Category Archives: Craft & Skills

There are many things an indie writer needs to consider when looking for an editor. Is the editor capable of providing you with the service you need: content, line, or copy editing? Does the editor have reputable references? Based on the sample, does the editor’s style suit your own? Can you afford the editor’s service?

I think every writer needs to carefully consider each of the above questions during the selection process. Though this topic is crucial to every writer, it is one that has been beaten to death. So, I thought I would discuss what I feel every writer needs to consider after the selection process is complete. Below are my top Dos and Don’ts when working with an editor.

Dos:

Do agree to terms ahead of time.

Be clear on expectations before work begins.

Do you want only that content edit or were you also expecting a copy edit as well?

Do you want the editor to provide a second round of edits in order to proof read your work after you’ve made the previous suggestions provided to you?

Do you need the editor to help you with writing the back cover, marketing materials, a press release, and text for your website?

Most editors probably won’t do all of the above but some might if you’ve discussed the scope of work ahead of time. Don’t expect an editor to provide extra services (no matter how little) for free after the agreed upon work is completed. Their time is valuable and they have other clients besides you.

Do meet your deadlines.

As I said, you are not your editor’s only client. The time to schedule an editor is when your book is nearly complete, especially if you’re writing your first book.

Find out what your editor’s schedule is like and how long they think it will take to edit the book, and then plan accordingly. It is not unreasonable to wait weeks or months before an editor can start on your book. Expect the overall editing process to take several weeks or longer once the editor begins work. Variations will exist based on the length of the book, how good of a writer you are, and how many projects the editor works on at once.

As a side note, after you’ve had some experience in completing projects it will be easier to schedule an editor before actual completion. Even then, I’d recommend giving yourself several weeks or even months of cushion. It is much nicer knowing you’ve finished early and can get ahead on your next project rather than scrambling to complete something at the last minute and turning in shoddy work.

Do ask for clarification.

Any editor worth their salt will clarify questions you might have on their suggestions. Otherwise, how can you determine if it is a valid change? If an editor is unwilling to communicate with you in this way after giving you the manuscript back, I’d question using that person again.

Do be prompt with payment.

But what happens if it costs more than I originally expected? Too bad.

If you go to a car dealership and they give you an estimate for a brake job that later increases by several hundred dollars because things were worse than expected, can you get away with not paying them? Of course not. Can you imagine if your boss decided not to pay you promptly or not at all, and how that would affect your life?

For some editors, this might be their only source of income. Therefore, don’t be late with their money.

If you decide their services were overpriced and not what you expected then the only thing you can do is not use them for future work.

Do remember that a suggestion for change is not a demand for one.

As the writer, this is your story. You need to be satisfied with it more than anyone else. Make changes only if you agree it improves the quality of the work. If you can’t make that decision on your own, bring in someone else to give you a second opinion.

I rarely disagree with my editor, but there have been a few times I decided against making his suggested changes. This is partly because I had received differing opinions from my beta-readers and partly because the change would affect later parts of the story in works he had not yet edited.

Don’ts

Don’t hand over a mess.

Your editor should not be the first person to read your manuscript besides yourself. Employ both alpha and beta-readers. They will help you smooth out many problems long before your editor gets a hold of your story, especially in the way of content. If nothing else, this step will help reduce the costs to you. The more time your editor spends cleaning up your mess, the more they will charge.

Don’t expect your editor to do all the work.

Your editor shouldn’t have to re-write your book. They will rewrite sentences as needed, but they aren’t supposed to write chapters or sections for you (unless you’ve agreed they will act as a ghost writer).

Don’t take it personally.

This is all a learning experience and a way to make you a better writer. I’ve improved significantly with each work I’ve turned into my editor, and a contributing factor to my improvement has been his feedback on each story.

Remember, an editor’s reputation will be held against the quality of your work as well. You don’t want an editor to blow smoke up your rear. You want an editor to be honest about what is good and what isn’t so your story and characters can shine.

