Labotomy of a Writer

His quick reflexes didn't help when the wall next to them exploded. They both sprawled over the edge and slammed into the stairs below. He covered her body with his own until the rocks and debris stopped raining down on them. Derac glanced up and saw a group of dwarves rushing towards them. He craned his neck further to see the level above.

"Get them out of here, Tyn!" he yelled.

The dwarves swarmed them and dragged them further down into the cavern. They were thrown into a small cell; the solid iron door slammed shut behind them.

I want to talk today about Crit Partners. Every writer should have at least one. I'm lucky enough to have found two!

Now, it took me a long time to find the two that I have. There were certain standards I was looking for in a partner and sadly, not everyone measured up.

First thing, I need a person that would not blow smoke up my butt. That is very important to me. Yes, getting those reviews that don't have any red marks and say "This is great!" do make me feel good. But, I'd rather have a review riddled with red marks. Why? So I can improve. I don't want to become stagnant as a writer - ever. My crit partner needed to be brutally honest with me in order for me to keep moving forward.

Second, I also needed a person that while brutal, would not be down right cruel. There is a fine line here and I hate to say that I have had some people not know this. I told them to be brutal and they were cruel instead. I simply can't work with people like that. While I am still friends with a few of these people, I don't ask them to read my work anymore.

Last, I had to have a partner who was on the same level as I am. Not in skill, but at the same point in their career. Sure, I would learn a lot from an already published author. At this point in my life however, I wanted a crit partner who was struggling with the same things I was. This way we could be encouraging to each other.

These things were important to me, but for you to find a crit partner, you have to figure out what you need or want. My two crit authors do not write the same genre that I do, but I think that works out to my benefit. You might want someone who writes the same genre as you. That's fine. Just figure out what you want in a partner then search for someone.

My two partners are different from each other but give me everything I need. C.J. Ellisson (author of Vampire Vacation) catches the nitty gritty stuff that I forget or don't pay attention to. She is really great at catching those paragraphs that are telly or sentences where the wording is confusing to the actual meaning.

J.D. Brown (author of Dark Heirloom) is great at finding those plot holes and suggesting new ways to present certain information. J.D. knows my characters almost as well as I do, so she also catches those instances where a character might do or say something they normally wouldn't. She provides me with a lot of inspiration how to show my characters' personalities the right way.

Both these wonderful people give me the perfect insights I need to polish my WIP! The three of us work well together I think. You need to find these same qualities in a crit partner. Do you get along? Can you understand each other clearly? Can you still be friends after the red marks start showing up? That last one is KEY to any crit relationship. Friendship is important to a crit partners relationship I think. Some might say that to have a crit partner, you can't be friends. I can agree with that as it is difficult to be friends AND crit partners with C.J. and J.D. But for me, it works. I love being able to hash out scenes with them and have them not be afraid to tell me I've got an idea that simply won't work. I guess I'm lucky that I found two people that I can still be friends with after the crits. Do what you think is best for you.

Find what works for you and your crit partner. Whichever way you decide, just remember that your partner is there to help you. You don't have to agree on everything. They are merely giving their own ideas and suggestions. In the end, it's your work and you don't have to change anything unless you want to. I can tell you from experience that I don't disagree with anything my crit partners say, athought it might take me a second to realize they're right.

I've made a few posts on this blog in the past about passive verbs and weak sentences. There are sure more to come in the future too.

When it comes to grammar, while passive sentences can be correct, the point is they take away from the story and the action. Active sentences suck the reader into the scene so they can see and hear and feel what's going on too.

With that in mind, I learned a new trick to help me find those pesky passive verbs a lot easier in my huge MS.

Create a Macro! Now, for those that are not computer savvy, don't worry. This is the easiest thing to create - seriously. I'll take you through it step by step!

1. I did a bit of research and wrote down four seperate lists:

Passive Verbs (is, am, was, were, be, being, been, has, have, had, are, -ing)
Weak Verbs (saw, felt, heard, walked, ran, thought, realized, seemed, sat, stood, sounded, took)
Weak Words (that, just, even, so)
Adverbs (always, every, never, very, often, several, most, really, sometimes, -ly)

You can create your own lists based on whatever you like. You can even join all four of my lists together into one list. Whatever way works for you.

2. I opened my MS and had my list handy.

3. Click on "Tools". Holding your mouse over "Macros" will show a side pop down menu. Click on "Record New Macro".

4. In the little window that pops up, create a name for the Macro (like Passive Verbs). In the description area, you can explain what the Macro does. Mine says "Yellow highlight of Passive Verbs". You can also use this window to set a keyboard shortcut.

5. Click "Ok" A tiny window will pop up with a "Stop" and "Pause" button. You are now recording and any changes you make to the MS, the Macro will record.

6. Go to "Edit" then click on "Find". (You can type Ctrl+F if you prefer). Click on the "Replace" tab in the new window. In the "Find What" area type in one of the words from your list. For my Passive List, I typed in was. Then in the "Replace With" are, type in was again.

7. At the bottom of the window is a button that says "More". Clicking on that will expand the window to show more options. I recommend selecting the "Find whole words only" option. (Make sure the cursor is in the "Find What" window during this step.) This prevents your MS highlighting any time the pattern is (like in the word this) and only hightlights the word is. When you add 'ing' or 'ly' to your lists, uncheck this option.

Now, here you can do a few different things. Clicking on the "Format" button at the bottom will bring up a menu where you can select different formats. (Make sure the cursor is in the "Replace With" window during this step.) What I do is select "Highlight". But you can change font color or even bold the word if you prefer. Experiment with the things on this list to find what works best for you.

8. Click "Replace All". You will see highlights appear all over your document.

9. Repeat steps 5 to 9 until all the words on your list are highlighted. (Tip: Once you have your format settings, all you need to do is change the words you wish to highlight. You don't need to close the window or reset any of the formatting for each word - unless you want to change it).

10. Click on the "Stop" button on the tiny Macro recording window. Clear all the formatting in your MS (Click on Ctrl+Z will undo the last change you made.) To test your Macro, go to "Tools" then"Macro" then "Macros...". Here you can see the list of all Macros you have made. Select the Macro you want to run and click on "Run". As you can see, all the highlighting you did previously is done in one easy step! (Depending on how long your MS is, this could take a few minutes for it all to show up.)

Tip: If you have more than one Macro and want to change the highlight color for each list, simply change the "highlighter" color then run the next Macro. If you selected different font colors while recording, you do not need to do this extra step when running more than one Macro.

It takes a while to create the Macro the first time around, but trust me, the time it saves you later, is priceless. Taking a few hours now to set up this feature will help you with ANY novel you ever write again. (If you get a new computer, you have to set up the Macros all over again, just so you know.) I open my MS now and get straight to editing rather than doing "Find and Replace" for each word, every time.

