RePost: Revising and Editing Part 3

Great advice on editing your novel (more or less) from people who know what they're talking about:

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph. ~Mark Twain

The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. ~Mark Twain

An author should
... Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it
... Use the right word, not its second cousin.
~Mark Twain

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Substitute “d***” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. ~Ray Bradbury

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury

Vigorous writing is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.


Parts 1 and 2 on Revising and Editing have more practical resources, if you're interested.

Getting Nit Picky with Your Manuscript

So, when you think you have your basic plot nailed down and everything is in its place, what's that last step? Line editing! (Oh joy. Rapture.)

To help out with this oh-so-fun task, I have a few links to share. (Hey, it's what I do.)

The Infinite Checklist of Writing Tips has all those things you tend to forget, like eliminating "felt" and "started to". Excellent source to keep on hand.

Something I struggle with (especially when I write present-tense) is Cutting the Passive Voice, courtesy of Jennifer Walkup.

And you know those annoying words and phrases that everyone gets wrong? Altogether vs. all together, adverse vs. averse, bemused vs. amused. Yeah, here's a list of them: More Commonly Misused Words. Thank you to people like Meghan Ward. You keep me sane.

Revision Part 4

This week, I'm giving you more links and advice on revision. I've covered this topic before in a three-part series. Here's a link to Part 1 of Revising.

But these are new links--so much better than the ones posted way back in December. (Okay, maybe not. You be the judge.)

I'll start off with the YA Highway's Survivor's Guide to Revisions: A step-by-step process for taking your manuscript apart and putting it back together.

Then there are the Dames. They've provided a great checklist for your manuscript. This is a great post if you *think* it's ready to send out into the world.
Also, one of the dames gives her personal take on revision with some interesting humor--how revision is like being in a cave.

Finally, when all is said and done, you think you're ready to submit. You research agents and *carefully* read their submission guidelines only to discover that your novel isn't the right word length! (Oh no!)

You can get advice from all over the place, telling you how long your book should be. But very few explain the why. Here are the Economics of Word Count by Lucienne Diver.

Writing and Parenting: Baby Steps is Still Progress

Early Tuesday post this week. I need to share my morning with you. I'm not sure how many of you have kids, but I think the message applies to anyone with a busy or unpredictable schedule.

Lately, my toddler has been sleeping in a big girl bed. While this is fantastic and exercises her independence, she's become extra... well... independent. She wakes up early and demands that we join her. Normally, a 7:00 wake-up call would be something I could get used to, but my hubby hasn't been sleeping well lately and I'm still getting over pregnancy exhaustion.

Still, as long as my girl has a sippy cup of milk and a movie playing, she's pretty happy. So I pulled out my book to get some editing in. I got three pages done before she decided she wanted to "color" too. I gave her a blank sheet of paper and a pen, reminding her to only color on paper.

I didn't finish the page I was on before she started drawing on herself. Of course, I took the pen away. Now she has to sit right next to me while she watches her movie. No paper allowed. No pens. No books. For some reason the computer's okay though.

So, I'll count this morning as a small victory. I got something done (and found some stiff dialogue and some places that need more description and emotion). Good stuff. I'll finish the day's work when my little girl goes down for a nap.

The small stuff counts. It's still progress. If I waited until I had a huge chunk of time, I'd never get anything done. Big chunks of time are hardly ever planned anyway. I usually sit down for what I think will only be twenty minutes and am pleasantly surprised that I managed to write for an hour and a half before ... the baby wakes up, the husband gets home, the rain lets up, the dog needs a walk, or whatever.

Move forward as OFTEN as you can!

Still Editing? Here ya go.

So, I'm still editing the first draft of Song of the Muse. I've barely put a dent in it. Embarrassing, I know.

But I did find a couple of great links to help you, if you're in the same stages of your journey. (If not, just bookmark it. )

Author Natalie Whipple was kind of enough to compile a list of her common first-draft mistakes.

and here are 6 Ways to Ensure All Your All Your Scenes "Play". Basically, a short checklist to make sure each scene in your novel doesn't put the reader to sleep. Always a good thing ;)

Revising a Rough Draft (Really Rough) Part 4

Okay, I found one more link to help with revising. It's actually ten links wrapped all into one. Ten authors give their tips for revising. Some say to start small and then do big revisions, others say the opposite. They're all good tips, if for different reasons. I think you just have to find what works for you.

