- June 19, 2013
8 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Editing , Feature , proofreading , revision , smart-edit , tutorial
First drafts are our agony and our ecstasy. This
where our glistening ideas spill onto the page. This is where we get to play
around with our ideas, see our characters grow and our themes mature. First
drafts are fun. They’re our creative playground.
But they’re also tough. Our words on paper rarely measure up
to the sparkling perfection of the ideas in our heads. We run into plot holes,
creative blocks, stubborn characters, and personal doubts. We want so badly to
get our first drafts right—both on
the general principle of wanting to do our story justice and to spare ourselves
the work of intensive edits later on.
And this is where we can run into problems. We can start
getting all obsessive-compulsive about creating a perfect first draft—and we
end by totally psyching ourselves out. It’s not a pretty picture.
Hi, my name is K.M. Weiland, and I was a first draft over-thinker
I admit it: I’m just a tad obsessive. And compulsive. And
perfectionistic. Bad combo. Up until my first book, A Man Called Outlaw, was published, this wasn’t such a problem. I
just wrote for myself, so I was putting way less pressure on the process of
that first draft. But after I came to that always shocking realization that Real
Live Readers were actually reading my words, something painful started
happening.
By the time of Outlaw’s
publication, Behold the Dawn’s first
draft was already completed, so it didn’t suffer the wrath of what I like to
call First Draft Fallout. But Dreamlander
and my not-yet-published historical novel The Deepest Breath sure did.
What was happening to me? Mostly, it all boiled down to one
fear-inducing word: over-thinking.
Instead of letting my words just pour out of me whenever I sat down to write
these first drafts, I instead sat there and thought. And thought and thought.
Write a paragraph. Read it. Think about it. Obsess about
word choice. Obsess about how the characters are coming across. Fuss about
thematic implications. Drive self crazy. Rewrite paragraph. Sit and stare at screen.
Write a new paragraph.
The problem with over-thinking your first draft
Sound painful? It is. I’ll bet it also sounds super familiar
to a lot of you. Authors are under a ton of pressure to get it right. And instead of being mitigated once you have a reading
public, it only gets worse (à la the sophomore novel problem). Not only do we
have to write something that’s good enough to compete in an increasingly
competitive marketplace, we also have to write something that will optimally
keep us from gathering too many scathing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Instead of sitting at our desks and thinking about our
stories, we sit there and think about How to Be an Awesome Writer. I’ll let you
in on a little secret: this is not a good plan. How to Be an Awesome Writer is a great way to instead discover How to Write a Pompous, Lousy, Unfun, Totally Difficult First Draft.
Fiction is an amalgam of art and craft. We can think about
craft. We should think about craft.
Craft is an analytic, left-brain exercise. Art, on the hand, is a deeply
subconscious, emotional journey. We shouldn’t think too hard about that—at least,
not while we’re in the act. Thinking too hard dries up the creative side of the
brain and dams up that subconscious flow of ideas, words, and images.
The result? A miserable writer and a tough (and probably bad)
first draft.
The remedy for over-thinking in the first draft
How do we fix this all too prevalent problem? The answer is
simple. The implementation, however, isn’t always so easy. The great Richard Bach, in his short story
and essay anthology A Gift of Wings, spells it out:
It took time to learn that the hard thing about writing is to let the story write itself, while one sits at the typewriter and does as little thinking as possible. It happened over and over again, and the beginner learned—when you start puzzling over an idea, and slowing down on the keys, the writing gets worse and worse.
For me, the cure came when I started in on a major rewrite of Dreamlander.
I was closing in on a deadline, and, quite frankly, I just didn’t have the
time to sit and think about every paragraph. I sat down, and I wrote. My
fingers flew across those keys. It felt like a miracle, after those two
pulling-teeth first drafts I’d just finished, and it made me realize two things:
1. My writing was fun
again.
2. My writing was better
again.
