Writers and Authors

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How to Be Your Own Editor: 5 Common Mistakes to Fix, guest post by Farzana Doctor

Here are some common problems I see new writers make. When editing my own work, I use the following checklist:

1. Overused words

— Examples: very, only, just, always, never, already, every, often, almost, got, feel, seem, started to, began to, tried to.

— We need to use these words sometimes. Double-check if they are necessary, or cluttering up your page.

— Here’s a link to a more comprehensive list: http ://theadventurouswriter.com/blogwriting/51-over-used-adverbs-nouns-and-cliches-in-writing/

2. Repetitive words

— Repetitive words within the same page, when not used intentionally, can be annoying for a reader.

— Read aloud to catch your repetitive words.

— If you have a hunch you’ve used a unique word too many times (and we do this unconsciously, certain words becoming mind-worms), do a document search.

— Example: while editing my last novel, I wondered if I’d used the word “extraneous” too often. In a search, it came up 12 times. I reviewed each use and assessed whether a synonym might be appropriate.

3. Telling vs. Showing

— We need both of these narrative strategies, but look for places where you could show more and tell less.

— Ask yourself: do I get “dulled out” while reading? Do I feel like skipping ahead?

— An example of telling:

— Farzana gets nervous while teaching.

— A (silly) example of showing:

— “Okay, give me an example of, um, showing?” Farzana took a sip of coffee, then coughed, sputtering it onto her laptop. She scanned the room, wondering why that guy in the back was smirking at her.

4. Over-writing

— Most early drafts require cuts.

— Ask yourself:

— have I said the same thing twice?

— would ½ the description be more powerful?

— have I shown and told (unnecessarily) within the same passage?

— As above, look for places where you feel bored by your own writing.

5. Not getting feedback

— When I was a new writer, I didn’t show my work to others. I was nervous to expose myself to criticism.

— Now, I see feedback as a gift. My early readers find the mistakes I don’t. They offer solutions that make the work stronger.

— Learn the art of receiving feedback.

— Find other writers, or avid readers, and ask for feedback. Urge them to be honest, and remind them that they won’t hurt your feelings. Ask them to comment on your prose, characters, settings, plot etc.

— Thank them for their feedback. Do not get defensive. Listen and take notes. Ask clarifying questions only.

— Take a few days to process their ideas. You may decide to follow all or only some of their advice. Sometimes I find that feedback inspires brand new ideas.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment on this checklist. I love feedback!

Farzana Doctor is the author of three novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement (which was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and the 2017 One Book One Brampton winner) and the recently released All Inclusive which was a Kobo and National Post Best Book of the Year. Farzana was named one of CBC Books’ “Ten Canadian Women Writers You Need to Read Now”. She is also a Registered Social Worker with a part-time psychotherapy practice. She curates the Brockton Writers Series.

Website: www.farzanadoctor.com

Twitter: @farzanadoctor

Instagram: @farzanadoctor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farzanadoctor

Buy links:

Indie bookstore: http://www.charisbooksandmore.com/book/9781459731813

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2yZ3gSk

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqTStZedIao

Book club guide: https://www.dundurn.com/sites/default/files/supplementary/AllInclusive-BookClubResource.pdf

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The Importance of Editors, guest post by Yolanda Renée

When writing a book, the first advice you get is to write it all down, no matter what… put pen to paper, or fingers to the keyboard and write, write, write. Editing comes later— grammar, research, and syntax will all happen once the story is on paper. Cool, I can do that, and for the most part it’s exactly what I do.

Once the rewriting, tweaking, research, and cleaning up is done, you have a novel! It’s true, that’s exactly how it works.

http://amzn.to/2qO7NqJ

So what’s the point of my post? EDITING! What is the editor’s role? Why do you need one? Who knows the story better – you, or a stranger?

Moving on.

However, most likely you’ll hear – “great idea for a novel, now you just need to learn how to write. Where did you do your research – the back of a cereal box? This is a sadistic killer and you write like a, well a lady. Quoting Gilligan isn’t going to win you fans, most of them don’t know who he is…”

And the comments go on and on!

Suddenly your masterpiece is so much less.

What do you do? Rewrite a book you were certain was DONE?

Seriously, now you have a decision to make.

This is where you decide to work with the editor and make that book the best it can be. OR you’re done, you close the lid and flush it all down the loo. It’s over. No more time spent on a bad idea!

But if you’re smart you’ll take a HUGE breath and get over yourself. Time to and buckle down for the long haul, because this is where your true writing skill comes to the forefront. You dry your tears, face the rejection, consider the editors recommendations, and finally begin to write your heart out.

