Writer Patty’s Publication Adventure

Posted By writerpatty on July 29, 2010

So far, we have done the big picture editing, where we add, subtract or move bits and pieces around.  We have worked on writing style issues, such as variety, dialogue and imagery.  That leaves us with the final inspection.

The final inspection in diamond editing involves cleaning the diamond in acids and examining it to make sure it meets quality standards for that manufacturer.  When we edit our manuscript, this final process cleans up our words, fixes errors and makes sure that it meets publishing standards.

This proofreading stage will vary according to your strengths and weaknesses, but I have a few tips that you might find useful.

1. Spell-check.  Make sure it is turned on.
2. Grammar check.  If you have this option on your word processor, use it, but don’t always rely on it to be 100% accurate.
3. Change the font type and size when editing.
4. Read your story backwards, one sentence at a time.
5. Read it aloud.
6. Print out a copy and work in a different environment.

At this stage in editing, I am on high alert for all of my bad habits.  I will often use the find function in MSWord to catch a few of these, but many of them have to be caught while carefully proofreading.  When I search with the find function, I view each word in context and decide if I need to fix the word or leave it in.

Words I mix up:  woman/women; think/thing.

Unnecessary words:  that; and then; seems; felt; just.

Words that can be replaced by better words:  walked; looked; smiled.

I look for other weaknesses as I read each sentence carefully for spelling, grammar, punctuation or formatting errors.

1. Missing apostrophes for possessive nouns.  Water off a ducks back, should be water off a duck’s back.
2. Too many adverbs or –ly words.
3. Weird comma placement.
4. Misspelled words that are actually other words, such as tale/tail; me/my; or sweet/sweat.
5. Repeated words in the same sentence or even in the same paragraph.

To avoid getting overwhelmed by this process, work with one chapter or one page at a time and take plenty of breaks.  And when you are through, reward yourself for a job well done and rest in the knowledge that you now have a manuscript that will stand out from the crowd, in a slush pile or on an agent or editors desk.

I suggest that you line up a few test/beta readers who would be willing to proofread the manuscript and give you their honest opinion on the story content at this point.  A friend, a peer that you admire, and crit-partners that you have met online, are all good candidates.

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Category: Gems, editing | No Comments »
Tags: editing, Gems, how-to

Posted By writerpatty on May 6, 2010

It was a very busy year for me and my family.  We moved twice–don’t get me started on how much I hated moving a family of seven twice in one year–and I was busy with keeping my home.  Things have settled down where I can continue to pursue my life-long dream of becoming a published author.

The last few days have been spent pouring over my manuscript while working on a query letter.  Yesterday, I sent out my first query.  I’m excited to be one step closer to my dream.  Many more queries will have to be sent out.  I know I will have to endure rejection after rejection, but I’m ready for it, if it means I’m moving forward.

Here’s hoping I’ll be able to start posting regularly again, with news–good or bad–on my queries and with posts about the art and craft of writing.

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Posted By writerpatty on June 22, 2009

In part one of my gems series on editing, we discussed macro edit which can be compare to cleaving, the first process that a diamond goes through after it is mined.  Blocking, faceting and polishing are the next steps.  The cut determines the brilliance and sparkle that the diamond has as light reflects off the edges.

Here is where you get down to the real shape of your manuscript.  I recommend reading the story through again, but one chapter at a time, just like the diamond cutter works on one edge at a time.  A 100,000 words seems like a daunting and impossible task, but you can tackle 2,000 to 5,000 words at a time.  Read the chapter and have a list of things you can do to improve it.  Your own list may be longer or shorter depending on your own natural writing ability and how long you have been writing.  Below is my list.

1. Rewrite awkward sentences and check for sentence variety while cutting out double adjectives and most of the adverbs.
2. Sharpen the dialogue.  Make sure it sounds natural, and evaluate the use of speech tags.
3. Look for scenes where you can use imagery to show instead of tell.  Also watch for any sentences with watched, hear, saw, felt, was and were.  All passive voice that tells the reader instead of shows them what is going on.
4. Reread the chapter to evaluate for flow and any plot holes that need fixing.

Diamond Editing

I repeat these steps for each chapter.  If I happen to catch homophones, spelling errors that spell check misses or grammatical errors, I will fix them, but my focus at this stage in the editing process is to make the story more readable or more entertaining.  Usually, I try to do two chapters a day or more.

What are some of the things you look out for and change during this type of editing?  Here is a great forum thread on what other writers look for when editing.

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Category: Dialog, Gems, Site Rec, editing, fiction, imagery, writing | 9 Comments »
Tags: editing, fiction, fiction writing, writing fiction, writing tips

Posted By writerpatty on June 10, 2009

Coming to the end of a rough draft is an exhilarating process. Knowing that you can do it, that you have done it, that you have created a complete novel is something that does not get old, even after completing many novels. No matter how good you get at the writing process, every rough draft will need to be edited. This is one of the fiction writing tips that should never be ignored.  If you have mastered the basics such as good grammar, formatting and punctuation, some of the editing steps will go faster than the others.

I liken editing to the process of cleaving, cutting and polishing a diamond. Diamonds take a long time to form, and when they are mined from the earth, they are rough but still beautiful. Each stage in the process is important and essential to getting the most potential out of the tough gem.

Cleaving is the part of editing that can be started right after you have typed ‘the end’. This is where you step back and take a look at the large picture. Macro editing. Do you feel satisfied with your ending at that very moment? Do you have scenes that you will need to insert to make more sense out of your ending? Do you have a character that you need to develop more or one that you need to get rid of all together?

I recommend not actually making any of those changes right away. The diamond cleaver turns the rough gem in his hand and makes observations, then he sets the diamond in a type of cement and walks away from it, letting it cool. I suggest writing your observations and to do list down in notes, backup your draft one final time and then put it away for a minimum of thirty days.

During that waiting period, I take the time to celebrate, but I also start work on a new project. I will work on rough notes or an outline for a new novel or if I do not have an idea for the next book, I will find writing prompts and exercises to do that will usually give me some ideas. A week before I start editing, I will spend some time reading advice from others on the editing process.

When you come back to the manuscript read it all the way through. You will have a fresh perspective on it, and you can start working on those notes that you made earlier with confidence and precision. Tweak your ending, adjust your beginning, remove those characters or scenes that don’t further the plot and add the small foreshadowing details that add depth to the story and give more meaning to the ending. When you are done, put the manuscript away again. For a day, a week or longer if you need to.

For more ideas on macro editing you might find this .pdf file by Robin L. Perini helpful.

And a great book I recommend is:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

Coming up in Part II of Editing, we will go over the cutting process, where the dust flies and the sparkle begins to come through as clean edges are crafted.

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Category: Gems, editing, fiction, writing | 9 Comments »
Tags: editing, fiction writing tips, Macro editing, writing fiction