Or rather, still editing, just limping along a little faster than I have over the past few months. I manage to hammer out a chapter or two a week and if I can get out of my own way I can probably (probably!) finish this fourth draft by fall.
About that getting out of my own way thing.
I could pretend it’s just lack of energy that’s been holding me up, but at least part of it is fear. If I finish the draft, then I’ll have no excuse but to start querying again and I fear wasting the one pitch I get to every agent on my list with a manuscript that is less than perfect.
How I imagine agents reacting to my manuscript.
In short, it’s not being told “no” that I fear. It’s running out of opportunities to ask for a “yes”. As long as I don’t query I can luxuriate in possibility. And yes, typing it out makes it sound just as nail-bitey and tail-chasey as it is.
So I’m going to keep propping up the novel’s saggy middle so I get it back out in the world.
I’m trying to get back into a regular practice of writing. It’s been a depressingly easy habit to break so I’m pursuing almost anything that catches my fancy just to keep the momentum going. To those ends I’ve got several different writing and writing-related things going on:
Researching:
1970s glam rock fandom in America
19th-century underworld/alternative history (listened to Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets and compiling a list of sources he used)
“discovery writing” characters for both book ideas
this blog post
Though I didn’t get a mentor through PitchWars I found some pre-revision “homework” that I’m applying to Fool’s Gold to uncover any glaring failings I missed because I didn’t know any better a year ago.
Regarding the next book: I’m going to have to pick one eventually as I find that I do my best work if I focus on one thing at a time. I don’t know what I’ll do with the short story – maybe just post it as a download on the blog because I can’t imagine where I’d submit it.
Oh, I can do it when I have to, of course, but it’s always an aggravating extra step. I’m not a natural list maker. My clean laundry can stay on the guest bed for weeks. But some jobs are so large that the imposition of a defined order is required. And it’s maddening.
As a newbie writer I’m still working out the best way to collect all critique/beta reader feedback in one place so I can easily refer to it while editing the current* draft.
Some is digital and some is paper. I’ve tried volleying back and forth between 3 hard copies (so far) and multiple Word windows and it’s too confusing.
I’ve handwritten everything on my own printed version and while I have everything in one place I still have to drag a phone-book sized binder around with my laptop. The only places big enough to spread everything are my dining room table and the public library.
So as a last resort I’m going to try adding it all to the current Word** draft as comments. Best of both digital and print.
I hope.
*I hesitate to say “third”. Some parts have had more drafts/are more “done” than others.
**The last draft was restructuring, and Scrivener’s “index cards” functionality was great for moving scenes around easily. Now that I’ve solidified the sequence I want to view it as a whole. That, and a single Word doc is just easier to send to people.
True to my promise I’ve been critiquing/beta reading online and off during my break from the second draft. I’m grateful to the writers who are letting me read their works in progress. It takes nerve to share one’s writing and even more when it’s still in draft form.
After a month or so I started to notice patterns. It seems* that some errors happen across the board, regardless of genre or the writer’s experience. Seeing them elsewhere only highlights them in my own work:
No one cares about my research/”inside baseball”. I suspect histfic is more vulnerable to this because of the research needed** to understand the time period, but it’s easy to go overboard with tiny details that don’t contribute to the story. Readers aren’t interested in a room-by-room description of Dee’s home Mortlake and its number and type of servants; they’ll care that Jane Dee has problems keeping the ancient pile in good repair and getting the servants to behave.
Avoid jargon/specialized language unless I define it up front. Or at least give massive hints in context. Do you know what an athanors, pelicans, or bain maries are? I don’t want my readers to have to keep referring to Google to figure out what an alchemy lab looks like.
A story isn’t a just a blow-by-blow of activity. The séances might be line-by-line accurate to Dee’s diaries but that means nothing if I don’t show Edward Kelley’s extreme stress in making up everything on the fly. Readers won’t care – hell, I won’t care – unless he reflects, panics, and schemes over his flagrant BSing.
Select words with care to avoid repetition/adverb overload. Too often I lean on either restating or on my character doing something quickly, stupidly, angrily, etc. when if I just use better words the mood will come across. This is why my next step is reading the whole thing out loud, with red pen at the ready to strike through any unnecessary -lys.
Actual footage of a -ly hunt. Via Giphy.
*No hedging: get on with it already! See, I did it right there! Seems, appears, starting to, about to, thinking about, almost did: these slow things down when the all the reader wants is for characters to do things and stuff to happen. Except for rare exceptions of hesitation or second guessing (and gads, Edward has enough of those) these have no place in my prose.
**Passivity is a penalty: In fencing as well as prose. My tendency to convey events as having no cause is due to long years writing business emails and impersonal technical instructions. There are probably a few in every one of my blog posts despite my best efforts. “Dee was fooled” must turn into “Edwardfooled Dee“ (more than once). Ditto “the money was spent” = “Dee spent it all” (all too often). I don’t even know how I’ll find all of these, let alone get rid of them.
