GAINING PERSPECTIVE

The path to a polished, completed piece of writing has many steps. If you're like me, some parts fill you with joy and delight, whereas others involve a fair amount of jaw clenching and teeth grinding. How long the process takes varies with the individual, but proof reading, copy editing, rereading (many times) are part of the process. And that’s before you receive feedback from your beta readers. Each step involves either larger or smaller revisions.

Gaining distance from your creation is notoriously difficult to achieve, but a helpful exercise, if you’re at the reviewing stage, is to examine your story from the standpoint of critical analysis. If this reminds you of being back at school writing essays on Shakespeare, bear in mind, that critical analysis allows you to view your efforts with a more dispassionate eye.

You don’t have to write an essay here though, simply spend a few minutes reflecting on your work, and answer the following questions in couple of sentences:

         What is the theme, and how does your protagonist embody the 

         theme? 

         How does your main character change – and if he/she doesn’t – why not?

         What conflicts – external and internal – does your protagonist face? Outline the

         progression and resolution of those conflicts.

         How does your choice of narrator affect the story?

         What roles do your minor characters play, and what is their relationship to the main 

         character?

         How does your setting influence the characters and the narrative?

This exercise can give you a different perspective, and it's worthwhile investing a little time on it - because you can be sure discerning readers will be thinking about these aspects.

Writing Update

I’m editing chapter 15 of my supernatural tale – and facing my eternal dichotomy of enjoying the work and wanting it finished! One or two major decorative additions need to be placed throughout after this first edit, and I'm looking forward to a reread - stepping back from the print face so to speak – and getting an overview of how the story hangs together as a whole (plus giving thought to the questions posted above).

I've some vague stirrings and ideas surfacing now and then for number two of the series - and enjoying an anticipatory thrill. 

A post I read yesterday - more like a book, so I didn't finish it, but did bookmark it - has made me realize I need to actually sit down and write out a concrete marketing plan, instead of just thinking, 'Oh, I'll stick on Amazon and tweet about it.' I know...duh! But committing to self-publishing/e-publishing isn't a decision taken lightly, because apart from the time and research involved (on top of writing and current social media activities) it's business. Not my strong point.

On the other hand, my first novel, AN UNSTILL LIFE©, a two stranded tale of love, loss and obsession, is ready to go, so I'm meditating on a cover and mulling over Create Space as an option for printing. Lots of thoughts rolling round in my head.

Have made absolutely no progress on any of my social media goals, but, um, hopefully soon!

Today’s Haiku

WINTER

storm gusts growl outside

trees groan branches crack break free –

nature cleans her house

Useful Links:

If you’re looking for blogs on creative writing, you’ll find some great links on this website:

http://www.copyblogger.com/creative-writing-blogs-2011/

This is a truly comprehensive article: 

7 Strategies and 110 Tools to Help Indie Authors Find Readers and Reviewers

http://ow.ly/tIdkZ 

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.

IS EDITING ENDLESS?

At the moment I’m so deeply involved in the editing process that I wanted to share some thoughts - despite already having written two posts this year on the same topic. 

An interviewer once asked Hemingway about how much rewriting he did. Hemingway told him it depended as he had rewritten the last page of Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. When asked what was the problem, Hemingway replied ‘Getting the words right.’ 

T. S. Elliot thought the ‘larger part of the labour of an author in composing his work is critical labour, the labour of sifting, combining, constructing, expunging, correcting, testing...’ 

Writers need to have two personalities. On the one side, there is the creator whose brain is crammed full of ideas just waiting to be brought to life, and first drafts are often written in a spontaneous creative rush. But after you’ve poured your heart out, taken time for that liberating experience to settle, writers need to call on another aspect of themselves – one that is critical, demanding and who will view the writing with a dispassionate logic. 

So once a piece has rested – and how long is entirely up to each writer as no two writers follow an identical process, and ways of working vary from one individual to the next – it’s time to call on your analytical self and become reacquainted with your work. 

Most writers start editing by dealing with the larger issues first – plot structure, character and setting, before moving on to word choice, repetition, grammar, punctuation and spelling issues. Knowing your own weaknesses, whether it’s stereotypical characters or purple prose helps in sharpening the focus of your work. Another area to consider is pace – giving the reader time to breathe in between sections where you increase the drama. Reading aloud is an effective way to pick up awkward phrases and rhythms – especially if you want to sharpen and enliven your dialogue. 

Ursula Le Guin, in her book, Steering the Craft advises keeping all your drafts and taking the attitude that you’re exploring what other drafts look like – and you can reverse your changes any time you want. She also welcomes the self-discipline involved in editing for this is where you learn what works in your writing, as well as what doesn’t.  

If you think of your writing as a diamond in the rough, all you are doing is shaping, polishing and refining it so that when you present it to the world, it shines. I think editing has a central role in the completion of a piece of writing, and it’s important to remember the goal is to give your reader greater pleasure. 

Writing Update

These days, when people want to know how my novel is progressing, I’m aware the question is asked with all the interest of wanting to know how the grass in my garden is growing. In response, I generally roll my eyes and slump as if I’ve the weight of the world on my shoulders, and tell them I’m editing. 

When I think about my editing, it’s true - I am carrying the weight of the world - the world I’ve created. And getting this right is a responsibility to myself to justify the time I’m giving to this story. I also feel an equal responsibility to any prospective readers because I want them to enjoy, and become absorbed, in the lives of the characters I’ve created. I don’t want their suspension of belief destroyed by errors.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Although I’m working hard at this editing stuff, I’m never going be shouting, ‘I dare you to find a single modifier (dangling or otherwise), adverb or even adjective in this book!’ But when it’s ready, I want it to be the best it can be and if someone doesn’t like it, it should be because it isn’t the type of story they enjoy, not because I’ve missed a mistake in the first paragraph. 

So, to answer my own question in the title of this post,  no, I don’t believe editing is endless and word by corrected word, I am moving closer to the Holy Grail of a finished novel. 

When I can fit it in, I keep working on a chapter outline for this year’s nanowrimo. I’ll admit I am haunted by the editing marathon which awaits me with regard to last year’s efforts. That’s on the back burner for now, but I’m surprised at how often I churn over ideas for finishing this story. However, I'm genuinely excited at the thought of actually writing something new again!


Today’s Haiku

AUTUMN

trees mutate, undress -

frost laces the red brown shawl

layering the earth

(from Gold Dragon Haiku) 

Useful Links:

Although this article is primarily aimed at screenwriters, its advice applies equally to fiction.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4444105_write-witty-dialogue.html

This is a transcript of a lecture – but it makes some interesting points – especially about writers!

http://www.harlanwolff.com/2013/08/16/where-do-authors-come-from/#ixzz2e6HayrJn   

Reading Recommendations:

http://amzn.to/18SbSaG  Gold Dragon Haiku  - my first attempt at publishing poetry! 

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku 

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.