Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Narrative “flow” is a mark of good writing—sentences with an internal rhythm which draws the reader ever forward, ever deeper into the story. Flow is created by an instinctual presentation of connected ideas, one leading naturally into another.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Modifiers such as “kind of”, “sort of”, and so on, often weaken the words they describe. They should be used sparingly, if at all.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Adverbs should be used with great restraint. They tend to weaken the verbs or actions they are intended to support, and can be an indcator of a book written in haste.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Many writers and would-be writers who critique manuscripts are rabid about eliminating the word “had,” maintaining that it always indicates unacceptable passive construction. This is unnecessarily restrictive. Occasional use is fine for variation or to establish a calmer mood.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Though active verbs are preferred, straining to make every verb portray dramatic action is unnatural. It can distract the reader, which is always a bad thing.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Active verbs work better than those that are passive. “She leaped the ditch.” paints a more vivid picture than “She crossed the ditch.”

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

“Show, don’t tell” has been the mantra in fiction since it was first set forth by male authors of the minimalist school in the early 20th century. It is a useful concept, but can’t always be followed in romance novels where the (primarily) female reader’s preference for atmosphere and emotion trumps the typical male reader’s focus on action.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Complicated sentence structure isn't wrong, per se, but if the reader must go back and reread a sentence to discover its meaning, then it should be simplified. Anything that might stop the reader, taking them out of the story, is automatically cause for revision.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Clarity of thought is paramount in good narrative. The reader should be able to understand at once what the writer intended to convey.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Varied sentence types, from declarative and interrogative to exclamatory and incomplete, help prevent reader boredom with a lengthy narrative.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Narrative passages should be written as if issuing from the mind of the point of view character, with all description and observation filtered through his/her perceptions. Author intrusion is distracting and unnecessary.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Narrative should flow naturally from one subject to another. Sentences should have such internal connection to each other, and such pertinence to the story, that it's difficult to delete one without altering the sense of the paragraph to which it belongs.

Writing Tip of the Day-Narrative

Good narrative paints word pictures readers can see in their minds. Excellent narrative adds light and shadow, color, mood and atmosphere to these mental pictures.

Writing Tip of the Day-Voice

The easiest way for any writer to develop their true voice is to write as naturally as possible, concentrating on story instead of on word choices or sentence formation.

Writing Tip of the Day-Voice

It’s often necessary to vary your writer’s voice to suit the gender, personality or lifestyle of your point of view character. This seldom affects the overall impression of your writing style; the bedrock of it is always there.

The Jennifer Blake Newsletter - January

Here we are with another new year, another new beginning. This winter period has always been a favorite of mine: the holidays are over, the winter solstice has passed so the days are growing longer, and not much is happening which allows extra concentration on writing projects. Still I won’t be putting fresh words on paper this month for the first time in ages. Because of the way the deadlines for my medieval trilogy fall, I’ll be polishing a rough draft, instead, getting the manuscript ready for its April 1 send off. This is for BY GRACE SEDUCED, the final book of my trilogy set during the reign of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. It will be released in October, following Book 1 in August and Book 2 in September. Can’t wait to get back to this story that was finished at the end of November—which is a good thing since it must be done!

I’ve mentioned the Sourcebooks reprint program here before. FIERCE EDEN is the next title up from them, scheduled to ship late this month for a February 1 debut. Look for it on the shelves in a gorgeous trade size paperback edition, the larger format selected by Sourcebooks for their Casablanca Classics Collection. FIERCE EDEN, set during the Natchez Indian uprising in French colonial Louisiana, circa 1730, spent many weeks on the best seller lists in the 1980s. Its original release from Random House was in trade size paperback as well. Cover Art for this book appears on the the home page for my web site.

And I discovered yesterday that I’ll have another book reissued this year, in addition to two Sourcebooks reprints and the three books of the medieval trilogy. Scheduled for June, this will be LUKE, a contemporary romance that belongs to my Louisiana Gentlemen series. Mira Books is bringing it out again in a hardcover library edition.

That second Sourcebooks reprint mentioned above, in case you’re interested, will be MIDNIGHT WALTZ, on the schedule for August. The covers for both LUKE and MIDNIGHT WALTZ are posted below.

For the sake of clarity, here’s a simplified list of the books appearing in the coming months:
Publications for 2011
February 1: FIERCE EDEN, historical reprint, Sourcebooks.
June 1: LUKE, contemporary reissue in hardcover, Mira Books
August 1: BY HIS MAJESTY’S GRACE, medieval trilogy Book 1, Mira Books
August 1: MIDNIGHT WALTZ, historical reprint, Sourcebooks
September 1: BY GRACE POSSESSED, medieval trilogy Book 2, Mira Books
October 1: BY GRACE SEDUCED, medieval trilogy Book 3, Mira Books

Another reprint from Sourcebooks, SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL, may be released before the end of the year, but the date hasn’t been confirmed.

So what’s next, when the medieval trilogy is done? Nothing! Well, nothing except answering editor’s queries and checking page proofs for all the books that will be out in 2011. In between, I expect to relax, travel a bit, catch up and clear away the household clutter that piled up while I was so involved with writing. I also want to work in my yard that’s been seriously neglected; one of my Christmas gifts was a candy apple red “little mule” truck, about the size of a golf cart, that has a bed for hauling mulch, fertilizer, clippings, etc., and I’m looking forward to puttering around in it. Eventually, I may work on a short contemporary romance or else write the futuristic novel that’s been in the back of my mind for years. Or I could revisit the medieval period if the trilogy goes well, who knows? The year ahead is chock-full of possibilities!

With warmest wishes for a New Year filled with plans and promise for you, as well,
Jennifer