2014 cwc 10 steps to editing final

Editor's Notes

• #3: We have a lot to get through, so please try and keep questions to the end.
• #6: Important whether self-publishing or submitting to a traditional publisher. Self-publishing: needs to be correct to get through the Smashwords meatgrinder, and to look ‘right’ on Kindle. Traditional: incorrect formatting screams “amateur”, and is likely to get your manuscript rejected (check guidelines with each individual agent or publisher you submit to. The ability to follow instructions is important!).
• #7: Readers purchase by genre, agents represent by genre and publishers acquire by genre Ensure genre is consistent (e.g. don’t start as women’s fiction then switch to YA, don’t start as romance then not have HEA, understand the difference between YA and MG. Age of protagonist is part of it, but not all of it). Be aware that while some genres mix and match, not all do: YA Historical Romance is a genre, but MG Historical Romance isn’t. For obvious reasons. Read in your chosen genre to understand the genre conventions, to understand what sells—and because this should be your passion. In terms of genre, it’s probably fair to assume that you will begin by writing what you love to read … What would be very wrong, I think, is to turn away from what you know and like in favor of things you believe will impress your friends, relatives, and writing-circle colleagues. – Stephen King, On Writing. For more information, see Omega Newsletters or my website.
• #8: Your reader expects some form of structure, and this is the classic novel structure. Act One introduces the time, character and setting. Anything that’s important in Act Three should have been introduced in Act One. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on this – it’s a full-day workshop on its own References: Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story by KM Weiland 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald B Tobias Randy Ingermanson at http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/
• #9: Point of view: Who is telling your story, whether that’s one character or several. POV is often driven by genre. For example, chick lit and YA tend to be first person, while Harlequin romances are always third person. Action genres (mystery, thriller, suspense) might use a combination of first person and third person. First-person point of view: “I saw this, I did that. This is the most intimate, immediately involving mode. The “I” character speaks to the reader directly. This POV has become increasingly common in literary and mainstream fiction. The writer becomes an impersonator. His voice, mind, and background are those of the character he is impersonating.” (Sol Stein) (The trick with first person is to have a character who is interesting enough they can carry an entire book without becoming boring.) Second-person point of view: You saw this, you did that. Certain late twentieth-century novelists used the second person singular successfully—notably Italo Calvino in If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler and Jay McInerney in Bright Lights, Big City. But there it ended. In fact, it was named the “second person” when McInerney became the second person to get away with it and it became clear he would also be the last. (Newman & Mittlemark)   Third-person point of view: “He saw this, he did that. Third-person POV is the most common in popular fiction. It is easier to do than first person. The discipline involved is in keeping the point of view to one character for as long as possible within a scene. The more shifting around the author does, the more the writing will seem out of control.” (Stein) Third-person point of view is effectively a continuum from first-person to omniscient, with the author free to determine the appropriate degree of narrative distance.   “So what degree of narrative distance is right for you? Broadly speaking, the more intimate the point of view, the better. One of the most vital and difficult tasks facing a writer is creating believable and engaging characters, and an intimate point of view is a terrific way of doing this.” (Browne & King)   Omniscient point of view: “The perspective is anybody’s. This is probably the easiest point of view for the beginning writer—and the most dangerous. The writer… can see everything everywhere. Because the writer flits about from character to character, often thoughtlessly, the result can be more like alphabet soup than a controlled experience for the reader.” (Stein)   James Scott Bell adds a fourth approach: Cinematic point of view: which moves like a camera, allowing the reader to see everything but without being able to get inside the heads of any of the characters. This, in my opinion, is a weakness: the nature of modern fiction is that the reader wants to be in the head of the character, wants the intimacy that comes with knowing what that character is thinking. References: Sol Stein, Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor, Souvenir Press, London, 1999 James Scott Bell, Revising and Self-Editing for Publication, Second Edition, Writer’s Digest Books, 2012, Chapter Four Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View, by Jill Elizabeth Nelson Sandra Newman and Howard Mittlemark, How Not to Write a Novel, Penguin, 2008 Renni Browne and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, Chapter 3 For more information, see Omega newsletters or my website
• #10: This is where plotters have an advantage over pantsters. As you plan the scenes in your book, you can also plan the most appropriate viewpoint character for that scene. If you plan on having more than one viewpoint character, you are best advised to write in third person. Combination of first person and third person: Not recommended. Done well, it is outstanding. Done badly, it is unreadable. Note that you need to restrict the number of POV characters. This also relates to genre. As guidelines, based on what I see as a reader: Category romance (e.g. Love Inspired, approximately 60,000 words) has two points of view: hero and heroine, with approximately a 40/60 split between the two; Contemporary or historical romance and women’s literature (90,000 words) has two or three points of view: hero, heroine and significant other character. This may be a best friend, or it may be the heroine of the planned sequel; Romantic suspense (90,000 words) has between two and four points of view: hero, heroine, significant other character and villain; Thriller (90,000 words) may have up to five characters hero, heroine (if there are romantic elements) and two or three seemingly-unrelated viewpoints, one or two of which will be the villains; Science Fiction or Fantasy (up to 120,000 words) will have up to five characters: hero, heroine, sidekick, mentor, villain.
