A Little Bit about Editing
A few things to watch for58 total reviews
Comment from RKagan
I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Perhaps if you took one reviewers SPAG corrections--either mine or someone else who has a fair command of English grammar and punctuation, and then practiced by retyping your corrected errors, you could learn a little at a time. It would have to be like a drill. I would even suggest that you read it aloud and dictate punctuation to yourself. Some people learn by seeing, some by hearing and some by doing. A drill like this would accomplish all three. Good luck with it.
Comment from RKagan
I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
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I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
Comment from RKagan
I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
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I am sure I am guilty of most of these offensis. I will make an effort to be more careful. My most difficult challenge is the spag. I don't think I will ever get that right. Thanks for sharing this, myfriend.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
Comment from Maxine Kendall
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this very informative piece.
So much so, that I shall copy it out for future reference.
I agree wholeheartedly with all that you have said, and try to abide by the things stated, though not always successfully.
All FS writers would do well to read this, even if it's just viewed as a refresher.
I wish I had a six left to give, but alas, I am all out.
Thank you for sharing.
Maxine.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this very informative piece.
So much so, that I shall copy it out for future reference.
I agree wholeheartedly with all that you have said, and try to abide by the things stated, though not always successfully.
All FS writers would do well to read this, even if it's just viewed as a refresher.
I wish I had a six left to give, but alas, I am all out.
Thank you for sharing.
Maxine.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Maxine. I appreciate your comments and your review. Thanks for liking it.
Comment from writerjen
Thanks for the great editing tips. They were very helpful and clear. I think any writer would find your suggestions practical and easy to adapt.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Thanks for the great editing tips. They were very helpful and clear. I think any writer would find your suggestions practical and easy to adapt.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Jen. I'm glad you like this, and I appreciate your review.
Comment from EXMAN. nffc
Dialog needs to move the story along and resemble, but not mimic, actual speech.
Good point and one thing I struggle with endlessly.
Never use backstory for subordinate characters or walk-ons, and feed it in with few words or sentences at a time.
Should there be an 'a' after with?
More good solid advice. I always enjoy getting these little snippets. I'm going to have to geta few of the reference books you mention here and there. Perhaps a list of your reccomendations would be helpful.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Dialog needs to move the story along and resemble, but not mimic, actual speech.
Good point and one thing I struggle with endlessly.
Never use backstory for subordinate characters or walk-ons, and feed it in with few words or sentences at a time.
Should there be an 'a' after with?
More good solid advice. I always enjoy getting these little snippets. I'm going to have to geta few of the reference books you mention here and there. Perhaps a list of your reccomendations would be helpful.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Yell, there should be an a after with.
As for those reference books, some may be out of print even though they're not old. Try to get them in a used bookstore, or from a site like Ebay. One book I strongly recommend is" don't sabotage your submission" by Chris Roerden. She is a career manuscript editor, and has a lot to teach. She also wrote" don't murder your mystery" which deals more with the mystery genre. Check out the writer's digest website, and you might find their bookstore. They often have helpful books. In addition to dozens of books of this type, I have many on WWII because I write about it I'm sure there are references about how to write Fantasy. You will want the dictionary on your computer so you don't have to leave your story to look up a word. For more detailed dictionary work, just go two dictionary.com annual have access to an unabridged one. Find a good thesaurus. I use several, including "synonym finder" and the "Oxford American writers thesaurus." You can also go to the web site of Thesaurus.com, which is a good one. It's always good to hear from you. Thanks for reviewing.
Comment from bowls
I really enjoyed this article and learned a great deal from it. You touched on many issues I hadn't even considered before like your suggestions for a variety of techniques that could be used in a question and answer conversation. Your sub topics are well organized and the bold highlighting helps to define your various subjects. This was very enjoyable reading. It felt more like a friendly conversation than a lecture, and I think that's just what's needed on this site.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I really enjoyed this article and learned a great deal from it. You touched on many issues I hadn't even considered before like your suggestions for a variety of techniques that could be used in a question and answer conversation. Your sub topics are well organized and the bold highlighting helps to define your various subjects. This was very enjoyable reading. It felt more like a friendly conversation than a lecture, and I think that's just what's needed on this site.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, and thanks for the review. I hope you can make use of some of these techniques in your writing. I'm glad you enjoyed the essay.
Comment from Cairn Destop
A constant bickering in dialogue isn't good, you need the humorous or the pun to keep readers wondering what the dialogue is intended to do. Again, the idea of variety. I liked how you emphasize the idea that dialogue should move a story forward. At the least, reveal something regarding the character.
Backstory and flashbacks do indeed stop a story, which is why it should be short. Yet, these tricks can expose a lot of a character's faults, or the reason behind their actions. I honestly believe the flashbacks used in one of my stories enhanced it, but as you said, they need to be kept short.
