Revisions Revisted

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I hope everyone enjoyed having that extra day in February yesterday. But now it's March, and we're back in normal calendar territory.

Since I've been eyeball deep in edits for SAVING SCOTT this week, I thought I'd "borrow" some bits and pieces from older posts I've done on edits and revisions.

The writing process goes through countless phases. There's the initial writing—whether you're plotting things out in advance, flying by the seat of your pants into the mist, or a combination. Eventually, you'll get to "The End."

You've edited, polished, rewritten, repolished. You've checked for all those pesky weak verbs, overused words. You've passed it by your critique groups, your first reader, and asked your dog what he thinks.

At some point, your words are going to need professional eyes. Whether it's an agent trying to get your work sold, the editor your publisher assigns, or a freelance editor you hire yourself, you need someone who's not blinded by being too close to the work.

So, you ship it off, and it comes back dripping red ink. What next?

Editing and Sewing Machines

What I'm reading: Blind Faith, by CJ Lyons

There are those who write via a "discovery draft" racing to get from page one to 'the end' and then going back and revising. And revising. And revising. This is the approach of NaNoWriMo--write it all; no edits. That's a process I've never been able to embrace, so I was heartened once when I attended a workshop given by Linda Howard. She said she writes, then backs up and fixes, then moves forward, then backs up and fixes some more. She likened her process to using a zig-zag sewing machine. When she finished, she said, the manuscript was ready to send to her editor.

Her method is close to the way I write. I edit as I go. (Heck, I plot as I go, too!)  Here's an example of my process from my current WIP, another of my Pine Hills Police series.

Overall, my heroine's goal was to open her own bakery, so, of course, my goal was to keep that from happening—or at least, to delay it.

Since I prefer to escalate the conflict rather than throw the reader into a full-blown crisis on page one, I began with simple accidents and setbacks as her contractor and crew (which she refers to as the Klutz Brigade) worked to get her bakery finished so she could open on time.

But that's not really enough of a conflict to carry the entire book. Since the book is a romantic suspense, and the hero is a former homicide detective, I threw in a dead body.

Updating a Novel - Yes or No?

A quick follow-up to yesterday's post. I had originally sent an email to the phone provider questioning their repeated "don't forget to send your defective phone back" even before I had my phone. While I never got an answer to that email, I did get a phone call from someone who wanted to tell me there would be no problem as long as I sent everything back when I had it all. Needless to say, he got the full story. I admit he was very apologetic for all the mixups. Shortly thereafter, I got an automatic email asking me to take a survey about my experiences with the email response.
Since the poll specifically said to answer with respect to the email response, and not to phone calls, I fear they didn't fare well.

And, a follow up to my quickie hints for Track Changes. One frequent visitor to this blog, Elizabeth Spann Craig, tweeted about another, more detailed explanation. You can find it here.

My writing endeavors have been focused on editing, and for the last two days, it's been one of my earlier books. It's kind of nice to be able to go back and fix things—I don't think any author is ever 100% satisfied that the book is perfect. But beyond things like being able to apply everything I've learned after writing many more books, I'm trying to decide whether to leave the book set in an early 2000's time frame, or to update it to be current.

Normally, there's quite a lag time between submitting a book, accepting a contract, and having the book hit the shelves. We're probably talking several years between writing and publication. But with being able to publish these books myself, they can be current (at least for a few weeks!).

Revising in the Dark

What I'm reading: Love me to Death, by Allison Brennan

When you're an author, you sit and write the books in your head. Sometimes the story flows, sometimes it slogs, but you write. Most of us have critique partners or groups—people to bounce ideas off of, and to offer feedback on the WIPs. If they say they have trouble with a plot thread, or even the way you've worded a paragraph, the decision to change things is yours. But what happens when someone with more clout than a crit partner wants changes?

Late last week, I heard from my agent, who finally heard from the editor. We'd submitted a three chapter proposal last November, and, as happens so often in this business, we waited. And waited.

The news. Good and not quite so good. The good. The editor didn't say no. The not so good. She wanted me to revise.

Murdering Those Darlings

(Shameless plug: What's in a Name? is still available for 99 cents. Details in the sidebar) And I'll announce the winner of yesterday's blog contest tomorrow, so there's still time to leave a comment and get entered in the drawing.

