the hero while using the same word.

His lips were white, his eyes red, and a vein in his temple throbbed a dangerous blue. Not a good color combination. This just makes me smile every time I read it, and if you knew the cantankerous hero, Mitch Dennehy, you’d smile too!

A woman who was a feast to his eyes but a drought to his soul. I am really fond of opposite analogies that describe the same person or thing because it deepens and broadens the description, in my opinion.  

A Heart Revealed:

His statement drifted in her brain, its impact silent, slow, and deep, like a knick she didn’t know she had until she saw the blood on her hand. I absolutely love this line, because as a person who gets a LOT of knife cuts in the kitchen because I don’t feel them, this perfectly describes how my character feels when the hero says something that shocks her to the core.

Why?” he asked quietly, and the word made her flinch, like a sudden shaft of light in a dark cellar where roaches and rats skittered. I hate roaches, and I flinch and freeze if I ever see them when I turn the light on in our basement. It’s an awful feeling, and one that describes my heroine’s reaction perfectly when a terrorizing truth about her is revealed.

A Passion Denied:

Cluny sat ramrod straight on the couch like the garden gnome in the neighbor’s yard, displaying a nervous amount of teeth in a cast-iron grin. To me, a steel grin and spine screams guilt while the idea of a garden gnome also highlights the fact that 14-year-old Cluny is inside on a sunny day, much to the hero’s angst.

Love at Any Cost:

Sweet thunderation—deliver me from pretty men! For me, this line sets up the story in so little words—introducing a Texas heroine who’s been dumped at the altar by a fortune-seeking pretty boy.

Okay, we’re done, and this blog may not be brief, but it IS one of my shortest, so that has to count for something, right??? 

GIVEAWAY:

Now it’s your turn—tell us some of your favorite lines from your own work or from other authors, and I’ll enter you in the drawing for your choice of any of my books, including my upcoming indie novel, Isle of Hope, which releases this fall and is, by the way, my longest book to date. Sigh.

ABOUT JULIE:

In addition to being verbose, Julie Lessman is the award-winning author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart of San Francisco series, was named American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and voted #1 Romance Author of the year in Family Fiction magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards. Julie has garnered 17 RWA and other awards and made Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction. Her latest novel, Surprised by Love, appeared on Family Fiction magazine’s list of Top Ten Novels of 2014. Her indie book A Light in the Window is an International Digital Awards winner, a 2013 Readers' Crown Award winner, and a 2013 Book Buyers Best Award winner. 

You can contact Julie and read excerpts from her books at www.julielessman.com, or through Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, or Pinterest, as well as sign up for her newsletter. Check out Julie’s group blog, The Seekers, Writers Digest 2013, 2014, and 2015 “Best 101 Websites for Writers,” and Julie’s own personal blog, Journal Jots, voted blog of the month in the Readers’ Choice poll of Book Fun 

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Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you enjoyed Julie Lessman's blog I decided to share. Do leave a comment and share on twitter and FB if you liked it.

Elva Cobb Martin

How to Plot a Perfect Scene in 10 Minutes - Guest Post

Below is a guest blog from  Anthony Ehlers, an author and blogger with a strong writing group in Johannesburg.

How To Plot A Perfect Scene In 10 Minutes

Breaking up your scene into bite-size units will make your plotting and writing easier. It will also save you time because you won’t have frustrating rewrites.

Plotting is really a ‘to-do list’ for you as a writer – you need to know what will drive the story forward, what settings you will throw into the mix, what conflict your characters will face, and where the scene will end.

Block out the scene

Say you’re going to write a scene of about 1,000-1,500 words, you’ll probably need 10 plot points to keep you on track. Grab a piece of lined paper. At the top of the page, put your scene summary in a block. For example: Nik, the rock star that VIP bodyguard Jade is protecting, picks up a model at the hotel bar. Jade finds Nik dead in his room the next morning.