Don’t be a jerk to your editor.

Like everything else in life, be professional. If I really have to explain what this means then you probably have bigger problems to worry about than everything I’ve mentioned above.

Don’t lose sight of your ultimate goal.

You want a great book!

Joshua P. Simon is a Christian, husband, father, CPA, fantasy author, and heavy metal junkie. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia and hopes that one day he can leave the life of a CPA behind and devote that time to writing more of the ideas bouncing around his ADD-addled brain. You can find out more about him at www.joshuapsimon.blogspot.com.

Feeling Tense: 2 of a 2-part series

April 8, 2013

mary

Craft & Skills Mary Pletsch Writing Tools 3 Comments

Feeling Tense: 2 of a 2-part series

Part 2: Third person

Third person omniscient

“Cora felt uneasy as she stepped into the cave’s gaping maw. Tina, on the other hand, was thrilled at the opportunity to explore.”

The narrator is God, looking down on Her characters. Since the narrator is omniscient, the writer has the freedom to reveal what any character is feeling, thinking, or doing, at any time. If characters are keeping secrets from one another, the omniscient narrator knows, and can share those secrets with the readers. If a storyline is complex, an omniscient narrator can make sure the readers find out what they need to know to follow the story.

This technique has its drawbacks. Third person makes it easy for the writer to preach: to tell the readers how they should feel about the characters, or whether a character’s decision was “right” or “good,” instead of letting the readers draw their own conclusions about the characters’ thoughts and actions. It is also somewhat impersonal in that the characters are held at a certain remove from the reader (we’re watching them, rather than seeing through their eyes); a novelist wants to avoid the dry tone of a history book.

One of my English professors once suggested to me that the narrator was also a “character” of sorts. The narrator affects the reader’s interpretation of the story’s events by the use of judgmental language–descriptions can include value judgments about characters or actions–and by describing certain events in detail while glossing over others. The omniscient narrator may not be a neutral one. When writing this tense, be aware that how you describe things, and what you choose to dwell on or leave out, may skew the way your readers look at your characters and plot.

Tight third person

“Cora looked around the inside of the cave, shivering in the disgusting dampness, wishing she was anywhere but here. She shot a glance at Tina, hoping to ask if they could leave, but Tina was too busy gawking at the cave’s ceiling.”

If first person is a view from behind the narrator’s eyes, and standard third person is the God’s-eye view, tight third person can be described as a view over the narrator’s shoulder. In the above example, although it is third person, since it is seen from Cora’s viewpoint, she does not know that Tina likes the cave. All she knows is that Tina seems to want to look around, while all she cares about is getting out as soon as she can. Similarly, while the omniscient point of view allows the narrator to outright tell the reader that Tina’s excited to do some exploring, the tight third person viewpoint requires the narrator to drop hints which will allow the readers to guess at Tina’s mindset, whether or not Cora ever figures it out.

From Tina’s point of view, this same scene might look like this:

“Tina looked around the inside of the cave, fascinated by the beautiful limestone stalactites tumbling from the ceiling. Unfortunately, Cora didn’t seem as entranced. Tina couldn’t imagine why not, but she wasn’t going to let her friend’s reluctance get in her way.”

Is the cave disgusting, or beautiful? In this case, it very much depends on which character is doing the looking.

In real life, different people might have different interpretations of the same event. Tight third person also allows for the narrator to get right inside the thoughts and feelings of his characters, but also provides the possibility of showing multiple points of view. This viewpoint is tricky, since the “narrator as character” is muted, and it is imperative that the writer describe events in a manner consistent with the beliefs of the character, as opposed to colouring them with her own experiences. It can be uncomfortable to see through the eyes of a villainous character-a bigot, a thug or a self-serving sleazeball-and present their point of view as rational, even natural. However, it allows for a fascinating insight into the way different characters think.

It’s Finished… or Is It?