**This is for Microsoft Word on a Windows operating system. I know Pages on a Mac has something similar to this feature.**

Okay, so today, I will be answering some questions that my wonderful followers have asked over the course of this series during the week.

Eric had a lot of questions - which is great! And some awesome questions too. Haley Jo had one as well and Dawn brought up a few good points that I'll address here too. So here we go!

Eric asked : In reviewing, how much lax do you give for style? In other words, I decide in my piece that I want to drop the trailing apostrophe in dialogue, e.g.: "I'm fixin to head to the pasture" rather than "I'm fixin' to head to the pasture." Or I create words that are self-explanatory, but not in MW. Or I violate grammar and structure rules while diving into a deep POV scene. Or I violate POV altogether by head-skipping during a rapid, continuous scene, in order to prevent loss of pace. Just asking how rigid you are with your reviews, and whether you consider the author's ~intent~ with the scene, and how violating the rules might have served a greater, intentional purpose.

Okay, point number one - dropping the apostrophe when it's substituted for the "g". I will point out that the apostrophe is missing every single time or say it's a typo, that you forgot the g. The apostrophe must be there to signal that the 'g' was dropped on purpose and not a typo. If it's not there, I'll assume the writer missed it by mistake, not on purpose and I will point it out.

Creating words that are self-explanatory. Eric was nice enough to provide an example for me so that I knew exactly what he meant. He said "On the making up of words, I sometimes take liberty with my descriptions. For instance, in a recent piece, a boy in the woods heard the squirrels chittering, chattering, chuttering, something along those lines. I once used the word yurk to describe someone vomiting."

Okay, in that context, I don't mind. In fact if I can easily discern the meaning behind the word, I usually don't even take note that 's it NOT a word. However, if the word doesn't make sense or gives me a different idea or image that what was obviously intended, then I point it out.

Now I want to take the time to talk about made up words for made up languages in fantasy and sci-fi novels. Those words, in my opinion, can of course be anything you want to make up. But I do feel they should be in italics to signify that they are made up and to be taken in context of the sentence.

Okay, Eric's next point - breaking grammar rules to get into a deep POV scene. Not okay. I'm sure that Eric disagrees as will a few other people but to me - breaking grammar rules does not HELP the story, it HINDERS it. Period.

Head skipping. I said this earlier, but head skipping is hard to pull off effectively. I can't do it myself but I can read something and tell when it is done right. It's having a smooth transition from head to another that makes the biggest difference. I hate to say it, but I haven't found many writers that can do it well.

Again, I don't think breaking rules serve any higher purpose in writing. While some rules can be bent based on genre or time period or even POV, generally I don't think breaking the rules entirely ever help a novel.

Okay, I hope that answers your questions Eric and I hope that you still feel like you want me to read your work! You also brought up an author that did not put quotations around their dialogue. I would never be able to read that book. I would be confused, the entire time wondering if it was just laziness on the author's part or what - but either way, I just wouldn't be able to pay attention to the plot or the dialogue itself and eventually I'd put it down.



Haley Jo asked if I reviewed differently based on what POV the work was written in. Meaning, do I review something written in 3rd person differently than written in 1st.

No I don't. I review exactly the same way. No matter the POV, the same rules apply. Tense, grammar, detail, speed, etc. All of that still come into play. Third person only differs because that is where changes in character POV can come into play, but even then I use the same techniques. My mind isn't in a different place. The only time I change how I review is the difference between fiction and non-fiction but even then, it's still pretty similar.




Dawn made a comment that made me remember that I forgot to mention about differences in author location. Meaning, I'm an American so I spell it "color" while a British person would spell it "colour". So, how do I review novels like that, that have slang I may not recognize?

I do know a few slang words from other countries as I spend a lot of time in chat online with other writers and I do read quite extensively. Other times I can discern the meaning based on the context of the sentence. When I don't know, I will highlight the word and make a note to the author that says something like "Not sure if is this slang that I as an American don't know. So I pointed it out just in case it wasn't."



If any one else has any questions, please post them below and I'll be glad to answer them for you! I love reviewing and helping other writers, so please let me know if anything this week left you confused or if you have general questions for me!

I talked a little about this in the overview, but it really deserves its own post. There are many things that writer's do over and over again (myself included) that really need to be fleshed out and worked on.

Typos and Spelling Mistakes

Like I said in the overview, the students at the Academy often input their homework directly into the WDC system. This is often a huge reason for typos, misspellings, and punctuation mistakes. I always type in a word document to check for things like that and then copy and paste. This goes for blogger too!

One of the most valuable tools a writer can have is a dictionary. While Word and Works and all the other word processing programs out there usually catch and sometimes auto-correct mistakes, there can still be mistakes! It is best to do your own research!

This also includes words used incorrectly. I'll admit there were many times that the green squiggly line showed up in a word document and I couldn't figure out why, not matter how I fixed. Then opening up my trusty dictionary, I found that I was using the wrong word entirely!

There are free dictionaries online too, so you don't need to rush out and by one! I have a dictionary on my desk and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Online, saved to my favorites on my computer.

Passive Verbs and Sentences

I know I have mentioned this a few times over the course of this week, but it really is the most common issue I come across. I struggle with this too - something I have to work very hard to avoid in my own writing.

While I know many writers argue that passive sentences serve a purpose, that's not what I'm saying here. I mean that passive sentences seems to take over an entire manuscript. Action scenes should be devoid of passive sentences entirely as should the beginning. The reader really needs to feel the tension and passive sentences don't give the needed effect.

Remember, what passive verbs are::: is, am, was, were, be, being, been, and verbs that end in -ing. Those are the most well known ones. There are more! Some grammar books classify them as "weak verbs" but the list includes actionless verbs like "have" or vague terms like "exist".

I tend to just write and then during the editing phase, I try to catch and change most if not all of the passive sentences. Microsoft Word as the great "Find and Replace" feature. I use that to highlight ALL the passive verbs in my manuscript. It really makes it easier to spot them and fix them.

Adverbs

I didn't mention this in the overview because there seems to be a bit of controversy about the topic. So where do I stand? Adverbs are good when they are used correctly - and I stress correctly.

An over abundance of adverbs in a manuscript is not good. I use the "Find and Replace" feature here again to find all the -ly words. (I use a different color than for passive verbs to make them stand out.) Seeing the amount of color on the page really helps me to make sure I have a balance of them.

Then of course, there are times where the adverb is used wrong. This happens most often with dialogue tags. I know what the reader is trying to convey, but it comes out wrong on the paper.