As soon as I stopped over-thinking
my process, my infernal internal editor shut up, my characters started talking to
me again, and my writing improved vastly. Turned out the very thing I thought
was helping me be a good
writer was holding me back.
Stop over-thinking your first draft, start editing your second draft
Will resisting the urge to over-think produce a better first
draft? Yes. Will it produce a perfect first draft? No. But that’s what editing is for.
Editing, as a left-brain aspect of the process, is supposed to be
thought about. The first draft isn’t. The first draft is the place to smear
your raw creativity onto the page. Don’t worry about being awesome. Don’t worry
about being perfect. Just have fun. Live your story; find your awe. Don’t think
too hard about what you’re doing until after
you’ve done it.
Tell me your opinion: Do you ever struggle with over-thinking your first draft?
Related Posts: Should You Edit as You Go?
8 Reasons to Let Your Story Ripen
Why You Should Kick Your Story Aside and Write Another One
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: Do you ever struggle with over-thinking your first draft?
Related Posts: Should You Edit as You Go?
8 Reasons to Let Your Story Ripen
Why You Should Kick Your Story Aside and Write Another One
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).- June 16, 2013
34 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Creativity , Feature , first draft , Left Brain , Right Brain , sophomore novel , writer's block , Writing Life
This post is by Chrystle Fiedler.
Natural remedies have been
a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, my mother
practiced natural cures such as tea bag baths for sunburn, homeopathic remedies
for colds and allergies, arnica oil for sprains and bruises and, of course, chicken
soup with garlic was always a staple. I’ve used this passion to fuel my journalism,
non-fiction, and cozy mysteries too. Today, I’ll show you how I
did it and how you can too!
The Path to Finding My Passion
My journey to becoming a published
writer/author began after I graduated from Boston University with a degree in communications.
But it wasn’t a straight path. I was young, I was unfocused and I tried everything.
I had over sixty jobs, including working in advertising, newspapers, radio, and television
writing and production in Hollywood. But none of it felt like the right path.
After much soul searching and
advice from others, I decided that I wanted to be a magazine writer. The idea of
being my own boss was very appealing and I also wanted to help others by providing
useful information through the written word.
So, in 1998, I moved from California
back to my hometown of Greenport, New York, and started my new career. I knew I wanted to write about health, specifically natural health. Once I focused
on what I wanted to do, my passion became clear. Since then, I’ve written articles
about natural health for many magazines including Woman’s Day, Natural Health, BetterHomes & Gardens, Vegetarian Times, and Remedy.
This led to writing non-fiction
books about natural remedies: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Remedies, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies with herbalist Brigitte Mars, and the BeatSugar Addiction Now! series with Dr.
Jacob Teitelbaum, a holistic MD.
Writing Cozy Mysteries, Naturally
When it came to fiction, my
agent Ann Collette of the Helen Rees Agency in Boston, suggested I use my
background in natural remedies to create a cozy mystery. The Natural Remedies mystery
series was born and thankfully contracted by Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
in 2011.
Writing mysteries is the most
fun because I get to create my own unique universe and populate it with interesting
and lovable characters. I’ve chosen to make my protagonist a naturopathic doctor
named Willow McQuade, ND, who also owns and runs a health food store called Nature’s
Way Market & Café in a three-story Victorian in the heart of Greenport. Her
boyfriend is a hunky ex-cop named Jackson Spade and she has a rescue dog named Qigong
(which is an ancient Chinese practice).
To reinforce the natural remedies
theme, I decided to feature a natural remedy at the beginning of each chapter and
sprinkle them throughout the book. I focus on a different type of natural cure for
each mystery. Scent to Kill focuses on aromatherapy, Death Drops focuses on various natural cures, and the book I’m writing now Garden of Death focuses on medicinal plants.
How to Find and Write About Your Unique Passion
Now that you’ve read about
what I’ve done, it’s time to think about how you can discover your own passion!
