Today's post is going to be a summary of a topic I have already discussed before. The first time, it showed up in a week long series of posts. You can read them here, here, here, here, and here.
Of all the tings in a writer's skill set, self-editing has to be one of the most difficult and demanding. It requires a lot of time and dedication. If you don't follow through, your story can end up looking worse. Some writers, will skip this part all toghter, opting for a professional editor instead.
After you've finished writing and you pull out that red pen (mine is pink, actually) what do you need to look for? I like to do the whole process in steps to make it more manageable. Here is a look at those steps and what they involve.
Step 1: Put the story down after you've finished writing, and don't pick it up again for at least a couple weeks. If you go straight from writing to editing a story, its too fresh in your mind, and you can't look at it objectively enough to see the mistakes.
Step2: Read your story. Highlight spelling and grammar errors, refrencing errors, telling and POV problems. This the easy part, unless you aren't good with spelling and grammar. You can't necessarily take your word processor's word for it, either. Computers can be confused, too. This is a good place to pull out your notes, drawings, etc. on characters and settings to make sure you haven't moved anything around, or changed anyone's hair color.
Step 3: Read through and look for info dumping. These paragraphs are pretty easy to spot. The only thing you'll find in them is a big plain description. What someone or something looks like all together is a good sign of info dumping.
Step 4: Check your settings. Make sure the one's used more than once are uniform, but described differently, especially if the POV changes.
Step 5: Go through and fix all those mistakes! After that, put the book away for another couple weeks or so. Again with the freshness and objectivity.
Step 6: Read through like you would read any other book. At this point, the only thing you should mark is where the story loses your attention. There is something missing at that point in the story, or the writing is flat. Just mark it and keep going, something in the next few steps may be to blame.
Step 7: Fine tune. Look for repeating words and phrases, flat writing (wordy and dull), empty adverbs (usually end in -ly), "less" "ness" and "ize" suffixes, passive verbs (was, were, be, been, etc.), lists, more telling, and awkward phrasing.
Step 8: Check for possible end changing rewrites.
Step 9: Rewrite! Break everything into manageable chunks of data and center all the revisions around the major conflict. Ask yourself is this something that should happen before or after the climax?
After all that, have someone read through it and see if they find any problems.
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Nightmares
So, I've been itching to get back to editing my two "finished" novels, A Place Called Earth, and Beginning Near the End. The problem is, my beta reader and outside editor is taking her precious time with them. I don't mind that, except its making me super impatient. So, I read. You'll probably see at least one or two more book reviews posted up before the A to Z Challenge starts. Unless I can't find anything and start working on something new again. Who knows?
Last night, I had a bit of a breakdown. Anyone from facebook reading this, or even my closer twitter friends may know a bit of what's been going on this week. If not, here's a bit of the skinny. The fam and I went up to Minneapolis this weekend for a minication. It was fun, we did some shopping, swam at an indoor water park. Then Monday night, I got the flu. I missed work tuesday and wednesday. Wednesday, I had to take my older daughter to the doctor to try and get the back of her earring removed from her earlobe, it had sunk all the way in. It was a mess, they couldn't help her in pediatrics, so they set up an appointment with the ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT). It would only be a consult though, so I took her to the clinic at the hospital how also got her into the ENT because they didn't want to do it. The ENT wanted to have her come in today for surgery! By that evening I was a nervous wreck, so I took her to the emergency room where they gave her a shot, cut open the back of her ear and took it out.
Last night, thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong in surgery, that was my nightmare. No monsters or bad guys, none of that. I had an anxiety attack.
Anyway, all that got me thinking. I don't spend enough thought on that realm of my story that is sleep. When a character goes to sleep in a scene, I give it that special double space and then they wake. Dreams and nightmares are important, though. They are how we sort through and proccess information every day. Sometimes they can be important though. I remember when I was young, having the occasional snippet of dream that would seem out of place only to relive it the next day (I know that seems hard to believe, but I swear, I can think of at least six different occasions throughout my life).