While "said softly" isn't necessarily a wrong way to use that, wouldn't "whispered" sound better? Then, "yelled harshly" just seems like a redundant statement to me. Isn't yelling harsh anyway? And then you run across total opposites that really don't match - "yelled softly" "whispered loudly" etc. "Yelled softly" could be turned into "said through clenched teeth" to show the anger or frustration of the character. "Whispered loudly" could be "breathed" to show the airy nature of a whisper or even "gasped" to show panic.

The point is for me, as long as adverbs are used the right way and not taking over the manuscript then they are okay. All is good in moderation!

Detail and Description

I come across this more often than not. It's another thing I struggle with myself. It doesn't plague the manuscript like some of the other issues can, but it's that one scene or two that has too much or not enough description.

Too little detail can cause readers to not get into the story. They can't see themselves there or even see the characters there so why would they read it? Even if one scene has a lack of detail, it can take down the entire story. Readers need and want to feel immersed into a story all the way through, for every second that they are reading. They need to forget they are reading - and too little detail doesn't pull that off.

Too much detail bogs down the story and the reader loses interest. Sure, the reader may be really IN the scene this way, but this causes the reader to lose the plot and the characters. If reading a story, I come across "Why are they there again?" it's a sure sign that there is too much description.

It is important to find the balance when describing the setting and characters. This is hard to do but that is where Beta readers and a critique group can really help! They - your readers - can tell you what scenes are lacking or not.

While all of these mistakes are common, they are easily fixable - often by another pair of eyes. Just remember to proofread your own manuscript and get a few others to read it too.

**Remember! I'll be answering questions tomorrow about how I review and reviewing in general. So don't hesitate to leave a question or two in the comments!**

Each writer and story is different, so they require their own unique review. I usually remain professional in a review, try to stay detached, but some times I don't always pull this off. I am easily excitable and it comes through in my review.

However, the main point above all is to BE POLITE AND COURTEOUS! No matter what! Even if you are reading your best friend's work and you can be a little silly with the review, you still need to be polite!

What exactly do I mean? Well obviously, in a review you should never say "This sucks!" That is rude and not encouraging to the writer at all. But if you explain politely what is wrong or why you didn't like it, you'll get a much better reception. "While you had a good plot, I felt that your characters needed to be improved a bit. Here's some suggestions on how to do that."

You get the idea. Do you see how the second sentence is SO much better than the first? Wouldn't you want to read the second as opposed to the first in a review of your own work? I would.

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about professional vs personal. When grading things in the Academy, I try to remain professional. I don't always pull it off but I do try. I need to maintain that level of professionallism to the students and to the other professors. Even when I get a bit personal in the review, I still make it professional in some way.

What is the difference exactly? Well in a personal review (like if I was just reading something for a friend and they wanted to know what I thought) I'd probably say something like:

"It's awesome! So and So is my favorite character! She's such a badass!"

However, in a professional review, it would sound like this:

"You have a solid plot here! I truly enjoyed reading it. You portrayed the character so and so very clearly and I enjoyed reading about them the most."

See the difference? I said basically the same thing, but with some differences in tone.

I'm sure some of my students are saying "Well no, you'd still mention the character was a badass!" They are probably right. Like I said, I don't always pull off full professionalism in my reviews - but I think that it works for me that way. My students know I care and that I'm passionate about what I do. I hope it makes them see that I am not "better" than they are by any means. I'm a writer, struggling to make it, just as they are.

Find a balance of professional and personal that works for you when reviewing. I tend to mix it up a bit, obviously - but this might not work for everyone.

No matter how you do it, there are a few points to remember::

1. Be polite (No matter what!)
2. Be encouraging. (Encourage them to continue on and keep writing!)
3. Explain what you mean. (Don't just say the characters are flat - say why.)
4. Give suggestions. (Suggestions can help them improve!)
5. Be polite!!!! (I can't stress this part enough!)

***If you have any questions about how I review, please ask them in a comment this week! I'll be posting the answers up on Saturday!***

Here we go! This is an expanded post about what I look for when I'm reviewing.

Like I said, before, it doesn't matter why I'm reviewing a piece, I always look for the same things. If the writers asked me to look for something specific, then I try to put more focus on that but I still check all the other areas!

Again, I pick on Greg - this was the original way I wrote the guest post and as you can see, it's a good thing I shortened it a bit! But what can I say, I'm long winded!

Title: This part is sometimes hard to determine in the first few chapters. It is very important to have a title that works and fits with the story. I'll pick on Greg for a moment with his novel "Land of the Blind". His title fits perfectly with that story. Titles are to give readers an insight into what the story is about and his is a perfect example of that. What thoughts come to mind when you read the title "Land of the Blind"? While it can conjure many different ideas, as you read the novel it is very clear that the title he chose is the right one. When reviewing, I look for that same perfection. Does the title match the story, the theme? If it doesn't how can it be improved? I always try to give suggestions in a review. To me that is what a review is about - helping another writer improve.

Hook: Many people may think this applies only to the first chapter or prologue. That's not true. Yes, the beginning needs to have a big hook to keep the reader going past page one - but what about the hook you need to get the reader past page twenty, or one hundred? Each chapter needs to have its own hook to keep the reader going! I do not mean that every chapter needs a major plot twist or action scene. However, it still needs to keep the reader feeling "I have to know what happens next!"

Plot: This part is usually the hardest for me to review. It encompasses so much that it can be hard to summarize it into a succinct and clear paragraph or two for the author. I ask myself, is the plot clear and concise? Meaning, did the author present the meat of the story, the story itself in a clear way that readers can understand? Were the sub-plots relevant, how did they impact the main plot? Again, conciseness is very important here. While a plot and a sub plot are great they may not work well together.

Another point I think about is the uniqueness of the plot. According to Christopher Booker, author of "The Seven Basic Plots," there are only seven categories that all plots fit into: 1) Overcoming the Monster, 2) Rags to Riches, 3) The Quest, 4) Voyage and Return, 5) Rebirth, 6) Comedy, and 7) Tragedy. However, each plot still needs to be unique in the sense that the details, the characters, and the 'personal' events in the story are new and fresh. I'll pick on myself this time. In my novel "The Faery's Tale", the plot falls under the "Voyage and Return" category. But what makes mine different than the others in the same area? It is different because the characters react to situations in their own way, each character has their own personality. It's different in the way I present the story, the way my voice sounds. The details, the mystery, the suspense, ALL of it is unique to that story.

Voice: Each author has their own voice. A unique fingerprint in the way they tell a story. Some might be thinking, then how can you review that? While each author has his or her own way of telling a story, there are still certain 'rules' to follow. For example, I will admit that I curse a lot more than I should. But, when I am writing a novel (or an article like this one), it is not a good idea to 'talk' the way I normally speak. This can be applied to all other manners of speech as well, including slang terms and even some simple terms. An example: Which description of a beach at sunset would you rather read?

