Category Archives: The Writing Process

What cursed names do you reserve for your editor? We know you have them. We know you give them to us. And we don’t care. We actually kind of like it.

When you work with an editor for the first time, you’ll start to shed preconceived notions about the shape your story is in. Getting that MS back bleeding and red can be a shock. But, I swear, we only do it in self-defense. I want to help you and your MS avoid some of that unnecessary blood loss.

I see a lot of things I wish I didn’t. Every editor does. I’ve already spoken about how important it is to pay attention to your submission guidelines, and what industry standard formatting looks like, so here are a few other things on my hit list.

1. Single quotation marks.

I sometimes wish writers weren’t taught they existed. In fiction writing, the most common use you’ll have for single quotation marks is to indicate a quote within dialogue. Enclose the speaker’s dialogue in double quotation marks, then enclose the phrase they are quoting in single quotation marks. You nest them, with the double quotation marks on the outside.

“So this guy, he actually growls at me, his eyes turn red, and he tells me, ‘Give me a keg of beer.'”

Is that the only time you can use single quotation marks? No, outside fiction, it’s the convention in studies like linguistics, philosophy and theology to infer special meaning by enclosing some words in single quotation marks. They’re also used by the Associated Press for headlines.

Use double quotation marks for dialogue (obviously), around titles of short stories, magazine articles, and TV episode titles; they can be used as a style choice when you are writing a sentence and you want to refer to a word rather than use its meaning, as I will in the next item on the hit list.

Double quotation marks can also sometimes be used as scare quotes. I’m sure you’ve heard the term. All scare quotes do is indicate that a word is special in some way, usually a sarcastic or ironic author showing that he doesn’t believe or buy into the meaning.

And I see . . . hell, everybody sees double quotation marks used incorrectly in this way all the time. Check this out.

2. Mixing up “a” and “the.”

I see this more than a little. And I can see you shaking your head already. You totally don’t do that, that’s dumb. Well, not so fast, Speedy. I see it a lot for a reason.

These words infer very different things. Only use “the” when referring to something or someone that has already been introduced to your story, and “a” for something new to the story.

For example, when introducing a new element, like a big, slashy red pen, upon the first mention of that red pen, it is always, “a” red pen, not “the” red pen. “The” references a specific red pen, and since the red pen has never appeared nor been mentioned in your story thus far, the characters couldn’t possibly know to which red pen you were referring when you said “the red pen.” In this instance, it would be “a red pen.”

Thereafter, since the red pen has now been introduced, and your readers and your characters know about it, it would be “the red pen.”

3. Paragraph breaks.

Give them to us. New paragraphs are important for your readers. They tell when you’re switching time, place, topic or speaker, and they break the page up so it is not a solid block of words.

Don’t downplay the psychological impact of how the writing actually looks. It is intimidating and discouraging to see huge blocks of uninterrupted text, and you don’t want your reader to be discouraged before they even start to read, right?

Paragraphs create white space on a page and that white space provides a visual and mental break for readers — like coming up for air. New thought, new paragraph. It is often a good idea to separate lines of dialogue into new paragraphs; and the same goes for thoughts.

There are a few standard times to make a new paragraph:

a. when you start in on a new topic,
b. when a new person begins to speak,
c. when you skip to a new place,
d. when you skip to a new time, &
e. when you want to produce a dramatic effect.

Some of these breaks may require a new scene, or even a new chapter, but at the least, give us a new paragraph.

4. Action sequences.

Action is usually the most difficult for writers to become proficient in. Time and again the manuscripts I work on will have the heaviest line editing concentrated in action scenes. I start hacking harder when characters do, so here are some rules of thumb.

Less is more. Use fewer words; more words merely gunk up the flow and muddy clarity. Action should be sharp and fast, your words should suit that.

Use only the actions that are necessary to show what is going on and no more. If there is no reason to include an extra dodge, sway, swing, leap, scream or twist, then don’t. Each movement should build off the last and serve to increase the stakes and the tension until the climax and resolution. If it doesn’t, cut it.

Save your big, dynamic action verbs like “slam,” or “jolt,” or “roar” for action scenes. You can only use each a finite amount of times, so save them for when they fit the scene and when they’ll have the most impact.

Anything that slows the tempo doesn’t belong. Tempo is the level of activity within a scene via dialogue, action or a combination of the two. Together with rhythm (the way scenes interact with one another), tempo dictates the pacing of your story.

Pay close attention to that pacing too. Is your story filled with action scene after action scene after action scene? The whole point of an action scene is to get the blood moving, create tension, make readers fear for your characters. It’s easy to make your readers numb by overdoing it. If your tension is getting stale, it is because you’re hitting the same emotional beat too many times. Too much action — but this can be applied to any kind of scene, any emotional beat.