Isolate the drama and action

Down the margin of the page, jot down the numbers 1 to 10. Next to each write down the sequence of events – focusing only the parts where ‘something happens’ in one clear and simple sentence – make sure it has an action word. It could look like this:

1. Nik convinces Jade to let him go to Chrome Bar.
2. At bar, Jade has to deal with a nosy journalist.
3. She thinks the bar is too crowded and insists they return to suite.
4. Just then a Kim Kardashian-lookalike model arrives at the bar. Nik offers to buy her a mojito.
5. Nik openly flirts with ‘Kim’ to annoy Jade.
6. Nik whispers to Jade that he and ‘Kim’ are going up to his suite.
7. She follows them up to the penthouse and does a security check.
8. While ‘Kim’ is in the bathroom, Jade checks her purse for any cameras or listening devices.
9. In the adjoining suite, Jade is restless but eventually falls asleep.
10. The next morning, she opens Nik’s door and finds him naked and dead, with a bullet hole in the middle of his head. ‘Kim’ is gone.

Tease out each plot point

Now, all you have to do is take each plot point and write 100-150 words on each and you’ll have your scene written before you know it. This is where you can have fun with character development, dialogue, etc., knowing your ‘story spine’ is in place.

Five tips to keep you on track

1. Always end the scene on a high note or twist if you can. You want the reader to think, ‘What happens next?’
2. Be clear what your character’s goal is in the scene. In this scene it may be: ‘Jade wants to keep Nik safe but can’t protect him from himself.’
3. You can use a single setting or multiple locations, but the plot should be the consistent thread in the scene.
4. Don’t ‘dawdle’ in the scene.  Be careful of going off on tangents. Keep the story moving forward.
5. Put a time limit on your planning so that you’re not tempted to populate it with unnecessary detail.

If you want to learn how to write a book, join our Writers Write course in Johannesburg. 

 by Anthony Ehlers

If you enjoyed this post, read:

• Unhinged — Three Plot Devices You Should Definitely Be Using
• Visual Storytelling – The Silent Ballet
• Three Ways To Start Writing – Without The Fear

Anthony Ehlers is a reluctant blogger. A child of the 70s, he’s a late converter to the (sometimes scary) world of social media. As a creative writing facilitator, he loves sharing ideas around storytelling and the blog post is another way to reach out to fellow writers no matter their stage of the journey. He always encourages delegates with energy, humour and his insights into novels, short stories and scriptwriting. He sometimes lurks on Facebook and flits on to a branch of Twitter  when his Inbox is empty (which isn’t a lot these days).

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Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed this guest blog. Do you have advice to share about writing great scenes?

Elva Cobb Martin

The Wrong Kind of Love - Gays

by Elva Cobb Martin    July 4, 2015

"Oh, say can you see?

On this 239th birthday of our great nation I have decided to write about the recent black day in our American history. And it has to do with love, the wrong kind of love.

June 26, 2015, our United States Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 (it was far from unanimous)that the Fourteenth Amendment to our U.S. Constitution requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognise such marriages performed out of State.

The Fourteenth Amendment was added to our Constitution in July, 1868, as part of the Reconstruction laws after the Civil War to grant freed slaves the rights of all other Americans and rightly so. But how the five Supreme Court judges read anything into this amendment relating to gay marriage or marriage of any kind, I can't imagine. It has to be demonic.

God's Word says homosexual love is the wrong kind of love.

Genesis 1:26-28 describe God's creation of male and female (not two men or two women)and His plan for man and woman and fruitfulness.

In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus reaffirmed God's plan for marriage between a man and a woman:

"Have you not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh?' "

Genesis Chapters 18-19 describe the first Bible record of homosexuality and God's judgment. Here's an excerpt:

"And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now and see . . . Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven; and He overthrew those cities and all the inhabitants." Because of Abraham's intercession, Lot and his two daughters were saved by two angels and helped to escape.

These scriptures not only tell us plainly God's will for marriage and His judgment for homosexuality, they also reveal other important facts:

1) This battle now drawn in America is not our battle, the battle belonging to Christians. It is the Lord's battle. It is against God that this rebellion has come. The same God who has so richly blessed and protected America. The same God who can defend and comfort His people who grieve over this rebellion. And the same God who can marvelously deliver those who desire to be delivered from homosexuality or any other sin by repentance and faith in Christ.

2) Abraham's intercession was vital to delivering and protecting people from God's judgment of this sin.

