Desert Storms and Rewrites

I sat on the patio this afternoon, well used to the heat, and read mss. This is a photo of the monsoons rolling across the desert.

I've given a lot of thought to how specific I should be about rewrite requests to the CRP authors. The other day I asked my friend Jen Garsee what kind of direction she gets for her rewrites.

I know she disappears when she is doing rewrites and it isn't until they are done, by the deadline, that anyone hears from her. Jen writes for one of the major publishers and has her third YA novel coming out soon. (Links below.)

Here is what she said, which makes me think I do far too much handholding:
The rewrites depend on the book. I had a TON of rewrites with Before.After...almost none with Say The Word...and a lot of editing in the third-- not really rewrites, just needed to cut and tighten. Luckily my agent gives me a lot of advice before it even goes out to my editor [at Bloonsbury USA Children's Books].

ps The rewrite suggestions are never detailed. They just say "I need a scene with blah blah" or "Can you make this character a bit more likeable?" or "We need a transition here..." I have to figure it out myself lol.

Jeannine Garsee
THE UNQUIET (2012)
SAY THE WORD
BEFORE, AFTER, AND SOMEBODY IN BETWEEN
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

Check out Jen...she writes hysterical blogs.

http://www.jeanninegarsee.com/
http://onegrapeshy.livejournal.com/profile
http://jeanninegarsee.blogspot.com/


For more Arizona weather info: We've had several haboobs - it is a strong wind in the desert; a sand storm. http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/queen_creek/photos%3A-haboob-moves-across-south-valley

Anything is possible

There is a freeze advisory for the central Arizona deserts tonight and the next few days. The palm trees took a hit earlier this winter, but this is the deep freeze. Many of the houses in my neighborhood have adorned their most precious plants with blankets and towels. My yard is the same. The expected low tonight is 24F, freezing is 32F.

When the boys were younger we would look at things in nature, particularly sunsets and cloud formations, and discuss how if they were in a painting just as they were - they would not look real.

That is a question writers need to ask constantly as they edit and rewrite their manuscripts. "Does this seem real?"

Some people think their life story is memoir worthy. Frankly, memoirs by unknown people rarely sell more than a handful of copies. There are tragic moments most of us have endured and risen to overcome in heroic fashion, but that doesn't mean our story is book material.

I've had writers argue with me about dialogue changes stating that the line was what was really said. Perhaps so, but it isn't believable in fiction. As they say in the courtroom, it doesn't have the ring of truth to it.

Even in fiction, the writer must ask the hard questions: "Is this believable?" "Will the reader dispense with reality and sink into the story?"

Fantasy and science fiction writers master this or at least struggle with it. Same with romance writers, though rarely do I think the story is believable.

Writing errors can be corrected, but bad writing is just that -- bad. Prepare to step up to the big time and make sure your writing measures up. I boast that Cactus Rain books can stand toe-to-toe with any other book on the shelf, beginning with The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister.

Check it out and tell me what you think. http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

Tempus Fugit

Yes, time flies. Mostly it files in manuscripts when the rewrites are done and things get moved around, like scenes and such. Or worst, when the novice insists on editing while in the midst of writing the first draft.

The best way to write a novel is straight through, beginning to end. Never, ever go back and read more than the last paragraph before starting to write each time. Please don't jump around in the ms making changes. It is a habit worst than nail biting to break, but to move from novice to professional writer, it must be broken.

I have a friend who is one of the most stubborn women I've ever met. Honestly, when I read her ms I can tell that she has jumped back and forth while writing the first draft. Not only are there gaps and time flying involved, the tone of the characters zig-zag until I'm certain they must be schizophrenic with the number of mood changes occurring.

It is a bear to fix the time changes and gaps. One way that works (and is a lot of work) is to go through and read the ms in a printed copy - away from the computer and temptation to change other things. Write it in the margin every time change, (Friday, Tuesday, two weeks later, morning or afternoon ...something very clear). It usually means an extra read-through because it is hard to focus on too many things to check at once. But if beta readers are making notes that say, "What day is it?" then it must be done. You can bet that an agent or their reader will catch it and it might be the final blow to getting a contract offered.