When that’s happening you have to use an opposing beat. So change it up and throw in some romance or mystery. Or mysterious romance. Give readers a rest so they can step back and appreciate your action again. To put it another way, if you love bacon (and you do), and so all you eat is bacon (and you might), you’re going to grow tired of bacon . . . this is a bad example.

With that, I close my hit list to you for now, and leave you to your own devices. But I’ve got my eye on you. My big, bright, baleful, red eye. Go ahead, call me all the bad names you want. I’m here for you.

Joshua Essoe is a full-time, freelance editor. He’s been editing and writing for twenty years in one form or another, but has focused on speculative fiction in the last several. He’s done work for David Farland, Dean Lorey, Moses Siregar and numerous Writers of the Future authors and winners, as well as many top-notch independents.Together with Jordan Ellinger, Diana Rowland and Moses Siregar, you can find him waxing eloquent (hopefully) on the writing podcast Hide and Create.

How Writing Badly Can Help Your Career

November 13, 2013

Leigh Galbreath

Craft & Skills Editing First Drafts Leigh Galbreath Motivation Publishing Rewriting Superstars Writing Seminars The Writing Life 2 Comments

Sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it? But as I’m sure everyone here knows, one of the biggest stumbling blocks for any aspiring author isn’t really how good their book is. It’s how finished their book is.

After all, you can’t have a business without a product, which is, in our cases, a completed story.

The key is to be productive and with just about everyone I know, one of the biggest obstacles to their productivity (right next to the two hour commute or the kids who can’t seem to do anything without parental help) is that voice in their head that keeps popping up to say, “What are you thinking? That comma’s ruining the emotional thread of this scene!” or “Jeez, this is crap. Let’s go play on the Playstation where it at least feels like I’m accomplishing something.”

A recurring session during the Superstars Writing Seminars is Kevin J. Anderson’s productivity tips (which he is currently covering on his website for NaNoWriMo). This is where I first heard his #3 tip: Dare to Be Bad (At First)…Then Fix It.

And the guy must be on to something because he makes prolific authors look lazy.

Now, I do spend some time prewriting to figure stuff out, for the most part I find my story as I’m writing it. For the longest time, I’d get stuck in that loop that made me want to re-read what I’d already written and tweek the text until I had to force myself to move on to the next scene. And then I gave myself permission to write badly. This was incredibly freeing. Now, when I’m doing a first draft, I can write upwards of 20-25k words a week, knowing that I’m going to edit it like crazy once the first draft is done. They aren’t great words, sometimes they’re downright horrendous, but they come together to form a completed work.

Now, your process might be different. But ask yourself, is your book stalled because you keep going back to that one or two scenes that seem so pivotal but your inner editor keeps telling you it’s just not right and if you don’t fix it now the whole book will fail utterly?

Stop that.

A house builder doesn’t sit there working on the same bathroom for years because they can’t get the shower to the perfect dimensions. They have a whole house to build and if someone isn’t living in it, it has no purpose. The same goes for you. Don’t let a desire to write perfection stop you from finishing the book, because if no one reads it, it also has no purpose.

Once the first draft is done, then you can let your inner editor run amuck…somewhat.

I usually have to step away for a bit before diving in the editing/revision process, otherwise, I’m just polishing the punctuation. Some people go ahead and send it out to alpha readers to get feeback. You’re process should be whatever works for you, but the real key to editing your own work, I think, is honesty.

Yes, that scene in your epic fantasy between the hero and his pet parakeet makes you cry every time, but does it move your story forward? Yes, you skipped that escape scene in your adventure to get to the emotional angst, but is the reader still engaged? Yes, you left out the detailed description of your cyborgs in your SF because it slowed the pacing, but can the reader really understand your world?

They may be you and your critique group’s favorite scenes. They might be hard to write. But if the story and the reader isn’t served, be honest. You’re going to have to fix it. The nice thing is that you’ll probably like the result better.

It’s actually kind of funny how often I tell someone that a scene isn’t working, or the story is missing something, and they say, “Yeah, I was kind of thinking that, too.” If something doesn’t ring true, or a scene doesn’t seem right, don’t wait for someone to remind you of something you already know. This instinct might take some time figuring out on your own, but the only way you’re going to learn how to tell what works and what doesn’t, is to keep writing and reading your genre.

It’s all so much work, I know. But that the difference between a hobbiest and a professional: get the work done, then make it the best you possibly can.

Dare to be bad. Fix it later.

