Ink in the Book

Hey guys and dolls! Do you have a book you no longer need? A book on writing craft? Would you love to put that book to good use and swap it for something you've been dying to get your hands on? Well, now is your chance!!!! My bloggy friend, Christi Corbett, has arranged a book swap for Christmas! She's putting together a list of "Writers Craft" books people no longer need and are willing to mail out to a friend in need in exchange for a book you'd like to swap. Visit her blog at Christi Corbett to add you book to the list and browse the other books available! Thanks, Christi!!!

First, sorry about the wonky formatting. I tried, but couldn't fix it... Passive voice. Do you know what passive voice is and why you shouldn't use much passive voice in your writing? It's fairly easy to define, but much harder to avoid in you writing. Passive Voice: It can be defined as using the object of a sentence as the subject, combined with a the "be" form and past participle. Example: The snowman                               has been melted                          by the sun. Poor snowman! Frosty just can't take the heat! But, seriously, here's the breakdown.   The snowman is the wrongly placed subject. has been melted uses the "be" form verb has been and adds the past participle melted . by the sun is a prepositional phrase, with sun as the object of the preposition. We can remove the "be" form helping verbs, change the subject and remove the prepositional phrase, and TA-DA! no more passive voice

Hey all! I'm sure all you want to read about right now is Who Won The Two Sentence Workshop? Am I right?????? Drum roll, please................ T. Drecker!! Hey! You get a one page critique and review from an EDITOR!!! She's an amazing editor for an online magazine and blog. And she's excellent at what she does. Her work will thrill you and hopefully help make your first page first rate! And, you also get a creative and inspirational review chock-full of awesome ideas that will make your first page as perfect as possible.!! Whoopty Doo!! Please send your first two pages, single spaced, as a word document, to workshop ink in the book at gmail dot com (no spaces) Yay! I'm so happy! Tomorrows workshop will discuss plot hole fixes......AND Passive voice: How to Get Active!

Hey all you beautiful guys and dolls! I've had a personal invasion from a body snatcher!! Okay. Not really. But I have had a few obstacles jump up and I will not be back from my holiday until Wednesday. I feel really bad about the delay, but life does happen and sometimes things can't be avoided or changed. I'm sorry for the inconvenience of the missed workshop classes. PLEASE don't lose faith or give up on the workshop. I'm coming back! I also have the winner from the first two sentence mentor workshop. I promise to announce the winner and the prize on Wednesday:) Don't throw rocks at me! We all live life, right? Thank you for understanding. (I hope)

Another quick jump in just to let everyone know I had a fabulous time over this holiday week! I've been so busy, and when not busy, we were driving down the road:) I have another dinner tomorrow, and then Thanksgiving holiday will be over for another year. Whew! so much turkey and dressing. Mmmmmm!! How abut you? How was your holiday and family time? See ya'll on Monday for check in and Workshop fun!

Hey blog friends:) Just checking in to say hi! We're traveling home today and should get they late tomorrow night! I've not been home all summer so I'm completely excited. With my broke foot, traveling is hard, but I'm trying to ignore the pain in exchange for seeing my family. Happy Thanksgiving bloggy friends:)

Today, my post is short and sweet. I'm Thankful for my husband's NEW JOB and knowing I will soon be in a house and out of my waterless camper!! AND My children will all be celebrating Thanksgiving together with me on Monday. I'm so happy I could burst! Have a great weekend my friends! Thanks Brenda, for hosting this hop!

Okay guys and dolls! Here's my posting for blogs I would miss if they ever quit blogging and those I already miss! This blogfest is hosted  by Alex J. Cavanaugh , Andrew Leon , and Mathew Rush I would miss Tara Maya. Her blog is filled with amazing writing tips and unique ideas and I have enjoyed the learning process the past couple of weeks. Her real life writing technique puts the pen to paper in a way I can see her tips put to the test. So I know they work! I would also miss Ella over Ella's Edge . I've only known her a very short while, but in this short time, I have fallen love with her blog, her creativity, and the inspiration I get every time I visit. Her pictures and photos are simply beautiful, her poetry uplifting, and her words all cozy and comforting. Who do I miss? Well, she's not really gone, but I wish she blogged more than she does. She blogs on a regular basis, I just wished she blogged more:) Who is it? Janette Dolores. Her posts are alw

It's time for more Operation Character Development, aka Cosmetic Surgery. Character help for every manuscript. The exercise can be used whether you are still in the planning stages of your manuscript, almost finished writing, or in the throes of editing and revising. It's a fun and interesting way to line up your characters, from the star of the show to the tiniest backstage props boy and audition them again for keeping or tossing. There are so many different ways to write a story and the characters will make each act different, in different ways! So for your manuscript to come out just as you envision it will, it's vitally important you choose the right characters. This step is fantastically helpful, even though it may take you a while to complete. I promise you will thank me for it later (or sooner, if you prefer:) Your first step is to write down a few questions and ask each character every question on your list. Now, you are already familiar with with some degre

What do agents think make a good first page? What should a writer include on the first page of a novel? Agent Brittany Booker says, "The first page should give us a good idea of what the character is going through, what they are thinking, or a little description of the scene that the character(s) are in." You heard it first at Operation Agent Ink !