What about you? If you write, what’s on your “search and destroy” list for your next edit? If you read, what errors make you wince if they’re not caught***?
***More passivity. Yellow card (which is fencing “inside baseball”).
I’ve managed to trim down the first third of my book to under 100 pages! This is something of an accomplishment, as the first draft weighed in at a hefty 475 pages – long even for historical fiction, and inexcusable for a first time author. I’m currently rewriting the second third–if I can slim it similarly I’m on the right track.
Getting there. Courtesy Giphy
Cutting has been remarkably easy. Because I wrote the first draft out-of-order many chapters wound up with “last time on [book]”- type introductions. Rewriting in order makes these obvious, and they’re the first to go.
Also: anything that bores me. The first draft adhered too closely to the historical record which includes a lot of pedantic to and fro and preparation. Such interludes hobble the story, and if I’m tuning out I imagine my readers will too.
Speaking of which, the day job and other amusements have impeded my going to my local critique group. As such I joined Scribophile at the recommendation of a HNS acquaintance. I’m getting good feedback, in record time and in the comfort of my own home. Gotta give to get though, and I can only hope I’m as helpful to my fellow writers as they are to me.
I’m not going to have the second draft complete by the HNS conference in late June, but I’m further ahead than I thought I’d be, simply because there’s so much I can get rid of!
How are everyone’s works in progress (writing and not)?
Just like the fun stuff, I journal the rough stuff. Given how writers need to torment their characters I chronicle every twinge and ache. I’m currently smacking Edward around in rewrites and a reference file saves time.
I find this works for anger too. Hell, I find arguments easy to write in general, but it clears the mind enough to write it well.
And, of course, reading still feeds the muse even when I don’t have the brain power to create anything.
Illness and other downtime is inevitable. How do you make it work for you?
Strange days, the weeks around Christmas and new years. I find it difficult to keep motivated due to the disruption in schedule (and a nice cold I’m working on – achoo!) Certainly not a time to start anything new. So I thought I’d review:
Finally finished gathering comments on my first draft and started proper rewrites!
Changes in my day job dictate that I’m spending much of my usual writing time looking for my next gig. Blogging may be sparse, but I’ll try to post bits when I can.
For this week, I share some of my favorite writing and writing business websites:
We Are Not Alone: Kristen Lamb – Lamb’s focus is author branding through social media, and she makes her case with tough but snarky posts. Her Good Girls Don’t Become Best-Sellers helped me get a lot more comfortable with talking myself up. Lots of good info here on promotion, writing, and writer self-care to prevent burnout.
Terrible Minds – Chuck Wendig – Frames writing advice in a rude, wildly funny manner. Includes “Five Things I learned Writing” guest posts and flash fiction challenges. Check out his writing books (more linked below the fold) for solid advice made hilarious.
Writing Excuses – the long-running podcast offers 15 minute episodes with guests, writing prompts, and golden advice on all aspects of the writing business – check their tag cloud. I may put the Impostor Syndrome episode on repeat! There’s even a transcript site if you can’t listen.
Well, nothing you can see yet, anyway. Let me explain.
AND HOW. Courtesy YouTube
Edits and rewrites continue. Got good feedback on a rewritten chapter from my critique group. I can honestly say I look at the book every day. Nonetheless, progress is slow.
I can draft in fits and starts because it’s ok if the words suck. Butt in seat, type type type, and there you are. Unfortunately it takes me at least 15 minutes to get into “edit mode”: find my place, review what I’ve already done, and get back into the scene/character’s head…
Long story short, I’ve discovered that early morning stolen moments aren’t working. If I can get 2 uninterrupted hours I can usually complete a scene, but given day job, life, etc. I only have this luxury on weekends.
Hence this abbreviated blog post – what time I can steal goes into the book.
Once I’m published I can never work this way again. Fellow writers, how do you edit when on a deadline? Is it possible in short spurts? Any mental exercises for slipping into one’s story world easily so I can pick back up fast?
Yes, another tedious “year in review” post to add to the many cluttering your feed. But hopefully something of interest:
My great achievement for the year was finishing the first draft. Tentatively titled “Fool’s Gold” (I still don’t like it, but I’ve got to call it something), I’ve spent the last half of the year learning to edit. It is a long, slow, strange slog, but worth it. On the rare days I get a brainwave for improvement the “flow” is almost as fun as rough drafting.
I’ve found John Adamus’ Fix Your Shit Month posts invaluable in identifying plot and construction holes I didn’t even know existed. I’m also finding that copying my favorite works longhand makes it easier to both dissect what makes the words work and get into the writing groove.
Concrete goals for 2016: I’m not sure how to quantify editing progress as I’ve been told repeatedly that it can take years. I do aim to do at least half an hour a day. I’m also copying a paragraph or two of good writing each day to see if I can learn by imitation.
I’m also going to seek more frequent critiques and beta reading.
