Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number Six: Check for continuity

At this point you can call your work-in-process a NOVEL.  That’s right, you’ve done it.  The last thing you need to do is read it.  I’m serious.  Find a comfy chair, start at the beginning, and read your novel as if you’ve never seen it before.

Are there any elements of the story which stick out?  These may be continuity errors.  This is your chance to fix them before publication.

For example, in Richelle Mead’s VAMPIRE ACADEMY series, there are a few continuity errors which cause the reader to pause and scratch their heads.

In book three of the series, SHADOW KISS, the character Jill is first introduced as an Air User but in the following books and in the BLOODLINES series, she is a Water User.

In the first book, VAMPIRE ACADEMY, Dimitri tells Rose that he only has two sisters, but in book four, BLOOD PROMISE, he has three.

I’m not picking on this author or this series, everyone makes mistakes.  The point is to look for them before self-publication.  The best way to do it is by reading your book from start to finish, just for the sheer pleasure of it.

The final step of battling PPP is to repeat the process.  Read your book, or ask others to read it, until you are confident the prose flows.  Congratulate yourself, author.  You’ve conquered PPP.

Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number Five: Look for unnecessary words or phrases

If you’ve been following this series of steps as you’ve edited your own work-in-progress, your story is looking pretty good right now.  The prose is tight and the grammar is perfect.  The final steps are like a fine-grain polish on a piece of rare silver.  The result will be stunning.

In Chapter Four of SEEING MAGIC I wrote

“No,” I demanded.  “No more secrets.  I hate secrets.  Tell me what you know about my family.”  I almost shouted at him but realized immediately my anger should be directed at Mom, not Evan, so I softened my tone and pleaded, “Please…tell me what you know.”

Pippa from Authonomy suggested

“you probably don't need 'and pleaded, ' as her first word is please”

In Chapter Five I wrote

“Exactly what time is it?”  I grumbled as I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes.  I sat up and that’s when I realized the pain liniment had completely evaporated.  The whole left side of my body hurt…a lot.

“It is…6:30 AM.”  Evan walked right into the bedroom.  For the second time, he’d entered my bedroom without permission.  First, I checked my pajamas.  I tended to twist them up when I slept.  I pulled at my top so it didn’t cling to my chest, then I yelled at him.

“Don’t they teach you to knock first in West Virginia,” I snapped.

Again, Pippa suggested

“You could possibly lose 'my bedroom' as you've just told us he walked into the bedroom.
Also lose the 'I snapped' at the end of 'Don't they teach you....' as you've just said she's yelling.”

Searching for these final touches on a well-written manuscript is a painstaking process.  I suggest the following:

1.      Don’t edit for more than an hour at a time.

2.      Sit in a comfortable chair with good lighting.

3.      Edit on hard copy, using a larger font, which will be less strain on your eyes.

4.      Be proud of what you’ve already accomplished.

 

Good Luck!

Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number Four: Conjunctions and Prepositions

“Careful with using BUT as a sentence starter. It is supposed to be a conjunction, every now and then is probably OK, but you could probably join some of the sentences where you’ve placed in a full stop. (Old ex-English teacher coming out, sorry)” – DJ from Authonomy

Don’t start a sentence with a conjunction; don’t end with a preposition.  These two basic rules of English grammar are the most ignored among fiction writers today, and yet they create PPP.

Here is an example from the Prolog of SEEING MAGIC:

BEFORE:

I gave up.  We had been going back and forth like this for four days.  I knew that there was nothing I could say that would change her mind.

“Can you at least tell me what it is?”

“No, I don’t want to scare you.”  But those words scared me most of all.

AFTER:

I relented, but tried one last time to learn the driving force behind her decision.

“Can you at least tell me what this is?”

Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.  “No, I don’t want to scare you.”

Those words scared me most of all.

Eliminating the grammatically incorrect ‘But’ at the beginning of the last sentence makes the impact of the words much stronger. 

Whenever I see a sentence start with ‘AND’, ‘OR’ or ‘BUT’ I ask myself one question.  Is this sentence really a continuation of the thought expressed in the sentence before it?  If the answer is yes, then I rewrite it as a clause to the previous sentence, separated by a comma.  If the answer is no, then I eliminate the conjunction.

