Category Archives: Revision

Renovating Your Book

Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Revision, Writing, , , ,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

My husband and I spent ours working on our basement. Thank heavens my husband is a very handy guy because we have spent the last several months finishing our basement. It has been a long arduous task involving framing, insulating, dry walling, tiling and painting. After a long weekend of sanding and painting, my back is locked up tighter than Fort Knox and, sadly, I’m only halfway done painting the doors, windows and trim moldings.

As I labored away yesterday, it dawned on me how many parallels there are between building something and the writing process. Whether you’re finishing a basement, building a skyscraper or writing a novel it’s always important to start with a strong framework. Without a solid foundation your building or your story will fall apart.

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Next you run the wiring and plumbing, which is kind of like weaving together the plot threads that drive your story forward. This is what makes your reader turn the page. If you fail to tie all of the plumbing together you turn on a faucet and nothing happens. Or you run all of the electrical lines, but forget to tie them into the junction box, so when you flip the light switch, no lights come on. This can also happen in a story when an author has lots of great story elements but forgets to tie them together so the reader knows what is going on and why it’s important.

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Next comes walls. Just as you have to watch out for bows and seams when hanging and taping drywall, you have to be careful as you layer one event on top of another in building your plot. If you aren’t, you could wind up with a story full of inconsistencies, elements that don’t make sense or a sagging middle that doesn’t encourage a reader to keep turning pages.

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Once your structure is complete, it’s time to add the finishing touches like paint, tile and carpet to tie the space together and make it inviting. In much the same way, rewrites and edits tie your scenes together and give your story seamless flow. This is the place I’m at now, both in the manuscript I’m working on and my basement. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Getting My Butt Kicked

Books, generosity, mermaids, Motivation, Publishing, Revision, Susan Jeffery, Writing, ,

Susan-Mermaid-avatar As I’ve always said before, I generally avoid New Year’s resolutions.  This year, for a change, I made several:

–       I will join a critique group

–       I will allow myself to mentor someone, and ask for a mentor

–       I will submit material for publication

At the January meeting of CTRWA, I was right there with the club’s critique group.  We found much to say about each other’s work (both pro and con) and left feeling we’d encouraged each other in the best ways.  Resolution One:  check.

Also in January, responded to the semi-annual offer of matching Yodas and Grasshoppers.  Don’t laugh – our most accomplished writers are called Obi-Wans.  However, with the snag of a badly typed email address, I didn’t make the deadline for getting matched.  The coordinator felt badly for me and offered herself up, saying she didn’t feel she was Yoda status yet, but was willing to try.

Resolution Two: check.  Mentor achieved, and by the skin of my teeth.  But what an experience.  It has already changed my life.

You see, Joy asked an interesting question: what did I want from a Yoda? She had already joined the critique group, so she knew my writing.  (A side-resolution: I would be honest in my answer)

“I want someone to kick my butt.”

She wanted to see the synopsis for the book I was closest to finishing (not the one I was working on).  The next day, I had an email:  “We must meet.  This week.  When are you available?”  We settled on Sunday afternoon.

As luck would have it, I had a car accident on Friday.  Spent Saturday feeling like someone had squeezed all my back and shoulder muscles into one big knot (I’mostly fine now.  Really).  On Sunday, I asked Himself to drive me to the meeting spot in Connecticut, where my mentor was going to kick said butt.

I’d already told him he was NOT to sit with us.  Even though he’s a writer.

Thus, my husband of nearly 34 years found a table nearby, placed his lunch order and opened his Kindle.

Ninety minutes later, Joy said something I don’t remember ever hearing:  “I don’t need to see your chapters.  I already know from what I read in critique group, and from your synopsis, that you can write.”  And she asked a question I’d never had to answer before:  “Why are you writing?”

Oh dear.  A question I didn’t know how to answer.  Did I want to be published again?  Sure.  Was I willing to do what it takes to make that happen?

You’re writing, she told me, because you want to see your book published.  You want to know people can read your book.  You want them to see it and know how amazing this story is.  And the way to do that is to submit.  And the way to submit is to

Finish

The

Book

writing space susan 2010

Amazing, how this women – in less than two hours – cuts though the all the crud of my denial and strips away my excuses.  Since our meeting on Sunday, I’ve read through the first ten chapters of THE LAKE EFFECT.  I see lots decent writing, and some of it is terrific.  I also see disjointed scenes, clumsy scenes, awkward phrases, bad word choices and incomplete sentences.  This, I realize, will be my first second draft.  What an idea!  It’s almost something to look forward to – like a strange and unexpected adventure.

Which brings me to the question:  what scares you most about writing?  What would you discover if you dared?

SusanMermaid

A BAGEL, ANY KIND, TOASTED AND BUTTERED – JUST AS LONG AS IT GETS THE JOB DONE

Draft, mermaids, Revision, Susan Andrews, Writing

from mermaid Susan Andrews:  SusanMermaid

There’s a problem I’ve experienced as a writer sometimes that just knocks me on my back.  Mind you, I can plot, draft, write and create.  I carve out time to write.  I’ve created a little space for my books and my papers.  I’ve learned to draft manuscripts on the train, to use my phone for making notes and jotting down ideas.  I have a nifty new keyboard for my iPad.  I’ve even discovered the charm of the Yonkers Will Public Library for its blissfully silent study tables.

But, every once in a while, right in the middle of things, I get stuck.  That one word, the one fact I was so sure I knew, escapes me.  It’s right there, ready to be typed and, at the same time, out of sight.

I’m frozen.  Stuck.  My dream of being A Productive Writer is smashed at my feet, at least for the moment.  And, frankly, I’m a little pissed.

However, I’m blessed to know (and be married to) a very clever writer, who makes his living writing.  And has met deadlines for nearly thirty years.  Who also has his moments of grasping for a word, a phrase, or an idea.

He tells me, “Susan, you need a bagel.”  Damn, that man has good ideas.  RaisinCinnBagel

Here’s the idea:  You type along, thinking good thoughts, getting into the groove of your writing, and suddenly you’re not sure what the next word is supposed to be.  Peter (aka Word God for this post) types “bagel” and continues writing.  Since his non-fiction work is science writing, and bagels have never figured in any of his published science articles, “bagel” is his preferred word for “silly me, not able to think of that just now.”  When he’s ready to revise, he also cleans up the “bagels” and gives himself the time to think of the proper word or phrase.

I’ve started using it myself in my work, and it’s marvelously freeing.  “Bagel” allows me to keep working.  It’s a funny, cute, small way to acknowledge that a draft isn’t intended to be perfect right out of the box.  I’m able to forgive myself for not knowing the word and move on.

Just this past week, I used it when I saw a hole in my plot.  “Bagel”, I typed.  “Insert sex scene here.”

Dang, that’s a lot of bagels.

Peter Andrews writes the How to Write Fast blog at www.howtowritefast.blogspot.com.  He has a hundred tips like this one for the WannaBeProductive writer and will be featured on April 29 in a Waterworld Mermaid Guy Day interview.

bagel