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Writing Words - writing it is the only way of getting it written
Just realised that I've gone a bit quiet here. That doesn't mean I've stopped writing - quite the opposite. I'm busy editing a story for submission. The side effect seems to be that I forget about the blog. And now that I'm here, I want to get back to the story.
If my attendance remains a bit spotty over the coming weeks, bear with me. Once I've got this thing out the door, I'll post regularly again.
Reporting back from holiday with one of my favourite quotes about editing fiction:
There is a difference between a book of two hundred pages from the very beginning, and a book of two hundred pages which is the result of an original eight hundred pages. The six hundred are there. Only you don't see them. - Elie Wiesel
Hope all you brave NaNoEdMo participants are on track for clocking 50 hrs.
If the answer to either is yes, you'll be pleased to know that both How to Think Sideways and How to Revise Your Novel are open for new students again.
In these courses, Holly teaches you everything about her writing and editing process. I'm currently revising one of my NaNoWriMo novels for HTRYN and am happy with the progress I've made so far. If you're serious about writing, these courses are worth the investment.
I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil. - Truman Capote
One thing to bear in mind for NaNoEdMo: If in doubt, cutting it is better than leaving it in.
Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it. - Colette
In response to the Guardian's Ten Rules for Writing Fiction from last Saturday (a must read), Salon.com ran an excellent piece on Tuesday: A Reader's Advice to Writers.
Laura Miller writes she never wrote a novel and doesn't have plans to ever do so, but she's read thousands of them and started many more which she didn't finish because they weren't great. She's also talked to other readers and their explanations why they liked or didn't like a book. In her own words: "I can tell you why I keep reading, and why I don't, why I recommend one book to my fellow readers, but not another." She goes on to list her five recommendations to budding novelists
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Print out your manuscript. Editing on screen doesn't work.
Get pens and markers in different colours and develop a colour-coding system. I highlight bits that I like, as well - it's useful to remind yourself that not everything you wrote sucks
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SavvyAuthors.com are running an interesting mini-workshop: Crash Revision, presented by Holly Lisle. It will run from March 28 - April 1 and is $5 for non-members and free for members. Sounds good, doesn't it?
If you realise half-way through NaNoEdMo that you need help with the revision process, Crash revisions might be just what you're looking for.
Mark Twain said: "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
A bit of handy advice for NaNoEdMo and editing in general, I reckon.
Quick post outside the posting schedule because I just realised that it's only three weeks until NaNoEdMo.
NaNoEdMo is the perfect opportunity for all NaNo novelists to edit their November novels. One thing that appeals to writers during NaNoWriMo is the group support. NaNoEdMo does just that for editing. The challenge is to log 50 hours of editing on a manuscript of fiction - it doesn't have to be a NaNoWriMo novel.
I could have spelled out the words: question marks. That's not where my problem lies, though. I really seem to have trouble hitting the ?-key when a character asks a question.
I'm on page 33 of my NaNoWriMo 2008 manuscript now, going through the first round of reading and marking up what's wrong in the first draft (and what's worth keeping, and I'm pleased that there are a few good bits already) according to Lesson One of HTRYN. I'm not supposed to edit the typos and spelling mistakes at this stage, and I don't. It's difficult to ignore these mistakes, but I'm doing okay. The missing ?s are driving me mad, though. I haven't counted how many I've missed so far, but my guess is there's one missing per page. What's so hard about hitting the ?-key?
After a few bumps, I managed to sign up to How To Revise Your Novel, the new course by Holly Lisle. That's good news for me because it will give me some clear instructions and direction for novel revision.
I've mentioned a few times that I don't have trouble writing first drafts, but that I always struggle with the revision process. I have high hopes that HTRYN will make me a skilled editor of my own work.
When I won my first NaNoWriMo seven years ago, I was ecstatic for at least a week.
Nowadays, I'm usually glad I got through the first draft without going bonkers. Then I start worrying about the rewrites. Because I know I can write a 50,000 to 80,000 word first draft in a month even if I only get to start on the 15th. Editing and revision, on the other hand - not so easy. Writing the first draft is not where the work starts, it's when you have to edit the beast that things get ugly
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... And I've only just begun.
I spent way too much time today staring at last year's NaNoWriMo novel. I scribbled down a few ideas, too - ideas which will hopefully make the story better. It's not much, but it's a start.
First drafts are a wonderful thing. Until you start editing them - then you might find that they're not so wonderful after all.
Great advice for writers: Read bad stuff.
Not only is it encouraging to read bad fiction, it also is a great way to learn what you shouldn't do and improve your editing skills (handy skill post-NaNoWriMo). It's so much easier to see other writers' mistakes than your own. Read a bad piece of fiction and edit to make it better. Then go and check your own work for the same mistakes, and if you spot one, apply the treatment you applied to the bad stuff.
I'm surprised I seem to have never mentioned Holly Lisle here. Holly is awesome. She's a successful fitcion author, she's published lots of free material for fellow writers to improve their craft, and she's compiled a comprehensive course called How to Think Sideways.
A few days ago, Holly wrote a blog post called Do you need to know more about how to revise your novel?, in which she asked if people were interested in learning how she honed her revision skills. Of course, the response was huge. As a consequence, Holly has put up a preliminary How to revise your novel site where people can indicate what they want to know. You can also sign up there if you want to be kept in the loop about the course
[ Click here to read more ]
We're only two weeks and one day away from NaNoEdMo.
My editing track record isn't that great, and I usually drop out of EdMo after a few days. Still, I'll be in for it again this year, but with my own goal: I want to have a polished version of my first three chapters by the end of April, which I'll then send out to agents and publishers and see what happens. I don't care if I do 50 hours or not. Three chapters, that's all I need
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