Try looking at these categories and see if it sparks an idea you can use:
Your passion might be:
- A famous person Mystery author Joanna Slan writes the Jane Eyre Chronicles, Susan Wittig Albert writes the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. What famous character or person inspired you? Who do you want to know more about?
- A time period: Do you live for the Victorian era, or anything from the 1700s? The 1800s? 1900s? Now? The future?
- A place: Another one of my driving passions is my hometown, Greenport, New York. This sleepy fishing village is now a thriving tourist destination. What place do you love to visit or dream of visiting? New York, Hawaii, or one of my favorite cities, London?
- A pet: Author Linda O. Johnston writes a cozy series about pet rescue, and I include this theme in all of my books too. Ending pet abuse is one of my passions. Do you love animals? How have they made your life better? How can they inspire your writing more?
- A practice: Tracy Weber, runs her own yoga studio and is now writing mysteries about yoga. Author Rosemary Harris is a master gardener and writes mysteries aboutgardening. Is there some practice you do that you have a passion for?
- A hobby: On the My Killer Hobbies site, the blogging sisters and I talk about how our hobbies inspired our murder mysteries. Anne Canadeo and Betty Hechtman blog about knitting, while I blog about natural remedies. Think back . . . What were your hobbies when you were growing up? For example, did you enjoy scrapbooking, photography, drawing, or collecting books, stamps, or dolls? What hobby do you enjoy now? Can you see a way to write a story about it?
- An interest: Are you crazy about coffee like Cleo Coyle or nuts about cheese like Avery Aames? What can’t you get enough information about? What kind of magazines do you read? What articles interest you the most?
Let Your Imagination Run Wild!
One of the first steps in finding your
passion is to think about these categories. Let
them run through your mind when you walk your dog or take a shower or are cooking
dinner. Play with them, imagine, and keep the portal open. Write down all of the thoughts
and don’t judge them! You are learning
about yourself, what interests you, and what you want to pursue and create around.
Once you figure out what your passion
is, consider how you might use it in your writing:
- If you want to write a cozy mystery think of a world you could create that features your passion. What might your protagonist do for a living? Where do they live?
- If you want to write a novel, think about how your passion might make your characters more three-dimensional and real.
- If you want to write non-fiction, think about how you might translate your passion into a non-fiction book proposal.
- If you want to write a story about your hobby as a journalist, research publications that might be interested and pitch ideas to editors.
Whatever you do, remember, the most
important thing is to relax, open your mind and have fun with the process! Please
share what you’ve learned.
If you post
a comment here about your passion you’ll be in the drawing for 2 copies of my new
book Scent to Kill: A Natural Remedies Mystery!
About the Author: Chrystle Fiedler is the author of Scent to Kill (the second in the Natural Remedy Mystery series), Death Drops: A Natural Remedies Mystery, the non-fiction title The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Remedies, co-author of Beat Sugar Addiction Now! (currently in its fourth printing), the Beat Sugar Addiction Now! Cookbook, and The Country Almanac of Home Remedies. Chrystle’s magazine articles featuring natural
remedies have appeared in many national publications including Natural Health, Vegetarian
Times, Better Homes & Gardens, and Remedy.
Tell me your opinion: How have you incorporated your personal interests into your writing?
- June 14, 2013
19 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Creativity , Feature , Inspiration , Writing Life
This week’s video warns
against summarizing your story’s best scenes.
Video Transcript:
There’s a section I’d say, oh, about halfway through the remake of Red Dawn, in which the surviving young
people put on their game faces and start figuring out how to take the battle
back to the enemy. Under the direction of their Marine leader, they start
learning about weapons and tactics, how to work together as a group, and, in
short, how to become the kind of lean, mean fighting machine that’s going to
make the enemy’s big bad North Korean army sit up and take notice. This entire
segment is exhibited as a montage, a rapid series of shots, all meshing
together to show what’s happening over a period of time.