3) The good news from Sodom and Gomorrah is that God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. Now that's great news for every believer who is standing faithful in our nation.

Here is a prayer I am praying for America:

Father God, we praise and worship you as the one and only True God. We love and honor You, Your Word, and your commandments. We thank you for all your many blessings toward America. We grieve over and completely disagree with the ruling of our US Supreme Court legalizing homosexual marriage in our nation June 26, 2015. We thank you for the four judges who ruled righteously. We reaffirm our full belief in YOUR ETERNAL RULING in  Matthew 19:4-6 (Your plan for marriage), Genesis 1:26-28 (Your creation of male and female and fruitfulness; Genesis18-19 (Your first record of homosexuality and Your judgement), and Romans 1:26-27 (You never changed your mind).

We thank you that you have revealed that this battle is YOURS (I Chronicles 5:19; I Samuel 17:45) so we cry out to You and put our trust in You. It is not Christians that the gay alliance has come up against, it is You, --Elohim, the Creator of heaven and earth and male and female; El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One; Adonai, the completely self-existing One revealed in Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We acknowledge and praise you as Jehovah Nissi. You are our Victory, our banner and Standard. Your banner over us is love. When the enemy shall come in like a flood YOU will raise up a banner against him.

We affirm our love for all people, regardless of their sin, including homosexuals. We reaffirm that any person can come to You in faith, repent (turn totally from their sin) and You will forgive and save to the uttermost and they shall not perish. (John 3:16-21; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 10:8-11) We ask you, Father God, to give a Damascus Road salvation experience to every homosexual and every one endorsing it and those who voted wrong people and the wrong party into office, and for and the five Supreme Court judges who greatly wronged You and our nation,  Reveal yourself to these today and cause those who have been strong advocates for the wrong to become stronger advocates for the right.

We ask your help, strength and supply for all the business people and many Christian employees who must now look for another job rather than align themselves with the gay agenda their employers endorse. Supply their needs abundantly. Give those in this battle a mouth and wisdom no adversary can gainsay nor resist. We affirm we are not battling against flesh and blood, but first of all it is a spiritual warfare. In Jesus name we bind all the ranks in Satan's kingdom: principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual darkness in high places over our cities, states and nation. We bind the homosexual and sex sin spirits running rampant. We loose the Holy Spirit of God, revelation, conviction and repentance. 

Lord, protect our liberty in America as we celebrate our national birthday. Help churches and ministries do whatever they need to do for protection. We thank and praise you for this free nation, birthed by an unheard of hope at that time in history of liberty and religious freedom. Protect our religious freedom, Lord, to continue to practice our faith in wisdom and love.

Lord send a Great Awakening to your Church and our nation. Help me awaken and be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove and the witness I need to be wherever I go, to whomever I meet. Help us know Your will in every situation.

We do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but continue to make our requests known to You and the highest Court and Judge for all eternity. We thank You for Your peace that now garrisons around our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus according to Philippians 4:6-8. We rest under your wings. 
  Amen

How do you feel about the Supreme Court ruling June 26?

Thanks for stopping by. Do leava a comment and feel free to share this blog.

God bless America,
Elva Cobb Martin

Character Sketch of a Pirate Hero

by Elva Cobb Martin

Portrait of Pirate Hero Captain Lucas "Bloodstone" Barrett

This is actually Scottish actor Gerard Butler in his role as Attila. 

                Character Sketch

Career: Buccaneer captain/privateer/pirate and new Christian, educated by tutor father

Description models: Gerard Butler, Errol Flynn, Robert Taylor, Johnny Depp

Age: 25

Height/hair/coloring: 6' 4" tall,  long dark hair often in plaits; tanned
    by long days in the tropical sun on deck of his ship, the Blue Heron.

Build: lithe, muscular

Eyes: startling green that shoot sparks when angry (like the bloodstone   gem from which he got his nickname)

Strengths: leadership skills, master of the sea and sailing ships, physical prowess, swordsmanship, takes up for underdog, hates slavery, hard worker, determined to live our his new found Christian faith.

Weaknesses: inability to forgive master of his indentured parents and what happened to them, and wanting to wreck revenge on Spain for the Inquisition and his parent's capture.