Dreams can foreshadow a story well, especially when your talking about fantasy. You want them to remain vague (like they are for us) to give it an air of mystery and excitement. And then to add all the details and let them fall into place to reveal what the dream meant pulls a reader in. Its great! It should be done slowly though, or it won't hold interest.
To give you an example, I started reading the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. I had just finished the Percy Jackson series and wanted to see what else he had to offer. In my quest to find something on the second book in the new series, The Son of Neptune, I started reading some fanfic. Some of the stories and chapters were all right, but a few of them, with their own prophecies for this new camp were revealing information too quickly. I lost interest in them right away. Too much was given leaving me no need to read further to find out what this would mean. It all fit too easily.
These are things you need to keep in mind with dreams and foreshadowing. They can both do amazing things for your story, but only if you do them the right way!
Last night, I had a bit of a breakdown. Anyone from facebook reading this, or even my closer twitter friends may know a bit of what's been going on this week. If not, here's a bit of the skinny. The fam and I went up to Minneapolis this weekend for a minication. It was fun, we did some shopping, swam at an indoor water park. Then Monday night, I got the flu. I missed work tuesday and wednesday. Wednesday, I had to take my older daughter to the doctor to try and get the back of her earring removed from her earlobe, it had sunk all the way in. It was a mess, they couldn't help her in pediatrics, so they set up an appointment with the ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT). It would only be a consult though, so I took her to the clinic at the hospital how also got her into the ENT because they didn't want to do it. The ENT wanted to have her come in today for surgery! By that evening I was a nervous wreck, so I took her to the emergency room where they gave her a shot, cut open the back of her ear and took it out.
Last night, thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong in surgery, that was my nightmare. No monsters or bad guys, none of that. I had an anxiety attack.
Anyway, all that got me thinking. I don't spend enough thought on that realm of my story that is sleep. When a character goes to sleep in a scene, I give it that special double space and then they wake. Dreams and nightmares are important, though. They are how we sort through and proccess information every day. Sometimes they can be important though. I remember when I was young, having the occasional snippet of dream that would seem out of place only to relive it the next day (I know that seems hard to believe, but I swear, I can think of at least six different occasions throughout my life).
Dreams can foreshadow a story well, especially when your talking about fantasy. You want them to remain vague (like they are for us) to give it an air of mystery and excitement. And then to add all the details and let them fall into place to reveal what the dream meant pulls a reader in. Its great! It should be done slowly though, or it won't hold interest.
To give you an example, I started reading the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. I had just finished the Percy Jackson series and wanted to see what else he had to offer. In my quest to find something on the second book in the new series, The Son of Neptune, I started reading some fanfic. Some of the stories and chapters were all right, but a few of them, with their own prophecies for this new camp were revealing information too quickly. I lost interest in them right away. Too much was given leaving me no need to read further to find out what this would mean. It all fit too easily.
These are things you need to keep in mind with dreams and foreshadowing. They can both do amazing things for your story, but only if you do them the right way!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday's Blog Spotlight
Here we are again, with the Blog Spotlight. I will give you the link and the info about one of my faves!
Remember, if you'd like to be one of my Blog Spotlights, leave me a comment or send me an email.
Without further ado... This week's Blog Spotlight!
Remember, if you'd like to be one of my Blog Spotlights, leave me a comment or send me an email.
Without further ado... This week's Blog Spotlight!
Seeking The Write Life
Blog Created by: Aimee L Salter
What can you find there?
This blog was created by a writer for other writers. She has great advice for each step in the process of writing. Trying to come up with a concept, she has tips to help you on your way. Trying the self edit route? She's got an entire series of posts for you. And they're all amazingly helpful and easy.
Interesting Things to find there:
One of the coolest things I've seen on Aimee's blog is the Twilight Debate. It wasn't just a couple posts for or against, it was a week's worth of posts beginning with your take on Stephenie Meyer and her success and then the for and against the messages in the book. It was very thurough.
Why I love it:
There is just so much info. If there is anything, as a writer, that you need help with, she's sure to have a post (or five) about it. And she does it in a way that makes it easy to understand a follow through on.