Right now, I'm struggling with big stuff in Shadow Bound--reworking the voice mostly-- and EVERYTHING in Song of the Muse. Man, NaNo's are hard to edit!

What Now? Life after the manuscript.

I think the manuscript is ready for submission. So right now, I'm nervous. I don't want to get my hopes up and then be let down, but I really think this one has a shot. It's ten times better than my last novel.

I've already sent 7 queries--my top picks. I'm on edge, expecting a reply any day, though it could take months. I'm still researching queries and agents and all that good stuff. I think I'll write another post on the subject, since I've found some good stuff.

So for the rest of the month, I'll submit my story to a few agents a day until I've exhausted my list of potentials. Starting October 1, I'll begin planning my phantom novel :) I'm excited about that. I may not be able to wait.

Most Productive Day. Ever.

Sometimes, the Muse sings. Sometimes, you have a really good work day and you get a lot done. Sometimes they both happen at once and you get a massive amount of genius. Yeah, I don't mean to brag, but today was a massive amount of genius.

As I edited my first draft today, I found that a few scenes were missing. So I added those. I typed up the pages I had marked from my hard copy pass, too. Overall, I edited 36 pages of manuscript and added nearly 4,200 words to the original work!
Thanks to Liquid Story Binder, I know that it took me all of six hours of actual work to do it.

I have never written that many words in one day before. Ever. Not in first drafts, not during NaNoWriMo. 4,200 words is a lot. To put it in perspective, if I wrote this many words every day, I could finish a novel in 12 days.

So, bear with me as I bask in my own glory. **sigh** ;)


**Just a side note, I'm not that into myself. It's supposed to be funny

Question & Answer: Where are you in the process?

I thought I'd do a short update post in response to a comment on my post How to Submit and Query Agents, Part 3:

Wow, Emily. I like your blog. It has a lot of useful information. I have a question for you: Have you actually started the Query process? Or are you working on your Query letter? Have you gotten any bites? I'm interested to know what you are going through right now with your novel and if you think you spent enough time revising it or not.

Reply:
Thanks, I'm glad to hear my blog is helpful! I queried for my last manuscript (a lot). No bites on that one.
For my current project, I'm compiling a list of possibilites (I have about 20 so far). I'm also working on my query letter in between editing sessions. I think it's pretty polished up at this point and may be done.
I think Holly's one-pass is working really well, but I think I'll print it out when I'm done and read through it (maybe out loud) to catch any little things I may have missed.

Moving Right Along in the Novel-Writing Process

I'm done with my hard edit (scribbling in my printed out first draft)! It took me two and a half weeks. The biggest ploblem I had was that there was too much to add. I couldn't write it all in. My muse hates longhand, but she sings when I'm at a keyboard. I have references, hints, action, entire scenes that I want to add to my book, but didn't write in. (Not in any detail, anyway.) So I ask myself: How do I make sure I get everything in?

One thing on my to-do list is to type up a synopsis. Preferably one page, since then I can send that to agents upon request. So, since I've stolen about four days from my work schedule, I'm going to write up that synopsis this weekend (AFTER I get my homework done, of course). I'll type up everything that happens in my book, and in another color, type in everything that I want to happen that's not in my book. (I'll trim it down to one page next month.)

Then, starting September 1, I'll edit my novel on the computer using all the marks and changes I wrote in the hard copy as well as all the additions I put into the synopsis.

Keeping a writing journal has been so helpful. I never realized how many steps are actually involved in writing a novel. So far I'm done with the planning, first draft, and hard edit. Then I have the synopsis, soft edit, quick read-over, query letter, and submitions to agents. And then I'm dependent upon other people to progress much further than that.

It's a tough gig. I only do it because I have to :) (My muse is making me!)

How to Cope with a Writing Workshop

I had my first Advanced Fiction Workshop this week, and I think I'll keep going. Our first assignment is people-watching, which I need to do more of. This class will be good for me. Looking at the assignments, I can see that there's a lot that I would never do on my own.

We'll be writing a short short story (2-3 pages--yikes!) every WEEK for the first half of the semester.