As soon as this section started up, I looked over at my
viewing partner and said, “I think they think they just montaged the best part
of the movie,” to which he nodded in agreement. I saw this same thing again
recently in a romantic comedy that montaged the entire segment of the couple
falling in love. As a viewer, I’m now going, “What have you done?” If a story is montaging its most
important scenes—those in which the characters are undergoing deep and
important personal changes—then you know something’s wrong. And this problem
definitely isn’t exclusive to the movies.
Sometimes authors lose sight of the scenes that really
matter in their stories. This can happen for a number of reasons, including
oversight, laziness, or even a fearful resistance to having to write these scenes.
But readers aren’t going to accept any of these excuses. If you find yourself
summarizing important or potentially juicy scenes, stop and reevaluate what
you’re doing. Whatever your reason, it’s not good enough. Readers are reading
your book because of these scenes.
They want to experience them. They want to see your characters growing and
reacting. This is a prime example of why, in most instances, it’s so important
to show rather than tell.
Tell me your opinion: Have you ever had a beta reader tell you to flesh out a scene?
Related Posts: Are You Skipping the Best Parts?
- June 12, 2013
19 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Feature , Showing , summarization , Telling
E. B. White declared, “The best writing is rewriting.” In
other words, the best writing is editing. We
find all kinds of info on how to write.
But editing can be a little more slippery. Basically, this is because good
editing skills are no different from good writing skills. If you know how to write a good plot, you’ll know how to
edit one. If you know how to edit a great beginning, you’ll know how to write
one. The storycraft is no different in writing than it is in editing.
And yet we all know the analytic editing process is totally
different from the creative writing process. When I ran a poll a few months back,
asking what subjects Wordplayers would like me to write about, one of your most
frequent requests was for more info on how I
edit my novels. Today, I’d like to share my top-to-bottom editing process: from
first draft to publication.
Step #1: The Outline
Okay, I admit, at first glance, that header probably makes
no sense. But outlining is a crucial part of my editing approach. Why?
Because if I put the time in up front to get my story right from the very
beginning, I save myself a ton of editing effort later on. One of my most
intensive editing excursions was on the only story I failed to outline at the outset.
Step #2: The Daily Edit
Before I dive into my daily writing sessions, I always take
the time to run through a little warm-up. This warm-up consists of reviewing
research notes, reviewing character sketches—and editing what I wrote the day
before. Usually, this will be a section of about 1,500 words, which will take me about twenty minutes to run through. I’ll fix any problems that
jump out at me, but for the most part, I’m focusing on correcting typos, cleaning up
prose, and fact checking.
If I know something I wrote the previous day created an
inconsistency within the earlier story, I also take this opportunity to
go back and correct it. I can’t stress enough the importance of not over-censoring yourself during the
first draft. But, at the same time, the tighter you keep this draft, the less
editing you’ll have to do later on. Don’t sweat the small stuff, but try to
keep on top of inconsistencies before they get out of hand later on.
Step #3: The 50-Page Edit
One of my favorite editing tricks is what I call the “50-Page Edit” (James Scott Bell calls it the “20,000-Word Step Back”). The number is just a rough
estimate. What I’m really doing is stopping every quarter of the book (after
every major plot point) and going back to edit the whole thing. Sometimes I’ll
print it out; sometimes I’ll just read it on the computer.
As I read through the manuscript, I’ll stop and correct anything
that jumps out me—mostly just rough prose. But the true reason for this edit is
to halt my mad dash to “the end,” regroup, and regain a focus
on the story’s big picture. Over the many weeks, or even months, it takes me to
write fifty pages, I can get so caught up in my story’s minutiae that I lose sight
of how the whole thing is hanging together—or, worse, I forget about little
details or even whole scenes that went before. Stopping every quarter of the
book not only allows me to stay on top of my story, it also makes the first big
edit at the end of the book that much easier.