Continuity in a book is a challenge. Continuity over a series is a bigger challenge. And when we forget, it can lead to facing reality. Our words aren't precious.

One of my crit partners questioned a passage in a chapter, wondering if the child might be wondering about an adult conversation. Although the fix was simple—make sure I clarified that the child, Will, wasn't in that scene (which, I think my CP simply missed), as I re-read the passage I realized I'd created a major blunder.

This manuscript deals with characters who have appeared in two other books—three if I get my next one published, but that's another issue. And because it's been a very long time since I looked at the earlier book, I'd totally forgotten that the child had already met this "new" character who was being introduced to him as a total stranger.

Okay, on the optimistic hope that 1) this book gets published; 2) someone who reads it has actually read the others; and 3) remembers that Will and Dalton have appeared on the page together in the earlier book, I had to deal with it.

NaNo? Not for Everyone

Thanks to J.E. for sharing her thoughts yesterday. Nobody likes rejection, but dealing with it is part of the job.

First things first - an exclusive for my faithful blog readers. I was going to wait until I hit 250 followers, but 249 is close enough. For ONE WEEK (ends Nov. 16th), I have a coupon offer at Smashwords for A Summer's Eve. The story costs 99 cents and the coupon is for 99 cents off, so do the math. For this week, it's a Free Read. And it's short enough so you don't really need a dedicated e-reader. It's available in almost every possible format, so I hope one will work for you. Just enter Coupon Code BL83R at checkout. (And if you want to use your savings to buy either of my other two titles there, I won't complain.)

Yesterday, we signed the contract with the contractor for our basement remodel. He left, certified plans in hand, to begin the process, which starts with getting the necessary permits. He's estimating two weeks before they're approved, and so we have that long to get everything moved out of the workspace. He's promised that once they start, they'll work "straight through" but with the weather and the holidays, I'm sure there will be delays. But it's exciting to know that in a few months, we'll have a 'complete' house.

The month of November for many writers is the annual National Novel Writing Month, where people vow to write 50,000 words in thirty days. Do I participate? Nope. Why?

Edits are NOT Revisions

What I'm reading: Slim to None, by Taylor Smith

Our upstairs has been fully renovated. For the most part, we were 'editing' what was already here. Replacing cabinets with new cabinets, flooring with new flooring, appliances with new appliances. But now, we're looking into remodeling the basement. Down there, we'll be revising. The exterior walls will remain the same, but inside, new walls will go up, doors will be relocated, the laundry room will move to a new location.

As I mentioned last week, I was working on revisions per my agent's suggestions. She offered copy edits, but then asked for revisions.

The writing process goes through countless phases. There's the initial writing—whether you're plotting things out in advance, flying by the seat of your pants into the mist, or a combination. Eventually, you'll get to "The End."

Maybe you're the sort who likes feedback along the way, and you weigh advice and edit as you go. Maybe you keep your work close to the chest, not being willing to share until the manuscript meets your personal standards of "suitably dressed to appear in public."

Editing? Get Out of the Box

What I'm reading: Ashton's Secret, by Liana Laverentz

First things first – I've blogged about authors supporting each other before, and today I've got two examples.
Without any solicitations on my part, this blog was discovered by Patricia Marie Warren, who has a blog called "Typing One Handed." She's featuring Terry's place as her blog of the week. I hope you'll drop by – this isn't an interview, book promotion, or the like. It's simply a review of what she likes about my blog. Take a moment to check her out … and, of course, leaving a comment would be wonderful.

Second, I was approached to participate in an on-line book launch for author Carolyn Schriber. She's writing an historical novel, something that's way outside my writing comfort zone, and approached authors to contribute articles on the craft of writing, which is well within my zone. She decided she liked it enough to include me in her launch party, so I'll be fielding questions and discussions over there from 1-9 PM, my (mountain) time. I'm in the Interview Room. She's got all sorts of things going on -- games, food, workshops. It should be interesting, and I'd love some company.

I hope you'll visit both sites, and pass the word.

And as long as you're popping around, here's another review for Nowhere To Hide.