After your fabulous first sentence, we, the readers of your awesome novel, want to find ourselves immersed - completely and totally- in your character and his/her world. Now is the time to pull your reader into your book's pages. How do you do this? How do you make a reader WANT to stay, to WANT to know more about the people, places and problems you have invented??? I'm going to write more of the story I am using as examples in the workshop, and then I have a few questions to ask you about the passage. ******** My name is Snow, like the white powder that falls in the winter, though I don't know what my mom was thinking because it was ninety degrees the day I was born. I turned twelve the year I married a man I hated and thirteen when my first baby was born. At this time in my country, most girls married at the same age I did. They usually had their first baby about a year later, just like me and many, but not all, had never met their husband, much less loved them on t

I've got some news you can use! Wanna know what Agent Brittany Booker says about the first sentence? Do ya? Huh, huh??? Do ya?? "First off- what makes a good first sentence is 'the voice.' That first sentence should say something about the plot, character or storyline that would let the reader know the type of voice in the story and the tone of the story. If the heroine/hero is a goofy or sarcastic character, the first sentence should reveal that." Does your first sentence, or first two sentences show off your voice? Your plot? Your character? And let's not forget conflict? Yesterday's assignment turned in some fabulous first lines!! We've got great things for our agents to to drool over! By the way, our secret judge, who happens to be an editor for an online magazine and blog, and our other secret judge, who happens to write for an on online magazine and blog, as already started the judging and hopes to have results next week!!

UPDATE NOVEMBER 13 -A YA time travel novel. Especially time traveling to the 1800s or the 20s-50s.  -A YA contemporary novel in the P OV of a male. - Dark YA that deal with real life teen drama.   UPDATE! SEE THE ORANGE COLOR FOR THE RECENT ADDED LIST!   -I’d love to see a good old-fashioned ghost story that doesn’t frighten me as much as it makes me think. If it turns out to be inspirational , all the better. And yes, I do consider Inspirational nonfiction. -I love the unexpected in all genres, I don’t only want to fall in love with the main characters, I want to cheer them on and cry when I reach the final page. -Stories that investigate social issues realistically without being preachy, judgmental or one-sided thrill me.  The biggest thing is quality of voice for me.   So, long answer to short question, I love relevant and effective fiction and nonfiction. What’s effective? I think it’s anything that helps us grow for the better.

Today, let's get readers hooked from the very first sentence. If you do, you are off to a great start and hopefully a great first chapter. We are going to focus on the first and second sentence and how you can draw readers in while introducing two major items about your book: 1. Your MC 2. The main conflict. How? Is it really possible to do this in only TWO sentences? YES! Example: My name is Snow, like the white powder that falls during winter, though I don't know what my mom was thinking because it was ninety degrees the day I was born. I turned twelve the year I married a man I hated and thirteen when my first baby was born. This sentence tells us a lot. It shows us a little about Snow's personality, it hints toward a shortened childhood and could possibly point to a different time era. I also can definitely see the conflict. Can you? You only have a few minutes to make a good, first impression. Make sure you wow your reader enough they'll actually t

Operation Agent Ink just took on a new operation. I know. How much more excitement can you take in one day, right? But I just couldn't wait to tell you the good news!!! Another agent just confirmed that she would take part in the workshop and the pitch opportunity! Woot woot!! Who is it, you ask? Brittany Booker!! I'll be updating the wish list soon. Oh yeah! There's more to add! She has also put a gift under the tree, and she is going to give away a........... FIVE CHAPTER REVIEW of a manuscript!! Workshops just don't get any better than Operation Agent Ink!

It's check in day! What's that, you ask? Today is the day you get to send in up to TWO pages of of your current manuscript or WIP that you may have questions about in character development, plot ideas or plot holes, or something you may be stuck on and can't figure out on your own. You must include your question or comment at the top of the email and paste the pages into the email. Your pages do NOT need to be the first pages of your work. They can be from anywhere in your manuscript. All of those enrolled in the mentor portion of the workshop will be eligible for the Agent giveaways. You can see what this involves HERE Now, here is a list of all the agents and the editor who has confirmed so far for the pitch opportunity on February 8- 9, 2013 The pitch opportunity will be a private affair and only the agents will be able to see and comment on the submission packages. Everyone enrolled int he workshop will have the chance to participate in the pitch opportunity!

Hey guys! Just a real quick note on the mentor program. If you have sent something to the workshop email and haven't gotten a response, it's because Mr. Spam whisked it away to the spam folder. It may take awhile for a response because for whatever reason that's where most went. I don't know why??

Hey lovely bloggers and readers and fellow Workshop participants! I hope your weekend has started off just absolutely wonderful and the rest only gets better!!! Are you ready for information about another AGENT GIVEAWAY??? Pooja Menon with the Kimberley Cameron & Associates has offered a First Chapter critique, along with a personal email to the participant. How Exciting!!! Really it is! Can you imagine the help and information you'll receive? Awesome, dude! So, to recap our Agent Giveaways Linda Glaz with Hartline Literary Agency  for a critique of the first 5 pages!   Pooja Menon with Kimberly Cameron & Associates for a first chapter critique and a personal email! Marisa Cleveland with The Seymour Agency for a critique of the first three chapters or first 50 pages! Terrie Wolf with AKA Literary for a personal phone call!   On Monday's check in post, I'll be listing all the agents who confirmed so far, so have a great w

Hey all! I'm sorry I missed yesterday's posting. It was a crazy day! Today, I'm thankful for running water, in my house (well, really I'm in a hotel room...) But none-the-less I'm thankful for running water. See, I've been living in a camper and on October 1, the RV park cut the water off in preparation for winter. So, I've been in this camper with no water. We carry it in in 5 gallon buckets. I heat the water on the stove, or sometimes I use the microwave or electric skillet. That's how I wash the dishes. For baths? We do it the old fashion way. We have a tub, I fill it with the warmed water and sponge off in the tub.... Just stop and think about how often you use water every day - brushing you teeth, washing your hands, wiping up spills, flushing the toilet, and many others. Yes, I'm thankful for running water:) 1. Casey Roach 9. Amy Trueblood 17. Jessika Fleck 2. Sarah J. Clift 10. Swagger Writers 18. Johana Vera 3. Fiona McLare