I'm intimidated. Getting a full story in three pages is just plain scary. Not to mention the fact that I need to come up with a new story idea on a weekly basis...

ON TOP OF revising and rewriting Shadow Bound AND planning and writing my phantom novel.

Our last day of class is November 30th. How inconvenient. This means crunch time falls right in line with NaNoWriMo. I'll definitely have my hands full.

But it's worth it. I'll grow as a writer and I'll get to use some techniques from Think Sideways. In the first month of the course, we're taught to "summon lightning", or a story idea. I did it, but I wasn't looking for a new story idea at the time. Now I'll get to put it to good use. :)

There's also a later lesson on using "spies" -- basically, people who know more about what you're writing than you do. For example, I ask a doctor about hospital procedures so my writing is more authentic. Well, guess what? One of our assignments is to write a story that requires research and an interview. Nice how that works out.

Revising and Editing Part 3: Fun Quotes from the Masters

Great advice on editing your novel (more or less) from people who know what they're talking about:

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph. ~Mark Twain

The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. ~Mark Twain

An author should
... Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it
... Use the right word, not its second cousin.
~Mark Twain

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Substitute “d***” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. ~Ray Bradbury

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury

Vigorous writing is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.


Parts 1 and 2 on Revising and Editing have more practical resources, if you're interested.

Editing and Revising: Part 2

Here are some articles I've found that may help you on your journey through your rough draft:

First and foremost, Holly's one-pass revision. I edit using this method, and tweak it to fit my current project, whatever it may be. I use the articles below to help with specifics, but you may find they're a better fit than Holly's.
(If you like this one, Holly's talking about creating an entire course devoted to revising.)

First, The Blood-Red Pencil has an article on how to see if there are problems with your manuscript without even reading anything. This is a great technique you can use before digging in. I scan each page for the problems listed here, then I get my hands dirty :)

On the same blog, there's a guest post called Top Ten Things I Know About Editing. I can say from personal experience that reading your work aloud is an excellent way to catch pacing problems and echoes.

Deadline Dames is one of my favorite blogs. They have a great article on revising that's entertaining to read. At the bottom, they have a thorough checklist that I use all the time.

Be wary of clichés. They're so easy to use and so difficult to catch and weed out, but if you can find a unique way of describing something, your story will sing. Clichés and Descriptions has a number of examples.

Rachelle Gardner, a well-known literary agent, put together another nice little checklist on things you should cut in order to Tighten Up Your Manuscript.

One of the most important things you can do when you edit is to use powerful verbs. Too often, we as writers litter our work with "to be" verbs, when there's an excellent verb that not only provides the same meaning, but paints a specific picture using fewer words. This article is also from the Blood-Red Pencil.

And finally, if you want a thorough, descriptive list, here's The Ten Mistakes by Holt Uncensored. Like I said, it's thorough.

The first part of this article can be found here.
The third section on editing is really just for fun. I'll post some amusing quotes :)

Revising Tips - Everything A Writer Needs to Know About Editing

Revising a manuscript is both fun and tedious. It's fun because you get to transform your manuscript, your baby, into something wonderful. Your story becomes a creative work.

Besides that, going back and editing your manuscript before submission is necessary.

It's mandatory. Trust me.

When an agent says they want a polished, complete novel, they mean it. This means you go through your book (that you've printed out!) and check grammar, spelling, and punctuation ON TOP OF making sure your characters develop nicely, and your secondary characters are really needed, your pacing is spot on, your plot doesn't sag, your story progresses logically.... the list seems endless.

And that's why it's tedious. There's so much you need to worry about.
Some writers go through the manuscript eight or nine times or MORE. Each time, they edit for something different. It works for some people. Not for me. By the time I've read the same story twice, I want to be done with it, and every edit after that point is nearly useless.

I've tried the "edit as you go" method, but I got so sick of reading my first two chapters that I wasn't able to look at them with a critical eye any more. (That's another reason why you don't want to edit more times than you have to -- you tend to read over more mistakes when you know what's coming.)

