Publishing Step 2: Edit. Read. Edit some more.

Okay I should have got to this earlier, but I'm here now.


Is your book written?


If not you should go back to my first post.


http://vernonsverses.blogspot.com/2016/01/publishing-step-1-write-damn-book.html


If it is, CONGRATS!


Now what?


Now it's time for you to edit.


First there is self-editing.


BUT HOW DO I DO THAT?


First. Set it down.


I know, easier said than done when it wont get out of your head, but do it.


Okay, I know you didn't.


Now it's time to read over it again. See if there are any scenes that are dragging, any typos, etc.


Now that you think you have a masterpiece it's time to find a critique partner.


What's that and what do you need it?


A critique partner is someone who you work with to trade manuscripts with and critique. Give each other notes (constructive criticism). It's better to use a critique partner because you become a better writer when you read and you have someone who is also a writer to read your work.


How do you find a critique partner?


There are many online organizations and other places, but first I'd figure out what you're writing?


Romance?


Then Romance Writers of America may be a great place to start. They have a ton of local chapters and online ones.


You can also just google "writers groups in my area". To start, meeting other writers might be best then you can find out who you vibe with and sometimes it's good to know that there are people like you who aren't just behind a computer.


There are also great conferences you can go to as a newer writer with workshops. RWA, RT, UTOPYACON, are all great resources.


Now that you have the critique partner you two can trade manuscripts. Remember that it's nothing personal. They're there to build you up, not tear you down. It may take a few different critique partners, but eventually you'll find your mesh.


Up next.  Trad or Indie? The choice is yours.

Editing: Jersey Shore style

I know I’ve complained profusely about the MTV show JERSEY SHORE and its portrayal of young Italian-American culture.  (Okay, yes my husband said I should stop complaining since I’m Sicilian and not Italian, but still…)  ANYWHOO, I thought that I should atleast TRY to give the show a shot and watch it, (also there was nothing else on TV at that moment and I was procrastinating from revising).

So last Sunday I watched Season 3:  Episode 1 and thought you should get a brief recap of the episode before I talk about it.  If you aren’t familiar with the show or characters you can read it’s Wiki article here.

Season 3 opens with the cast mates returning to the house, including new cast mate Deena (who is one of Snooki’s BFFs from back home).  Deena lives up to her expectations and gets drunk on the first night and tries to get with Mike “The Situation.”  Mike obviously turns her down and then goes back upstairs to talk about it with his roommates (and on-again off-again bf/gf) Ronnie and Sammi.  Deena doesn’t get the hint and comes up asking him to snuggle with her.  Sammi laughs profusely at this, so Deena storms out of the room then goes downstairs to complain about Sammi to the other housemates.  Before long Ronnie runs downstairs and starts getting in Deena’s face to yell at her for talking crap.  Then Sammi runs down and gets in the middle of the argument.  Unbeknownst me somehow Snooki starts arguing with Sammi and then out of nowhere J-Woww steps up and starts getting in Sammi’s face and then they start fist fighting.  End of episode.

I may or may not have just lost a few brain cells by explaining that episode, but now I’m actually going to explain my real problem with this episode:  The editing.  I genuinely thing there was a story there and a few “gasp” moments, but it got lost between bleeping and weird girl references like “grenade.” 

Note:  I also decided to search and see what “grenade” and “land mine” meant and figured it was kind of relevant.  According to Yahoo Answers:  A grenade is a girl that quite frankly is not hot. Not to say that the girl is ugly, but she just doesn't match up to their qualifications of attractiveness. Basically this girl is a bomb about to go off.   A Land mine is like a grenade but usually is thin or petite and you don't realize she's a landmine until you realize you want someone better looking.

So here are my tips to edit your manuscript so it doesn’t become a “Land mine” with a story present, but gets lost in the details and you’re already too far into it to get out.

1.)     Stick to one main story plot.  This is something that I actually struggled with in one of my first manuscripts.  You may have one central problem, but if you have too much other stuff going on it’s very easy to take away from the main plot and make the reader uninterested in what’s going on.  Jersey Shore example:  The main argument was with Deena and Sammi, but you got so lost in what everyone else was saying and bleeping that some of the great lines didn’t stand out like Snooki telling Sammi that Ronnie’s mom called to tell her that Sammi was no good and Ronnie just looking down and not saying anything about it.

2.)    Recognize your heroes and your villains.  Is your main character a good guy/girl?  What are they up against?  Is there actually a clear conflict?  Jersey Shore Example:  I have absolutely no idea who the good people are on this show and who I’m supposed to be cheering for in these arguments.  Was Sammi in the wrong for laughing?  Or was Deena in the wrong for being drunk?  I still have no idea!

