90-Minute Workshop. Session #2, Friday, February 17, 11 AM – 12:45PM
Deep Point of View – Infuse Power into Your Story and Characters
Learn practical techniques for bringing your characters and story to life and effectively drawing the reader into your story world by using deep point of view, or close third-person POV. This workshop will start with a brief discussion of various viewpoint techniques used in current popular fiction. Then the concept of deep point of view or “close third” will be discussed, including practical tips for spotting “head-hopping” and other point of view issues. We’ll discuss how to fix these problems so your fiction will be more compelling and appeal to literary agents, acquisition editors, and readers.
Some hands-on exercises will be provided, with viewpoint problems to spot and correct. Participants are encouraged to bring a page or two of their own writing for help and guidance with POV issues. These can be presented anonymously, if you prefer.
Jodie Renner is a freelance manuscript editor specializing in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, mainstream, YA, and historical fiction. A former teacher and librarian with a master’s degree, Jodie has had a lifelong passion for reading, mostly fiction. She is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Sisters in Crime (SinC), The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), Backspace: The Writers Place, and Writers.Net.
Jodie has traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. In fact, she loves traveling so much, she’s thinking of changing her tagline from “Let’s work together to enhance and empower your writing,” to “Have laptop, will travel.”
For more information visit www.JodieRennerEditing.com and http://JodieRennerEditing.blogspot.com.
REVIEWS:
“In a marketplace filled with authors, the right editor is essential to making your book stand out from the crowd. Jodie Renner worked with me to transform my thriller, The Lonely Mile, from an exciting book to a tight, suspenseful, heart-pounding thrill ride.
She did much more than correct typos and fix grammatical issues. She identified plot holes, eliminated repetitive phrasing, and helped improve the pacing, which forms the heart of a thriller. Jodie Renner is an enthusiastic, energetic and highly skilled editor with extremely fair rates. If you’re serious about making your work the best it can be, I recommend Jodie without hesitation!” Allan Leverone, March 2011, author of Final Vector (published February 2011, Medallion Press) and The Lonely Mile. www.allanleverone.com
“Jodie did a terrific job of smoothing my prose, catching typos, and pointing out gaps in logic. Dying for Justice is a better novel because of her input. In addition, her turnaround time was excellent and she’s easy to work with. I highly recommend her editing services.” L.J. Sellers, Portland, Oregon, February 2011. Author of two stand-alone novels and the bestselling Detective Jackson suspense/mysteries: The Sex Club, Secrets to Die For, Thrilled to Death, Passions of the Dead, and Dying for Justice. www.ljsellers.com
“Jodie Renner is a superb fiction editor who will identify the weaknesses in your story and show you how to fix them. She will also emphasize the strengths. Her understanding of story structure is stellar and her expertise at nailing the exact points where my chapters should have ended dramatically improved the pacing in my romantic suspense novel. She caught multiple continuity errors and defined plot holes. She got deep into my characters’ heads to ask me questions about what really made them tick. Bless her, she even fixed my amateurish point-of-view errors. Color me impressed!” Eve Paludan, Flagstaff, Arizona, February 2010. Author of The Romance Writer’s Pink Pages (Prima) and the current project, The Man Who Fell from the Sky. http://www.evepaludan.com/
“If you’re looking for an editor who knows her business, I would highly recommend Jodie Renner. Her editing is accurate, insightful, and complete. In addition, she won’t mess with your style or voice. So, if you’d like to turn your manuscript into a polished, agent-ready draft, Jodie is the connection you need to make that happen. Give her a shout. You won’t regret it when you see the result.” Michael Broadway, September 2010, author of Lost in the Bayou and other YA and middle-grade fiction, http://cornelldeville.blogspot.com/
“Jodie’s tagline says, ‘Let’s work together to enhance and empower your writing.’ This is not just a tagline for Jodie, but rather the way she lives every moment of her editing life. No matter where you are, or think you are, with your project, Jodie can help. Her sense of dialogue is superb. She will show you how to pace your work appropriately, and is a master at point of view issues and building more personality into your characters. She does it all without infringing on your voice. Jodie is also a precise grammar queen. Simply, Jodie is the best all-around editor I have ever used. I paid her more money than we agreed to. Don’t miss the chance to hire this talented lady. I did and I will again and again.” John Tkac, Delray Beach, Florida, July 2010, author of Whispers from the Bay and now Talking to Water, YA fiction. http://whispersfromthebay.com/
“I worked with editors and agents on my other two books and in the early going of this current thriller, but I never received the valuable ‘big picture’ input I received from Jodie Renner. It’s easy to get a great line edit, but almost impossible to get the kind of substantive advice that helps transform a draft manuscript into a book that publishers will actually pay for. This is the kind of solid input writers need most and hardly ever find.
[…] So Jodie’s at the top of the list of people who have helped me with this novel. I recently signed with a major Toronto literary agency, and have a deal pending with a film agent. Thanks again, Jodie, for your honest, knowledgeable, and valued input.” – Michael Hughes, Toronto, June 2011, author of Satyr Unleashed
“Jodie did a terrific job editing my first novel, In the Forests of the Night, a paranormal thriller. She has an exquisite eye for detail, and possesses a wide range of editing skills. Jodie helped with the dramatic opening of the all-important first chapter, pointed out weaknesses in the logic and organization of the story, and corrected errors of punctuation and grammar. Her comments were insightful, clear and succinct, and she was able to suggest minor and substantive changes to my work in a professional and diplomatic manner.
Jodie is one of the most productive editors that I have ever worked with. She worked quickly and efficiently, and returned material to me in hours to days. This made my job of revising the novel more pleasurable than onerous, and allowed me to ‘get it out the door’ with a minimum of fuss.
I look forward to working with Jodie in the future.” – David Hogg, Toronto, August 19, 2011
“I am so pleased with my editing collaboration with Jodie Renner that now that this current crime suspense book is done, I am asking her to work with me on the next one.
Jodie caught events out of sequence and suggested ways to fix them out of a deep understanding of how storytelling works. When I’d come on a compliment, it would really please me. I felt I earned it. Her critique was gentle but pointed. When something didn’t make sense to her, I had to look at it again, even though I thought it rang true for me. She was right every single time. I took 99% of the changes she suggested. And the ones I didn’t, I’m still not sure about.
Jodie carved a book from what I gave her, thinking these chapters were the absolute best I could do. Jodie improved the book immeasurably. I am really grateful to her.” – Mar Preston, August 1, 2011, crime suspense author of No Dice and Rip-Off, featuring Homicide Detective Dave Mason of the Santa Monica Police Department
“Jodie, I can’t thank you enough for your excellent critique of the first 20 pages of my suspense thriller. You’ve given me so much valuable constructive criticism and helped me to feel secure that I’m not wasting my time and at least have a shot at publishing.” Stacy Green, April 2011
“Talk about bang for your buck! I didn’t know what to expect from a professional editor, but right away Jodie gave me feedback that I knew was just right. I asked Jodie to critique the first 24 pages of my romantic suspense so I could get a feel for how she worked and what I would get out of a full edit. The critique was lively and substantive. I’ll be able to use what she pointed out as I move forward writing my novel. Being straightforward and honest, Jodie made me feel like a professional. I look forward to working with her more as I develop my novel.” – Terry Shames, May 2011