A good editor is worth ten times their weight in gold! I was lucky to have 3 such talented people looking after Stowy and me in The Snowman. Michael Di Gesu, Susan Flett Swiderski, and Chrys Fey. My editing angels. Otherwise I wouldn’t have produced such an amazing book. Yes, I do think The Snowman is an incredible book. And, Michael, Susan, and Chrys each contributed.

At one time Alaska called to me, and I answered. I learned to sleep under the midnight sun, survive in below zero temperatures, and hike the Mountain Ranges. I've traveled from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, and the memories are some of my most valued. The wonders, mysteries and incredible beauty that is Alaska has never left me and thus now influence my writing.

Despite my adventurous spirit, I achieved my educational goals, married, and I have two handsome sons. Writing is now my focus, my newest adventure!

You can connect with me here:

Blog * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email

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Professional Editing – Polishing a Diamond in the Rough, guest post by Lynne Constantine

When I finished THE VERITAS DECEPTION last summer, I felt pretty good about it: I had edited it at least five times over the preceding year, gotten input from beta readers and my writing teacher and thought it was ready to go. Then I received a call from a trusted author friend who had just finished reading the manuscript. He had read hundreds of thrillers as the editor of a monthly magazine and he told me that mine was as good if not better than many of them. He did think, however, that it would benefit from developmental editing.

He referred me to Jaime Levine, a New York editor who had worked on over thirty bestsellers. Luckily for me, Jaime was taking on some freelance projects and she agreed to take on mine. I sent her the manuscript, and we arranged to have lunch the next month in New York during the Thrillerfest conference.

When we met, the first thing she said to me was, “I have a lot of work for you.” Over a three-hour lunch, we got to know each other and discussed her impressions of the book. She sent me a fifty-page letter with suggestions to deepen characters, setting, backstory, and pointed out places where plot lines disconnected.

http://amzn.to/2aiYjqD

I went home and put the letter away, completely overwhelmed. A week later, I pulled it back out and got started. I had lots of research to do to support new plot lines, as well as flesh out existing ones. It took me over two months before I was ready to send my changes to Jaime, and then she and I met and sat for over twelve hours discussing and refining those changes. To say I was lucky to have such an amazing editor is an understatement. I went back to work on the new refinements, and we repeated the process one more time. By January, I had her blessing to move on to a copy edit. The copy edit took another two months and by spring, the manuscript was ready.

Then came the third phase of editing: the proofread. Amazingly enough, as I sat and read my book for the, let’s say, twentieth, time, I still found small inconsistencies that I had to fix. And the typos. “Hard” for “had”, “of “for “off”, and missing “a”s and “the”s in so many places. My husband just shook his head as the sticky notes on my proof grew until I’d used an entire pad. I had to keep reading the entire book again every time I found an error. I started to think that I’d be able to recite the book verbatim by the time the final proof was approved.

With today’s speed to market and all the fast publishing options open to authors, it’s possible to write a book and publish it the next month. But the reality is, if you want a quality book—one that can compete with all the other wonderful books out there—professional editing is not a luxury but a necessity.

Lynne is a twitter addicted fiction writer always working on her next book. She is the coauthor of Learn More About CIRCLE DANCE on Amazon, a family saga spanning three generations, that received an endorsement from Olympia Dukakis. She is also a social media consultant and speaker, working with authors to build their brand platforms. Lynne teaches at various workshops and has spoken at the Thrillerfest conference in New York. She is a monthly contributor to SUSPENSE MAGAZINE, and a contributing editor to THE BIG THRILL magazine.

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Book Revision: Editing Tips for Writers, guest post by Steven Gossington #AmEditing #WritingTips

I’ve attempted to write fiction (never published until now) for about 20 years. I certainly followed that oft-repeated advice to writers: “Never give up.” I attended writing workshops and read books on “How to Write,” but nothing clicked, until a kindly literary agent I met at a writing conference seemed to sense promise in my work and connected me with a developmental editor, who took me to school, as the expression goes. After working with her on a manuscript (which is now my novel “Fractured Eden”), I felt like I earned another graduate degree. Along with her expert tutelage, she recommended four books on fiction writing that she felt would best benefit my writing style and my chosen genres of suspense and mystery. That was one of the many obstacles to me over the years: which books to read? After all, if you search the internet for “how to write fiction,” you’ll get millions of hits. I wasn’t finding the right instructional books for my needs, but now I'm fairly certain that I’m on the right track. The four books my editor recommended: “Plot & Structure” by James Scott Bell, “Writing the Breakout Novel” by Donald Maass, “Story Engineering” by Larry Brooks, and “The Writer’s Journey” by Christopher Vogler.

http://amzn.to/1PLPSHM

I’ll mention a few writing tips from my editor and from the above books that made an impression on me. (Seasoned writers will probably be familiar with this information). These points were among the most important for my book’s revision.