Step #4: The “Final” 3 Edits
Once I’ve finished the first draft, I immediately print it
off and start editing. I do this three times in a row. At this point, thanks to
my outline and my earlier partial edits, my story should be pretty much how I originally envisioned it. It doesn’t always work out that way, of course, so I am open to
making any large changes necessary at this point (a recent WIP required I
rewrite the ending six times).
But the real point of these “final” edits is to, first, gain
an overall view of how the story turned out, and, second, to clean it up for
critique partners. If I feel the manuscript is particularly sloppy in the typo
department, I may use my third edit to have my computer or Kindle read aloud to
me while I read along. This is, bar none, the best way I know to catch typos.
Step #5: The Beta Readers Round One
After I’ve finished my three post-first draft edits, I ship
the manuscript off to my first round of critique partners. This group consists
of four people, one who is a freelance editor, two who are critical readers,
and one who is a superfan (guess whose opinion I like best?). As their
responses trickle back in, I will go ahead and make minor changes, while
writing notes about any big changes they suggest.
Step #6: The Rest
Once I’ve sent the manuscript to the first round of critters,
I don’t even think about it for a while. Let me say that again: I do not even
think about it. This is a tremendously important section. When in the heat of
writing and editing (and rewriting and editing and rinsing and repeating), we
will inevitably lose all objectivity about our stories. We have to give
ourselves some time and space to let go emotionally and to stop seeing through the rosy lenses of what we think
we’ve written, instead of what’s really there. I’m often amazed by how
differently a story looks after a few months of away time.
Step #7: The First Big Edit
Depending on my schedule and what other big projects I have
going on, I will usually pull the manuscript out of the closet about six months
after sending it to the beta readers. I go over my notes from their edits as
well as any thoughts I’ve had during the intervening time, and I organize them
chronologically within the story. Using Track Changes in Word, I will write
the notes in as comments and attach them to the pertinent points in the story.
If I have any notes that apply to the story as a whole, I’ll list them in
order of importance and stick them on a blank page at the beginning of the
manuscript.
I’ll usually do this edit on the computer, since it often involves big changes. Before each editing session, I’ll
review the overall ideas I want to keep I mind. Then, starting at the beginning,
I’ll read right on through the whole thing, stopping where necessary to
heed my notes. Depending on how messy the story ended up being, this edit might
be anything from a basic read-through with a few tweaks or a massive rewrite
that takes months.
Step #7.1: The Proofread
If the previous edit/rewrite was particularly massive, I
may print off the manuscript and proofread it one to three times to clean
up any resulting typos and inconsistencies.
Step #8: The Beta Readers Round Two, Rest Round Two
Once that big edit is over, I send the manuscript on to the
next round of readers. More than huge, critical plot tweaks, what I’m looking
for from these readers is simply answers to the questions, “Does this work for you?”
“Does this make sense?” “Do you like it?” If I’m on the right track, these readers
provide a boost of confidence, which is always nice at this point, after
the major critical responses from the first batch of critiquers. During this
period, I’m once again ignoring the story and letting it “rest.”
Step #9: The Second Big Edit
By the time I get my beta readers’ responses back, probably
a year and a half will have passed since I completed the first draft. I stop
and do another full read-through of the story. Again, this could be quick pass
or a major rewrite.
Step #10: The Beta Readers Round Three, Rest Round Three
I send the manuscript out again, this time to two or three readers. But this time, I don’t send the manuscript out to all of them at
once. I’m now nearing the beginning of the end of my editing schedule. The book’s scheduled publication is only a year away. If the book is going ever going to be good enough to publish, this is its
last chance. If one of these readers suggests major changes, I want to be able
to have the next reader read the refreshed manuscript and tell me whether or not I aced those
changes.
This round of beta readers are hard-hitting, critical
readers. At this point, I want to make certain I’ve either fixed all the major problems or know what to fix. I schedule six
months per reader (hoping they’ll be able to get the manuscript back to me sooner
than that).