The way the light hit the water was awesome. The colors in the sky were like a cool painting made by God.

OR

The way the sunlight reflected off the water was breathtaking. The reds and oranges made the sky God's masterpiece.

Do you see how changing just a few words can make a difference in the way the story feels? Yes, if the first part was a characters dialogue - it is perfectly fine. Dialogue has it's own sets of rules to follow!

Style: This part deals with sentence structure mostly. Is it repetitive? When writing it is really easy to fall into the trap of "this, then this, that, then that" patterns of sentences. I do this myself all the time. Changing the format or structure of the sentences can make a huge impact on what it feels like to read. The scene can be a great scene, but if it is written with a boring sentence structure, then it doesn't get the point across to the reader - it doesn't evoke the emotion.

I also watch for passive sentences, especially during action scenes. This is really a hard part to review and it took two extra English classes in college for me to finally understand it fully! However, it is very important. I could easily write an entire article about just this topic! Passive sentences are sentences that are "soft" and "slow". They may show an action, but it is not presented in a way to give that feeling of "This is important!" Here is an example:

"Running across the clearing, Dave pulled his knife from his belt. He raised the knife over his head, screaming a war cry."

See how it sort of dragged and took away from the actual action of the scene? Here is the sentences rewritten in an aggressive or active style:

"Dave sprinted across the clearing. He pulled his knife from his belt and raised it over his head. All the anger and rage rushed out of him in a loud war cry."

Passive verbs are: is, am, was, were, be, being, been and any verb ending in -ing. I usually highlight these using the "find" and "replace" feature in Word - for my own work and work that I am reviewing. It is a great way to really SEE the passive words. No, you do not need to change every single one - but I have found that it is better to have more aggressive verbs than passive. As a note, this rule does not apply to dialogue.

Referencing: This is probably the easiest part to review. Basically I have to make sure that there are no Harley Davidson motorcycles in 15th century England, that a female character set in the early 1900s did not have the same rights and privileges they do today. This area still applies to fantasy and science fiction. Would an alien race talk or have the exact same culture we do on Earth? Fantasy characters would not act or talk the same as humans, having their own culture and traditions.

Scene/Setting: The main thing with this area is the amount of detail and how it was presented. The readers need to feel like they are IN the story, so detail and descriptions are very important. This applies to character appearance, character interaction with objects around them, and the scenery. Yes, this can be over done. In the days of Hawthorne, it was okay for him to take an entire chapter to explain the way a house looked. This is not all right by today's standards. The house still needs to be described, in enough detail to really give the reader a vision. They have to SEE it. This is where the adage 'Show, don't tell' plays a huge part. It is really easy to get stuck in simply telling what something looks like. "The walls were blue, with light blue trim. The wood floors were cold." But showing makes for a much better way to set the scene. "The blue walls reminded him of the sky on a clear day. The oak wood floor was cold under his bare feet." Adding in the character interaction to the descriptions is a great way to set the scene without just listing off the specs.

Characters: Here is another really hard part to look at when reviewing. Individual characters need to have their own voice, their own mannerisms. Even twins often sound or act different from the other in some way. That is merely the beginning. Characters must stay consistent throughout a story. They cannot be nice and charming in chapter one then suddenly turn into a cold hearted witch in the next. I can hear many of you saying 'But what about how they react in different situations?' Yes, it is true that talking with a friend the character would be completely different than talking with an enemy. However, there is a line that should not be crossed. This is shown through internal dialogue, the character's thoughts. In chapter one we could see Suzy has a warm caring individual but then in chapter two what happens if she ran into an ex-boyfriend? Sure, she may not be directly nice to the guy, but inside her head she would be having thoughts of guilt or regret at being that way - that's where the consistency is found.

Characters need to grow in a story. As I review, I have to watch for how fast the grow or change. Is it too fast? Is the change realistic or too dramatic? Is there enough detail to SHOW the changes in the character?

Grammar/Spelling/Punctuation: There are some people that think a review only needs to talk about this area. Yes it is true, you can make an entire review about only these areas. However, as you can see by what I have already said, it is not the ONLY area to talk about.

When the time calls for it, I usually present this area in a line by line edit. Meaning they see their entire chapter, word for word and my notes are interjected right in the middle of every thing - in a different color font. It is literally like having someone read it by hand, correcting anything with a red pen.

I do not have to do it this way all the time. I'll pick on Greg again to say that when grading his novel, I never had to do this. His grammar, spelling, and punctuation was always spot on! I think I've had to point out maybe a grand total of five sentences to him that had mistakes, out of 20+ chapters! Not all writer's can have this spotless sort of record. I surely don't. Spell check, the dictionary, a thesaurus, and even an extra set of eyes are vital (I stress vital) to a writer!

I'm sure some of you are wondering if I ever had a story with 'too many' mistakes. Yes, I have. There was more red than black font in the end. I want to stress that this did not make the writer a stupid person; this did not make the story bad. But - having correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation is very important. I know other people that would not have reviewed that piece because of the amount of grammatical errors. Why did I take the three hours to do it? Because I had someone take the time to help me with my novels and someone will again in the future. And underneath it all, I truly enjoy helping other people. That person went on and actually took extra English Grammar courses and is now a published author!

What is that you say? I'm forgetting about Dialogue? No. You see, I don't give Dialogue it's own section in the review. It falls under a few other sections depending on what part of it I wish to talk about.

Dialogue can fall under "Referencing" if a character is not talking the way they should for the setting. Medieval knights do not talk the same as we do today. Slang and even syntax were entirely different. It also falls under "Characters" as I might notice that a few characters sound too much alike (that the dialogue is not unique). I might repeat any findings in "Referencing" here relating to dialogue, to remind the reader that the character is not talking correctly with the times.

Dialogue could fall under "Style" if it needs a bit of sprucing up. Boring or dialogue that is too slow can make it hard to read or pay attention to. I can't tell you how many novels (published ones even) that I would simply skip over dialogue because it was too boring or cliche to read. I will also make mention of using the word "Said" too many times or perhaps too many adverb tags (like "said softly"). Of course it comes into play agan under the "Grammar" section to make sure that quotations and other punctuation are used the right way.

Again, do I mention all these points in every single review? No. If nothing needs to be fixed, I don't see the point in filling the sections with repeated "You did this great!" sort of lines. But I do look for every point in every novel. I only mention things that need to be fixed.

