Slow Starts

I’m editing. At least I’ve started. 

The aim: short, snappy chapters of no more than three or four pages. 

Why?

Well, I’ve been reading a bit of James Patterson lately. And well, Mr Patterson is a master at his craft. He’s sold millions of books and is still going strong. His books are thick but the chapters are quick and each one leaves you hanging for more. 

The thing is, this editing gig is harder than I thought. I was aiming high wanting to edit 3-4 chapters each day. With full time job and a ton of other stuff on my plate that’s a huge ask.

Instead, I was sitting or lying in bed with the printed pages and a red biro, crossing out lots of text, putting in new stuff and rearranging the old, while my eyes were closing and I was drifting off to sleep by 9pm. Tired is an understatement. 

I’ve been working on the first six chapters for a week and a half now. They are still not where I want them to be. They’re certainly better than the original draft but a ton of work ahead remains. 

So, instead of suffering over six chapters I’m just going to keep going. If they’re 80% ok then I’m happy with that. The other 20% or so can be fixed once the entire novel gets a makeover and is 80% ready to go. 

This editing process is going to take a bit longer than anticipated. Maybe much longer. But if I stop putting pressure on myself and just move slowly from chapter to chapter, it could be fun. After all, it is my book. I can cut, reshape, edit and rewrite, put scenes in and take characters out wherever I like. 

Just one of the benefits of being a writer.

Thou must edit...and edit again

Edit, thou must edit. 

I admit. Editing is not my forte. It’s probably my weakest point. 

Unfortunately, becoming a good writer without editing is like getting into the Olympics without training. 

You’re laughing. So am I. 

It just ain’t gonna happen. 

I’ve written over a million words over the past ten years. Probably three times that in the past twenty. 

I haven’t edited even 10% of those. 

How am I supposed to get better?

This year, I’m working on editing my writing. Rewriting. Posting on blogs. Sending queries to magazines. Reworking the novels I’ve started and stopped. I’ve got about three in my ‘Work in Progress’ folder. 

5 Ways Not To Get Published

1*Play Solitaire for hours and try to beat your highest winning streak but fail miserably. Placing cards in the correct order in the correct colour on your computer is not going to get the research done or story written. Bye-bye to any publishing success, unless of course you’re writing a story about Solitaire.

2*Write down lots of ideas for articles every day but never actually come up with a slant, do the research or write a query letter to a suitable publication. Writers often get asked, ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ If you’re coming up with those riveting story ideas and doing nothing about them then you are not going to get published. They’re no use to anyone hidden away in your computer files somewhere.

3*Talk about wanting to write but never actually get around to putting even a sentence down on to paper or computer. Talking is not the same as writing. It’s not going to put words together that editors’ love. The only way to do that is to actually plant butt in chair and start typing or scribbling away.

4*Forget about revising, editing and going through grammar and spelling with a fine-tooth comb. Whether you’ve just finished writing a story, novel, article or poem, it’s not finished yet. The hard work comes next; every sentence has to be in the right order. Every paragraph has to have a purpose. Confusing ‘there’ with ‘their’ or ‘effect’ with ‘affect’ is not acceptable nor is ‘except’ with ‘accept’, and it happens more often than some like to admit.

5*Don’t try to improve your writing by meddling in different genres, trying new techniques, using advice from others, and reading voraciously. Writers write, they also read, seek quality advice, constantly try to improve their writing skills, pick up new vocabulary and work on becoming the best that they can be. Writing is a business, it’s also a competitive business and if you want to stay in business you have to constantly keep on top of your game.

Now for a little confession: I’m guilty of all three. I spend way too much time playing Solitaire, I come up with ideas for articles and novels on a daily basis but rarely do much with them, I often tell my partner how much I need to write but when it actually comes to getting down and writing I’ve been slacking off over the past few months- I’m blaming it on acclimatising to being back on the Gold Coast. Then there’s the part about writing but rarely getting to the editing stage – it can be so boring; or forgetting about learning new vocabulary and trying to improve on my writing skills. Yep, me, I’m guilty as charged and now I have to make reprimands and get back on track so that I can be productive once again.