Step #11: The Third Big Edit
After receiving the manuscript back from the last of the
heavy-hitting critters, I run through it one more time to polish it up. This is
do or die for the book. If I feel it’s good enough to publish, it’s full steam
ahead from here. If not, it gets a swift bullet in the head and I move on.
Step #12: The Editor
If the light is still green on the publishing schedule, this
is where I hire the services of a professional editor. CathiLyn Dyck has worked
on two of my books, and I heartily recommend her services.
Step #13: The Fourth Big Edit
Once I receive Cat’s critiques, I do one more pass. This is
the last of what I consider the “big” edits. By this point, I’m probably only
six months away from the scheduled pub date.
Step #14: The Final Clean-Up Edits
Depending on how much time I have until the pub date (and
how long the book is), I will go through the manuscript two or three more times
just to clean up any remaining inconsistencies or rough spots. By this point,
there shouldn’t be too many problems,
but, if the book has undergone major changes, there are always problems that
stick around until the very end.
Step #15: The Copy Edits and Beta Readers Round Four
Finally, I call it good on the tweaks, tell myself I can’t
change anything big unless it’s crucial, and start typo hunting. I use several
methods to help me track down those sneaky typos. My favorite is the one I
mentioned above about reading along as my Kindle or computer reads aloud to me. I also
read the manuscript aloud myself (with plenty of lemon water on hand to soothe my throat). Finally, if the stress injuries in my wrists aren’t
acting up too bad, I will print off a hard copy and, as I read, use a
highlighter to put a dot beneath each word, to make sure I’m reading what’s on the page—and not what I think is there.
During this section, I also like to send the manuscript out to as many as four final beta readers who are willing to lend me their objective eyeballs in helping me catch any further typos.
James Michener famously said, “I’m not a very good writer,
but I’m an excellent rewriter.” As you can see, I take that approach to heart.
A novel is a tremendously complicated undertaking. Very few of us can it get it
spot-on perfect the first time around, no matter how excellent our grasp of
storytelling techniques. To create the best story possible, we have to commit to the
long haul with our books. This means not just spending the time to prep and
write a book, but also the months and even years necessary to smooth out all
its rough spots.
Tell me your opinion: What does your self-editing process look like?
Related Posts: Putting Your Ego in Your Back Pocket
Embrace Your Inner Editor
When Your Story Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: What does your self-editing process look like?
Related Posts: Putting Your Ego in Your Back Pocket
Embrace Your Inner Editor
When Your Story Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
- June 9, 2013
26 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Editing , Feature , proofreading , revision , rewriting
A quick note: The winner of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers is Tim Terpening. Congratulations!
This post is by Karen
Cole.
I
have been a ghost writer online since 2003, and a professional editor on and
off since before 1980, so you might want to consider this article on how
editing is very important for book authors. In fact, it’s also about how editing
is important to ghost writers–many ghosts make their “main money” from book
editing, so a lot of them are really only book manuscript editors and not ghost
writers per se.
Why You Need to Hire a Book Editor
When
you present your manuscript to a literary or book agent, or even a commercial
publisher, it’s very important for the book to be almost ready to run and
print. If it isn’t (if it’s full of typos, spelling errors, syntax
dilemmas, and problems with the overall writing), the
agent often will turn away from it.
You
don’t want your book to be passed over. So it’s best to always hire a professional book editor to give your manuscript a thorough going through before
presenting it to an agent or publisher. Many book editors advertise their
services as professional ghost writers. A lot of literary agents and commercial
publishers hire the services of ghost writers to work on incoming manuscripts, which they feel provide worthwhile and marketable info, but which are poorly
written and need substantial editing. So you can either pick and hire a good
book editor yourself, or gamble that the agent or publisher you are contacting
will see about arranging a book editor for you.
There
are several types of editing a manuscript might need. I will list the
major ones below, concentrating on the various styles and what they entail.
Styles of Book Manuscript Editing
Line editing and proofreading.
