Editing Blues

Due to technical difficulties, I'm posting this topic for Ree Vera.

- HC 

Ah, the internal editor. We try so hard to resist it. We fight it, smother it, and do our best to just plain ignore the urge to let it have its way. Until at last…our MS is ready for that final thing. (dun dun dun!)

Editing.

*cue horrified scream*

Every writer, at one point, must go through it. I mean—our goal is to one day publish our work, right? And you can’t do that without some sort of editing.

Well, you could….I guess.

So I’ve been going through some major editing blues. I’m not usually one to get defensive when it comes time for editing, but this go round really had me on the edge. So I thought I’d share what I’ve been going through…

WHY?!

The shock.

The: ‘You want me to do what?!’

The: ‘Pfft. You can’t perfect perfection.’

I mean come on. You’ve labored on this story for so long that I’s like….it’s your baby. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Don’t they know amazing when they see it?

Haha. Yeah.

There is no perfect first draft. No such thing.

I GOT THIS

Oh the blind confidence. You take a look at those suggested revisions and think it’s going to be a piece of cake. Cross a few t’s, dot a few i’s…no big deal. How bad can it be?

OMG!

Then you see it. The bleeding plot holes and loose threads. Dry dialogue.  Overused clichés. Wordy chapters , misspelled words, and all those damn commas you can’t seem to stop using cuz you’re a junkie and need help!! *breathes* Ahem. Sorry. Where were we?

IT’S GOING TO BE FINE

I loved being in denial. LOL. I really did. Those loose threads? Pish posh. Nobody will notice. They’ll be so amazed by my story that even that character I kinda forgot about won’t even be an issue. I’ll just make a few minor adjustments and…voila!

I QUIT!

So many corrections. You look at  your MS and it seems like once you find one thing wrong…a billion other things come into sight. It’s awful! Or so you think. So I thought. I even thought about just throwing in the towel. Giving up. It was a brief notion, but a notion just the same. I read, watched movies, skyped, and pretty much everything except think about writing. Or editing. I think I even cried.

Ok, yeah, I did.

*sad violin music*

I say this because I don’t want you to think you’re doing something wrong if you feel like this at some point. Being a writer doesn’t make you superman/superwoman. You’re still human. It’s okay to get a little desperate cuz it happens. Just don’t let it get the best of you. Pout. Cry. Scream if you have to.

Then move on.

ANGELS IN DISGUISE

Friends. Writing Peers. Loved Ones.

They help you when you’re feeling down. Whether it’s a shoulder to soak with your tears or the kick in the pants you need (but don’t really want)…they’re so important. As writers, it’s so easy to withdraw. To isolate ourselves. We think and see things differently. Get lost in our own world.

Don’t get so lost that you lose those ties with the ones who truly care. They’ll be your saving grace.

HOPE

I got that pep talk and felt inspired. So with renewed hope and confidence, I pulled out that MS and got down to business.

EEK!

All this dawdling had taken two weeks off my time limit. So I would have to get to business fast. Some long hours and a couple of red eyes later….the revisions were done. I hit send and leaned back, relaxed….

DAMN IT

Yeah….there are more revisions needed. It’s a process. But I’m not going to freak out.

Too much.

So are you at that stage yet? Editing? Have you experienced anything like this?

Or maybe I’m just crazy after all…who knows?

Happy Writing!!

~Minerva Ree Vera

MS or BS?

You start with an idea. A little seed of an idea that sprouts to life the moment you put pen to paper. As you write, that idea becomes a rough draft...a rough draft that needs to be critiqued, reworked, and polished.

In his book On Writing, Stephen King says that when you write your first draft, you should write with the door shut. Once you're finished you can let others in and see what you've got.

Some of you will disagree with this. Some writers like and actually prefer chapter by chapter input as they are writing and if that works for you then great. Just make sure that it really IS working for you. Have you finished that first draft yet? Or are you constantly revising because of that input?

Betas/critique partners are great. I love mine. They've helped me learn and grow so much. But be wary of taking every bit of advice they give you. Even though the advice is good intentioned (and it should be) if you feel like it's draining your voice...take a second to really think about what they're telling you. This is your story, your characters, and you know them better than anybody. If the change they're suggesting doesn't sit right with you then don't do it. It doesn't matter if your Beta is a best seller and has written more than fifty books. It's not their story.

I know what you're thinking..."But there's no such thing as a perfect MS!"

Totally agree with you. There never has been and never will be a perfect book/story/MS. Never. And yeah there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

Edit until you love the story. Not until your Beta reader thinks it's good enough. Not until it follows every writing rule ever created. Not until it's perfect. Until YOU love the story.