From the first edition of SEEING MAGIC:

“What the hell did you think you were doing yesterday, Buach?”  He shouted at Green Eyes.  The man he’d called ‘Buck’ had taken a step back under the cover of the trees.  He looked a little intimidated by Evan.  But he still wore a sinister grin. 

From the second edition:

“What the hell did you think you were doing yesterday, Buach?”  He shouted at Green Eyes.  The man he’d called ‘Buck’ had taken a step back under the cover of the trees.  He looked a little intimidated by Evan, but he still wore a sinister grin. 

The technique of using periods to separate clauses instead of commas is common in marketing material intended to emphasize the story in as few words as possible.  That technique doesn’t work within a novel.  The use of the full stop causes the reader to stop reading, slowing down the flow of the prose.  What the author wants is for the reader to keep going until the end of the book.  Using a comma, as in the second edition, allows the flow to continue unimpeded.

A while back, I wrote a pitch for fellow author and friend, Chris Bostic, promoting his novel, FUGITIVES FROM NORTHWOODS.  An indie publisher, Krill Press, bought the publishing rights and decided to keep my pitch as part of the back cover.

My original pitch was written as follows:

“Child slave labor...that's what it's come down to.  After the total collapse of the world economy, even the United States couldn't stand together, so they failed separately.  In the small region-state of Minnkotasin, poverty and greed have turned the idyllic Northwoods of Minnesota into barren wasteland of clear-cut forests and over-fished lakes.  Every able-bodied teenager is conscripted into a labor force and sent to work in harsh, prison-like conditions.  They're enslaved young so they never learn to think for themselves.  Penn is different, and he's determined to win back freedom, for himself, his friends, and someday for his homeland.”

The editors at Krill Press rewrote the pitch as follows:

“After the total collapse of the world economy, the United States could not stand together.  So they failed separately.  In the small region-state of Winnkota, poverty and greed are turning the idyllic Northwoods of Minnesota into a barren wasteland of clear-cut forests and over-fished lakes.  Every able-bodied teenager is conscripted into a labor force and sent to work in harsh prison-like conditions.  They are enslaved young, so they never learn to think for themselves.  But Penn is different.  He’s determined to win back freedom – for himself, his friends, and someday for his homeland.”

Thankfully the editors deleted the first sentence with the dangling preposition, but notice what they did after that.  The conjunction ‘so’ is used to start a new sentence.  They added a ‘But’ before ‘Penn is different.’  These deliberate errors in grammar work in short marketing pitches.  They are PPP in novels.

 
Chris’ novel is available at http://www.amazon.com/Fugitives-Northwoods-Chris-Bostic-ebook/dp/B00B9676BU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404357395&sr=8-1&keywords=fugitives+from+northwoods/.

Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number Three: Remove repeated analogies and metaphors

Sometimes you are so inspired by an image you unconsciously use it to describe a setting more than once.  Perhaps there is an aspect of your character’s personality that reminds you of a past memory so you refer to it multiple times.  These things happen. 

However, a repeated analogy or metaphor will give the reader pause, perhaps even cause them to go back to re-read an early part of the book.  Anything which takes the reader out of the moment, and forces them to think about the writing, and not the story, is PPP.  Part of careful line editing includes searching out these repeated metaphors or analogies, and using them just once in the novel.

“I noticed the words ‘Patchwork quilt’ were used three times in the first three chapters.” – Mike from Authonomy.com

Mike was right.  In the original draft of SEEING MAGIC, I’d referred to a patchwork quilt three times in the first three chapters.

In chapter one:

“The pilot droned on about the meal they were about to start serving and the movie which was to follow breakfast but I stopped listening.  The red canyon turned into green forest and then back into another patchwork quilt of farmland.  Then we flew over a cloudbank and there was nothing further to see except my own reflection.”

In chapter two:

“I decided pajamas were an unnecessary luxury.  After stripping off my shoes and jeans and bra, I collapsed onto it.  I pulled a soft patchwork quilt made out of many pieces of flannel and sighing, fell into a dreamless sleep.”