Of course, I do end each review with what I liked about the novel/chapter and leave with a few words of encouragement. That is very important! Tomorrow I'll talk about How to talk in a review, and how to really be polite and encouraging to your fellow writer.

*Update* If you have any questions about how I review, please post them in a comment during this week. I'll answer your questions in a post on Saturday!

Okay, I know I said I was going to talk about "Show vs Tell" this week, but I haven't gotten all the details worked out for it, so we are rearranging the schedule a bit. So this week will be about the Art of Reviewing and next week, will be Show vs Tell.

I was sked to guest blog at Wicked Writers about the Art of Reviewing about a month ago. This is a repost of what I wrote for them. For those that don't know, I mention Greg a lot in this. He was a student at The Writer's Academy (recently graduated with honors and Valedictorian by the way). He was also the one to ask me to guest blog, so I pick on him throughout the post. So here it is again, to kick it off. The rest of this week, I'll expand on what I talk about here and go more indepth.

My Background

My real name is Anastasia Pergakis, but many people online know me as Harley D. Palmer. I started writing and storytelling, well as soon as I could write. I didn’t get into novel writing (or reviewing) until I was an adult but it has become an obsession! I am on the computer every day researching writing in some form or another.

What really started me reviewing novels was when I was invited to join a reviewing workshop on WDC. During that time, I realized that novels were not getting reviewed that often, and even if they were, I rarely saw reviews past chapter one. So, I have tried to focus my efforts on just reviewing novels.

Doing all of that research and learning through experience, spurred me to start the Writer's Academy. I started the Academy because I wanted to share my knowledge with other writers. I have been researching all aspects of writing for many, many years. It is a hard and I’ll admit, sometimes a boring process. I hoped that with the Academy, writers could have a place to come to that was fun and informative – with all the information in one place.

I’ve been running the Academy for a little over a year now and I have learned a lot about reviewing from the experience. I was able to apply things that I learned in the workshop and through reviews I had received for my own work.

What I Look for when Reviewing

Regardless of whether I am reviewing for fun, a workshop, or grading assignments in the Academy, I always focus on the same things. I’ll break this down for you to give you an understanding of what I look for when I read a novel.

I read a chapter many times in the process of reviewing it. I try to start a review with my impression or feelings about it after the first read. The first read through should be simple without taking notes of any mistakes or inconsistencies just yet. Yes, some things are glaring but I try to simply enjoy the read, instead of looking to edit or critique.

During the second, third, and even fifteenth read through, I ask myself the following questions.

Title: Does the title of the book fit? Did the chapter title match with the chapter? Why or why not?

Hook: Was the catch or hook at the beginning enough to keep the reader reading? Why or why not? Was I constantly hooked in even in chapter twenty?

Plot: Is the plot clear and concise? Is it unique or has it been done? Do the sub plots help the story or slow it down?

Style & Voice: Is the sentence structure the same throughout the story or does it vary? Does the voice work for the theme or genre of the story? Is the story full of passive verbs instead of aggressive?

Referencing: Are there Harley Davidson motorcycles in 15th century England? Does a female character set in the early 1900s follow the ‘rules’ of that time? Would an alien race talk or have the exact same culture we do on Earth?

Scene/Setting: Can I clearly see the scenery? Can I tell where everything is at any given moment? Do I know where the characters are at all times?

Characters: Are the characters consistent throughout the book? Do they grow and develop in a logical time frame? Do they each have their own voice and mannerisms (Can I tell them apart from each other?) Is there enough detail to give me a mental image of what they look like, act like, talk like?

Grammar/Spelling/Punctuation: Are their any long, run on sentences or sentence fragments? Any spelling mistakes or typos? Are all the punctuation marks used correctly?

I close the review with my personal opinion of the story or chapter. I tell the author what I liked or didn't like. I always give them a few words of encouragement.

Do I look for every single one of these aspects when reviewing? Yes. Do I mention all of these points in the review every single time? No.

How to Talk in a Review

Each writer and story is different, so they require their own unique review. Greg can tell you that his reviews usually consisted of a few sentences as I rarely had comments, suggestions or corrections for him. But other students may have had longer reviews with suggestions and advice.

I look for the same points when reading any novel, but to a friend I might present it in a different way. Reading a friends work, I could get away with saying “This scene is awesome!” but in a professional type of relationship, I would phrase it differently – “This scene was written very well. It was clear and concise. Great job!”

As I am nearing the end of Greg’s book for the Academy, I am getting a little more ‘friendly’ with the reviews. He ended a chapter with a HUGE cliff hanger and I started the review with “How dare you do that to me!” (I was going to have a wait a whole week to read more!) He and I had built up a relationship of sorts for me to get away with saying that – at the beginning, I never would have presented my shock in that manner. I would have said “A shocking ending! I can’t wait to read more!” instead.

With the Academy specifically, I try to relate the review to the lesson. If the lesson was about setting and scenery, then I center the review on that. If I am reviewing for some other reason, it'll depend on what the author is looking for and what I feel are the more important things to mention.

Common Mistakes

There are many common mistakes that I find time and time again when reviewing a novel. They can be frustrating when I review, but then I remember that I make the exact same mistakes all the time too!

>>>Yes, typos are a common occurrence as no one is perfect; however with spell check and other tools, it shouldn’t happen quite as often as it does. Reviewing for the Academy can be especially tough. Many of the students type directly into the site when posting their work. The site does have a spell check tool, but not that many people know how to use it. So there are often a lot of mistakes. I find it best to write in Word first then copy and paste into a site like that. This helps to prevent quite a lot of the spelling and grammar mistakes I find.

>>>Passive verbs show up more often than not. I use a review template and automatically I have a little paragraph that talks about passive vs aggressive verbs. This prevents me from having to type it up every single time. It is much easier to delete the blurb when it is not needed, than to type it up each time that it is. I struggle with this in my own writing and I think that is why I can pick it up easily in other people’s work.

>>>The amount of detail is a huge issue. Again this is something I struggle with myself, so it is easy to find it in other novels. If there is too little detail, then I can’t really get into the story. I can’t see where the characters are or what they are doing. When there is too much, the story drags and I can lose interest as the plot is bogged down with useless information.

Tomorrow I'll expand on "What I look for in a Review".

Annie made a post about this over at Dutch Hill News and I just could not resist doing the same!

"Each one of us is different in what they like or dislike. What I can't stand someone else might love, and vice versa. What are you looking for in a book? Let's compare notes!"

Okay Annie! Here is my comparison!

1. Characters that make me wish they were real people (or glad they aren't!).
I love reading stories where the characters are so real or so great that I wish they were real, that they could sit next to me and chat like friends. This does not apply to only human characters. Faeries, elves, dragons, vampires, whatever - if they are great, then I'd love to be able to talk to them. Then of course there are the awesome villians that make me SO glad they aren't real. The type that just give me the chills long after I close the book!

