Do You Need an Editor?

Yes. You do.

And today at Crime Fiction Collective, I've listed a few things to consider.

Self-Editing, Elizabeth George Style

Self-editing.

Are you shaking in your boots?

One of my all-time favorite writing books is Write Away by Elizabeth George. If you're looking for a craft book where the author lays out her process in a clear and easy way, I recommend George's work. Of course, it could be I love it because it's similar to what I have bumblingly put together on my own. However, because I want you to get something out of this post, I'll go with George's detail, not mine. She's much clearer because she's done it some twenty-five times. Me? Um . . . twice.

George does an incredible amount of prep work before she begins. Because of the preliminary work, when she's finally ready to settle down and create her first draft, she doesn't have to worry about what's going to happen next or how her characters should respond. She's able to focus on the best words and use them to create a compelling story.

That doesn't mean things don't change and new ideas don't surface, it just means she's free to allow them to do so without concern about how they fit into the story she is telling.

When she's finished with her first draft, she prints out a hard copy and tries to read it through in a couple of days. She makes no changes to the book. Let me repeat that, because—at least for me—this is the hardest thing to do. She makes no changes to the book during this read through. On a separate piece of paper, she makes notes of where the story needs some kind of work: clarification; delete areas of repetition; delete purple-prose; improve sub-plots; etc. She's simply looking for ways to make the story better, in an editorly way.

Then she writes herself an editorial letter as a guide for her second draft. She doesn't say this in Write Away, but I hope she gives herself a few pats on the back while she points out the weaknesses of the manuscript.

Her second draft is done pen-to-that-untouched hard copy. She goes through and deletes, adds and moves things around with the real cut and paste concept. If she needs to create something longer than three handwritten pages, she'll consider typing it up. Otherwise, this is where she literally gets her hands dirty, uses a bright red pen to slash through paragraphs, and scissors and tape to move paragraphs or scenes around.

This second draft is done at the rate of about fifty pages per day. When she's finished with her marked-up, cut-up and pasted draft, she types all of the changes into the computer, prints out a new copy and gives it to one cold reader. She includes two documents. The first one contains questions her reader should know about prior to the cold read, the second one is sealed and contains questions George didn't want her reader to be influenced by beforehand.

If there are further changes that need to be made, she makes them. Then it's off to her editor.

Have you read Write Away? Does this process appeal to you?



CR: Seed by Ania Ahlborn.

It's all better with friends.

Inspiring Authors

I'm kicking my week off with a few words of inspiration from authors whose success makes their words even sweeter.

I've got nine more chapters to edit, then the work will begin to incorporate my marked up pages into my manuscript. That sounds easy, but it won't be. A large number of those markups involve phrases or paragraphs where I've simply written "Better."

Trust me, I'll be back to check out this short little video more than once.









Currently reading 212 by Alafair Burke.

It's all better with friends.

Cut and Fluff

Rachelle Gardner recently wrote a blog post that I am going to blatantly steal from today. (Rachelle's blog is listed in my favorite blogs section in the lower right. It's called "Rants & Ramblings" and is well worth following.)

I've gotten pretty good at the cutting part during my rewrite process, but here is a list of things to look for when you decide to do some cleanup (a/k/a cutting):

• Adverbs. Especially those with "ly" endings. I heard once that it helps if you imagine you have to fork over some money for every adverb you leave in your manuscript. My advice? Make sure it's enough money to force you to pay attention.
• Adjectives. I just read that using two or three when one or none is better is a red flag to an agent or editor. Flush as many of these as possible.
• Gerunds. These are words that end in "ing." I used to start gazillions of sentences with "ing" words. To me, it felt like I was getting right to the action. One is okay. Forty is a bit much.
• Passive voice. Get rid of as many of these as possible: was, were, that.
• Narrative detail (including interior monologue). Deadly to the story.
• Passages that tell the reader what they already know. This is a close relative of R.U.E. (Resist the Urge to Explain.)
• Unnecessary backstory. Trust me, most backstory is unnecessary.
• Weasel words. These cover a lot of sins: this, that, these, those, it, to try, somehow, appeared, seemed, about, actually, almost, like, approximately, basically, close to, even, eventually, exactly, finally, just, just then, kind of, nearly, practically, really, simply, somewhat, sort of, suddenly, truly, utterly, were.

CR: Deception by Randy Alcorn. (I'm loving this protagonist. So funny . . . )

It's all better with friends.

Starbucks or Sludge?

Usually I'm pretty good at telling my Starbucks from my sludge. Which words are keepers and which ones should be tossed down the drain.

Feedback from moi comes after letting the words sit in the pot for a few days. If (after a cooling off period) I can pour myself a cuppa, and the aroma is evocative, I can fall in love with them all over again. If, however, there's a grungy film sticking to the side of my cup, they need some attention . . . or deletion.

Once everything's been filtered properly, I'll ask trusted critiquers to sample my brew.

But even then . . . I've been known to become unreasonably attached to a scene, a paragraph. Even a phrase or a word. Some things are worth fighting for. Some aren't. If something enhances the scene, or the plot, or a character, and without it a crucial element will be lost, I'll fight. If not, I'll stick it back in the pot to simmer a few more days . . . and usually dump it out.

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out. ~Ray Bradbury



Currently reading: Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz.

It's all better with friends.