In chapter three:

“After running through my nighttime routine and changing into some pajamas I settled down in the small antique armchair Aunt Rose had placed in the corner of her bedroom.  It had a small table and a floor lamp stationed on either side so it was the perfect place to curl up with a good book.  She had even supplied another old patchwork quilt as a throw.”

After consolidating chapters per step one of Battling PPP, I ended up with one reference to a patchwork quilt at the end of chapter one:

“Opting against pajamas, I collapsed onto it, pulled a soft patchwork quilt made out of many pieces of flannel over me, and sighing, fell into a dreamless sleep.”

I removed the word ‘patchwork’ from the scene in chapter two so it read as follows:

“She had even supplied another old quilt as a throw.”

By eliminating the repeated image of the patchwork quilt, I maintained the flow of the story, instead of allowing the reader to get hung up on the image of a patchwork quilt.  It’s just another step in battling pedantic, plodding prose.

Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number Two: Remove overused words and other common grammar mistakes

Once your opening paragraphs have grabbed the reader’s attention, the next step is to keep that interest going.  Nothing will turn readers away faster than bad grammar and plodding prose.

In the original chapter one of SEEING MAGIC I’d used the word WAS/WERE fifty-five times.  In just one paragraph, I’d used it eight times.  In the same paragraph, I used the word COULD three times and IT five times. 

BEFORE:

After twenty minutes it was clear that the crisis was over. I’d wiped up my brother, tossed the used wipes into the baggie, zipped it up and gave it all to the nice lady who was rapidly becoming less nice. I opened the ginger ale and convinced Corey to take the pills. I made him take three, just to be sure. Even though it was daytime, Corey was slumped on my shoulder, snoring softly. If I was lucky, he wouldn’t wake until we were three thousand miles from home. I reclined his seat back a notch and pulled my seat all the way upright. I took the pillow given to me by the flight attendant and tucked it into the little niche I’d created between the seats. Then I settled Corey into the niche so I could get my shoulder back. I probably should have given him the window seat since there was a smaller chance of nausea if you could see the horizon but he’d insisted that he wanted to sit in the aisle so he could easily get to the bathroom.

AFTER:

The crisis lasted almost twenty minutes.  I cleaned my brother’s face, tossed the used wipes into the baggie, zipped and handed it to the nice lady who was rapidly becoming less nice.  Opening the ginger ale, I convinced Corey to take the pills.  He slumped on my shoulder, snoring softly.  Hopefully, he wouldn’t wake for three thousand miles.  Reclining his seat back a notch and pulling my seat all the way upright, I took the pillow given to me by the flight attendant and tucked it into the little niche created between the seats.  Then I settled Corey into the space and retrieved my shoulder.  He should have taken the window seat since there was a smaller chance of nausea if you could see the horizon but he’d insisted on sitting in the aisle so as to be closer to the bathroom. 

Other common mistakes are as follows:

Using the same word to start sentences

Using passive verbs instead of active verbs

Using vague and abstract words

Run-on sentences

Fragmented sentences

Ending sentences with a preposition

Thanks to Susan Warren Utley and Rebecca Postupak from Shenandoah Valley Writers for sharing the link to an amazing tool.  Pro Writing Aid can analyze your writing and provide unbelievable insights into common writing mistakes.  It is my secret weapon against PPP.  Many of the features are offered for free.  Even greater insights can be achieved if you buy a subscription.  See http://prowritingaid.com/ for more information.

Fighting PPP (Pedantic, Plodding Prose) Rule Number One: Get to the Good Stuff Sooner

“You’re trying very hard to get us all the info in the dialogue, but since it’s so obvious, it’s just not working.” – Sabina 

“The [descriptions] take up a lot of space and don’t seem important to the story…it is a bit long and dull.” – Chris 

“Some of your paragraphs, especially the more descriptive ones, are a little long.” – Lucy 

“Dare I say it, condense things a little.” – D. J.