How does this happen you ask? Well they need to be unique for starters. While in romance novels all the male leads can usually be clasified as "tall, dark, and handsome" how is one different from the other? Even villians needs to have their own unique story! I don't necessarily need to relate to the characters, but it is extremely rare that I find one that I can't.

2. A solid and concise plot.
If I don't think about the story during the times when I'm not reading it, chances are that I won't pick it up again any time soon. Yes, I am the type that I just have to finish a book no matter how bad it is! I always have the thought that there was a reason why they left out such seemingly crucial information or that it'll get better, things will start to make sense. But, if I dream about the book and think about it when I'm not reading - then I'll pick it up again at the first chance! If it's good enough, I put off doing the laundry or dishes in order to read more!

Mystery novels are my favorite and I think it's because with all the tension and unanswered questions, I can really get hooked. No, mystery novels are not the only ones that do this for me, but I have found that even badly written mysteries give me the same feeling. I just have to know what happens next! Leave me guessing at the end of the chapter and I'm sure to turn the page to read the next one!

3. Settings where I feel like I'm there!
I have put books down for a long time because I just couldn't get into the scene. I write Fantasy novels myself, and I know how detailed scenery and setting needs to be to make it believable. Put me IN the book! I want to feel like I am a fly on the wall watching things as they happen. I want to forget that I'm reading a book. I want to experience a story!

It's all in the details! Sure, if a writer says the word castle, I already form a full picture in my mind of what a castle looks like. But are all castles the same? Of course not! What things are hanging on the wall? Is it built of something other than stone? What sort of security (gates, guards, towers,) do they have? And of course, don't just list the details either. SHOW me through character interaction. If a character in a high stress situation wouldn't notice how the flags were flying in the breeze, then I don't need to know either!

4. Magical elements.
Do I mean like wizards and spells? Not always. Magical things include ideals like love conquers all, love at first sight, honor, chilvalry, etc. But, the key is to make it convincing. Disney gets away with this in my opinion because - well they're Disney. In a novel though? I need to really feel that it's real and possible. Love at first sight is hard to explain. Don't just tell they did - SHOW me, CONVINCE me. Is it possible? Well that depends on the writer!

Of course, I love novels that also have spells, ghosts, magic, etc. The best part is when the writer makes it so believable! I believe there is magic every where, even in the real world, but writers still need to fully convince me of the magic in their novels.

5. New traditions and cultures.
I love reading sci-fi novels and fantasy novels where the writer brings in a whole new race with their own culture, traditions, and even religion! Granted, they must be unique and believable or I lose interest.

Does this apply to only sci-fi/fantasy novels? NO! I don't know all their is to know about Earth's peoples! The point is, to make me believe it - even if it's true! It's all in how it's presented and detailed. The truth can easily sound like a lie, if it's said (in this case written) the wrong way. But I love learning about different cultures and beliefs. It is great to see some familiar ones in stories or even new ones! I'll say it again though - I have to believe the truth!

This was a great idea Annie! Let's see how many other folks we can get blogging about it!

Anyone who has taken a math class knows that one side of the equation has to equal the other. (Okay math genius' - don't get technical on the less than, greater than stuff! You know what I mean!) a + b = c

Oh? Did I just get a few of you to quit reading? Why is this important to writing you ask? Well, sentences are the same way! They need to balance on both sides of the sentence. Verb tense, noun association, etc - all need to match. Instead of the equal (=) sign, in a sentence we have words like "and", "but", "neither...nor", "either...or", etc.

More often than not, balanced structure comes naturally to us. Men are "tall, dark, and handsome" or Ceasar's "I came, I saw, I conquered". You don't need to know the technicalities of English grammar to know when a sentence sounds off or "unbalanced" like "We are told to live our own lives and that we should not interfere with how others behave." A professional editor would be able to point out at the infinitive phrase and the "that" clause make the sentence unbalanced. Do you need to know that exactly? No, but you can still read it and tell it's wrong.

Pairing and Series
Things linked as compound subjects, verbs, objects, and modifiers have to be the same grammatical form. In other words, they need to match. While editing, if you find that they don't, you can easily fix it by making them match or changing the sentence structure entirely to be rid of the need for parallelism in the sentence.

Examples: (from page 56 of "Line by Line: How to Improve your own Writing")
Wrong: The proposed transmission line is ugly, unsafe, and an environmental danger.
Right: The proposed transmission line is ugly, unsafe, and hazardous to the environment.
(The objects need to match in tense. They need to be logically similar.)

Wrong: The process is slow, prone to politics, and robs all concerned of direct responsibility.
Right: The process is slow and prone to politics, robbing all concerned of direct responsibility.
(Make sure the verbs match! You may need to rearrange the series to make it work correctly.)

Wrong: The applicants were all college graduates, of similar socioeconoic background, and interested in business careers.
Right: The applicants were all college-educated, similar in socioeconomic background, and interested in business careers.
(Sometimes you need to change the number and take out prepositions.)

Wrong: Your cover letter should include information about your present employment and why you want to change jobs.
Right: Your cover letter should include information about your present employment and explain why you want to change jobs.
(Sometimes you need to add another verb to balance the sentence).

Correlative Conjunctions
Did I just lose you again? Don't worry, I'll explain. Correlative conjuntions are: either...or, neither...nor, both...and, not only...but also, not just...but also, not simply...but also, not merely... but also. "But" can also be included here if what falls after it intesifies rather than supplements.

These conjunctions need to be used correctly or the reader may be lost or confused. Read over correlative conjunctions to check what they introduce and correct any mistakes.

Examples:
Wrong: I not only sent a copy to my supervisor but also to the head of the division.
Right: I sent a copy not only to my supervisor but also to the head of the division. (Page 59, Line by Line)
(In the first sentence, "not only" does not introduce the subject "I". This can be confusing to a reader and so it needs to be fixed to introduce the correct object, "copy")

Wrong: In pointing out the dangers of nictotine, the surgeon general is not only referring to smoking cigarettes but also chewing tobacco. (Page 60, Line by Line)
(So, the surgeon general was chewing tobacco when he made the statment?)
Right: In pointing out the dangers of nicotine, the surgeon general is referring not only to smoking cigarettes but also to chewing tobacco. (Page 60, Line by Line)
(Since "referring" and "chewing" are not the two verbs that need to relate to the general, but "smoking" and "chewing" to tobacco, "not only" needs to be in the correct place.)

Don't over use correlative conjunctions! If a simple "and" or "but" will do, then use it.

Wrong: I have the figures for both the first quarter and the second. (Page 61, Line by Line)
Right: I have the figures for the first and second quarter.

