A dear friend recently sent me a novel she's been working on for some time. She asked me to edit it before she begins the submission process. Not only is this person a dear friend, but she's also a fantastic writer. I'm looking forward to delving into her thriller. But as I was reading the first few lines, I realized I had to delicately balance my suggestions for improvement with my urge to rewrite certain passages.
No matter how talented or experienced a writer is, there are going to be issues---be they typos, plot holes, inconsistencies---in a 100K manuscript. I'm certain this one will be very clean, but still, I'm sure I'll find things I'd like to see improved. In addition, my friend expresses herself very differently than I do. I don't want to edit her novel to make it sound like my novel. I want it to remain HER NOVEL.
When you're editing for content, be careful not to rewrite the book. It's imperative that you realize the style differences between you and the author. It's impossible to write in the exact same style as another person. So be careful! Even if you intentions are the best, you don't want to dilute the author's voice with the editor's voice.
Suggest changes, mark passages that didn't work for you. Explain your issue with that particular part of the manuscript. But DON'T, I repeat, DON'T rewrite it. The author's job is to write. The editor's job is to edit.
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editing. Show all posts
The Terrible Path to A New Beginning
My father passed away last Sunday. He'd been ill for some time and I'd convinced myself I was READY. PREPARED. Guess what? I wasn't. At all. Emotions and memories surfaced from the oldest, deepest part of my subconcious mind. Softball in the front yard, flying in the cockpit with him and learning what all the buttons controlled, pranks he pulled, wounds he helped to heal. My father taught me a lot of important lessons about life and the importance of living every second of it. His death taught me something very important about my writing.
In one of my dusty novels---stored in the deepest desk drawer of the house---my protagonist, Miss Thing, learns of her father's overwhelming financial debt after his death. In order to save the farm generations of her family have called home, she must find a way to pay off the bank. In my novel, the death of her father is nothing more than a device to get the action rolling. Miss Thing doesn't cry much and seems to be completely over dear old Dad by chapter four or five. She's too busy being a STRONG WOMAN who OVERCOMES the OBSTACLES placed in front of her to TRIUMPH and GET HER MAN to grieve her father.
I see the problem with this now. Until last Saturday, I didn't. In the real world---which fiction should mirror--she'd likely be a wreck for weeks. Lots of crying, sobbing, maybe even a few pulls on the old whiskey bottle. Because I didn't understand what she would likely be feeling, I didn't craft a character that came off the page. Now that I know what Miss Thing might feel, I plan to go back and start all over. Add another element to her character, some depth, some maturity. Instead of grasping the real OBSTACLE--namely dealing with her grief over the loss of her father---I merely created one, inserted it and hoped it would work. Now it seems fake, fake, FAKE.
Sometimes we have to experience the feeling in real life before we can understand the emotion enough to write about it. It takes some pain and suffering to get at the real emotions that make us tick.
I didn't need to create a new obstacle. I already had a big one written into her character. I just didn't know how to express it properly so that others could identify with it. And until readers IDENTIFY with some elements of your story, it's not a very good story.
In one of my dusty novels---stored in the deepest desk drawer of the house---my protagonist, Miss Thing, learns of her father's overwhelming financial debt after his death. In order to save the farm generations of her family have called home, she must find a way to pay off the bank. In my novel, the death of her father is nothing more than a device to get the action rolling. Miss Thing doesn't cry much and seems to be completely over dear old Dad by chapter four or five. She's too busy being a STRONG WOMAN who OVERCOMES the OBSTACLES placed in front of her to TRIUMPH and GET HER MAN to grieve her father.
I see the problem with this now. Until last Saturday, I didn't. In the real world---which fiction should mirror--she'd likely be a wreck for weeks. Lots of crying, sobbing, maybe even a few pulls on the old whiskey bottle. Because I didn't understand what she would likely be feeling, I didn't craft a character that came off the page. Now that I know what Miss Thing might feel, I plan to go back and start all over. Add another element to her character, some depth, some maturity. Instead of grasping the real OBSTACLE--namely dealing with her grief over the loss of her father---I merely created one, inserted it and hoped it would work. Now it seems fake, fake, FAKE.