 

These comments from fellow writers on Authonomy.com, plus similar advice not listed here, convinced me to adopt step one.  Forced to identify the main conflict in SEEING MAGIC, I reevaluated the first eight chapters.  Then I cut anything which wasn’t absolutely necessary to introduce it.  Afterward, I went back and added tangible action sequences to the beginning. 

Originally SEEING MAGIC began with seven chapters of backstory before Evan reveals the existence of magic to Maggie.  Those chapters were as follows:  

Chapter 1 discussed the night before she travels.  Maggie says goodbye to her friends and argues one last time with Mom.  Parts of this chapter were funny although not relevant to the main conflict, but Maggie’s fight with her mom provided important background.  It became a one-page prolog after much editing.   

Chapter 2 described the flight across the country where Corey throws up from motion sickness.  This chapter was supposed to establish Maggie’s deep sense of responsibility and love for her younger brother.  I condensed it to a one paragraph discussion with Evan.   

Chapter 3 covered the drive from the airport to Corey’s camp, and then to Fiona’s cabin in Cacapon.  This was supposed to describe the environment, aka the setting, in great detail.  I spread the setting descriptions throughout the book.   

Chapter 4 showed Maggie on her first night in Cacapon highlighted by Fi’s evening pagan ritual and weird noises which frightened her.  This chapter was supposed to introduce a sense of mystery and suspense, but the new prolog sufficed.   

In Chapter 5 Maggie experienced her first day working in the garden, where she heard more noises, and had a bad dream in which she’s chased by monsters through the corn field into her mother’s hospital room. 

Chapter 6 followed her second day in the garden where Maggie meets Buach, a Sidhe, who tries to kidnap her, but Evan intervenes.  

During Chapter 7 an accident in the library leads to meeting the magical House Brownies.   

Finally, in Chapter 8 Evan reveals the existence of magic.

 
Now SEEING MAGIC has a one-page prologue where she fights with Mom.  Tension and conflict are intertwined with backstory in 292 words.  In Chapter 1 Maggie arrives in Cacapon and experiences weird rituals and noises.  During Chapter 2 Maggie explores the garden, talks with Evan, and has the bad dream.  In Chapter 3 Buach tries to kidnap her; she falls into the river, and the Brownies help Evan rescue her.  Maggie’s self-defense battle against Buach adds tangible action, conflict and establishes her character as strong and smart.  In Chapter 4 Evan reveals the existence of magic.

Here’s the prolog:

“I.  Don’t.  Want.  To.  Go.”  I shook my head back and forth. 

“You’re going.”  Mom set her jaw and her green eyes flashed, daring me to defy her further. 

My resolve started to falter.  I plopped down onto a chair at the kitchen table and asked the question which had been most bothersome since she’d made her announcement four days earlier.  “Why do I have to go away?”

She stopped drying dishes and took the seat next to me.  She sighed deeply and rubbed her hand over her brow.  “It’s time for you to meet the rest of your family…our family.  I used to think we would be better off if we stayed away from them...but circumstances have changed.”

“I don’t even know where I’m supposed to be going, and why aren’t you coming with me?”

 

“You’re going to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Your brother is going to a military school summer camp in Woodstock, Virginia, and well, there are things I need to do here this summer.”

“What things?” I was less angry and more concerned.  “Let me stay and help you.”

“I don’t want you here.” 

Her words hit me like a slap in the face.  I jerked upright in my seat.  The chair slid backwards.

Her face fell and she reached out her hand to caress my cheek, but I tilted my head to deny her touch.  “I didn’t mean it like that.  I just need to take care of this alone…” she trailed off lamely.

I relented, but tried one last time to learn the driving force behind her decision.  “Can you at least tell me what this is?”

Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.  “No, I don’t want to scare you.” 

Those words scared me most of all.

Thanks to all my friends at Authonomy.com for steering me in the right direction.