This form of editing means going over a manuscript
line by line and editing it for grammar errors as you go. It doesn’t entail any
extensive rewriting, but there may be some use of color editing to liven up
flat prose, and there may be some reduction of redundancies (such as
repeated information). Basically, line editing and proofreading checks for
the most basic of grammatical and syntax errors. This style of editing may
include the use of a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style.
Color editing/style editing.
This is the most basic form of rewriting for style. It involves rearranging some of the copy so it reads better, flows, and is
more consistent overall, while retaining the basic structure of the
manuscript. This is not really true rewriting, just some reworking of the
wordage to make it more colorful, spicy, provocative, or original.
Show-not-tell editing.
This is an upgraded form of color editing, in which some minor
to major rewriting may be involved. The idea is to take prose that is only tell
not show (or in other words flat, lifeless, and merely going through the
motions) and turning it into prose that transports the reader right into the
scene, making them feel like they are actually there. This style of editing is
often called rewriting, but its nuances are far more involved than mere
rewriting.
Content editing.
This style of editing involves some major rewriting, such as
rearrangements of entire scenes, some scene deletion if redundancies are
involved, and minor reworking of the major and minor characters to include new
characteristics. It may involve changes in overall tone and development to
include new characters, new plot lines, etc. This style of editing is sometimes
called extensive rewriting, and it somewhat phases into the next style: developmental editing.
Developmental editing.
In this type of edit, you will be adding a lot of new info, as well as taking some of it out if it’s
lifeless and undeveloped. In other words, you will be plowing deeply into the book and
developing most of its info much further. You may add new traits to characters,
add entirely new characters, scenes and plot lines. The point is to take
what’s already there and develop it further, drawing out the good in each
scene. Developmental editing includes pretty much all of the above styles of
editing and is the most extensive and costly form of editing.
Costs of Hiring a Book Editor
As
the style of editing gets more involved, the cost for each type of editing goes
up. Basic or line editing and proofreading runs anywhere from $500 to $2,000
USD for a typical 25-50,000 word book manuscript. The pricing goes up from
there as the style of editing gets more intensive. Developmental
editing can run anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the amount
of work actually involved. Pricing largely depends on the budget of the author and the needs of the editor or ghost writer. It will be determined
on a per project basis.
Spending money on your book is worth it if you
want a workable, hassle-free “clean copy” that you can present professionally
to the right people.
About the Author: Karen Cole has been the head of Ghost Writer, Inc. since the beginning of 2003, when it
was called Rainbow Writing, Inc. GWI is an affordable agency for ghost writers and editors. They also do full book, screenplay, and some
music marketing and promotions services. They accept all types of fiction and
nonfiction freelance writing and offer editing services for memoirs, biographies, scripts and
screenplays. They also specialize in business writing. Visit Karen on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Tell me your opinion: What would be your main considerations in hiring a freelance editor?
Related Posts: Should You Edit As You Go?
- June 7, 2013
13 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Editing , Feature , proofreading , revision , rewriting
This week’s video talks about
the “kiss of death” in TV relationships and how it applies to your fiction.
In other news, if you'd like to win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers, leave a comment! Winners will be announced Friday.
Video Transcript:
Almost without exception, fiction revolves around relationships, whether it’s a
romantic couple, parents and children, friends, a man and his volleyball. This
is so basically because that’s how life works and because our relationships are
the crucibles that test our mettle and really show what we’re made of. We might
be able to lie to ourselves, but it’s really hard to fake out those around us.
Same goes for our characters. If we want to really get to know them, we do that
by allowing other characters to get to know them.
But there’s more. In fiction, there’s a secret ingredient we
have to add to make sure that relationship doesn’t just lie there on the page.
Did you ever stop to think about why it’s considered the “kiss of death” for
romantically inclined couples to finally get together on a TV show? On the
surface, that makes no sense, since viewers are totally rooting for them to get
together. But if we dig down just a little bit, we realize that the problem is
that once these characters commit to each other, the uncertainty in their
relationship—the conflict—is totally
gone.