3.)    Excessive swearing and sexual situations are unnecessary:  Even in Erotica there still has to be a story present.  If all you have is swearing and sexual encounters then wear is your story?  When you’re reading over your story think “Is this still a story without the sex and swearing?”  If it isn’t then you’d better go back and see where you went wrong.  Jersey Shore example:  There were so many Bleeps that I felt like I was watching Springer!  Between the closed door sexual innuendoes and bleeped out swear words I didn’t know what people were saying and was tired of guessing what was going on.

4.)    Stereotyping can sometimes be the farthest thing from the truth.:  We all are familiar with the mean blonde cheerleader or the dreamy jock with eyes the color of the ocean.  Sometimes we’re a little too familiar with them and they seem to blur a line where everyone is lumped into that category.  I, for one, went to a school where the cheerleaders weren’t the popular girls…in fact they were close to being on the same leg of the high school ladder as me and that’s pretty far down from the token popular top ring.  Jersey Shore example:  As if this one isn’t obvious about my hatred for the new Italian stereotype.  Snooki herself said, “I want a man that is tan, goes to the gym, and has a last name that ends in a vowel.” TRUST ME, I went to an Italian-Catholic church and all the boys DID not look like Pauly D or “The Situation.”  Oh and all of us girls that happen to have ancestry in that part of Europe aren’t artificially tanned and claim that we can out drink and out fight anyone.  In fact, half the girls aren’t even of Italian ancestry (i.e. Snook is Chilean).

5.)    A real life setting isn’t always favorable:  Sure, Stephanie Meyer set the TWILIGHT series in the real town of Forks and it did wonders, but that isn’t always the case.  What if you’re portraying that town in a bad light?  Wouldn’t it be easier just to tweak the name a little bit?  Jersey Shore example:  Well as Ronnie so eloquently told Snooki, “Don’t forget that you are just trash from Poughkeepsie.”  The Jersey Shore hasn’t always been so welcoming of their new inhabitants that occupy the Shore house.  Even the governor has criticized the cast mates as being “negative for New Jersey.”  I’m sure that there are some people that aren’t stereotyping New Jersyites now the infamous South Park episode “It’s Jersey Thing,” but we all know if the show wasn’t around that stereotype of this real-life setting might not be as stereotyped.

6.)  Give your story a conclusion:  Sure we all love having those questions that make us long for a sequel, but how many of us actually love a cliff-hangar at the end of a novel or an abrupt ending? I like that feeling of wanting to read the next novel in a series as much as the next girl (Hunger Games, anyone), but I also want there to be some sort of a conclusion and not just an abrupt ending that leaves me wondering "What the heck is going on?" Jersey Shore example:  Girls hitting=end of episode, does that really make any sense?  What is the conclusion?  Do I even want to watch more?

I’m sure there are many more ways that you can make sure your manuscript isn’t a “landmine,” but thinking too much about this show and writing “Snooki” over and over is starting to give me a migraine.

What tips can you give for making your manuscript not a “land mine” do you think that will help the Jersey Shore as well?

Fangirl Friday

Fangirl Friday presents Freelance Editor/ Agent Intern:  Cassandra Marshall

C.A. Marshall is a freelance editor, lit agent intern, YA writer, and loves to play with her dog Mollie. She dreams of one day owning a small house near the water, preferably in England, with a shelf full of books she has written and has helped others to write. She can be found in Emmett, MI and at camarshall.com.

Magan:  So you're a freelance editor, how did you get into freelancing?


Cassandra:  I was editor for my undergrad annual chapbook and would trade papers and poems and short stories to edit. Eventually I started doing longer things and then a few MS's for friends. Then those friends recommended me and then those people recommended me... I just kinda fell into it, but I thank my lucky stars everyday to be doing something I love.

Magan:  What kind of projects do you take on to edit?

Cassandra:  I have a soft spot for YA, but I edit and read queries for all sorts of projects.

Magan:  How do you approach editing and what can your clients expect from you?

Cassandra:  I start by reading it once through just to get a feel for the characters and writing style. Then I go back over it to take notes for the editorial letter and/or do copyedits. In the end, the client will get their MS back with both "small picture" notes in the MS itself, and "big picture" notes in the editorial letter.

Magan:  What made you want to be an editor?

Cassandra:  I love working behind the scenes, helping to shape things to become more than anyone ever dreamed of. Plus, being able to work in my pajamas, at my own leisure, with my dog Mollie at me feet... that's not bad either!


Magan:   If you weren't an editor what would you want to be doing?

Cassandra:  Writing books. Or crafting on etsy. My etsy store never took off though. I was born to edit. :P


Magan:  What do you like to read in your spare time that isn't unfinished manuscripts?

