I Just had to Ask...Week 1 of Blogfest

Before I get to my question I just wanted to thank all those who have signed up for week 1.  I have already been to a few of the blogs and I can't wait to get to the rest and find out your burning questions...for writing.  In my opinion, you are never to experienced to ask questions and when you stop, the learning stops too.  My hope with this blogfest is that no matter where we are in our writing journey, we will get a boost doing one or all of these mini-fests.  So I'm thrilled others out there are hungry to get those writing juices flowing like me!

If you haven't signed up for the blogfest yet.  Go here to get in on the action for week 1 and here to get your name on the Gearin' Up to Get an Agent Blogfest list.

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I Just had to Ask...

Now for my question.  Well, I am asking two, one is so short a simple yes or no can answer, plus being the host and all I thought maybe I would be ok with two:)

1) I heard somewhere that double spaces in between periods are no more.  Is this true?  In writing a manuscript, do we only have one space after a period now?

2) I'm curious what others opinions are on building a platform before the book deal.  If you read my blog regularly, you know I ask many of my Firsts Fridays spotlighters what they think about it.  Now I'd like to get your opinion and find out your reasoning for why you feel it's necessary or not to build a platform before the book deal?   

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BLOGFEST DEETS

- If you are on Twitter feel free to head over and chat it up through tweets!  The blogfest hashtag is #GetanAgentBlogfest

- If you want to get your genre listed by your name in the blogfest list just leave me a comment here

- Friday I will be randomly choosing the winner of Margot Finke's critique and I will also be sending all those who commented on this portion of the blogfest a pdf of her new children's adventure book.  It is so cute!

Then there's next week!  We will be starting our story chain and I can't tell you how excited I am to find out what we will come up with.

The loverly Lora Rivera has helped me come up with a fabulous idea which I will spill the beans about on Friday.  I am also thinking I will start sign ups for week 2 on Friday so I can get started on making assignments for each person.  I will give further info on this later.  Just know it is going to be FUN!  Plus I will be giving away another fabulous critique.  This one a double critique from Rach Harrie over at Rach Writes. 

Until then...

Keep writing.  Keep learning.

I Feel Famous!

If you haven't signed up for the Gearin' Up to Get an Agent Blogfest, now's your time!

I'm not one to gush or anything but...ok, I'm going to!  I had my first interview and my first guest post all in the span of a few days.  I feel so special!

If you want to check either of them out or the blogs of the lovely ladies who are the cause of all this giddiness on my part, then by all means do.

Emily Rittel-King has been a writer for awhile now and has recently restarted her blog, Get Busy Writing, after a small hiatus.  With this new beginning she is doing Blogger Mentor Mondays and I am her first interview!  If you want to read what I have to say or go over and check out the awesomeness that is my pal, go here.

Debbie Maxwell Allen from Writing While the Rice Boils saw some specialness in my post about adverbs and decided to guest post me.  Pretty cool!  You can check it out here.  On any given day Debbie posts the most helpful advice for writers.  I kid you not!

I frequent both of these blogs and you should too...not just because they noticed me, though that is outstanding in an of itself:)


So happy Monday everyone, happy writing and editing and any other writing goals you have too.  Oh and guess what???  It's almost July...Blogfest time!  Are you getting those queries and novels prepped?  If you don't know what in the world I'm talking about just click on the link at the top of this post, or the Gearin' Up to Get an Agent Blogfest button on the right sidebar.  The numbers keep on growing, it is going to be a blast!

What's up with the adverb?

I didn't see a thing wrong with adverbs until recently when I submitted my work into a couple of writing contests.  I'm happy to say I placed third in one and top twenty in another but much of my negative feedback had to do with adverbs.  Can I tell you how sad this makes me.  I have loved peppering my writing with 'ly' words.  They have been a part of my life since grade school.  I suppose that's where they needed to stay.

So why are adverbs such backstabbers?

Mark Twain once said, "Adverbs are the tool of the lazy writer."

Huh?  Well, let's take a closer look and see why.

The Encarta World English Dictionary states that an adverb is:

1. modifier of verb or adjective: a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence, e.g. "happily," "very," or "frankly".

So basically you use an adverb to spice up a weak word.  For example: "She tightly closed her eyes."  The verb "closed" isn't strong enough so you pop in "tightly" to better describe it.

What would happen if you used a verb with more zing from the start negating the need for an adverb all together.  How about this instead: "Her eyes slammed shut."  Bam!  Just by changing the verb from "closed" to "slammed" you instantly get a picture of what is going on and it isn't as wordy, which adverbs tend to bring about in writing.

Another problem when using adverbs too often is the risk of telling the story rather than showing it (another big no no we will discuss later).  You want the reader to feel like they are right there in the action with the characters, not on the sidelines watching.

I'm not saying adverbs should be banned from writing.  They are a part of the English language for reason and I personally like them every now and again.

If you're an adverb lover why not try to flex your writing muscle a bit more today.  Right something and go through replacing all the 'ly' adverbs with more dynamic verbs, adjectives, etc.  See where that takes you.

What are your thoughts on adverbs?  Do you love them, love to hate them or a little of both?