I do believe that improvement is a good thing. It helps you grow, makes your story better. However, I also believe that there has to be a peak. A point where your MS is as good as it's gonna get before it starts sounding like washed up, formulaic garbage. If you keep pushing beyond that point, the fire and magic that makes your story stand out. Don't do that to your manuscript. The things we love most often have imperfections. Sometimes those imperfections are the very reason we love them.

Agents/publishers want to FEEL passion in a story. They don't want to read something too smooth and polished to be interesting. Let your voice bleed through your manuscript.

Study the craft, yes. Use grammar correctly, punctuation, and please don't forget to hit the spell check button...but you shouldn't be obsessing over every rule that was created for writers. And when it comes to critique partners--they ARE there to help you, but what they say isn't law. This is your story. Yours, yours, yours.

The literary world is a place built on emotion. Edit. Cut. Revise. But don't take the magic or the heart out of your story.

Happy Writing!

Critique Buddies and Beta Readers

Is there a difference?

You're darn tootin' there is. Don't worry...until a few months ago, I didn't know it either. Heck--I had no idea what a Beta was. I thought it had something to do with sororities :) Go figure. So for those of you who might not know, I'm going to give a brief definition.

Beta Reader:  Someone who will read your writing with a critical eye.
Critique Buddy: They read, they comment...you need these people too!

Until recently, I didn't have a Beta Reader. I was part of a writing community and I posted some stuff there. I got a boatload of comments (all different kinds) and that's what I thought good critique was. I mean, a lot of them were quite in depth and they were from some pretty amazing writers. So that's good enough, right?

Wrong.

Let's start with Critique Buddies. There are all kinds but I've narrowed them down to a few categories.

*CHEERLEADERS*
Ha ha, we all know these. We've probably even been these. The ones who leave all the 'LOL's  and :)'s and OMG's! *see also: yay! wow! good job! so good!* And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I love these types of comments because they are the exact reactions I want to get from future readers when my book hits shelves. I want them to get giddy with excitement over a character, or a scene (the entire book). You know how there is no such thing as a stupid question? Well, there is no such thing as a lame comment.
No, they're not detailed. They don't help you fix spelling/grammar errors. But they keep your motivation going and you off the ledge when you're feeling a bit blue. They are the ones who boost your confidence when you need it most.

*STALKERS*
Not the kind you're thinking heh heh. The good kind. These are the ones who were (most often) there from the very beginning. They read your first chapter, horrible as it may have been, and continued to read. They're also the ones who will clog your Twitter, Facebook, and any other page you have with stuff like: "Where is the next chapter?" "Are you writing?" "You'd better be writing!"
They're also the ones who won't take any of your lazy day crap. If you're trying to get away with not writing, or verbose writing that has no place in your story--these are the ppl you want on your team. They don't put up with it :)

*READERS*
They'll comment once in awhile. Maybe correct a few things here and there. Sometimes they even tell you something pretty in depth, but overall--they just read. They're not detail oriented or anything like that, but they area valuable to you because they see your story as the whole it is. Not the bits and pieces. They are your future customers.


And then there are Beta Readers.

*GOOD BETAS*
A beta is someone who will know your story almost as well as you do. They know what it's about, your characters, and where you are planning on going with it. Being a beta/having a beta is an investment. They invest in you as much as you do them. It takes time and patience. Not everyone can fill this role. If you are a beta, then be an honest one. Even if  you know it might be a little painful for your partner to hear. Honesty is something we as writers really need to have. Especially when it comes to our work.
Also, along with the rough critique they may give sometimes, they take the time to point out the things they love about your work. And believe me, that small :) or 'I thought this was a great line' goes a long way when you're trying to wrap your mind around harsher edits. Lol.

*BAD BETAS*
Another blogger very aptly described these as 'toxic' betas. The ones who suck you dry because it tickles them pink. They're the ones who get all defensive when you critique their work, but get pissed off when you don't think their criticism is right. And if you do (lordy forbid) critique their work, they take disgusting amounts of time to point out how you don't know the genre, or the craft, enough to do so.
Bad betas are also ones who will tear your MS apart chapter by chapter without remorse. And then not even offer you the slightest bit of advice as how to fix it.

There is a HUGE difference between: "this needs work" and "you suck"

Do not be a bad beta!!!

So who is not beta material?

Your mother is NOT a beta reader. She is bias. Let's face it. :) She loves you too much.

Your spouse is NOt a beta reader. No matter how much they support you, or say they do--unless they are also a writer, they won't understand. No I'm not dissing those of you who have wonderfully supportive husbands/wives. Supportive is an entirely different concept.

Your best friend is NOT a beta reader. Same as above. They obviously love you and will overlook things to see the good in what you write. Not helpful. Sweet...but not helpful.

So what about y'all? Do you have a beta reader(s)? If so, are they good or bad?
Are you a beta?
Or...do you not have one at all?


Happy Writing!