Cassandra:  YA! I think I've read every book in my library's section (but it's quite shamefully tiny) so I interlibrary loan a lot of books. I currently have 22 out and 17 on hold. I usually get through 10 books a week. I consider it research for both writing and editing. Like I said, my job is awesome.

Magan:   How do you balance life as a freelance editor, agent intern, and writer?

Cassandra:  Because all three of them are completely flexible, I can choose to focus on one for awhile, like a big or rush edit, and the others will wait a few days. Or sometimes we'll get a lot of queries and I'll have to sit and read those all day. And if I'm in the middle of reading a query, and an idea sparks, I can stop everything and sit down to write for a few hours. All three complement in a spectacular way that a 9-5 job just can't compete with.



Magan:   If Hollywood were to make a movie about your life, who would you want to play you in that movie?

Cassandra:  Anne Hathaway. I think she's amazing. And we sort of have the same coloring, if not the same body shape. (I need a pair of those undies that say "Don't judge me, this is a writer's butt"


Magan:   Favorite book, movie, and TV show?

Cassandra:  You're killing me with these... Umm..

Book: Uh... Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or JK Rowling's Order of the Pheonix... But Jane Austen is my fav writer, hands down.

Movie: Um... The Family Stone. And the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice. And Disney's The Gnome Mobile. And The Little Mermaid.

TV show: I don't watch TV. Ever. But I do play a lot of Harry Potter Wii :)


Magan:  Famous last words?

Cassandra:  "Call the locksmith!" (Robin Hood: Men in Tights.)
 
Thanks Magan!
 
Thanks Cassandra and if you are looking for a freelance editor who specializes in YA, Cassandra is  your girl!

Monday Musings

MY PAPER HEART was written in a period of three months, great but that was the vomit draft.  Since February I have been editing, and editing.  Last month it started going on submissions again with a few requests, but the big one came in the form of a full with a request for revisions.

More sexual tension.

I don't think this is YA when she's this concerned about her sex life, maybe women's fiction?

And so it began.  The 10th round of edits.  I sent my baby out again to get a few more critiques and used my editor to REALLY tighten my grammar and to point out where I can add that fluff and sexual tension.  Because when you look at your manuscript it's always PERFECT you just love it so much.  Okay maybe some of you look at it that way...  I can't deny that I love MY PAPER HEART, but I always feel like I can make it better and then sometimes those critiques can really blow you away.

So here is my advice on how to take critiques...with a grain of salt...oh and of course you have to add a lime and a shot of tequila with that.

Funny?  True.  After the initial sting you realize that what they are telling you is only to help you.  I mean you wouldn't let someone you didn't trust or like your genre read your work, would you?  Okay I have been guilty of that and couldn't be blamed when I cried when that person basically hated my work and told me that I was a terrible writer.  Some people just have different tastes and you have to respect that and sometimes you just need a good glass of wine and some re-runs of The Kardashians.

So what is my muse for my re-editing?  Lately I have been going through some of my favorite books and figure out what draws me to the relationship of the characters?  What sexual tension is looming?  Why do I care about the main character?

One example:  HUSH, HUSH - I adore the almost kiss scene of Patch and Nora.  Throughout the whole book there is this looming sexual tension, that you usually don't get in YA like this, but Becca Fitzpatrick does it PERFECTLY.

So today I ask you, what is your muse for editing?  How do you go about the process?

WIP Wednesday

#amediting ....AGAIN....

At the request of an agent* MY PAPER HEART is going from a YA mantra to a women's fiction mantra.  What does this mean?  More sexual tension, I can dive a little bit more into deeper issues that I was dancing around before, and I don't have to worry about my character's ages being nineteen and how that's affecting the crossover.

Someday I do believe there will be the New Adult market that St. Martin's Press is pushing for (characters and marketed for people age 18-26), but for now you get those crossover titles like THE JESSICA DARLING SERIES, 20'S GIRL, and POST GRAD.

What's with the picture above?  Oh that's my new vision for my MC's love interest, Blaine.  He's Actor Alex Pettyfer and he definitely helps to bring on the tension in the first 50 pages...

So, even though it's not a teaser Tuesday I thought I would still give you a little taste of how the WIP is changing.  (This is also my friend, and editor, Rachel's favorite part).

"If your mom was a better hairdresser she wouldn't let you bleach your hair." His hair was so spiky and tousled that it almost looked curly or windblown. I wondered what it would be like to run my fingers through it, if it would feel like straw from baking in the summer sun all day or if it would just slide like silk through my fingers.

What have you changed about your WIP?  Would you change something at the request of an agent or somebody else?

*Note I will NEVER mention an agent by name unless a.) they ask me to or b.) they have offered me representation and I have accepted.