As for my "real" life:

Don't Ask Me For Blueprints

What I'm reading: Captive of Sin, by Anna Campbell

No surprise to anyone reading this blog regularly that I'm not much of a plotter. In fact, I'm giving my "Plotting for Non-Plotters" workshop at the Emerald City Conference in a couple of weeks. Recent events made it clear I could never be an architect.

Now that the upstairs of our house is finished (although we still need some furniture), we're moving on to the basement. While the upstairs was purely cosmetic, downstairs is a conversion. The basement is technically "finished" in that it has carpet, heat and finished walls, but it's still one big space with the exception of a bathroom and laundry area. Making it into living space means more than replacing appliances, cabinets, or painting and installing new flooring.

So, we turned to an expert, an architect our contractor recommended. He showed up, we gave him our wish list, he quoted a price (ugh), and we agreed. He took some measurements and said he'd get back to us in a few days.

There's Edits And Then There's Edits

First – thanks to Karin for being my guest yesterday. If you haven't read her post, or left a comment (there's a PRIZE, gang), Go. Do. It. Now. Winner announced Thursday, so there's still time today.


As I mentioned, I got my edits for WHERE DANGER HIDES back from the editor late Sunday. I refrained from opening it until Monday; otherwise I might have been up all night, and done a sloppy job.

She'd said it was a very clean read, not much for me to do at all, and that I could probably turn it around in a couple of days. Feeling pretty good, I opened the document. My first reaction was, "Did she send the wrong file?" because I didn't see any markups. I scrolled down, and at the bottom of page 7, at the end of the first scene, was her first comment. It said, "Great beginning." I felt even better. The next comment came at page 16, and was a "LOL." I was stoked.

Renovating and Revising

Today it's my pleasure to welcome fellow Wild Rose Press author Debra St. John to Terry's Place. In between working full time and renovating her 1920's home, she sometimes finds time to pen romance novels. She is currently working on her fourth novel and making plans to remodel the dining room.

Terry, thanks so much for having me here at Terry’s Place today! As I’ve been following your recent journey of moving and house-hunting, it conjured up memories of the experiences we’ve had with our house over the years.

Not long after we were married, my husband and I purchased what some folks might label a “fixer-upper”. The eighty-plus year old (at the time) home had been a two-flat for the entire time of its existence. Thus, it showed the wear and tear of a succession of families moving in and out over time.

Our grand plan was to convert it into a single-family home. We weren’t total “virgins” coming into this. My husband is a painting contractor, so he has some experience in the rehab milieu. I was considerably a bit more wet behind the ears, but willing to learn.And what a learning experience it has been. Nine years later it’s still a work in progress, and it’s been a journey fraught with blood, sweat, and tears along the way. I vividly remember the day we signed the contract on the house. We’d headed out to a little hot dog place for lunch. As I stood in line waiting for my milkshake, my husband must have seen the tears pooling in my eyes. When he asked what was wrong, I looked over at him. I’m sure my dismay was clearly visible in my eyes as I cried, “I can’t believe we bought that place. What were we thinking?” My vision of a dream home had been lost to images of nasty shag carpet, duct taped windows, and cracked plaster.

Plotting and House Hunting.

What I'm reading: Montana Sky, by Nora Roberts

By the time this post appears, I'll be on my way to a week in Colorado. We'll see family and have a chance to celebrate a portion of our holiday with two of our kids, their spouses, and our grandson. His second birthday precipitated the trip, and while we're out there, we'll also start some preliminary scouting for our relocation. It's all tentative, since our house hasn't sold yet.

Hubby spent a day taking the scientific approach to house-hunting. He took all the files the Realtor has been sending, looked at each one on Google Earth to see if they met his "away from everything" criteria, printed out the descriptions, and created a spreadsheet so he could see what we had. If he were a writer, he'd definitely be a plotter.

Meanwhile, I'm mulling over the revision process for my mystery. My critique partners have reached the final 3 chapters. One has suggested that a plot thread, giving my protagonist cop a "romantic" interest isn't needed in the book at all.

Since I'm very fond of the 'behind the scenes' lives of the cops and detectives in the mysteries I read, I wasn't thrilled to hear that. But it's still important that one consider feedback, whether one agrees or not. Should I remove the entire "my cop has a life outside his work" thread?

