"Pride & Prejudice": Twitter Style

Found via a thread in www.fmwriters.com:

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Twitter Style.

Fair Reading

Interesting post from David Bridger over on LJ.

In a way, I've supported this all along, without knowing there was a term for it: all my books are bought brand new.

The post is worth reading and mulling over.

A to Z Plot Bunnies

Funny, entertaining and oh-so-true!

A to Z Plot Bunnies

Editors Edit, Right? (Rant of Sorts)

This is something that bugs me every so often, particularly related to novels. A post in FMWriters.com reminded me of this irritation (you must be logged in to view it -- and if you don't have an account, get one: it's free and worth it!).

What is an editor's job, precisely? Well, it depends on what type of editor job you're thinking about. For most of us, it's probably 'acquisitions editor', or something similar. But, when it comes to what they do during a day at the office, many of us are likely to think 'edit manuscripts', but that's a 'copy editor's job, right? So, what's the difference between the two and what does 'edit' mean?

According to AskOxford.com, 'edit' means '(1)prepare (written material) for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it.' (http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/edit?view=uk)

And 'copy edit' is to 'edit (text) by checking its consistency and accuracy.' (http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/copyedit?view=uk)

So, an editor would do both, yes? Not really. Not in the book publishing world.

In it's simplest form, an acquisitions editor buys manuscripts, deals with agents, talks to authors; reads proposals and sample chapters; and also makes offers, if the manuscript warrants it. The editor also works with the writer to ensure the book stays on track and on time.

Staying with the simple form, the copy editor corrects the actual grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

But! Before the manuscript even gets to any editor of any book publisher, the writer must edit, first. And I will say right now: do not expect an editor to correct your nth draft's obvious and not-so-obvious typos, your grammar mistakes, or any other such basic components of the language in which you've written the novel. The first-pass edit and subsequent edits, (and also after) your manuscript gets to the editor, are your responsibility. And no, your crit group and beta readers are before not responsible for them, either.

This is the mark of pure laziness and incompetence.

An illustrative scenario might run like this:

You're invited to give a presentation which is guaranteed to sell your product to a panel of judges. You prepare 20 slides. Should be good for about 15 minutes, or so; would leave you approximately 5 - 10 minutes for Q&A. Prepped and ready to go!

You get there. You open up your file and start the presentation. And as you go through, you notice your audience going cross-eyed and either scribbling furiously on the handout you gave them, or they're just drawing a colossal 'x' per slide or per page, with a red pen.

Ah, good, your audience is helping you correct your errors, and inconsistencies. Excellent!

End of the presentation. You get no Q&A. You get a 'Thanks for coming, we'll be in touch' to your entertaining performance. You leave, somehow very disappointed. Surely the product was a sure sell! You were at your best!

Back in the room, the judges are comparing notes and shaking their heads. They aren't applauding your performance. They're lamenting the typos, grammar gaffes, inconsistencies and over twenty dozen more mistakes that should have been filtered out prior to the meeting.

They're thinking that if there are so many errors in 20 slides of presentation, how many errors are there in the product? They cannot trust the product, so they pass.

And there goes the sure win. You've lost the sale because the presentation was appalling.

On the other hand, if grammar, punctuation and spelling are not your fortes, then, check out a few books. Now, depending on the language system you're using (and for the sake of argument, I'm assuming you write in English), I'd say take a look at:

USA English -- Strunk & White's Elements of Style

UK English -- The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation and New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors: The Essential A-Z Guide to the Written Word

Also, check out the various thesauruses and the very useful The "Writer's Digest" Flip Dictionary: For When You Know What You Want to Say But Can't Find the Word.

How to Think Sideways -- Writing from Start to Finish

http://howtothinksideways.com/members/?rid=254

That's the link you need to find out more. But before you click on it, I have this to say about the course:

The most interesting aspect of it, for me, was getting to the end, the revision process, and how to figure out if the book is wrecked or not, as well as how to write more than one successful book ('successful' is defined as you see it) and submission.

But that's where I am in the writing process.

The other parts of the course deal with planning and writing the story. And it's not a course just for beginners, or intermediates, or experienced writers; it's a course that does not target a specific level of writer. The content is suitable for anyone at any stage of writing.

What this course will not do, however, is write the book for you or show you the quick and easy way to complete a story.

It will, however, provide you with excellent writing tools and spur you to find your own way, as well as encourage you to acknowledge or realize your own insights into your writing process.

For me, it's well worth the time, the money, the effort. So much so, I'm doing it twice.

Take a look:

http://howtothinksideways.com/members/?rid=254

Can't Finish Anything

Was thinking a lot about this. Why can't I finish anything?

Well, that's hardly true. I have finished a few novels, several shorts, a few articles. So, what do I mean, "can't finish anything"? Simply this: those that I have completed were a long while back; recently, nothing. Why?

Still no final answer, even after pondering for a time.

The most obvious would be "fear of finishing". On the other hand, it may as well be, "too lazy" or "no commitment", even, "no passion" and "no interest in writing". Perhaps it is a "longer-than-usual dry spell"?

Techniques to finish? Ones I've tried:

• Outlining the entire story -- not the usual detailed hybrid, but a very brief version
• Writing the ending scene before getting there -- a tangible goal to shoot for
• Daily writing time slot with word-count goal -- discipline, a little structure and all that (the muse rebelled, btw, so much so, ended up doing anything but write. Grumble.)
  
• Organic writing -- no outline / structure / fetters
• Combo of organic writing and outlining -- a little structure, a little planning, a little something that went nowhere fast

And there were other techniques too that I shan't list -- it gets tedious.

I think the biggest problem I had was lack of enthusiasm for those projects (which are still going), or a belief that I wasn't at the writing level I had to be to write those stories (which is rather silly). Or, more likely, a combination of the two: lack of enthusiasm for the projects and a belief I'm not yet skilled enough to tell those stories.

How do you solve the two problems?

Lack of Enthusiasm
Decided to take a course that came up at the right time. Tell you more about the "How to Think Sideways" course in the next post. (^_^)

Not Yet Skilled
Frivolous answer: Then get there!

The Better Answer: Keep practicing. Write. Write. Write. The first / raw draft is allowed to be crappy. It's allowed to be stupid, silly, inane, asinine, all of those, and brilliant, genius, extraordinary. It's allowed to be what it is because it's the first / raw draft. Then you revise, then you edit.

Did I succeed? No.

Deeper reason then? Lack of time? What, now? When? Well, back then (not so long ago), lack of time was a serious lack of time. Any down time I had was spent recovering from the day job. Now? I have time. Unfortunately, I no longer have the discipline.

So, how do you get the discipline back, especially if you're the type of writer / worker who likes to take your time with everything and leave it all open-ended? Join a course, or join something with a deadline. Even if you don't like the idea of a deadline, make yourself stick with it (I have that discipline at least -- the ability to stick with something, regardless of how much time it takes). And if you have the time, or the energy, the tighter the better!

Did I succeed? Don't know yet; I'm in the middle of it. (See next post.)

Article Published

Here: Marketing 101 for Writers

(^_^)

More Plot Bunnies

I've two that have been dancing around in my head for the last several days. One that's new, and one that's an old story revisited.

The new one is still percolating; the old one has a plot, but it's not quite coherent, so it requires more brewing time.

Yes, I'm thinking about making coffee or tea. Hence the terminology. ;) Heh.