That is the easy part compared to sorting out an unintentional moodiness in characters that comes from jumping around while editing or writing the first draft. I've know some who write scenes; keeping them in their own documents then stringing the scenes together with bridges. That equates to the biggest mess I've ever seen. I won't read those mss, it is just not a good way to create a storyline for fiction.

Seriously, only work on your ms from beginning to end. Regardless of whether you are writing the first draft or in the rewrite process, never jump around in the middle. Your readers might not be able to put their finger on what it is that isn't quite right, but people in the industry will see it right off.

The only way I know to fix a mixed up moody character, when that wasn't the plan and really doesn't work even if it was, is to get help. You're either going to have to hire a professional content editor or owe your best friend something very special.

Print two copies of your ms. Get your friend and some snacks and settle in for a long weekend of serious work. Don't think you can pawn it off on your friend, you have to be involved or shell out the big bucks for a pro. Read the ms aloud, but not so fast that it isn't being heard by either of you. The friend's job is to notice, if you don't, when characters are out of character. Then you have to decide if it adds to the story or is simply sloppy writing. Be honest. If a character is talking in a way that they should develop into later (you jumped around), then it has to be fixed. If a character knows something they shouldn't know yet (you jumped around), then it has to be fixed.

I know some people think it is okay to bank scenes for later and write to them. Fine, but know this: very few writers can pull that off and the tone (your voice as the writer) will show as it change from one scene to another with the "bridges" between, especially if the scenes were written out of sequence.

I bet after this, no one will write out of sequence again. That is my hope anyway.

Before Editing

A reminder here, you can hire a line editor - proof reader (I know a good one if anyone needs one). But there is more to being a good fiction writer than grammar and punctuation. A perfect, error free ms isn't necessarily a good read. There are elements of the craft that are more important than the occasional subject/verb out of agreement.

A fiction writer needs to practice the skills of the craft: Character Development (not a two paragraph mini bio that stops the story dead - boring), pacing (sentence structure and context that matches the action of the words), scene (the development of vignettes that drive the story forward and develop the characters, create conflict and resolution), setting (only stand up comedians work on an empty stage - put people in the city scenes and animals in the rural scenes, and a habitat to match the setting), tone (the flavor of the story, the aftertaste), voice (who tells the story, the 'personality' of the storyteller - not the writer), literary devices (personification, foreshadowing, dialogue, backstory, and more), plots, plot arcs, and subplots, tense, point of view (POV) - see the links below for more info.

Notice I did not mention once that to be a good fiction writer you need to know the 48 prepositions or the 8 parts of speech (The basic eight parts of speech in the English language consist of the verb, noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.)

Writing fictioin is like building a house. You need to have electrical, plumbing, structure, design, a roof - the paint and floor covering are last. Novice writers try to paint before the walls are up --they edit prematurely.

I've put together some books on writing on the third page of my amazon store http://nadinelamanbooks.com/astore.html If you buy only one book, buy the script writing book. Read the parts about camera angle and the parts that teach you to write a motion picture in your reader's mind. There are several other books I like, I'll ask Joyce - my web designer - to add them for me.

If you are editing while you write or right after the first draft is finished, it will show, it will not be your best possible work - I read far more mss than I read published books. I can tell at what stage the editing was done and your eventual readers will too, even if they don't know what is lacking. While editing is important, it is far less important than good writing...and that comes with rewrites. Basically, editing for grammar and punctuation is the last step of polishing an ms.

Writing a good story is the first step, that is why I say the elements of producing fiction are these in this order:

First draft - written from beginning to end, straight through, no going back at all - ever.
Rewrites - strengthening the story with literary elements of good story writing, done correctly, this step will be repeated several times - straight through, beginning to end.
Edit - cleaning up grammar and punctuation. And finally, line editing or proof reading.