The fewer times you have to read a paragraph, the more ideas will come and the more mistakes you'll see. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's proven true in my writing countless times. If I read chapter 1 for the first time after writing it (and I haven't seen it for at least a couple of weeks), I catch maybe 85-90% of the mistakes in it. My muse throws out a couple of ideas for better character development and subplots, which I may or may not use. It's also easier for me to step back from the story and see it from a reader's perspective, rather than the creator's perspective.

If I read that same chapter a second time, I may catch 50-60% of the remaining mistakes. After that, I'll be lucky to find any problems with the manuscript. I'm no longer an objective reader. That's where the help comes in. Writing groups, friends, anyone you trust who would be good at editing should find 85-90% of the remaining problems with your work. (Note: they may find "problems" with things that are just fine. Use discretion when accepting help.)

In the second part of my series on revising, I'll give you a variety of opinions on the subject -- a list of articles that I've found helpful.

How to Get More Writing Done

I'm back from my little experiment. I took off nearly a week from the internet in order to get more writing done.

First, if you think you might want to do this, you need to realize that if you shut down your internet access (and, as I did, your computer access) that a bunch of other things will try to fill in your time gap. I had no idea how many things I wasn't doing. Seriously.

But, not having the distraction of the computer did help my writing. No question. I revised a huge chunk of my book and wasn't pressured by my goal of fifteen pages a day. I hit the mark with ease :)

I was more focused when I wasn't working, too. If I was doing something else, my mind was a little clearer and I could think about my writing and what I wanted to change, and all that good stuff, so I was more efficient when I did sit down to work.

And when I came back? I turned on my computer and sorted through emails, checked (and read) the blogs I follow, checked and replied to a slew of forum posts, checked facebook, etc... all in about three and a half hours! Over the course of five days, I usually spend closer to ten hours doing all that stuff. An amazing time saver, though I may have missed some stuff.

So, I'm halfway done with the hard copy edit of my ghost novel. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, then do my soft copy edit. (Basically, going back and typing in all the edits and notes I made on the hard copy.) That leaves me with querying agents. I should be done with plenty of time to plan my phantom novel for November.

So, my next post will be on revising a manuscript. I've searched for different methods in preparation for what I'm doing now, and I'll share the best of it with you.

Tomorrow. I'm exhausted.

Hope all is going well with your writing!

Great Place to Revise: Bookstores

Revising is exciting. I keep telling myself that anyway. The first thirty minutes or so are enjoyable, but then I get bogged down in a character issue or weak dialog. I can't seem to keep myself editing for more than an hour and a half straight.

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble in the mall to do my revisions. The change of scenery was just what I needed! I browsed some books to get myself in the right place mentally, then sat down at a little table and spread my work out in front of me. I worked for an hour and a half straight. There are a couple of fun little things about doing my work in the bookstore, rather than at home:

1) I'm surrounded by people who love books. I love hearing people comment on what they see on the shelves, or watch how they move from subject to subject. This lady came to collect her husband, telling him she was done and they could go, but when she saw the bookshelf next to him, she became interested in some craft books.

2) The music can be inspiring. When I first arrived, some teeny-pop songs I had never heard before were playing. This is great, since I'm writing young adult.
Then, it gradually changed to some very old-fashioned music. An older gentleman who sat nearby hummed quietly along with "You Are My Sunshine". It was so cute! What's particularly wonderful about this is that the guy was right around the age of a couple of characters I was editing. (Talk about coincidence.) I added "You Are My Sunshine" to my book because of this. I think it adds nice detail to the characters.

3) I can test the markets while I work. A girl (maybe 15 years old) came in with her mom and began sifting through some books on display. She said, "I'm so tired of vampire novels."
Seriously. She said that.

Now, I do my share of research. Not a lot of marketing, but I get bits and pieces. Vampires are still (surprisingly) very popular. I've been under the impression that they'll soon be on the decline. (There are SO many vampire books out right now, the market is flooded.) But, hearing it from a potential future customer was so cool! Think of all the things I might pick up on if I go there regularly. I'll definitely hang out in the teen section more often.

By the way, according to my sources, zombies are going to be the next big thing in teen fiction. (Who knew?) I'll probably shy away from this trend, but it's good to know.