Intro: My Constant Battle against Pedantic, Plodding Prose

“This is really well written and polished.”  -- Pippa

“I've finished reading the entire story and it is one of the most addictive books I've seen on this site. I read the entire second half in one session tonight because the need to know of what happened next was so strong. It is a powerful Young Adult story that deals with a variety of coming of age issues which also has a fantastic fantasy and mystery element to it. There are many original ideas with characters that are interesting and quite unique.”  -- John

“Rated this 6 stars as I love the premise of the story so far, as well as your writing style and voice.”  -- Willow

“Great voice to introduce the story. Polished writing, descriptive but not wordy. I really like the premise of this story.”  -- Jillian

“I am loving this! You have this flair for drip feeding intrigue with perfect timing. You grabbed and kept my interest.” – Sue

“Your narrative is easy to fall into, the language matches that of a teenage girl so that we feel we know Maggie, we relate to her.  I've loaded it up with highest stars. This is an absorbing read.”  -- Zoe

These are excerpts from comments left on the writer’s website, www.Authonomy.com, about my first novel, SEEING MAGIC (www.facebook.com/seeingmagic).  There are approximately one hundred comments like this for my light-hearted YA fantasy.  The heaps of praise might be a load of bull because writers are always kind to each other, and therefore, lie through their teeth.  Nevertheless, I’d like to believe there is some merit to my humble tale, but I have a terrible dark secret which haunts me.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve never taken a writing course.  I majored in Computer Engineering and Computer Science in college.  Neither program emphasized the need for strong communication skills.  My AP (Advanced Placement) English test scores and my SAT verbal score allowed me to opt out of both English 101 and English 102, so I did.  I took a few literature courses, mostly in comparative mythology, but I never learned how to write well.

My life’s course took a sharp veer off the corporate path, away from cutting edge technology, when my first-born child was diagnosed with Autism, 9-11 happened, and my husband was fired from his job all within a scant few weeks.  He went into a fugue state, spending day after day on the couch watching foreign sports programs on cable.  All of my product’s clients either declared bankruptcy in the aftermath of the collapse of the twin towers, or they were subpoenaed before Congress to explain why they were defrauding their shareholders.  No one in the telephony industry bought test equipment that year.  Meanwhile, the Health Department wanted to send therapists into my home to set up an in-home therapy program for my son, and I couldn’t let them see the condition of my husband or my house.  When my company decided to make me part of the twenty-five percent employee lay-off in July 2002, it was almost a relief.  Eliminating my salary from the payroll meant that my two direct reports got to keep their jobs.  It was the right thing to do, but it destroyed my way of life, and my self-concept.

With both of us unable to find work, a mountain of debt, a huge mortgage, and a special-needs child, life quickly went from bad to worse.  By 2004 my second child was born.  He had Spina Bifida and we were homeless.  For two-and-a-half years we lived in a 1978 travel trailer with no shower, moving from camp ground to camp ground, or sometimes from Wal-Mart parking lot to Wal-Mart parking lot.  I tried to keep myself from going insane by reading books, since the camp grounds rarely got TV reception.  A Harlequin/Silhouette book cost $3.84.  I could afford two a month.  My favorite series was the Silhouette Bombshell series, where accomplished young women saved the day.  When Harlequin Enterprises killed the series, I started writing stories for myself, needing that escape into fantasy.

Finally, in 2012, I found Authonomy.com.  My first attempt at a complete novel was very rough, although at the time, I didn’t realize it.  With advice from fellow authors on the site, I learned how to write well.  It is this advice, using my first novel as a case study, which I now present to you.

Even if I’ll never be talented enough to have a successful writing career, you may benefit since these tips come not from me, but from many talented writers, several of whom are already published.

I use an iterative process, with seven steps.  I’ll be presenting each through its own posting, using examples from my case study.  They are as follows:

1.      Get to the good stuff sooner.  Add action and conflict in the opening paragraphs of the story.

2.      Eliminate overused words and look for other common grammar mistakes which impede the flow of the prose.

3.      Remove repeated words or phrases, especially repeated metaphors.

4.      Don’t start a sentence with a conjunction, and don’t end with a preposition.  Incomplete or run-on sentences confuse and distract the reader.

5.      Look for unnecessary words or phrases.

6.      Check for continuity.

7.      Repeat, as needed.

As always, feedback, suggestions, corrections or criticism is appreciated.