History: Lucas was born in England of a noble mother who married a tutor and was then disowned by her wealthy family. The family came to Charles Town as indentured servants when Lucas was 10. Their papers were bought by Sir Roger Poole, Sr., who mistreated them. The parents were captured by the Spanish while being sent on a ship to the Poole's sugar plantation in Jamaica. Lucas ran away and joined the British navy and gained much knowledge about sailing and leading men. As the story opens, he has his own merchant ship which he also uses for privateering when it suits him. He has recently been led to the Lord by Rev. Ethan Wentworth and his wife Hannah when they begged passage on his ship from England to Charles Town.

Spiritual
As a new Christian Lucas has battles to fight with his old nature and with forgiveness to those who have wronged him or his parents. He is respected by most of his crew. He will find his faith greatly tested as the story progresses.

Do you have other traits to add to a hero's character sketch? Next time we may take a look at a villain's character sketch.

Thanks for stopping by. Do leave a comment and I hope you'll  share the blog on Twitter and FB, if you liked it.

Elva Cobb Martin

Detailed Character Sketch for Travay Allston

by Elva Cobb Martin @elvacobbmartin

If you read my previous blog, you will know that last week I sent in my requested full manuscript, In a Pirate's Debt, to a publishing house. Today I want to begin sharing how I prepared to write this inspirational historical novel. It finished out at 74,000 words.

In preparation to plot In a Pirate's Debt, I wrote out a detailed character sketch of my heroine and hero. Here is the sketch I completed for my heroine, Travay Allston, age 17.

First, I found a photo I liked. It's a lot easier to fill in characteristics while looking at a photo. I found this on the internet, I think for hair color ads, and I don't actually know the model's name.

Travay Allston, heroine, In a Pirate's Debt

Character Sketch

Physical and Emotional Attributes: 

Golden auburn hair, blue eyes, full lips, flawless ivory complexion, feminine, a smile that lights up a room.
Medium height - five foot seven inches, slender but well endowed (Olivia de Havilland, Maureen O'Hara)
Age: 17
Educated, able horsewoman, can do needlework, knows how to run a large house.
Fiery, proud, independent spirit, quick temper, quick to judge and jump to conclusions but also has determination, courage, and tenacity.

History

Born In Charles Town on a rice plantation to wealthy parents, Travay takes riches and position for granted and is proud. Governesses and her mother taught her how to be an accomplished, aristocratic young woman. A boy from the Poole's neighboring plantation, Lucas Barrett, the son of indentured parents, was her frequent childhood play mate whom she often got into trouble. He later ran away to sea. When she was 10 her planter father was killed by pirates coming back from a trip to England. When Travay was 12 her mother remarried a deceitful charmer and gambler, Karston Reed. He lost the Charles Town rice plantation in a game and moved Travea and her mother to their sugar plantation in Jamaica. He is cruel, heartless and greedy and Travay's mother dies an early death when Travay is 17. Her stepfather loses the sugar plantation and Travay's hand in marriage to Sir Roger Poole. The story opens with the scene of Travay running away to escape this terrible fate. 

Spiritual:
As a result of the bad things that have happened in her life, Travay has lost most of her mother's Anglican faith. She thinks she can go it alone without God (but God is waiting for her to turn to Him). 

Negative Traits: 
Travay is quick to judge and jump to conclusions. She extends little mercy to anyone, especially a confessed pirate who tries to make excuses for his pirating by calling himself a privateer. Through the course of the story, she discovers her own need of mercy and how to extend it lovingly to others.

Values: 
Travay values a good name, wealth, heritage,compassion and determination.

Goal: to escape a forced marriage and win the love of a good man, find security and regain her lost estates.

Epiphany (a sudden intuitive leap of understanding). 
Travay will come to see her pride and spoiled attitude as wrong and become humbled by her love for Lucas, whom she rediscovers as the pirate Captain Lucas Bloodstone Barrett. During the crisis of his arrest and sentencing to hang, Travay comes to a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. She determines to save Lucas from the hangman's noose, no matter what it costs her, and repay a debt she owes him for his earlier rescues.

Do you have other ideas to add to a character sketch? Next time we will look at my hero's character sketch, Captain Lucas Bloodstone Barrett.