This applies to all catalytic fictional relationships—not
just romantic ones. If you want your character’s interaction with someone to
power the plot—and, on a more basic level, to be as interesting as possible—then
that relationship needs to be given a good shot of conflict. Put characters at
odds. Give them conflicting goals. Have them mistrust each other. Even as they
like—or even love—each other, even as they may yearn to trust this other person
and be on his side, keep them off balance. If you want to keep your story
going, then don’t let them totally be what the other person needs them to be.
The moment the conflict ends, that’s happily-ever-after and the story’s over.
Tell me your opinion: What conflict drives your protagonist’s most important relationship?
Related Posts: The 4 Most Common Mistakes Fiction Editors See
- June 5, 2013
58 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Characters , conflict , Feature
Authors are in a tough spot. Readers expect us to supply
them with enough info to help them imagine our story worlds and our characters’
emotions in vivid details. But readers also expect us to never provide too many details. They want us to
explain; but they never want us to over-explain.
Over-explaining can manifest in several ways, but the core
of the problem is always repetition—and it’s usually symptomatic of authorial
insecurity. We distrust our ability to explain things well enough the first
time around, so we stick in a second, or even third, explanation, just to make
sure readers get the point.
But not only are these inner girders unnecessary more often
than not, they also tend to have exactly the opposite of the desired effect:
instead of strengthening our prose, they weaken it. We end up with flabby
sentences, confused metaphors, and condescending descriptions.
Explanation Overkill
Tears welled in Keira’s eyes. She was so sad she could just cry. Her heart felt like it was about to bleed itself dry, like it was about to crumble into a million infinitesimal pieces, like it was breaking. “How can you treat me like this?” she sniffed dismally.
Poor Keira. She’s getting smacked around from all over the
place. Not only is she sad and apparently mistreated, she’s also getting
absolutely no benefit of the doubt from her author. This example features just
about every kind of over-explanation you can imagine:
- Telling that’s repetitious in light of a strong example of showing.
- Three metaphoric descriptive phrases where one would do.
- An unnecessary dialogue tag.
- A gratuitous adverb modifying that tag.
Explanation
Excellence
Instead of milking this dramatic moment for all its worth,
we’d be better off trusting the drama itself to carry the day. We could easily
cut almost all of our original explanation without weakening the effect:
Tears welled in Keira’s eyes. “How can you treat me like this?”
Particularly if your subtext is strong enough to indicate why Keira is so upset, readers will
understand she’s sad enough to cry ergo her heart is breaking ergo she’s
dismal. You don’t need to tell readers what they can glean for themselves.
True enough that you can also go overboard in avoiding explanation. You always want to
give readers enough external detail to help them visualize characters and
settings and enough internal detail to help them vicariously share your
character’s emotions. This is an equation to which only you can determine the
right answer. But, when in doubt, err on the side of less explanation rather
than too much. Readers are smart, and they love it when we acknowledge their
intelligence.
Tell me your opinion: Do you ever worry that your descriptions are too subtle?
Related Posts: The Do’s and Don’ts of Dialect
Why “Suddenly” Is a Four-Letter Word
Are You Skipping the Best Parts?
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: Do you ever worry that your descriptions are too subtle?
Related Posts: The Do’s and Don’ts of Dialect
Why “Suddenly” Is a Four-Letter Word
Are You Skipping the Best Parts?
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
- June 2, 2013
34 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in Description , Feature , most common mistakes , prose , Showing , style , Telling
Would you like a free copy of my worlds-spanning fantasy Dreamlander? This month only, the book is available for free, via StoryCartel, in exchange for your honest review. The review is actually totally optional, but if you read and enjoy the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews are gold to us starving author types! If you download the book from StoryCartel this month, you'll also be eligible to win one of three $10 gift cards from Amazon. The deal doesn't get much sweeter than that!
- June 1, 2013
15 Comments
- K.M. Weiland
- Posted in dreamlander , News