Other conveniences:
It's close, there's food and hot chocolate if I need a break but I'm not ready to go home, I have the whole mall at my disposal, and I can pick up a book if I feel so inclined. (That last one may be a little dangerous to my pocketbook.) :)

Preparing to Revise My Novel (aka: Cramming)

This week I'm preparing for my big edit. Yes, the once-over. This involves printing out all my note cards, chapter notes-to-self, and advice from my critique group. I'm also flying through my Think Sideways lessons as fast as I can so I have as much stuffed into my head before I dive in.

The process makes me feel like I'm cramming for a final exam. I have that fuzzy, tired feeling behind my eyes that demands that I stop staring at words on my computer screen.

But it's worth it. I'll get into my manuscript, tear it apart, and come out with a polished draft that's ready for submission.

My biggest problem right now is trying to remember everything I need to edit. Grammar, character, scene, plot, sensory details -- and that's not even half of it. I'm probably forgetting the other half.

I'm guessing it'll take three weeks. We'll see.

Sample Scenes: Good and Bad, and How to Fix Them

For the past couple of days, I've been working on Lesson 8 of Think Sideways. So far, I have written a Sentence Lite describing each one of my 54 scenes (a few of which haven't been written yet). As I mentioned before, some of my scenes have everything they need.

Others have been found lacking.

So as part of my process I've decided to post some of my less-than-savory scene sentences. As I revise them, you should be able to see an improvement (I hope).
WARNING: SPOILERS. Stop reading this post if you don't want to read them!

But first, so you can see 1) what does work, 2) what I'm aiming for, and 3) that there is some hope for me as a writer, I'm going to post a couple of sentences that I'm pleased with.

Here, we have protagonist (Nathan) against the antagonist (burning wreckage) in a conflict (fighting to save Rachel's life) with a twist (Nathan is a ghost, but is somehow able to pull Rachel to safety). The setting is embedded in the antagonist: burning wreckage.

The protagonist (Rachel) against the antagonist (the shade) in conflict (an attack that causes Rachel to lose consciousness) with a twist (the shade was waiting for her).
This one isn't quite twisty enough and could use some tweaking.

So here it goes. My crappy scenes:

Okay "introduces" and "explaining" are not conflict. They are boring. There isn't an antagonist. I suppose Nathan's unique situation could be a twist, but it's not a very good one. See the fixed version here.

Again, a conversation isn't conflict. For there to be conflict in dialogue, they have to want different things or there has to be some subtext that causes conflict. The improved scene is here.

While this is great news for Lisa, there isn't much conflict. The scene needs some work and the sentence needs a LOT of work. Mostly, Rachel is suspicious of Kevin, but doesn't want to disappoint her friend. That's the conflict, but it could be better. Improved scene: here.

Learning is not conflict. Nor is a discussion. There needs to be more tension. There needs to be something at stake here. See the improved version of this scene.

I think the scene is okay, but the sentence needs reworking. The verbs aren't very strong and don't convey any tension. Here's the improved scene.

So there you have it. 5 scenes in desperate need of a makeover. Let's see what I can do.

Here are the before and after shots of my first three scenes.

Okay, New Plan

I just finished Lesson 8 of How to Think Sideways and, to be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed. Basically, the lesson says to write a sentence (called the Sentence Lite) for each scene that describes the protagonist, her conflict, the obstacle/antagonist, the twist, and maybe the setting. If you don't have these, then the scene is incomplete. Thinking back, I'm glad I have SOME scenes with all of these elements, but there are a lot of scenes that don't.

So, I need to go back, make a plot card for each scene with the complete Sencence Lite on each one, and figure out how much I have to revamp.

This is really going to help my writing. Now that I'm more aware, the scenes with all of these elements are the best scenes in Shadows. Now I have the tools to make every scene just as good. This is going to be a challenge.

I knew I'd have a lot of work to do. Don't get me wrong. But now that it's time to get crackin' I'm nervous. How much will I have to cut? How much will I need to rewrite? Will I have enough time to plan my phantom novel before November?

Stay tuned.

First Draft Done!

I finished my first draft which, as I suspected, came up short at 37,800 words. The planned add-in chapters are gonna make it so much deeper. Lots of goodies--conflict, character, and of course more romance between Rachel and Nathan.

I'll take a short break (as long as I can anyway) and then add in those chapters and scenes. Then I'll take a week off followed by a hard edit. That should be fun to track. :/