Editing - Phase 2

What I'm reading: Blood Hunt, by Ian Rankin

Thanks to Mona for sharing her editing techniques. I’m going to add my thoughts, but if you haven't read hers yet, scroll down. I can wait.

All right. I've already addressed my story board technique for keeping track of plot points and characters when I write, which is just a different way to accomplish the same goal we all have. Making sure our manuscript gleams before we turn it in.

Now, on to the next step. The publisher wants your book. You have a contract in hand. That gleaming manuscript now goes to an editor. And then it comes back. All scratched and tarnished.

First – if you get a manuscript back that is NOT marked up, or only has a few comments, don't feel proud. Don't dance for joy. It's more likely you need a better editor. There's nothing out there that can't be improved. But that doesn't mean you should click on "accept all changes in document" either. There are some editors who prefer a 'hands off' policy, who don't want to change the author's story or voice. That's all well and good. But letting sloppy writing get published isn't helping anyone. A good editor can keep the meat of the story and let the author's vision shine through while still trimming the fat and suggesting improvements.

Second -- Your relationship with your editor shouldn't be adversarial. You have your ideas about the book. She has hers. But you've also got a common goal. Make the manuscript as good as it can be. Swallow your pride, your indignation. Find some chocolate, or wine, or take a hot bubble bath. Shoot some Snoods. Sleep on it for a day. Or three. Then open up the file again and get to work.

Keep Reading...

My recent manuscript, as I mentioned, came back 10,000 words shorter than the one I sent in. Sure, it's an ego-deflater, but no matter how magnificent the words were, if they didn't advance the story or develop the character, they probably didn't need to be there.

There are lots of editing workshops, each with its own system and methods. Far from me to say there's a 'right' or a 'wrong' way to edit. Or even a 'good' and a 'bad.' In the end, we all do what works for us, so I'm just adding a few possibilities to the mix. My "system" for dealing with edits at this stage:

Go through the manuscript for the easy fixes. I look at her 'deleted' and 'inserted' changes first (all the while ranting about using Track Changes. I'm a 'fiddler.' As I write, I and love moving things around, changing a word here and there, playing trial and error until it flows for me, and all those colors freak me out. Plus, half the time I can't remember to check to make sure TC is off or on.)

Here, you might notice some editorial biases. Do they matter? Ideally, an editor should think only of the story, but sometimes their personality might bleed through. It could be minor, such as using "asked" instead of "said" when there's a question. Both are acceptable.

Maybe she objects to a specific word a character uses. If it's because she doesn't feel it goes with the character, consider it. Let's say she has a bias against a specific profanity. In that case, maybe she's going a little too far. There's a difference between, "Don't use "*^&*" and saying, "Your character swears too much", or "He swears in inappropriate places", or "All your characters use the same swear words." Those are legitimate and should be addressed.

Okay, so you've made all the quick and easy fixes. If you're lucky, your editor has also left comments as to why she's suggested the changes. Look at them. Deal with them. Get out of your own head for a while and think of the overall story. Did you stray from your plot? Are you letting secondary or tertiary characters take over scenes because they're fun to write?
If you can handle it, deal with the reasons behind the cuts, and if they make sense, bite the bullet and accept them. You'll have another chance to see if you made the "right" decision.

Did she point out a glaring plot hole? This is a good time to start fixing those, because they might lead to major rewrites. Those aren't really "edits", they're revisions. My editor caught a spot where my heroine wasn't behaving in what she considered an honorable fashion. It worked great for adding conflict and sexual tension, but when I looked again, I had to agree. I either had to shore up her reasons for behaving unethically, or find a way to get my plot points across without that scene. And after checking with my cop consultants, I decided the latter was the wiser choice. This meant ripping out a chapter, rewriting it, and then going back to weave the dangling threads I'd created back into a smooth fabric.

Now you're ready for the next phase. Did you reweave seamlessly? What other clunkers appeared while you weren't looking? This is where I need a hard copy, but if you prefer the computer, the technique should still work. But I highly recommend a paper version. Why? Come back tomorrow and I'll have more. I'm out of time and space for today.

Progress

What I'm Reading: Texas Baby by Kathleen O'Brien

What I'm working on: Revisions, Unexpected Danger.