If you haven't checked out Aimee's blog yet, you need to head over there ASAP. Again, here's the link. When you're finished over there, pop back over and tell me what you thought. If you've already been over there, you should leave a comment about what you thought so other's will know. Thanks much. And that's it for this week's Blog Spotlight.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Where have I been...
Agh! I disappeared again! What's wrong with me? :: facedesk ::
Actually, I've had a really busy week. All last week I was patiently watching USPS trackers to find out when my new books would come in. Oh there were quite a few, too. I so rarely splurge the way I did at the beginning of last week. I got the Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures as a reference book for a series I plan to write in the next couple years. I've peeked around in it, and its fabulous. Also, I bought "The Princess Bride: S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure" which I just finished reading followed by, that's right, the movie. I also got a couple others.
The first book which I read straight through (took me all night, didn't make for good work the next morning) is "You Might Be a Zombie: And Other Bad News." This book, which I would not really call a story, is a series of articles from the team of writers over at Cracked.com. The book includes things like "Six Cute Animals That Will Destroy You," "Five Ways Your Brain is Screwing With Your Head," and of course, five things scientists say will lead to the Zombie Apocolypse. If you've never checked out Cracked.com, I encourage it, and the book was hilarious and very insightful. I think I may get an extra copy and give it away in the future. (Hint Hint)
The final book I got was "Apocalypse How: Turn the End Times Into the Best of Times" Again, this book was hilarious! The book goes through everything from food (recipes included) to clothing, to making that cave or bunker look like a home. There are constant references to other chapters and tons of footnotes. I loved it, and moreso, I loved that it was in full color. Every page is unique and it just adds to it. Another great read, and something you should get before its too late. Who knows how you'll fare when the Ape Overlords are telling us what to do. :D
Of course, that isn't all I've done this week. With my novel being done, I found a site that would print it for me (at a decent cost, too) and send me a couple copies. So I did that. Why? Well, its easier for me to see problems in a BOOK. Looking at the computer screen, it all starts to blend together. I found, my book isn't really done yet, there are still some mistakes I can't believe I missed. It sucks, but I'm not detered. Also, the boyfriend has been wanting to read it since I finished it, and now he finally has the chance (really hoping he misses the mistakes I've found, though) and not only that, but it gives him some pretty decent bragging rights too. So, theres that.
All in all, I got six books on Monday, and I've finished every last one of them. One even got added to my Comfort Reading List.
So, that's that. I'll be back to my regularly scheduled stuff by Sunday (have to work tomorrow and rest on Saturday) and am super excited about the upcoming short story contest and blogest in the next couple weeks!
Actually, I've had a really busy week. All last week I was patiently watching USPS trackers to find out when my new books would come in. Oh there were quite a few, too. I so rarely splurge the way I did at the beginning of last week. I got the Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures as a reference book for a series I plan to write in the next couple years. I've peeked around in it, and its fabulous. Also, I bought "The Princess Bride: S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure" which I just finished reading followed by, that's right, the movie. I also got a couple others.
The first book which I read straight through (took me all night, didn't make for good work the next morning) is "You Might Be a Zombie: And Other Bad News." This book, which I would not really call a story, is a series of articles from the team of writers over at Cracked.com. The book includes things like "Six Cute Animals That Will Destroy You," "Five Ways Your Brain is Screwing With Your Head," and of course, five things scientists say will lead to the Zombie Apocolypse. If you've never checked out Cracked.com, I encourage it, and the book was hilarious and very insightful. I think I may get an extra copy and give it away in the future. (Hint Hint)
The final book I got was "Apocalypse How: Turn the End Times Into the Best of Times" Again, this book was hilarious! The book goes through everything from food (recipes included) to clothing, to making that cave or bunker look like a home. There are constant references to other chapters and tons of footnotes. I loved it, and moreso, I loved that it was in full color. Every page is unique and it just adds to it. Another great read, and something you should get before its too late. Who knows how you'll fare when the Ape Overlords are telling us what to do. :D
Of course, that isn't all I've done this week. With my novel being done, I found a site that would print it for me (at a decent cost, too) and send me a couple copies. So I did that. Why? Well, its easier for me to see problems in a BOOK. Looking at the computer screen, it all starts to blend together. I found, my book isn't really done yet, there are still some mistakes I can't believe I missed. It sucks, but I'm not detered. Also, the boyfriend has been wanting to read it since I finished it, and now he finally has the chance (really hoping he misses the mistakes I've found, though) and not only that, but it gives him some pretty decent bragging rights too. So, theres that.
