3T Writing Tidbit

Create tension and pump up emotion by giving the heroine's feelings as she approaches a scene.

Flash example.

Before:

I flung open the door and confronted him.

After:

My heart pounded as I stood outside the door, my mouth dry as cotton balls. He wasn't going to like this at all, but duty drove me. I had to do this. I flung open the door and confronted him.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

Top 10 Posts Countdown #8

Writer's cave hiatus--finishing Assassins Bite among other things. Enjoy the top 10 posts from my blog in the meantime :)

#8 Strong Women and the Men it Takes to Handle Them--Guest Cathryn Cade

I usually (okay, always) write alpha heroes. My men have even been described as alpha-holes by one of my editors. Sometimes I tone them down, sometimes I don't. 'Cause I write what I love to read. And I love to watch a strong, macho manly man brought to his knees by the most powerful force in the universe … love.

Yeah, love to watch him stride in with fists and big ol' jaw clenched, eyes slitted menacingly while he lays down the law to anyone who threatens our heroine.  Okay with me if he wipes up the bar room floor with 'em, too. Sigh … now that's just fun.
Read more:
http://maryhughesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/05/strong-women-and-men-it-takes-to-handle.html

February 1T Olio

Assassins Bite writer cave continues. Downbeat countdown T-4. Here's an unedited tidbit from Assassins Bite, coming November 11.

 

Chapter One

 

The dark city revealed itself in flashes of light, street lamps strobing through the police cruiser’s windows. The old brick buildings appeared peaceful, but my stomach roiled and my fists clenched.

This was it. Two intense years of criminal justice, seven grueling months of academy training, and another ten weeks of field training all led up to this chilly March night.

My first night as a cop.

“Looks quiet,” I said hopefully to my partner, Norris Don’t-Call-Me-Chuck Jones, aka Jonesy.

“Looks,” Jonesy said. “Be alert.”

“Copy that.” Somehow I clipped it like Joe Friday. I forced myself to relax. “I hope it stays quiet, though.”

Jonesy grunted in response. He was the epitome of grizzled cop, a twenty-five year veteran who’d driven the streets of Redfox Village longer than I’d been alive. He was deft with a gun and I couldn’t be in better hands.

So I forced myself to unclench my fists. Surely I wouldn’t blow it on my first night?

Problem was, my last name was Ruffles. While good fairies listen to other families, Ruffleses have a direct line to Imp Central.

Jonesy cornered onto Grant, anchored by the solid Redfox Village library and substantial StoneGiant Bank. I bit my lips as I scanned the shops marching resolutely up the street in orderly rows. I was overreacting. What could possibly disturb the tranquility of this law-abiding Chicago suburb?

Sure enough, that was when I saw the flash of movement ahead.

“Something’s wrong.” I saw it again, out Jonesy’s window.

Top 10 Posts Countdown #9

Writer's cave hiatus--finishing Assassins Bite among other things. Enjoy the top 10 posts from my blog in the meantime :)

#9 Guest Sarah Grimm Opens the Bedroom Door

When it comes to love scenes in a romance novel, I am SUCH a voyeur. Shocking, but true. A voyeur. I never thought that term would apply to me, but it does. If a love scene takes place behind closed doors, I feel…cheated. I’ve invested time into this book, fallen in love with the hero right along with the heroine, and for what? To have the bedroom door slammed in my face? Noooo!

So I’m a voyeur, a ‘leave the bedroom door wide open, thank you very much’ kind of reader. I don’t want to use my imagination about what is going on in the bedroom. I want the details! Lots of details. So it would only make sense that this is how I write.


Read more:
http://maryhughesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/guest-sarah-grimm-opens-bedroom-door.html

3T Writing Tidbit

Here are some of the things on my edit list. Note: not every occurrence needs correcting. Sometimes "he said gently" is exactly what I want.

• Remove backstory from the first 30 pages
• Mark any sections I feel like skimming. These need to be energized or cut.
• Look for generic sigh, smile, nod, shrug. Substitute character-specific gestures.
• Look for she/he said/did x-ingly. Substitute a strong verb.
• Make the first description of each character memorable
• Remove words which say what has already been said/shown
• Make settings more dramatic (what is the impact the location has on the character?)
• x of the y can probably be y's x or cut. (Lawn of the house=house's lawn)
• Make abstract terrors concrete and personal for ordinary people

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

Top 10 Posts Countdown #10

Writer's cave hiatus--finishing Assassins Bite among other things. Enjoy the top 10 posts from my blog in the meantime :)

#10 Confessions of a Fantasy Romance Author--Guest Helen C. Johannes

I confess—I’m Helen C. Johannes and I write Fantasy Romance. I can’t help it. That’s just where my brain goes—straight to heroes on horseback wielding swords and wearing armor.

You know that song from the movie Footloose (the Kevin Bacon version) where they’re driving tractors at each other and the soundtrack is playing “I Need a Hero,” someone who’s “fresh from the fight”? That’s my kind of guy. That’s Arn, Prince of Val-Feyridge, and the hero I’ve had stuck in my head since high school.
Read more:

http://maryhughesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/confessions-of-fantasy-romance-author.html

January 1T Olio -- Happy New Year!

Sharing some fun New Years links...

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20140102 (New Years resolution: take over the world)
http://xkcd.com/1311/ (The last prediction for 2014 gave me chills)
http://imgur.com/gallery/urbsikf (For EMTs on New Years Eve)

And a few more links just for fun...

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4767 (Hiss...)

http://xkcd.com/1269/ (Internet privacy?)

http://xkcd.com/1253/ (Filter out the worst names)

http://xkcd.com/1267/ (Sorry about the mess)

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1279#comic (Compromise book ban)

http://xkcd.com/1274/ (Come on guys, get it together)
http://xkcd.com/1272/ (Shadow...facts? LOTR gets real)

http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4826 (and suddenly Eve)