Beta Reading: The Book Report You Trick Your Friends and Family Into

November 11, 2013

Gregory D. Little

Editing Gregory D. Little Rewriting The Writing Life 3 Comments

“Oh, you’re writing a book? You have to let me read it when you’re done!” If you’ve been writing long enough, you’ll probably have heard this a time or two. Little do they know that a book needs beta readers. But what is a beta reader and how can you shamelessly leverage their time and good will into making your manuscript the best it can be?

Because I am an engineer as well as a writer, I’m going to use the laziest possible analog for the technological age. A beta reader is exactly like a video game beta tester. They are the people that take your playable (readable) video game (manuscript) and play (read) through it, looking for bugs (terrible parts) so that you can fix them before they get seen by the general public/publishing industry. Now, one quick point of clarification: when I say “readable” I mean that the draft of your manuscript is complete with no missing parts that you haven’t gotten around to writing yet. A beta reader should be reading your best attempt at a complete story draft. Someone who is only reading incomplete chunks of your story is called an alpha reader, which is a subject for another post.

So who should you select for your beta readers?

1. Above all, you need people who are willing to (very generously) grant you their valuable time to both read and provide feedback on your manuscript. Because they are willing to do that, these people probably like you, which can actually be a problem. People that like you might not want to be brutally honest with you, so…

2. You want beta readers who are willing to be honest with you (brutally or not). If there’s a problem with your story, they are doing you no favors by holding back on it to spare your feelings. And even if they believe they are being honest with you, they are probably still holding back subconsciously. It’s understandable. They’re excited for you! You wrote a book, and they want to like it! It’s just a general hazard with any beta reader that you need to keep in mind.

3. You want beta readers to cover a wide spectrum of, well, everything. As writers, it is tempting to wrangle only our writer friends to beta read. Other writers are usually willing to “trade” beta reads of each other’s work, so convincing them can be easier. Writers also understand what another writer needs in terms of feedback, so their feedback can be more constructive, incisive, and to the point. But writers also love to over-analyze writing, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll end up with a story that only other writers will love. So have writers beta read for you, but also pick beta readers who have nothing to do with writing, and even ones who don’t normally read the genre your story is in. Non-fans of the genre will be the toughest sell, so you’ll get the harshest criticism, and if your writing can overcome that initial handicap, you’ll know you have something special on your hands.

So, now you’ve gotten your beta readers your manuscript and they are busily reading away. What do you tell them regarding feedback? Obviously everyone has a different style, but I always try to follow the following guidelines:

I DON’T: require my beta readers to give me feedback in a specific format or in a specific level of detail. Rather, I ask them to provide feedback at whatever level they are comfortable based on their schedule and their preferred style of reading. Some of them like to go so far as to line-edit your work (more so in short stories than in novels given the time commitment). Some prefer simply to give general impressions (“I liked this part but didn’t understand when the character did this. This detail confused me. What was even happening here?”). For me, the important part is that they don’t worry so much about the level of feedback that their experience of reading the story gets impacted. Ideally you want them reading your story like anyone else would.

I DO: ask my readers to have the reading and feedback done by a certain (reasonable) date. In my opinion it’s perfectly fair to do this as long as you explain it up front so that everyone’s on the same page (pun intended) and as long as you are willing to be flexible because obviously we all get busy. But if you don’t assign some (again, reasonable) date you’ll find yourself waiting for months, unwilling/unable to do major edits until all your beta readers are finished.

I DON’T: let my beta readers talk to each other until they’ve talked to me. I don’t want them to start cross-contaminating opinions. Treat them like suspects in a crime (but much more politely) and request feedback separately from each.

So now you’ve got your feedback. What do you do about it?

– Look for trends. Does everybody think the main character is a big jerk? Maybe that’s okay if that’s what you’re going for. But does everybody think the main character is such a huge jerk that they would have stopped reading if not for the fact that they promised you they’d read your story? That’s a problem. Conversely, if everyone has a different problem with the same aspect of the story, but they all agree it’s a problem, you need to look at it again. Don’t be afraid to follow up and ask for further clarification. I’ve had instances where every reader but one mentioned an aspect of the story that bothered them, and I specifically went back and asked that one person if plot point X bothered them at any point.

– Conversely, take complaints that only one person raises with a grain of salt. I’ve heard it said that if nobody can agree on the issues your manuscript has, you’re doing all right because you’ve gotten it down to the realm of personal taste. Everyone does have different tastes, after all, and they won’t all like every aspect of something you write, no matter how well it’s written.

– Lastly, remember that you, the author, have the final say. Beta readers are offering recommendations, not ironclad must-haves. The buck, or in this case the word, ultimately stops with you.