All in all, I got six books on Monday, and I've finished every last one of them. One even got added to my Comfort Reading List.
So, that's that. I'll be back to my regularly scheduled stuff by Sunday (have to work tomorrow and rest on Saturday) and am super excited about the upcoming short story contest and blogest in the next couple weeks!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Those Pesky -ly words
Did you know the -ly words (also known as empty adverbs) are listed as one of the top ten most avoidable mistakes that will get your manuscript thrown out by a prospective editor or agent? The reason I bring this up is because I've been noticing A LOT of them in my current WIP. I realize I'm still only on edit #1, but holy cow (and no, holy does not count!) there are a ton of them suckers. Quietly, softly, quickly, blah blah blah. It really amazes me how fast they suck the enjoyment out of a scene. She touched his face softly. Really? I think I may go throw up loudly. Do you mind? No? Good.
I want to fix them right now! There's a small problem with that, though. I'm over half way done with my edit. It will take all of the motivation I have (which is a complete surprise, so I'm not willing to do anything to comprimise it) and toss it out the window to start from square one here.
So, I have a plan, and you may want to do this with your own WIP. That is, assuming you are at the edit phase of the story. WHEN I finish with what I'm trying to do (which is clean the story up in general and fill plot holes) I'm going to go back to the beginning and I'm going to hunt down every last one of those little plot parasites. Because that's exactly what they are. They're worse than weeds, and the only way to fix the problem is to kill them. You can call me Haley Jo, -ly Hunter! Well... maybe I could use a little more work on the title.
But how do you fix this problem? What can you do to get rid of all those pesky -ly empty adverb words? Here's an example of how you can do it:
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.
That's the sentence I wrote the first time around. I have to be able to say the same thing without telling, using passive voice, or that (bleh) -ly word hanging there at the end, poisoning the whole thing.
First of all, how is someone kissed hungrily? What exactly does it mean? Better yet, what does it look like? Feel like? It could look something like:
He pulled her into his arms, his full lips crashing down onto hers, molding them against his as he tasted her sweetness on his tongue.
Too corny?
On the bright side, that nasty -ly word is gone and this sentence gives you so much more than the last. Getting rid of 90% of those words, might get me to my 70k goal alone. I just have to be careful. If I get rid of too many of them, the story might become a little wordy. (EEK!) And no one (me) wants that.
I want to fix them right now! There's a small problem with that, though. I'm over half way done with my edit. It will take all of the motivation I have (which is a complete surprise, so I'm not willing to do anything to comprimise it) and toss it out the window to start from square one here.
So, I have a plan, and you may want to do this with your own WIP. That is, assuming you are at the edit phase of the story. WHEN I finish with what I'm trying to do (which is clean the story up in general and fill plot holes) I'm going to go back to the beginning and I'm going to hunt down every last one of those little plot parasites. Because that's exactly what they are. They're worse than weeds, and the only way to fix the problem is to kill them. You can call me Haley Jo, -ly Hunter! Well... maybe I could use a little more work on the title.
But how do you fix this problem? What can you do to get rid of all those pesky -ly empty adverb words? Here's an example of how you can do it:
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.
That's the sentence I wrote the first time around. I have to be able to say the same thing without telling, using passive voice, or that (bleh) -ly word hanging there at the end, poisoning the whole thing.
First of all, how is someone kissed hungrily? What exactly does it mean? Better yet, what does it look like? Feel like? It could look something like:
He pulled her into his arms, his full lips crashing down onto hers, molding them against his as he tasted her sweetness on his tongue.
Too corny?
On the bright side, that nasty -ly word is gone and this sentence gives you so much more than the last. Getting rid of 90% of those words, might get me to my 70k goal alone. I just have to be careful. If I get rid of too many of them, the story might become a little wordy. (EEK!) And no one (me) wants that.
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