Clarity
Poets can get away with pairing odd things in a sentence - like Lewis Carroll with kings and cabbages. As novel and story writers, unless in dialogue, this can make for a confusing read. The sentence needs to be clear.

Wrong: The police found no alcohol in his bloodstream but a loaded gun in his car. (Page 67 Line by Line)

Fixing the Problem
I was not sure how to sum up this section. There are so many more examples and ways a sentence can be imbalanced. I tried to point out the most common ones for you though.

Here are three tips to help you keep up with balanced sentences, quoted from "Line by Line: How to Improve your own Writing" by Claire Kehrwald Cook. (Page 73-74)

1. Look at the items you present in series to see that they match ing rammatical form, that you haven't interingled nouns with verbs or adjectives, infinitives with gerunds, or phrases with clauses. Make sure too, that you have been consistent about repeating initial prepositions, conjunctions, possessive pronouns, or articles; you usually have to include such words with all serial items or with only the first. If you can't put all the items in the same form, consider recasting the sentences to eliminate the series; the grouping may be illogical.

2. Notice the lements connected by "and" and "or" and make sure that they are grammatically equivalent. Then ask yourselv whether readers will immediately recognize what terms the conjunctions link. If the sentence componenets that look like a paira re not he ones you intend, revise to preclude misreading. Pay particular attention to the words that follow correlative conjunctions and make sure that they match exactly. If you cannot put coordinate elements in the same form without sounding unnatural, consider uncoupling them; they may be incompatible.

3. Finally, look closely at the elements you compare, especially those that follow "as" or "than", to see that they are logically and grammatically similar, that youa re comparing like with like. Also make sure to group like with like; check prepostional phrases that begin with words like "along with" and "among" to see that their objects belong in the same caegory as the words the phrases modify.

It sums up quite nicely all the things to check for in your sentences to ensure they are balanced.

Don't stress over the technicalities! If you can't find "prepositional phrases" that easily, it's okay. You can still read a sentence and "hear" that it's wrong. That moment when it doesn't sound right and you know how to fix it - you just don't know why. Picking out unbalanced sentences, is easy to do. Read your manuscript out loud! It sounds much different aloud than inside your head. I do this often with anything I write, including blog posts! If something doesn't sound right, tweak it until it does! And as I have said many times before, it never hurts to have someone else read over your work, even if they are not a professional editor. Another person will still catch things that you can't - as you are emotionally attached to your work!

We all learn in English class that sentence structure follows the order Subject - Verb - Object (or predicate). You can then add to that with modifying phrases and clauses. The problems come in when there are too many modifiers or when the modifiers are in the wrong place.

Subject-Verb Connections
In a sentence with a subject that contains a noun modified by a huge string of phrases and clauses before the verb is hard to read. (Take the previous sentence there as an obvious example.)

Sometimes this is easily fixed by rearranging the sentence. Other times, it may require starting over or changing part of the sentence entirely.

If we rewrote the beginning sentence for this section to rearrange all the phrases before the verb, you have something like this: A sentence is hard to read when there is a long string of modifiers before the verb. The point is still presented but in a much simpler way.

Writers should also avoid long-winded modifiers before the subject. If a reader can't find the subject in a sentence, it causes a pause. Granted most readers are not LOOKING for the subjects directly, but if they become confused with a long winded sentence, they are likely to stop reading. This problem can be fixed by splitting the sentence into two, getting rid of needless phrases, or moving a few of the phrases to the predicate.

This example comes from a great book I read, "Line by Line: How to Improve your own Writing" by Claire Kehrwald Cook. Still persisting almost twenty years, after the assassination, with its truth or falsehood probably never to be convincely proved despite the negative conclusion of repeated investigations, the rumor of a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy has fueled yet another work of fiction.

Hard to read isn't it? The book continues on with a possible solution by splitting the sentence into two: Despite the negative conclusions of repeated investigations, the rumor of a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy persists, probably never to be convincingly proved or disproved. Now, more than twenty years after the assassination, it has fueled yet another work of fiction.

Personally, I would go further to rephrase and move the ending clause in the first sentence: Despite the negative conclusions of repeated investigations, the rumor of a conspiracy to kill Present Kennedy persists. More than twenty years after the assassination, the inability to prove or disprove the rumors has fueled yet another work of fiction. (On a personal note, I think that "convincingly" is a terrible adverb, so I did not keep it in my rewrite. If you prefer, it could be still be placed after "to" and before "prove".)

Misinterpretation
Writers can mean one thing in a sentence but a reader will take it in an entirely different way. This is due to having ambiguous words or phrases that contradict each other or appear to modify the wrong word.

Other times, it can be a word used the wrong way. Take the following sentence: The writer condemns heavily modified subjects and objects that they muddy the sentence structure. Most would think that "objects" is another noun (subjects and objects) but actually it's a verb (objects to). Using a different word helps clear the confusion here so the sentence reads better: The writer condemns heavily modified subjects and argues that they muddy the sentence structure. You can also take out the second verb entirely and replace "and": The writer condemns heavily modified subjects because they muddy the sentence structure.

Object Placement
Confusion in a sentence can also occur between verb and object or between prepositional phrases and object. The connection may not be clear and these two can often occur together.

Take the following sentence: Please read and let me have your views on the attached memo. There can be two sentences here "Please read the attached memo. Let me have your views on the attached memo." In the example, it is hard for a reader to connect the verb "read" with it's object "memo" as another verb and a preposition are in the way. It would be much better to rewrite the sentence like this: Please read the attached memo and let me have you views. Or you could even take out "read" entirely as it is a given that in order give an opinion on something, you have to read it first. Please let me have your views on the attached memo.

When two prepositions share the same object, it can be a common mistake to "shorten" the sentence by not repeating the object twice. I make this mistake a lot myself as to me it sounds more professional to write a sentence this way - but it's not true! He always consulted with, and asked the approval of, his friends. The two phrases in this sentence are "of his friends" and "with his friends". It is much better to write the sentence this way He always consulted with his friends and asked their approval.

Fixing the Problem
Read your work out loud in one way to find these common mistakes. If it doesn't sound right, it needs to be fixed. Think of how the reader will interpret the sentence. YOU may know what you meant to say, but the reader may not. Put yourself in the mind of a reader when going over your work to make sure that they understand it too.

Don't expect or demand readers to search for your meaning behind a sentence. True, readers are not stupid and so by rights they can figure out what you meant. But why make them pause at one sentence after another to reread? These stops and distractions dissolve whatever spell you are trying to weave. "Efficient writing makes effortless reading." (Claire Kehrwald Cook)

Long sentences are caused by a number of reasons - weak verbs, too many nouns, and/or an overuse of prepositional phrases. In The Writer's Academy I see this happen a lot in the short story and novel classes. At the time, I did not realize why many of the sentences "sounded wrong" to me - they just did. After doing a bit of research, now I know WHY they sounded wrong.