1. A major problem with my lead character was highlighted by this question: “If he’s in so much danger, why doesn’t he just hightail it out of there?” I thought I had that issue covered, but I didn’t. I had to delve more deeply into the nature of his conflicts and his relationships with other characters, and that seemed to work. He has to stay because his leaving would place his girlfriend in danger. He has to stay because his self-respect would be mortally wounded if he continued to try to flee from his challenges rather than face them head-on.

2. The original opening to the novel was too wimpy; I needed a few slam-bang opening pages. I think the prologue accomplished that - it introduced the lead character and placed him immediately in a world of distress.

3. To make each scene more effective, I shortened opening lines and tried to make scene openings and closings more tense and provocative to the reader.

4. As I had learned from my writing research, the theme of the novel seemed to emerge from the lead character’s conflicts. He wrestled with the issue of courage throughout the story. What is courage, ‘do I have it,' and how does a person tap into it when it’s needed? While fleshing out my lead's final battle, I realized that courage had become an important theme of the story.

5. My main villain was too one-dimensional, so I created a back story for him that explained the origin of his mental pathology and why he acts the way he does.

6. My editor recommended that I develop the setting more fully. As a result, I like to think that the setting (The Big Thicket) became more alive and vibrant and even became an active participant in the story.

So far, the self-publishing process has been challenging and fun, especially when my first few reviews on Goodreads were positive. I’m sure most authors experience that nagging uncertainty about whether or not their creation is worthy; I certainly was worried. So, the reviews of my novel on Amazon and Goodreads (mostly positive) affirmed that my efforts, after all, might be worthwhile over time and that my writing might entertain at least a few readers. That’s satisfying indeed, akin to the “runner’s high,” as I’m sure that pleasant warmth - no, sheer elation - I feel when reading a positive review is due to those euphoria-inducing endorphin molecules just released from a few billion neurons in my brain.

With help from the book “Revision and Self-Editing for Publication” by James Scott Bell, I’m currently revising a mystery novel that I’ve been working on for about 10 years. Of course, I’m applying what I learned during the writing and revision process that led to my current published novel. I work on writing projects almost every day, usually early in the morning before work, as my mind clicks on all cylinders in the dawn hours.

Good luck to all writers out there!

Steven Gossington is an emergency room physician with over 30 years of patient care experience. For 11 years, he was an academic professor in emergency medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, and he published 20 book chapters and medical articles of original research. His enjoyment of mystery and suspense fiction and his love of writing led to his first novel Fractured Eden, a psychological suspense story in which he draws upon his extensive experience with mentally ill emergency room patients.

Learn more about Steven & his books:

http://www.stevengossington.com/

https://twitter.com/SteveGossington

https://www.facebook.com/Steven-Gossington-1560800540826089/

Title: The Editor's Eye: A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Book from Good to Great

Author: Stacy Ennis

ISBN: 13: 9781937645052

Reviewed by Jo Linsdell

Editing is integral to the writing process, but its role is often misunderstood. What if editing could make writing less stressful and more enjoyable? What if it could help you write sharper, more compelling prose?
'The Editor's Eye: A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Book from Good to Great' shows you how editing can help you write your best book. In this no-nonsense guide, book coach and editor Stacy Ennis takes you through the ins and outs of the often bewildering book-editing process. As you begin to understand how writing and editing complement each other, you’ll become more confident as a writer, finish your book faster, and move toward the ultimate goal: publication.
Seasoned and would-be authors will discover how to:
* Master the basics: Understand the four core editing stages and when they should take place.* Write with an editor’s eye: Streamline your writing with self-editing tips.* Hire and work with editors. Learn where to look, what you can expect to pay, and how to collaborate.* Revise painlessly. Implement editor and reader feedback with ease.* Learn from the pros. Get advice from 20 publishing experts, fiction and nonfiction authors, and editors.
To learn more about 'The Editor's Eye' and to download free resources, such as a sample style guide, sample letter of agreement, manuscript review form, editing checklist, visit www.stacyennis.com.

Editing is an important part of the publishing process but it's often misunderstood, undervalued, and/or causes authors to pull their hair out.

This book explains everything about editing, from misunderstandings about editing to the different types of editing to talking you through the editing process, and how to hire an editor and work effectively together.

Each section of the book includes an interview with an industry expert to put some of the information covered into real world examples.

This book is thorough and well written. A good resource for all writers but also worth a read for editors too.

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