Working with Editors

November 8, 2013

Frank Morin

Editing Frank Morin Publishing 3 Comments

As writers, we love to focus on writing, on creating that next great story. It took me a while to realize that typing “The End” is only the completion of the first part of the process. Once we finish that first draft, get the story out to beta readers, compile all the useful feedback, determine edits, and finish subsequent drafts, we finally have a story we feel rocks on all levels and is ready to go.

That’s when we need editors.

Some indie authors try to claim they don’t need an editor, but I’ve never seen any such story turn out well. Not as well as it could have been. Not as well as it should have been. Not well enough to compete in today’s market with well-read readers who can spot an unedited story fast.

A book without an editor is like a theatrical production without dress rehearsal. You’ve got the characters, the dialogue, costumes, and a setting, but the whole has not been polished to where an audience can enjoy it.

Why invest so much time in producing a book only to undermine the finished product?

Usually the reason is one of two things: Time or Money.

Time: with the internet making it so easy to get books available to readers, it is so incredibly tempting to skip the careful edit and just getting it out to readers faster. Why wait when you could be selling copies already? The truth is taking a little more time and polishing the story will result in far better reviews and far more copies sold. I’ve started reading books that skimped on final polishing, and I was universally disappointed and usually threw the book away without finishing.

Money: Editors are not free. Yes, they’re an investment and authors need to find a way to cover that investment. If you don’t believe in your story enough to make that investment, convinced you’ll sell more than enough copies to still profit, then how are your readers going to believe in it?

Then again, with avenues like Kickstarter available, it’s often now possible to raise the money to cover such costs up front instead of having to fork over all the cash yourself. I plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign for one of my stories next year.

How do you find a good editor? There are lots of editors out there, and just like anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. Here’s where networking comes in. Talk with other authors about editors they liked and ones they didn’t. Good editors will provide a listing of stories they’ve edited, and that can provide great insight into whether or not they might be a good fit.

Once you find an editor, you’ve got to get on their schedule. Good editors are sought after and usually their schedules are booked out weeks or even months. Get on the list early, and don’t be late with your work. If you miss your deadline, it may be a while before they can fit you in again. If you see you’re going to be late, notify the editor as soon as possible to make it easier for them to rearrange their schedule with the least amount of disruption.

I worked with our own Joshua Essoe on the manuscript for Set In Stone, a YA Fantasy novel currently in the hands of my agent. I realized I needed to make some significant changes to the manuscript prior to sending it in, so we had to reschedule a couple of times. Joshua was very accommodating, but I tried to warn him far in advance, as soon as I realized I was going to be late.

That brings up another point: make sure your book is really finished prior to hiring an editor. If you’ve just completed your first draft, I’d recommend you take the time to have some beta readers finish it and compile their feedback. It’s likely you’ll need to make some changes. Go through it a couple more times to ensure it’s really where you want it, and that the book you wrote is really the book you thought you were writing. Only then will you be able to maximize the benefit of an editor. If they’re so busy giving you feedback on major structural issues with the work, it’ll be harder for them to help you really polish it. And if you want to go back again to hire them for a second pass, that’s going to cost more since they now have to invest more time in the project.

Even when your book is DONE and ready to go, you’ve found the editor you think will be perfect for the work, and you’ve sent it off to them, there’s the question of style. Some authors and editors just don’t see eye to eye on matters of style. There’s no way I know of to completely protect yourself from running into a situation like this.

Working with Joshua, I was extremely pleased. His comments were spot on, thoughtful, and insightful. I agreed with his approach to editing, and almost universally applied his suggested changes. With a different manuscript (also in the hands of my agent), I wasn’t quite so lucky. The editor was very experienced and well respected in the industry, and much of their suggestions were beneficial. However, we differed over some aspects of style. At first this worried me, and I wondered which of us wasn’t getting it. That’s where working with a second editor on a different work proved beneficial. I could compare the two editors’ styles, and realized they approached the same questions sometimes from very different points of view, with very different resulting recommendations.

So I had to make very conscious decisions regarding my own style and how I wanted to apply tone and voice to each story. I had made some of those decisions while writing, but hadn’t clearly defined it. The editing process forced me to choose specific stylistic approaches in each story. Only then could I see clearly which advice to accept and which to ignore. In some cases, the editor didn’t understand the style, and gave bad advice.

Just like everything else, it’s a learning process, and I consider the funds spent on editing both manuscripts well worth the investment.

Take away:

Prior to engaging an editor, make sure the book is really done.
Find an editor you feel you’ll be able to work well with. Use advice from other authors, and do your research.
Get on their schedule well in advance, and don’t be late with sending them the manuscript.
Notify them early if you fear you’ll miss a deadline.
Study their feedback carefully. Some of it may not be right. In the end, it’s your book and all decisions are your responsibility.
Don’t ever release a novel without a professional edit.