From there you can query agents, shop your ms, or move into one of the many ways to publish your own book.

The saying goes: "Writers write" not "Writers edit." Don't get off track on what it is you wanted to be when you started writing, you wanted to be a WRITER.

Literary devices:
http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Literary-Devices
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/resources/litdevices/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_technique
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm
ms = manuscript

Goodness, google 'literary devices' learn the craft, it is far MORE than editing.

Bulk Trash Day

The first Monday of every month is 'bulk trash' day in our neighborhood. Every Tuesday, the regular trash and recycling is picked up. Monthly, the trash that doesn't fit in the trash bin goes in a heap in a certain place by the driveway and City workers come and remove it at the crack of dawn.

During the housing boon people flipping house put extra, not so good furniture out they weren't moving with them or shouldn't have moved. Mostly we put out palm branches and other yard clippings.

In our yard, we have sections of the decorative rock and low water plants that are typical to the area, but not really wise as once thought. It was a short sighted idea that is now proving to increase the Phoenix heat dome.

We have small cuevy shaped patches of grass in the front and back yards, which in combination with the surface of the pool, help erase our footprint. The short term thinkers who brought us the rock look are the ones who complain about the demoisturizing of the monsoons. In third grade we learned about the water cycle, but these people forgot the evaporation component.

I always start with these ecology thoughts as I work in the yard. I'm proud that we haven't caved to the $100 one-time water credit to convert the yard to full rocks.

As the day wore on, I moved to the back yard where I could work in my swim suit and jump in the pool to cool down. As I was standing in the shade with water up to my neck and cool tiles at my back, I looked at my progress. I began to think about rewrites and editing, and how it seems impossible to get beginners not to edit until the first draft is fully written.

I looked at the yellow Mexican Bird of Paradise that rarely blooms (I don't know why) that I had just trimmed. I have finally agreed that if it doesn't bloom this year, it goes and gets replaced with something else, probably the red and orange variety (those are beautiful). All of this reminded me of scenes that just don't work, often one of the writer's favorite scenes.

I've said before it is nothing for me to cut 20,000 words from an ms during rewrites. Afterwards, the story is a lot like our yard, tidy, inviting, purposeful. Not only does fiction mirror life, the process of being a writer is much like many other things we do, like bulk trash day.

Those are my thoughts for August's bulk trash day. Yeah, I know - probably got too much sun. Keep writing and enjoy reading.

First Draft

If you read last week's posts you had to notice right off that first drafts are no where near the end result. That's why I keep saying that a finished manuscript isn't finished until rewrites have been done, beta readers have gone through it, and an editor (not an English major from University) has put their ink stained fingers on it too.

Why not an English major as your editor? Simple, there is more to producing a good book than perfect grammar, though that is important. I like to have a couple of English geeks as beta readers because they do catch HUGE goofs. Also, I have a couple of very serious readers as beta readers because they will let NO bogus stuff pass in the story line or with the characters. Plus book editors add a dose of commercialism to the book by sending it back to the writer to add or subtract scenes and characters.

Frankly, some very prolific writers do just the first draft and hand the ms off to their team to polish, while they go off and write the next book. How else do you think they crank out so many books in a year?

So the posts last Thursday and Friday are the first time though drafts. They are flat. The characters, set, and secondary characters are just bare bones and need fleshing out on the rewrites. And it will happen. The book excerpts on my website are further along in the process, yet even those aren't the final edition. The lesson here is not to judge a writer by drafts or excerpts posted on the internet. They might be the finished product, or as in my case, only a representation of what is in the book. The published book IS the finished product.

Go look at the excerpts and compare the writing to last weeks blog posts. See the difference? http://www.nadinelamanbooks.com/

And thank you for taking the time and interest to reading what I write.

So far the vote is: ACT = 6 and RPR = 4. I should have set up a poll for you, but didn't think of it in time. Oops!