Sometimes we have to experience the feeling in real life before we can understand the emotion enough to write about it. It takes some pain and suffering to get at the real emotions that make us tick.
I didn't need to create a new obstacle. I already had a big one written into her character. I just didn't know how to express it properly so that others could identify with it. And until readers IDENTIFY with some elements of your story, it's not a very good story.
Are You Too Married?
A manuscript is an extension of you. In a way it's like a child---you create it, play with it, train it, and hope to share it with the world. But remember, you love your children like no one else in the world. You also love your manuscript more than anyone in the world.
You SHOULD love it, but. . .
It's easy to get too attached to your manuscript. After all, you've spent countless hours working to make it perfect. You've sacrificed time you could have spent with family and friends writing your masterpiece. You've weighed every word, deleted and reinserted the same scene several times, rewritten dialogue for weeks at a time. And now it's finished. And it's perfect. And YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CHANGE A DARN THING.
If you feel this way, you're too married to your manuscript. After you've spent months, or years, with the same story, it's impossible to see your own work. You need the advice of other writers, agents, editors. Change can be a good thing. Don't resist. Listen, weigh, and go back to your masterpiece. Usually you will see that at least a few of them are right.
When writers are too married to a manuscript, a red flag pops into the heads of publishing professionals. If you're unwilling to change a single word, a single scene break, they're going to think you're high maintenance. And you know what that means, right? In the words of my mother, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." If a few changes could make the difference in whether you get published, consider making those changes. Consider listening.
Here's the disclaimer: If the suggested changes mean you have to compromise a theme or change the whole concept of the book, think long and hard before you decide.
On the other hand, if the changes are mostly window dressing, maybe you should make them. After all, it's better to improve your manuscript for your readers than to get your way.
You SHOULD love it, but. . .
It's easy to get too attached to your manuscript. After all, you've spent countless hours working to make it perfect. You've sacrificed time you could have spent with family and friends writing your masterpiece. You've weighed every word, deleted and reinserted the same scene several times, rewritten dialogue for weeks at a time. And now it's finished. And it's perfect. And YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CHANGE A DARN THING.
If you feel this way, you're too married to your manuscript. After you've spent months, or years, with the same story, it's impossible to see your own work. You need the advice of other writers, agents, editors. Change can be a good thing. Don't resist. Listen, weigh, and go back to your masterpiece. Usually you will see that at least a few of them are right.
When writers are too married to a manuscript, a red flag pops into the heads of publishing professionals. If you're unwilling to change a single word, a single scene break, they're going to think you're high maintenance. And you know what that means, right? In the words of my mother, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." If a few changes could make the difference in whether you get published, consider making those changes. Consider listening.
Here's the disclaimer: If the suggested changes mean you have to compromise a theme or change the whole concept of the book, think long and hard before you decide.
On the other hand, if the changes are mostly window dressing, maybe you should make them. After all, it's better to improve your manuscript for your readers than to get your way.
Blinded by Your Own Brilliance or Why You Should Edit with Fresh Eyes
It's hard to know when you're really finished with a manuscript. After all the writing, editing, polishing, rewriting, and re-editing, it's easy to feel finished too soon.
The first ten pages of your manuscript are pivotal. They tell an agent or editor a lot about you as a writer. You don't want ANY mistakes on these first pages.
I was recently judging a contest and I was shocked at how many minor mistakes were in the first few pages of many of the entries. I could tell, by the writing, these aspiring authors knew better. I'm talking about things like "to" instead of "too", a minor change in a character's name, inconsistencies with attire or setting.
Here's what I think the problem was:
The author thought he/she was finished and neglected to do a thorough edit with fresh eyes. After looking over the first few pages dozens of times, the author decided it was finished, done, finito, and sent the manuscript in to be judged. If, with fresh eyes, the author had gone over the pages again, I think all these mistakes would have been corrected, thereby increasing the chances of doing well in the contest.
