A Little Bit about Editing
A few things to watch for58 total reviews
Comment from Jnetgame
This is a very informative and useful essay on editing. I especially got a lot out of the section on dialogue and how it needs to entertain. Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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This is a very informative and useful essay on editing. I especially got a lot out of the section on dialogue and how it needs to entertain. Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello. I'm glad you liked my little essay, and I'll be sending a few more in the next few days. Thanks for reviewing.
Comment from RebelRose
I have no questions. You have supplied me with some much needed and much appreciated information. I have to say this, though. I am an avid reader and I often read published works by reputable publishers that contain many of the 'no-nos' you mention here. I can't help but wonder, as I am reading them, how they manage to get published.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I have no questions. You have supplied me with some much needed and much appreciated information. I have to say this, though. I am an avid reader and I often read published works by reputable publishers that contain many of the 'no-nos' you mention here. I can't help but wonder, as I am reading them, how they manage to get published.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hi, Rose. It's been said that Stephen king could write on a piece of wood and someone would publish it because he's proved he can sell books. That probably applies to a lesser degree for other writers. And, of course, editors in publishing houses make mistakes. For the new writer, it's harder to get published, and that's why we have to adhere to these so-called rules. Our manuscript has to grab the "first reader", the person hired by the publisher to weed out the slush pile. If that reader isn't excited, the manuscript won't go further up the line to an editor. As for me, I'm 76. It's too hard to get published by traditional publishers and usually takes a lot of time. I'm going to self-publish again sometime this year.
Comment from Adri7enne
Wow! Good stuff, Nor. I'm going to see if I can print this up and keep it in my writing journal. If not, I'll bookcase it. Everything you write makes absolute sense to me. Most of these things are exactly the reasons why a story becomes boring. How many times, during a review, I just want to ask an author why he/she doesn't get to the damn point already. LOL! As you point out, I want to be intrigued, entertained, or amused. I don't give a damn about the inane conversation he/she is having with a neighbour or toddler. Chee!
Wonderful stuff. That's what I'd like to learn. Spag is important to correct, but ideas like these are what make a difference between an interesting post and someone just holding you hostage because you've left a few notes and you feel you should wade through the rest of the crap. LOL! Can you tell I've recently reviewed a few clunkers? Yeah! This should be required reading before a post.
Excellent stuff, girl. Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Wow! Good stuff, Nor. I'm going to see if I can print this up and keep it in my writing journal. If not, I'll bookcase it. Everything you write makes absolute sense to me. Most of these things are exactly the reasons why a story becomes boring. How many times, during a review, I just want to ask an author why he/she doesn't get to the damn point already. LOL! As you point out, I want to be intrigued, entertained, or amused. I don't give a damn about the inane conversation he/she is having with a neighbour or toddler. Chee!
Wonderful stuff. That's what I'd like to learn. Spag is important to correct, but ideas like these are what make a difference between an interesting post and someone just holding you hostage because you've left a few notes and you feel you should wade through the rest of the crap. LOL! Can you tell I've recently reviewed a few clunkers? Yeah! This should be required reading before a post.
Excellent stuff, girl. Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Again, thanks for that six! I appreciate your review and your comments.
Comment from Mustang Patty
Your essay provides a great deal of information and needs to be heeded by many of us on FS. It is unfortunate that many readers become so obsessed with their own words that the idea of 'cutting' anything for any reason is too difficult. Thank you for sharing this informative piece. ~patty~
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Your essay provides a great deal of information and needs to be heeded by many of us on FS. It is unfortunate that many readers become so obsessed with their own words that the idea of 'cutting' anything for any reason is too difficult. Thank you for sharing this informative piece. ~patty~
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Patty. You're so right. Not only will some ignore advice, the downright resent it. Many of us are here to improve, but a few think they are already publishable. A few, of course, don't wanna be published, but I don't understand any one who doesn't want to do something to the best of their ability, even though they may not be serious about publication.
Comment from bookishfabler
Well, I know who the firstpart of this is about. LOL. I hope not all of what you said here was just from my chapter. I fixed it though. It's amazing what you see in other's work but not your own. I guess that's why we come here, so others can point these things out. Thanks again
hugs book
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Well, I know who the firstpart of this is about. LOL. I hope not all of what you said here was just from my chapter. I fixed it though. It's amazing what you see in other's work but not your own. I guess that's why we come here, so others can point these things out. Thanks again
hugs book
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Oh no, Heidi. I didn't wanna make you recognizable, but I read the same thing elsewhere. Gayle, for example, tells me and she cannot edit her own work. It's true. I hope it's not true with me, because I intend to publish about our Hans later this year, if I can get through the revision. We'll see what Gayle finds in my writing when she has it in her hands.
Comment from Helen Tan
Backstory can sometimes be brought in through dialogue, but remember to keep it short.
Getting this done without sounding stilted in dialogue can prove to be tricky. But of course if it can be achieved, it's worth the effort.
I welcome your questions and may address them in a future essay.
I've read backstory is to be avoided at the start of a story but when I read through many of the bestsellers, many of them contain backstories, some of which are relatively long. I think this is an area I always ponder.
Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Backstory can sometimes be brought in through dialogue, but remember to keep it short.
Getting this done without sounding stilted in dialogue can prove to be tricky. But of course if it can be achieved, it's worth the effort.