Weak Verbs
I knew this part well as other reviewers often pointed out this same mistake in my own work. Inert verbs (to be - am, is, was, were, being, been), actionless verbs (have, exist, etc) or the passive form (to be and a past participle - is believed, was seen), and verbs ending with -ing, all lend to the same argument -- aggressive or action verbs are more often than not, better than passive or actionless verbs.

Am I saying that you need to go through and change every single passive verb to an agressive one? No. The point is not to have your manuscript riddeled with them. The rule I often make for myself is that I cannot have two sentences in a row that contain passive verbs. In an action scene (like a fight or chase), I don't allow passive verbs at all. Those are my personal rules, but they seem to work for me. I also do not pay much attention to passive/aggressive verbs in character dialogue, unless there is a certain feeling I wanted to create that was lost in using a passive verb. Otherwise, I let the characters talk the way they want.

Example
Passive: Running across the sand, Tim felt like his lungs were going to explode.
Active: Tim sprinted across the sand, his lungs ready to explode.

Bulky Nouns
Often times a sentence becomes filled with too many nouns or long Latinate ones (end -tion, -ment, and -ence). Too many nouns can make a sentence boring or even hard to understand. Often times nouns used the wrong way, causes a writer to compensate with extra adjectives and pronouns that are not needed.

Example
Bulky: During this blog post, I will provide information about wordy sentences and how to fix them, as there are many mistakes that can be made.
Simple: This blog post will provide information to fix common mistakes in sentence structure.

Overuse of Prepositional Phrases
Prepostionional phrases are easy to spot - just look for the preposition! For those that don't remember, a prepositional phrase is made of a preposition, its object and any assocated adjective or adverbs.

It is easy to over use prepostionial phrases when trying to describe something. However, the same detail or feelings can be shown without so many phrases in one sentence.

Example
Too much: Writers can often fall into a trap where they have too many of these phrases in one sentence in a row. (4 phrases)
Better: Writers trap themselves when they have too many phrases in one sentence. (1 phrase)

Fixing the Problem
How can you catch these sorts of things in your own writing? It takes a certain mind set.

The first thing I do, is put my book down for a few days. When I return, I try to think of it as someone else's work - not mine. I'm much harder on others in a critique than I am on myself! Pretend it's not your story. (That is extremely hard to do, I know - but it works!)

Word has a great feature that I use to highlight the passive verbs. Then I choose a different color to highlight prepositions. I don't use this for nouns, I simply keep a close eye out when reading.

Instead of just reading the manuscript like I would a book I pulled from the shelf, I read it one sentence at a time. Sounds like normal reading right? Wrong! I mean that I read one sentence, then think about it. I ask myself "Can I make this sound better? Is there something here that shouldn't be (like too many nouns or phrases)? Is there something missing? If I answer no to all the questions, I read the second sentence and repeat the process.

It takes a long time to do it that way, but I find it is best to really catch the mistakes that are often hidden. Sometimes, I'll read out loud. Hearing the sentence aloud instead of just in my head, makes a huge difference in the way a sentence sounds. That can really help to find mistakes - especially if you know something is wrong, but you don't know what.

Of course, it never hurts to have someone else read your work too!

One of the most frustrating things about getting reviews or critiques about your work is what to do if you disagree or if you get conflicting information.

I recently had both situations happen to me. I got three new reviews for Chapter One from the novel workshop I am a part of. I had one reviewer tell me that I had too much detail. Basically that I should take out the "narrator" voice telling the story only from the characters perspective. Great advice I thought. Well then the very next day, I had another great review tell me that it needed MORE detail and more descriptions. More internal thoughts from the characters. So, I was stuck - what do I do? Take out or add in? I had a third review tell me that only certain parts needed more detail then other parts needed to be taken out.

So what did I do? I printed out all three reviews and hung them up around my desk. (Just for easy reading). Then I opened up Chapter One and began to read through it, with the mindset that I was a reviewer, not the writer. This is hard to do as often times I get stuck on a scene that I just love - but in reality I know it shouldn't be there. My "notes" folder is full of scenes and even whole chapters that are great, but they just don't work in the story and had to be taken out.

Luckily, my reviews were done with "line by line" edits so I was easily able to find where they thought needed more or less detail. Did I do every single edit suggestion they put in front of me? No, that would be impossible. If I agreed with their suggestion - on a line by line basis, not on the entire chapter - I changed it. If I didn't agree, I would at least take a moment to find out why I disagreed. Is it just because I really like that part or was there another reason (like that part absolutely had to be there to set up the next chapter - that obviously the reader didn't know about yet). I had to be really honest with myself.

However, in the end, I was spurred to continue on to edit chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, AND 6 again! I added over 5,000 words but I am certain I took out just as much! The point is that I took out all the things that were not needed and added in the things that were.

That is the great thing about reviews. I improved 6 chapters based on a review for chapter one. I took their suggestions and advice and carried it through the next few chapters. I didn 't wait for them to read those sections, I merely trudged on. Of course, if they do review the chapters and they have more suggestions, I will do the process over again of seeing how they can be improved. That's the wonderful (or worst) part of revising/editing - you're going to edit a scene many times before it's good to go.

With the major re-editing of this first 6 chapters (which morphed chapter 7 into it, so chapter 7 was basically deleted) - the now Chapter 7 is being written from scratch! All new stuff is being added. The idea brewing in my head will add a huge dinamic to the story and new relationships for the characters. To give you a little hint - what is an adventure without a bit of fire?

I got a great review for chapter one last night. Worked on it this morning. In taking out much of the stuff to weed out the unneccesay things, I apparantly took out too much. But that's okay. It was really simple to add in all the detail that was needed. Hopefully chapter one is great now! There is always room for improvement but I'm hoping it's to a point now that will not require a major overhaul again.

Reviews are really great but giving them can be hard work. I really like getting reviews that talk about more than just my grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In a review, I also like to know about plot, character development, setting, etc. Is the plot good? Well written? Are the characters unique? Does the setting have enough detail? Did I tell and not show? Things like that.

So I guess this post is a "how to" for reviwing me. Yes, tell me I misspelled a word, but also mention the characters and the plot. Tell me where the holes are so I can fix them. And definately don't sugar coat! I can take the criticism (unless you are going to be all out rude).

I recently got a webcam and I am curious to know if it would be interesting for this blog to be in video form than text. What do you think? Comment and let me know!