I leave in a few hours for the Southern Lights Conference. The Powerpoint is loaded on my flash drive and my laptop; I have the handouts packed. I even have a good idea of what I'm going to say. I have my eBookwise loaded with some new books. I'm looking forward to seeing Suzanne Brockmann again, and one of my publishers will be there as well.

I sent "Redshirted" off. As I put the SASE in the packet, deja vu washed over me. I don't miss the turmoil of waiting for the mail each day -- will I get one of my SASE's? Do I want one, because it might be a rejection? No response means things are still out there. If I do get one, there's the heart-pounding anticipation when I open it. Good news? Bad news? Since I signed with an agent, submissions became her worry. But because this is a short story, I'm on my own. According to the publisher's website, response time is 3 months, so I'll do my best to forget I even mailed the story.

I wrote the scene my agent wanted to see for Dalton. It's off to my critique partners for comments, and to my army contact for corrections on the combat stuff.

I'm looking forward to a weekend spent with writers. I always come home invigorated, ready to tackle a new project. And now that I'm on the home stretch with my current manuscript, I'm ready to start the next one.

Sighs of relief

What I'm reading: Deal Me In, bt Cynthia Thomason

What I'm working on: e-publishing workshop for Southern Lights
(Trial-and-error Powerpoint - I'm co-presenting with Dara Edmondson, and she knows a lot more about the program than I do, but I'm learning.)

I think I've done it. My taxes are finished. Now, I have no trouble paying my fair share (refuse to get into it any deeper than that), but I resent that the system is so complex that doing taxes should require paying someone else. Besides, the part I don't like is keeping all the records, which you have to do anyway. From there, it's just a matter of plugging in the numbers. No math skills required. But the tax prep software I've used for years has changed, and it's no longer as user-friendly as it used to be. All the more reason to be glad I'm done.

I also finished revisions for "Redshirted". I'll be re-reading it to see if I created any new holes, and then might be brave enough to submit it.

Which leaves me free to work on revisions for Unexpected Danger. I have to give my agent credit for an amazingly sharp eye. Doing basic clean-up has cut about 1000 words from the manuscript, which leaves me room to add the scenes she's suggested once I get into the actual revisions.

Edits and Revisions - not the same animal

What I'm reading: Killing Fear, by Allison Brennan (hurry up and write more, Allison - this one catches me up)

What I'm working on: Revisions & Edits for Unexpected Danger and "Redshirted"

My Cerridwen editor emailed me last night that Hidden Fire has a release date -- May 8th.

We'll see when and what I get in the way of their final line edits. Normally, I don't get to see the entire manuscript again; if there are any changes other than typos or grammatical problems, my editor will send only those sections. I'll be curious to see if the baby line at the end survives.

My agent likes to do a complete edit job on a manuscript before she sends it out. The edits are the 'easy' part--dealing with technical fixes. I'm also getting used to her style preferences, and it becomes an issue of deciding whether accepting her suggestions will change my voice. With crit partners, it's easier to reject suggestions although (honest!) I consider them all. But an agent who should know what editor are looking for means her comments have more weight, at least in my mind. It's harder to disagree, but she's made it clear I'm not obligated to change things.

The tough part is dealing with revisions. These are the places where she says, "You dropped this thread too soon," or, "You need to show more of such and so." The fact that she hit on some things I wondered about when I submitted the manuscript tells me my instincts were right, and I need to fix them. But it's kind of like trying to add the chocolate chips AFTER you've baked the cookies. Adding something to chapter 1 can have an impact on things all the way through 'the end.' Is it better to throw out the imperfect batch of cookies and bake new ones, or melt the chips and use them to frost the original batch? Writing an entire scene from scratch seems easier for me than trying to weave new information into what's already there. Either way, it means making sure the continuity remains intact.

And, I had the pleasure of speaking with a multi-published mystery author who had expressed interest in my mystery short (tentatively called "Redshirted") and then spent an hour on the phone with me pointing out places where she'd stumbled. Those were edits. Easy fixes -- change a character's name, hair color, a bit of history. But some of her suggestions also require revisions -- "he solved the case too easily", "you wrote Charlie off the page too soon," etc. Those mean revisions. Rewriting.

More fun than taxes, though.