I Had to Do This: Clarifying Ambiguous Pronouns

Ambiguous pronouns creep into our work and they're not always easy to spot. We know what they refer to because we wrote them, but if the pronoun isn't near what the referenced noun was, or there are a lot of nouns in the sentence, it's not always clear to the reader. It can trip them up and make them pause to figure out what we mean.

It, this, and that are prime offenders. Let's try some examples:

Bob grabbed the shotgun and ran for the box of shells sitting on a crate by the axe. It wasn't enough, but he needed every weapon he could find right now.

Okay, what is the "it" here referring to?

Guest Author Roni Loren: Save the (Cat) Pantser! A Solution for Pantsers with Plotter Envy

Got a fun one for you today. Roni Loren is here to share with us her thoughts on pantsing, plotting, and how using a little bit of both (with a dose of screenwriting) might just solve all your writing woes. Or at least help you find your way to making it all a little easier.She also gives me one more reason to check out a book everyone keeps talking about.

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has.

Her debut novel CRASH INTO YOU will be released January 2012 by Berkley Heat/Penguin. If you want to read more posts like this one or follow her journey to debut authorhood, you can visit her writing blog Fiction Groupie or her author blog. She also tweets way too much for her own good.

Take it away Roni...

It's a Labor Day ARC Contest! Win the Final Darkfall ARC

Happy Labor Day everyone! To celebrate the upcoming release of Darkfall, (October 4th) I'm giving away another ARC (advance reader copy) from my secret stash. You get a book, and all the typos that go with it, so you can see even the pros make mistakes.

For this first contest, just leave a comment on this post and tell me what the hardest thing you've ever done is. The winner will be chosen by random next Monday, September 12th.

What category that falls into is your call. The hardest thing in writing, editing, life, school, love, whatever works for you! Actually, it doesn't even have to be real. Make something up if you want.

Here's a peek at the cover copy (WARNING: spoilers if you haven't read Blue Fire. Don't click "read more" unless you really want to know) Although there will be a post on Friday about the nature of spoilers and if knowing details ahead of time actually matter:

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Start With a Splash?

Real Life Diagnostics is a recurring column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and I diagnose them on the blog. It’s part critique, part example, designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, check out the page for guidelines.

This week’s question:

Is my first page is compelling enough to get people to keep reading?

On to the diagnosis…

Shop Smart. Shop Idea-Mart: Coming Up With Story Ideas

It’s got to be the single most popular question a writer hears: where do you get your ideas? I answer it every event I do, often more than once for school visits. I never mind, because it is something folks are interested in, and it’s a great icebreaker to get other questions rolling. I know I’ll get that question even if I get no others.

So where do I get my ideas? And better yet, where can you find them when you need them?

Everywhere.

I know, cheesy answer, but it’s true. I get ideas all the time. This post was actually inspired by an idea that hit me when I made a casual comment to a friend in an e-mail. And the kicker? It’s a comment I’ve made a hundred times. One of those types of offhand funny comments you make without even thinking about it.

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go! Writing the First Line of Your Novel

A while back I talked a bit about openings and shared an experience I had at a conference concerning first lines. First lines are critical to me, because I'm the type of writer who just can't get off on the right foot (or is that, write foot?) if I don't have a strong opening line. I admire folks who can jump in and write away and go back and edit those opening lines. Once I get back the first few paragraphs, then I can go back and edit, but those first ones need to be more than placeholders for me to really get anywhere.

There's a lot of pressure on the first line of a book. We all read the terrifying articles and posts about how agents never get past the first line or paragraph when going through submissions. I wish I could say this is a myth, but I've heard far too many agents say it to believe otherwise. Your opening line can make or break you.