A Retreat, Shame and wth? An Editor…

I got back from the writing retreat setup by Randy McCharles earlier this week. Randy’s a great friend to writers of all levels. Check him out. He has new series coming out soon. More news as events warrant.

 

Ok – the people at the retreat made me feel ashamed of my commitment level.

They were a bunch of BIC’s (Bums In Chairs) It was humbling. Their schedule looked something like this:

• Writing by 630 AM
• Short Break 10:15
• Lunch Noon (45 Min)
• Short Break 230 ish
• Dinner 6:00 PM (an Hour)
• And most nights another 2 hours of writing then a sit around chat.

With the guilt hanging over my head after the first day I tried to buckle down and get crunching out the writing.

Here’s what got accomplished:

• 30K editing pass – and then sent to an editor for revision, plus alpha readers. Yes I crapped my pants.
• 10K New words
• Major problems resolved- two
• Incorporate all changes from Editor on the Prologue. (2500 words)

Robert J. Sawyer Blessing My Keyboard

This is for what I refer to as the “CheeseSpaceOpera” Today’s working title “Icarus: Book One of the System War”.

Some of you might be still coughing about me sending something to an editor, please check her site out: http://moreedits.ca/. If she can work with me, she can work with anyone.

So in an effort for full transparency – Yes –  I am on the road to having something published; either self-published or otherwise. (Insert Laugh Track Here)

The biggest single new technique I learned and put into practise – Editing pass while you listen to the story. I did this through MS Word’s “Read Aloud” function. It’s astounding the sheer volume of prepositions I don’t put in when I write.

What are you going to put into practice for your writing?

Be Well…dcd

Editing, no one told me there would be editing…GAH!

Sent the first scene/chapter off of “The Einstein Fallacy” for critiquing.  Should have all the results back around April 20th, 2017. I may post a before and after.

I wish I had a drinking problem. Even though I trust these people, and they are excellent writers, fear still invades me at the thought of having anyone read my work. Why?

Why?

I suppose it’s because if they don’t like the writing, they don’t like me. The subconscious me wants them to validate my writing so they will validate me. My mother always said I was a fragile child, and it appears that I am. Aren’t we all fragile children? Somewhere hidden inside we fear being known and at the same time want to be known. That inner self. To be identified with, to know we aren’t alone. The exposure of true self is guarded.

But lets return to the skill of editing. I don’t have it. It is so much easier for me to write drivel on a page then it is to go and edit the writing. Having said that, I can learn to edit. Here is my current process in a nutshell:

1. Tea and a Timer. Normally Peppermint and the Pomodoro “Tomato Timer” https://tomato-timer.com/ I work 25 minutes get up and take a break for 5 and then back at it. I try to do a min of an hour.
2. I start with Passive Verbs, spelling, and adverbs, and remove them – as Stephen King said:

“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops. To put it another way, they’re like dandelions. If you have one in your lawn, it looks pretty and unique. If you fail to root it out, however, you find five the next day… fifty the day after that… and then, my brothers and sisters, your lawn is totally, completely, and profligately covered with dandelions. By then you see them for the weeds they really are, but by then it’s — GASP!! — too late.” Stephen King

3. Once this is done I print a hard copy, double sided, 1″ Margins, double spaced, and read it out loud to myself and make notes in the text with a red pen. I go all the way through. This time it took me three days over the weekend. If I see that I need to move where plot points are, I detail them on a separate sheet as well, with the page numbers listed.

4. Back on the computer, I read through a couple of more times and then send it off to an alpha reader that is unknown to my writing groups. If they reply with the “I want to know more” or “Well what happens next”. I submit.

5. Once I get the feedback. I make sure that I understand their notes, asking for clarification or examples when needed. Then I put these items away for 10 days to two 2 weeks. The urge to leap in and make the changes suggested to me is too strong. I have to take a step back, wait and then in cold sober calculation consider what needs to be changed.

The goal is to have all the chapters done in time for When Words Collide this summer and pitch it to a Publisher. Or as I refer to it, outa da fryin pan and into the fire…

As always, be well

dcd

 

NaNoWriMo 2016 Winner? Or “Now I have to edit this dam thing…”

A slap dash overview of my last month of writing – grammar optional.

50,195 words in 29 days. The novel isn’t finished, perhaps, I wrote too much outline. It is looking like the novel will finish around 75,000 words.
What novel you ask? Why, Einstein’s Fallacy, thanks for asking. A high school physics teacher becomes the protector of a genius high school student who has discovered a mistake with Einstein’s work. An idea that is dangerous, in many ways. They travel to CERN the centre of Quantum physics where they meet Dr.Stephen Hawking. He introduces them to Dr.Tomas Cardona who will aid them in the development of this revolutionary idea and Leon Trask, Silicon Valley Entrepreneur.

Ben, the student wants to get to space. To, as he puts it, “Get off this damm rock and all it’s petty people.”

Lisa’s long term relationship over she wistfully wonders if she chose the right career path.  And gets a chance to be her dream, a researcher.

Dr.Brenda Sawyer, Lisa’s mentor at University and connection to CERN.

Tomas, realizes that what he has believed, researched, his life’s work is mis-guided and wants to regain a purpose.

Leon Trask, wise and wants to make money, more importantly make power his companion.

Katherine and Jason Hock – two to of the richest people in the world see the threat Ben’s ideas hold and want to control it. Ruthless would be a kind word for their tactics.

Three wise men who see the danger posed by the discovery who enlist the aid of Graywater and the Hock’s to manage the chaos they see coming.

Graywater – a private security contractor with no national boundaries. Protectors yes, mercenaries, certainly.?)

Be Well – dcd