Sometimes, in order to complete a productive edit of your manuscript, you need to put it down for a while. A couple of weeks, a month---a significant period of time. This way you pay more attention. You haven't JUST read it and your eye doesn't fill in nearly as much.
The first ten pages of your manuscript may be BRILLIANT but if they're riddled with errors, most agents and editors will likely pass. They want to make sure you're precise and capable of editing your own work. Sure, they'll have changes and edits to add to yours, but you don't want a stupid mistake to ruin your chances.
Be sure to join me tomorrow. We've got another guest blogger!
The first ten pages of your manuscript are pivotal. They tell an agent or editor a lot about you as a writer. You don't want ANY mistakes on these first pages.
I was recently judging a contest and I was shocked at how many minor mistakes were in the first few pages of many of the entries. I could tell, by the writing, these aspiring authors knew better. I'm talking about things like "to" instead of "too", a minor change in a character's name, inconsistencies with attire or setting.
Here's what I think the problem was:
The author thought he/she was finished and neglected to do a thorough edit with fresh eyes. After looking over the first few pages dozens of times, the author decided it was finished, done, finito, and sent the manuscript in to be judged. If, with fresh eyes, the author had gone over the pages again, I think all these mistakes would have been corrected, thereby increasing the chances of doing well in the contest.
Sometimes, in order to complete a productive edit of your manuscript, you need to put it down for a while. A couple of weeks, a month---a significant period of time. This way you pay more attention. You haven't JUST read it and your eye doesn't fill in nearly as much.
The first ten pages of your manuscript may be BRILLIANT but if they're riddled with errors, most agents and editors will likely pass. They want to make sure you're precise and capable of editing your own work. Sure, they'll have changes and edits to add to yours, but you don't want a stupid mistake to ruin your chances.
Be sure to join me tomorrow. We've got another guest blogger!
The Curse of Overwriting
I've been talking to my friends in the business quite a bit lately. Do you know what they're complaining about these days? OVERWRITING.
It's is a common problem. Lots of writers do it. And it stalls a lot of otherwise saleable manuscripts.
Here's are some examples I pulled from one of my own novels. It's several years old and abandoned in the depths of a file cabinet. It never sold, even though there was quite a bit of interest in it. Part of the reason it's still at my house instead of on your bookshelf is my OVERWRITING. The examples below were noted by several agents and editors alike.
Example 1:
She waited for David to drive away then she shook her head to clear her body of the image of the handsome Marine.
This is what I should have written:
She watched his taillights dissappear. She shook her head to clear the image of the handsome Marine.
Example 2 :
On Tuesday, she’d been thirty minutes late and by the time she arrived, Andrew, her eight-year old nephew, was the last kid waiting.
I should have written:
She’d been thirty minutes late on Tuesday. Andrew was the last kid waiting.
See how those small edits changed the readability and the pace of those sentences? Part of becoming a better writer is learning the economy of words and the power of words. Less is usually more.
If you have an OVERWRITTEN sentence, post it on the comments and maybe our bloggers can help you pare it down.
It's is a common problem. Lots of writers do it. And it stalls a lot of otherwise saleable manuscripts.
Here's are some examples I pulled from one of my own novels. It's several years old and abandoned in the depths of a file cabinet. It never sold, even though there was quite a bit of interest in it. Part of the reason it's still at my house instead of on your bookshelf is my OVERWRITING. The examples below were noted by several agents and editors alike.
Example 1:
She waited for David to drive away then she shook her head to clear her body of the image of the handsome Marine.
This is what I should have written:
She watched his taillights dissappear. She shook her head to clear the image of the handsome Marine.
Example 2 :
On Tuesday, she’d been thirty minutes late and by the time she arrived, Andrew, her eight-year old nephew, was the last kid waiting.
I should have written:
She’d been thirty minutes late on Tuesday. Andrew was the last kid waiting.
See how those small edits changed the readability and the pace of those sentences? Part of becoming a better writer is learning the economy of words and the power of words. Less is usually more.
If you have an OVERWRITTEN sentence, post it on the comments and maybe our bloggers can help you pare it down.
Posts