• #11: There has been a drastic change in storytelling in the twentieth century... Writers need reminding that we’ve all had exposure to movies [and] television … a visual medium. Today’s readers have learned to see stories happening before their eyes. They tend to skim or skip long passages of description or narrative summary. Stein, Sol, Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor, Souvenir Press, London, 1999, Chapter Four A writer who wants to be read by contemporary audiences… will find it useful to study through example the differences between narrative summary and immediate scene. Keep in mind that narrative summary is telling and immediate scene is showing.” Stein, Sol, Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor, Souvenir Press, London, 1999, Chapter 5 The problem is that scenes that show the reader what is happening are harder to write, so writers have a tendency to lapse back into narrative summary. That is not to say that authors should eliminate all narrative summary:   “Narrative summary has its uses, the main one being to vary the rhythm and texture of your writing… Just make sure you don’t use it when you should be showing rather than telling.” Browne, Renni and King, Dave, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, Chapter 1 Browne and King also apply the ‘show, don’t tell’ principle to the interior monologue and feelings of characters:   “This tendency to describe a character’s emotion may reflect a lack of confidence on the part of the writer. So when you come across an explanation of a character’s emotion, simply cut the explanation. If the emotion is still shown, then the explanation isn’t needed. If the emotion isn’t shown, rewrite the passage so it is.”   Resist the Urge to Explain - Browne, Renni and King, Dave, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, Chapter 1 Reference: Bickham, Jack M in Leder, Meg, Heffron, Jack and the editors of Writer’s Digest, The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, Writer’s Digest, 2002, Chapter10
• #12: These are all easy to fix, but make your writing look a lot more professional When you’re writing speaker attributions the right verb is nearly always said. Verbs other than said tend to draw attention away from the dialogue. They jump out at the reader, make the reader aware… draw attention to your technique, and a technique that distracts the reader is never a good idea. - Renni Browne and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, p 89 Place the character’s name or pronoun first in a speaker attribution (“Dave said”). Reversing the two (“said Dave”), though often done, is less professional. It has a slightly old-fashioned, first-grade reader flavour… after all, “said he” fell out of favour sometime during the Taft administration. - Renni Browne and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, p 91 Dialogue explanations … often take the form of –ly adverbs. Too many fiction writers pepper their dialogue with –ly’s. Which is a good reason to cut virtually every one you write. Ly adverbs almost always catch the writer in the act of explaining dialogue—smuggling emotions into speaker attributions that belong in the dialogue itself. Again, if your dialogue doesn’t need the props, putting the props in will make it seem weak even when it isn’t. - Browne, Renni and King, Dave, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition, Harper, 2004, Chapter 5
• #13: Keep the backstory for the back of the story
• #14: “If conflict makes you uncomfortable or you have difficulty wrecking the lives of your characters, you need to consider another line of work.” Note that conflict is not; Something that two sensible adults could resolve with a short conversation A new small conflict each chapter, but an overarching plot issue Reading: Goals Motivation Conflict by Deborah Dixon Wired for Story by Lisa Cron Dixon says each character should have their own GMC chart. Comparing the GMC charts of different characters will show you where there is the potential for conflict (e.g. in competing goals). The concept can be used in outlining, writing or revising.
• #15: One thing that always pulls me out of a story is factual errors. They mean I can’t believe your plot or characters. Anachronisms: using modern words in a historical setting, e.g. “moxie” in 15th Century Spain. If you write historical fiction, you need a good etymological dictionary, or a regular dictionary with dates of first use (I use Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 3rd edition and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition) Factual errors: while Wikipedia shouldn’t be your main research source, if the facts in your novel contradict the facts on Wikipedia, chances are that you are the one in the wrong. If you know you are right, change Wikipedia. References to Technology: Can date a book (e.g. rewinding the video recorder in Left Behind, or use of cellphones) Your language: dialogue and interior monologue – need to be consistent with your characters. Women in their 20’s don’t say “yes, dear” as an endearment (it’s more likely to be a low-level insult). High-school dropouts don’t usually use words like etymological. Lower and middle class people use language differently to the upper classes. Contractions have been used in English since the 16th century, so use them (the exception might be the English Professor, or the person who speaks English as a second language).
• #16: Are these rules or guidelines? Both. The rules can be broken, but you have to know what the rule is in order to break it without it coming across as a glitch which affects the reader’s experience