I'm thinking the key word is "long" when doing internal dialogue. If it is a stream of consciensness style story, fine. When done in a book, you want to be aware of length. Inner thoughts running 200 words might be acceptable in a chapter of 2500 words, but could ruin a short story of a thousand. What I'm thinking is that this is a subjective term and where one reader thinks it an acceptable length, another could consider it too long. Sounds like the best is to have an abreviated version if your editor wants it trimmed.
Descriptions, how I hate that word. You need it, but if done to an extreme, it is boring. I sometimes think the reader gets more involved if the descriptions are basic. To say "she wore a fancy green dress" can bring up all kinds of pictures in a reader's mind. Why go and tell the reader the shading, lay of the fabric, or if it is pleated? Those are unimportant; the reader can fill those in without ruining the story. Of course, if those details are important, such as in a murder-mystery, an over descriptive style could be important. Again, the word "unnecessary" is a very subjective one.
Another well done lesson on the basics of writing.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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A constant bickering in dialogue isn't good, you need the humorous or the pun to keep readers wondering what the dialogue is intended to do. Again, the idea of variety. I liked how you emphasize the idea that dialogue should move a story forward. At the least, reveal something regarding the character.
Backstory and flashbacks do indeed stop a story, which is why it should be short. Yet, these tricks can expose a lot of a character's faults, or the reason behind their actions. I honestly believe the flashbacks used in one of my stories enhanced it, but as you said, they need to be kept short.
I'm thinking the key word is "long" when doing internal dialogue. If it is a stream of consciensness style story, fine. When done in a book, you want to be aware of length. Inner thoughts running 200 words might be acceptable in a chapter of 2500 words, but could ruin a short story of a thousand. What I'm thinking is that this is a subjective term and where one reader thinks it an acceptable length, another could consider it too long. Sounds like the best is to have an abreviated version if your editor wants it trimmed.
Descriptions, how I hate that word. You need it, but if done to an extreme, it is boring. I sometimes think the reader gets more involved if the descriptions are basic. To say "she wore a fancy green dress" can bring up all kinds of pictures in a reader's mind. Why go and tell the reader the shading, lay of the fabric, or if it is pleated? Those are unimportant; the reader can fill those in without ruining the story. Of course, if those details are important, such as in a murder-mystery, an over descriptive style could be important. Again, the word "unnecessary" is a very subjective one.
Another well done lesson on the basics of writing.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, hedgehog. I'm flattered when you review me, because I know you don't review everybody. I agree with everything you said. I can handle backstory in flashback, and many others can do so, but for the majority they are a disaster. The new writer thinks that the reader wants to know everything about the characters past life. The issue and I know, and is Stephen King said, " the reader just wants to get on with it." I may write a piece on description, and 1. that I will make is that humans do not operate like cameras. We don't notice everything about a person the minute we meet them. Thanks for reviewing.
Comment from Adama
Again, thank you Nor for such great advice on editing. I will certainly be keeping this for future writing attempts. I would love to be able to write fiction, but don't feel I have the imagination for it. Is there any advice for this, or should I just forget it?
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Again, thank you Nor for such great advice on editing. I will certainly be keeping this for future writing attempts. I would love to be able to write fiction, but don't feel I have the imagination for it. Is there any advice for this, or should I just forget it?
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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It's hard for me to know whether you have the imagination for fiction. Most of us do, because were born with it. These young children, we imagine all sorts of things, monsters under the bed, Santa Claus on the roof, and so on. But some children are not exposed to fairy tales, are never read too, and gained a rebuttal from watching cartoons. They may not have the imagination that comes from exposure to stories. Do you read fiction? If you don't read it, then you won't know the feeling of looking at a story, shutting the book, and saying," I could do a better job than that." You won't know unless you try, and your first attempts will likely be disasters. Practice makes perfect. Thanks for the review.
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Thank you for your valuable reply. Yes I do read fiction - but would worry about writing something similar to what I just read. Perhaps it is not for me. Thanks again.
Comment from vtsfic
Thank you for this article. I often wonder about the use of back story. I'd like to think it helps build the character, letting the reader know where they've come from and who they are presently. I was once a dominant dialogue writer, so I now make a conscious effort to write more narrative. I like writing dialogue with conflict. It is fun. But I struggle when I have more than two characters in a scene to help the reader keep track of who is saying what... especially when there is more than one member of the same sex in the room. Using "he said/she said" isn't enough. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Thank you for this article. I often wonder about the use of back story. I'd like to think it helps build the character, letting the reader know where they've come from and who they are presently. I was once a dominant dialogue writer, so I now make a conscious effort to write more narrative. I like writing dialogue with conflict. It is fun. But I struggle when I have more than two characters in a scene to help the reader keep track of who is saying what... especially when there is more than one member of the same sex in the room. Using "he said/she said" isn't enough. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I sent you a pm with suggestions I hope they help.