Thanks for stopping by! Do leave a comment and share the blog, if you enjoyed it, on Twitter and FB.

Elva Cobb Martin

Before You Hit the Send Button to an Editor

by Elva Cobb Martin @elvacobbmartin 

At the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers' Conference in May I received a request for a full manuscript after pitching my inspirational historical romance, In a Pirate's Debt, to an editor.

I am so glad I had the forethought to tell her that I'd have it to her by June 5 instead of immediately. I wanted to troll back through it ONE more time. Actually, I've just gone through it two more times. I feel like I've backstroked across the Caribbean!

Here are some things I looked at carefully, besides misspelled words, grammar and punctuation:

1) The first and last pages - for hook and HEA ending with hint of Book 2

2) Deep POV: I didn't want to use she "heard, thought         wondered, felt" (Just  give the thing heard, thought, felt)
      Ex. She heard the boy call him Captain.
            The boy called him Captain.
      Ex. She wondered who he really was.
            Who was Captain Lucas Bloodstone Barrett?

3) Ellipses: space-dot-space-dot-space-dot-space (four spaces,         3 dots) And do not use many ellipses!
       "But . . . Arundel!"
       "Are you hurt? Did he . . .?" 

4) Keep all dialog, action, action beats, thoughts of each character in the same paragraph unless interrupted by other speaker.

5) Avoid ing verb forms and over use of prepositional phrases.
    Ex. He must pursue his goal of finding out about his mother.
     He must pursue his goal. He would find out what happened.

6) Use contractions in dialog and thoughts to make them flow.

7) Watch for POV slips.

8) Watch for telling!

9) NOTE: To use Find and Replace to change the spelling of a name throughout the ms, be sure to put a space before and after both words in the Find slot and the Replace slot. Otherwise, words with the same letters will be skewed up. Example: I had to change Captain Ned Lowe to "Low." I did not put the spaces in and all the words in my ms with "low" in them (slowed, followed) got messed up.Whew. ( :

10) Last, I did an msword spelling and grammar check and it caught some things I had missed in spite of everything. ( :

Finally, I hit the send button and knew how baby Moses' mother felt when she sent him off in that basket.

Do you have some other items you always check when editing your novel?  Please leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Elva Cobb Martin

Blue Ridge Writing Conference

by Elva Cobb Martin

Today I am heading to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers' Conference at Ridgecrest N.C. From the line up it looks like Alton Gansky and Edie Melson have done an excellent job bringing together the 2015 conference. Thanks, Alton and Edie! I am praying for you today and all the talented faculty who are probably stashing great handouts, breath mints and water bottles in their carry alls along about now. (:

Yes, it's an expenditure to go to this we have to plan for, but hopefully, it will bring forth some blessings. How about an agent contract? And every editor I am pitching to gushing over my package and asking for more? This expenditure also, I hope, confirms how serious I am about my writing. It takes a huge investment of time and some money to write successfully, I am finding out.

If you are not going to the conference, all is not lost. Their web site has a ton of great articles from the speakers to bless you and help lift you to the next level.

This year I have really put Edie Melson's "Notebook" idea into practice. I will carry this notebook in my tote bag everywhere I go. It's a 2-inch binder with sections for "pitch packages" for each of my three books that I will hand to agents and editors. There is a response sheet for my notes for each agent and editor I am pitching to as well as a list of the classes they are teaching stapled behind that. My pitch "package" is actually three sheets stapled together:

1)  A Cover Sheet giving fast pertinent info about the book (title, genre, completed word count), my social media addresses and home address, phone number, email, etc. and a 100-word bio and photo below that.  

2) The FIRST PAGE of my novel (don't they really just want to know if you can WRITE?)

3)  A One Sheet with pitch, back cover copy, brief synopsis, marketing ideas, endorser possibilities, market comparisons and my contact info,photo and one photo related to the novel. Boy, my One Sheets are stacked!

If you are coming, I hope to see you at the conference. If not, keep tuned to my blog. I will be sharing the highlights of what happened.

If you would like copies of my cover sheets and One Sheet. Send me an email at elvacmartin@gmail.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! Do leave a comment and tweet this if you think it will help others.

Elva Cobb Martin