April 5, 2013

Colette Black

Colette Black Craft & Skills Editing First Drafts The Writing Process 6 Comments

We’ve all done it. We finish our manuscript, think we’ve done our self-editing, followed submission guidelines, we hit Send, and then…oops. We should have done__________.

checklist

I had a completely different post written out for today. One with lots of links to books, and workshops, and what to do and not to do, and it sounded patronizing–not the customer kind, but the looking down your nose kind. I mean, let’s be real. I think I’m a good writer, maybe even a great writer someday, but I’m no editor. Every time I go to send a query, send out my next novel, or write up a series synopses, I think I’m going to hyperventilate. Why? Because, I almost always forget something. I have an editing checklist, but it’s changed over the last couple of years, improved, and yet I’m realizing right now, I’ve never actually updated it. Most of the checklist is in my head and for me, that’s not the safest nor the most reliable location. So for my sake, and I hope this helps someone else, here’s a revised self-editing checklist. This is my list for end-of-the-line editing, not the content editing or even the full line-editing list. Maybe we can do those another time, but it’ll be a much longer post.

Basic Formatting:

One-inch margins
12-pt Times New Roman font
Double-spaced
No spaces before or after paragraphs (check to be sure)
first-line indent
Header with last name/title/page #
Correct title page with contact information, Word count, and title done correctly
Chapter Heading one-third down the page with page breaks between chapters (but no blank pages)

My Particular problems:

No extra spaces between words/before paragraphs
Search and replace or delete over-used favorite words, like “just”
Check for improper usage of past and past-perfect tense. (This became an issue when I read a lot of YA books with this problem, so now I especially check to make sure it doesn’t seep into my own writing–Thank you David Farland for pointing this out.)

Problems to watch for, learned from David Farland’s workshops:

forward and toward, not forwards and towards (That’s American English vs. British English)
Check usage of “and, then, finally, felt, saw, look, that” Get rid of them whenever possible
Use spell-check
Check “-ly” adverbs–There should be few, if any
Have I read the manuscript out loud, at least once?
Did I change the font and read the manuscript in order to catch less-noticeable errors?

And a few extra:

A basic spell-check
Re-read the publisher’s or agent’s specific requirements
Include appropriate letters (query, cover letter, synopsis)
correct postage for snail mail
proper formatting for electronic submissions
If I cut and pasted from another submission, change editor/agent name, word count, work’s title, name of magazine/agency, and all other details.

And NOW, it might be ready. This seems like a lot, but I think I’ve forgotten almost all the points on this list, or have almost forgotten them, at least once when sending to agents and publishers. I wish I’d put this together years ago, but then I don’t think I knew half the items on this list years ago. I hope this helps someone, and I’d love to add anything I’ve forgotten, so if you think of something please leave a comment.

Happy Writing!

Quotable Moments, Part Two

April 3, 2013

Ace Jordyn

Ace Jordyn Craft & Skills Writing Tools 2 Comments

The parade of quotes continues! If you enjoyed your cup o’ tea or genre cookie in Part One, check out the following snippets from more of our very best guest posts. Once again, we’ve got some great authors who have shared not only their insights, but an awkward moment or two-even hate mail! I cringe at the thought.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow, when we’ll be talking about the exciting recent fiction releases from our very own regular Fictorian contributors. Until then, click a few links!

* * *

Because I DIDN’T say yes to what seemed a sure thing and reasonably easy money, I had to find another way to raise funds… The struggle turned into prosperity, because my choices never wavered. That’s how my synchronicity works. There’s no elusive pattern that creates success; it’s the benefit of following a straight line. (James A. Owen: How Synchronicity Works (for Me))

Yes, I said it. We experienced old-timers have a huge advantage. We have taken the years and decades to learn how to write better stories and we are all still working to learn… That’s right. Shocking as it may seem, writing better novels and stories-stories that fans want to read-makes us better known. It is not promotion or some silly trick. We sell more because we write better stories. It really is that simple. (Dean Wesley Smith: Stop Being in a Hurry)