I welcome your questions and may address them in a future essay.
I've read backstory is to be avoided at the start of a story but when I read through many of the bestsellers, many of them contain backstories, some of which are relatively long. I think this is an area I always ponder.
Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello Helen. Actually, I don't find it hard to fit it into dialogue. I may write a piece exclusively on backstory. For example, my main character is a German soldier captured by the Russians in world war two. One of the things the reader would want to know is rather not he's a NAZI and what he thinks about Hitler. I can bring that out by having someone asking that is a NAZI, and having him reply with enough emphasis to show he means it. I can sit in what he thinks about Hitler in a discussion he has with a friend. He can talk about his family, which has a number of doctors, simply in response to someone's question. It doesn't have to all come in all at once. Part of his back story is that his fiancée dropped him for an older, less attractive man. Somewhere in the story, he'll tell someone of this, at a point where the reader needs the clarification and this bit of his backstory. In some stories, it's also possible to have two other characters gossip about a third character, just like Margaret Mitchell did in Gone with the Wind. To provide gossip about Rhett Butler, two old women say he took a girl for a buggy ride and ruined her. One of them clarifies the statement by saying something to the effect that nothing happened, but her reputation was ruined anyway.
Yes, some published novels start in ways I would not recommend, but usually the author is someone who has proved his or her writing sells books. That's all the publishing houses care about. A manuscript by an unknown that's loaded with backstory probably would not be accepted. Thanks for reading, and for your comments.
Comment from humpwhistle
nor84, I always enjoy your little tutorials. They are genuinely helpful, and stated clearly. You don't set down rules, you establish guidelines and acknowledge that exceptions ocassionally are permissible, even desirable. You give simple but illustrative examples.
I recently posted a piece that I now fear incorpoates too much backstory. I will revisit it. My thanks to you.
I am also still thinking about sposoring a contest/challenge based on your tired cliche treatise.
Thank you for the helpful advice, and please keep it coming.
Peace, Lee
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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nor84, I always enjoy your little tutorials. They are genuinely helpful, and stated clearly. You don't set down rules, you establish guidelines and acknowledge that exceptions ocassionally are permissible, even desirable. You give simple but illustrative examples.
I recently posted a piece that I now fear incorpoates too much backstory. I will revisit it. My thanks to you.
I am also still thinking about sposoring a contest/challenge based on your tired cliche treatise.
Thank you for the helpful advice, and please keep it coming.
Peace, Lee
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Lee. We've had a few contests about clichés, usually challenging someone to use as many in the story as they could. I won one of those contests. They are fun. Thanks for your comments and encouragement. For every so-called rule, there is an exception. Backstory handled well works. The problem is, it's difficult for a new writer to control. When it goes beyond the story of the main character, or if it's presented in big blocks of text, the reader doesn't care. Stephen King once said that the reader just wants to get on with the story. I hope I catch your contest when you put it up.
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I'll alert you to it. Challenging people to turn "sharpest tool in the shed" into "crispest pickle in the jar" is a good thing, right?
Now I'm not in the habit of asking people to read my work, but if you get a few minutes, would you mind
looking at "War's Over, Mr. Lincoln"? I've got backstory issues, and I'd also like to hear your take on my dialogue. I realize that I'm asking a lot, and I'm not solicitating a review. A quick PM if you get around to it.
Thanks, and please keep the lessons coming. Lee
Comment from marcii
I think it is just wonderful that you take some of your precious time to help other writers like myself. I need all the help I can get.
I hope it is ok if I bookcase this for future help.
Marcii
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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I think it is just wonderful that you take some of your precious time to help other writers like myself. I need all the help I can get.
I hope it is ok if I bookcase this for future help.
Marcii
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Sure, you can bookcase anything you like. That's why I'm doing this. Thanks for your review, and for your kind words.
Comment from Herb
A ll very helpful and valid points. I'm new to writing but amazingly/luckily - i think I have generally adhered to most of what you mentioned.
Thanks for the tips.
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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A ll very helpful and valid points. I'm new to writing but amazingly/luckily - i think I have generally adhered to most of what you mentioned.
Thanks for the tips.
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Herb. I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for reviewing and for your comments.
Comment from Metal Head
Hi Nor
It's great having essay's such as this on FS. Sometimes when I'm struggling with a review and can't get my thoughts across coherently, I like to refer the writer to the essay's of others where they can see what it is I'm trying to convey. This is certainly one of those pieces I shall points writers to when/if I need to.
I've never studied writing, and any rules I've picked up over the years have sunk in from reading the works of others. This gives voice to some of those rules in a way that is clear, concise and easy to follow.
All the best.
Michael D
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hi Nor
It's great having essay's such as this on FS. Sometimes when I'm struggling with a review and can't get my thoughts across coherently, I like to refer the writer to the essay's of others where they can see what it is I'm trying to convey. This is certainly one of those pieces I shall points writers to when/if I need to.
I've never studied writing, and any rules I've picked up over the years have sunk in from reading the works of others. This gives voice to some of those rules in a way that is clear, concise and easy to follow.
All the best.
Michael D
Comment Written 24-Jan-2011
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2011
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Hello, Michael. I've studied writing for the past several years, and I'm mostly self-taught. Feel free to refer people to anything of mine that would help them. We're a community of writers, after all, and we should help one another. I appreciate your review, as always.
