Editing That Damn Book!

The one advice I would give any writer is DO NOT read any editing books, blogs or websites while writing a manuscript. EVER! I mean it. You will get spurts of ideas and end up re-doing the whole thing over and over again. So if you are in the middle of writing a manuscript I suggest you stop reading this right now…yeah you, go ahead, bye.

Ok now that they are gone lets get down to some seriousness. Creator of Nappaland Literary Agency, Mike Nappa have written an article on editing your manuscript four times to produce a ‘finished’ piece of work. After the jump off I will put my two cents on his editing theories.

1. The Close In Writing: write a day’s worth and the next day revise and edit the section. This will make it your first draft.

2. The Close In Edit: your entire draft is completed then you go back thru the whole manuscript front to back. This is your 2nd draft.

3. The Distance Edit: print out a hard copy (the second draft) and edit it by hand. Using your notes go back into the computer and revise as needed. This will be considered your 3rd draft.

4. The Oral Edit: read your manuscript to whomever will sit and listen; beginning to end. As you read, make notes for places to improve. Once done incorporate the notes to file. This is your 4th and final edit.

Which do you use?

I haven’t did a detailed edit on a manuscript before. Honestly I’ve only done number 2. As I’ve mentioned above I can’t edit and write at the same time. I would not get passed that chunk of writing if I edit the previous day’s work. I never thought of reading my story aloud to myself let alone someone else so number 4 would be out but I can see the purpose of it, you notice if some areas, dialogue or plot need to be changed. I’ve read somewhere that if you change the font and read your manuscript you can notice grammar mistakes.

How do you feel about Mr. Mike’s way of editing? Here’s my suggestions; after completing the first draft write a detailed list of what your goal are plotwise, character wise, etc. Seperate the list in a group and edit that way. Each time you read your manuscript look for specific things to edit. This way you do not get sidetracked you feel me? Ay, it works for me, tell me what works for you.

Peace and luv!

2nd Draft Critique Service

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Writers! Listen up. It’s hard for self publishing writers when putting their work out. Many lose potential fans once their work is out there with poor editing. Errors really can be prevented. In this situation you really do not get a chance to make a first impression.

Well Writer’s Digest has a service that will help writers get their ish right for showing.

Editing is not just grammatical correcting; a simple spell check in your Word document can fix those. 2nd Draft Critique Service takes editing to another level. Their job is to 1) provide you with you manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses, 2) offer comments on appropriateness for your target market, 3) red flag any consistent issues such as style and grammar and 4) give you a clear idea on how to revise your work. Its price is $4 per page.

Word of advice though. Before settling with an editor do your homework! Many writers get into a relationship with an editor too quickly. Make sure that editor even represents your genre. Seasoned editors will most likely tell you ‘hey this is not my area of expertise’. Greedy editors will attempt to take on your project just for the money. They may bring in so many clients they don’t have time to give you an above average critique. Check how many clients the editor have. Ask for references (yes you can do that). Make sure you’re comfortable with that editor. A lot of times a steady relationship can last throughout your writing career. I mean it is a business right? And even if you decide down the road that this editor will not work out don’t leave on a bad note. Try and keep in contact every once in awhile; you never know the connects that editor may have for you and vice versa.

I’m always curious as to how writers choose who they will work with (publishing house, agent, designers, etc.). What have you done that may not have been done before to weed out who you will work with? Is there a formula to it?

Peace and luv!

Has Technology Made Writers Lazy?

I’m all for technology. As a matter of fact I can’t imagine how people lived before electricity, phones, hell computers! Look at all the things we can accomplish when using technology. But all these avenues makes me wonder has technology made writers lazy? There’s texting and Twitter forcing us to condense our words. Call me ol’ skool but I hv 2 prfrd my ish b4 I hit send…oops, see what I mean? Another thing that might make a new skool writer slip in their writing skills is all of the grammar checks that come with software. Even with the good intentions the programmers had when they put together, I bet they were not expecting them to backfire.

It’s great that writers have ways to catch bad grammer and misspelled words but sometimes they are dependent on too much to where the writer doesn’t notice some common errors. Sometimes the program will mistake one word for another. When creating a document take auto-correct off and always watch out for the spell and grammar checkers.

Technology like I said is great but good old fashion eyeballs and common sense to make sure your writing is up to par. Don’t depend solely on all of the technology being created. Do you feel that technology has made writers lazy? Tell me why or why not. I love peoples’ opinions.

Peace and luv!