With a series, your backlist stays in print, your readers are loyal; they will forgive you a book that they don’t particularly care for and look forward eagerly to the next book. People are drawn to a protagonist and they become loyal to him or her. (Gail Bowen, The Elements of a Good Mystery)

All fantasy readers, I would say, expect and desire the extraordinary in their fiction. They want not only the well-drawn characters, coherent plots, strong emotions, vivid descriptions, and insight into the human condition they could get from non-fantastic literature, they also want a “sense of wonder”-an experience of something outside the mundane world. (David D. Levine, The Wonder of Fantasy)

Rhythm may be obvious in a poem and not so obvious when it comes to fiction. How do you hear the rhythm when writing fiction? The same way one does when writing poetry. Read the piece out loud. Get into the habit of doing this. Look for the ebb and flow. If you do, it will help to carry the reader away on your words. (Bob Stallworthy, What Can a Poet Say to a Fiction Writer About Writing?)

Jump. Stop staring at the blank page, stop taking in the dizzying height and jump. When you first open the blank page, jump into writing as fast as you can. When I first start writing in the morning, I put my hands on the keyboard and start typing whatever comes into my head, (Rebecca Shelley: Facing the Blank Page)

There’s a lot of difference between traditional publishing, electronic publishing, and self-publishing… So in order to avoid trouble down the line, it’s important for an author to self-represent correctly-and, more importantly, to use the different avenues in publishing wisely, to build a foundation for a writing career. (Celina Summers: Different Paths to Publishing)

Today’s readers would be horrified at “real” history-its filth, superstition, disease, and cost in terms of human suffering… genre fiction, set in brutal times or places may not be popular unless filtered through modern sensibilities and made more palatable. (Barbara Galler-Smith, A History Lover’s Thoughts on Historical Research)

An agent must be organized, intelligent, multi-tasking, a good negotiator, have excellent time management skills, love books, know marketing and sales and be well versed in the mechanics of writing/storytelling/character development/plot/pacing and social media. He or she must also be relentless in keeping up with developments in publishing contracts, editorial taste and digital publishing. (Laurie McLean: Literary Agents in the New Publishing Era)

There is a perception among writers that tie-in books-that is to say books that are based in a universe created by someone other than the writer-are of low quality and reside in a kind of literary ghetto, … But these books can often add depth to a beloved universe… (Jordan Ellinger: Coming Up in the Trenches)

Build relationships so people begin to recognize your name. If the first post I see from you is promoting your book, all I will remember when I see your name again is that you only care about promoting yourself. (Mignon Fogarty: Social Media Mistakes That Make You Look Like a Newbie)

I think if people are looking to appeal to the widest YA audience, they need to be careful. You want your readers to be able to carry your books around like their latest obsession, which will grow your audience, instead of hiding it in a backpack where new readers will never see it. It think that’s where BEAUTIFUL CREATURES got it right. Those books were show-off-gorgeous… (L.L. Muir, YA Romance: Niche Within a Genre)

You may or may not have seen this piece of advice floating around: those who can be encouraged to quit writing, should be encouraged to quit. (Brad R. Torgersen: On Not Quitting)

You only need to post what you want people to see, but if you post nothing personal, then people may not engage you. Today, people want to know who they are talking to. If you are interesting and engaging there’s a good chance your social media profile will be checked out. If you post nothing about what you do or how to reach you, people will move on to the next person. (Brian Hades: Are You in the Business of Being YOU?)

While the past was historic, the present is amazing, and the future? Well, the future is anything you can imagine. So, don’t be afraid to leap into a unique setting. A line from one of mine, “Every time the old grey cat meowed, Matilda T. Bartholomew was transported fifty five seconds into the future. It wasn’t until he purred that she could restore her missing time, and PG Grey tips was a very crabby cat.” (Julie Ann Avila, Once Upon a Fairy Tale)