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Perfect Isn't Everything

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I have pushed myself hard to get back to editing my manuscript. I would love to say I am making tons of progress and it is coming along smashingly.

Okay, I could tell you that, but I’d be lying.

I came to the conclusion that “perfect” or even “really good” isn’t everything. Sometimes, words on the page, reasonably not sucking, is good enough.

I came to this conclusion when I got unexpected feedback on the first five chapters I’d sent out some time ago. It got me thinking and renewed my interest in the characters. It made me see them through someone else’s eyes and realize that the story, for all of its early draft flaws, was still reasonably not sucking.

So, I worked on a bit more polishing and sent out a few more chapters. More feedback came back . . . And I worked some more.

Apparently, what I need is feedback. The whole writing in a sealed off safe room has its benefits, but it also has its drawbacks.

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I feel like my writing is “cruising” along an old switchback dirt road. Not always sure if I’m coming or going. Never fast. And always worried about that rut on the side of the road that will stop my writing altogether. Getting a bit of feedback helps keep me focused on the road rather than the potholes. Okay, metaphor exhausted.

So, yes, I have taken up editing again. I have worked through a lot of really awful writing on my part (really, did I write that?!?) And some pretty horrendous storytelling. (I let a character do what?!?) But it was a first draft, and I think the first rewrite is the hardest. Especially if you’ve had a break from your manuscript.

I remember my own advice about remembering to keep writing something new to keep the creative fires burning. So, I also attempted a flash fiction challenge last weekend, but only got to about 200 words of the 1,000 word challenge. Perhaps I will try again.

New ideas are also percolating for a new novel, and I solved some big underlying issues to make a character I developed for a SciFi setting work in a fantasy world. I loved her and wanted to give her a story of her own. Amazing how characters drive you to find solutions.

If you listen.

 

 

Critquing Manuscripts: 3 Things I Have Learned

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I have learned quite a few things, but here are the top three things I have learned so far from critiquing, beta reading and editing other people’s manuscripts.

 

Characters

I have read a lot about characters and how they need to drive a story. They need motivation. Foibles. Secrets. Whatever.

Here’s something else. I need to like the protagonist. Or at least sympathize with them. I need to want them to reach their goal. Otherwise, I’m putting the book away.

This might not be true for every genre, but I write, read and critique romance.  If the hero is a jerk or the heroine unlikable… Well, you just lost me as an audience.RedRiding

This also applies to secondary and tertiary characters, but to a lesser extent. I’d still like to know if the heroine’s “friend” really is. When characters are written a certain way, it has ramifications. And I’m going to want to see a nasty “friend” get her comeuppance by the end. If she doesn’t, I’m going to feel as if there’s loose ends not tied off.

 

Dialogue

There are rules to dialogue. They really do need to be followed to make work understandable.

Also, I find it ideal to take a moment to read dialogue out loud. Not all of it, but at least a few conversations. If it doesn’t read easily, if it doesn’t sound like real people talking, it probably needs some work. If one area needs work or sounds stilted, other areas probably do, too.

In my world, people don’t make a snarky comment and get their reply 5 minutes later after everyone in the room has contemplated its meaning.

 

World Building

I have read a lot of advice telling writers not to give a lot of exposition about the world, even if it’s science fiction or fantasy. Let the world take shape around the characters.World

I get it. I hate exposition and tend to skim it. But, I still need to know where we are and if this is a fictional world, our world, or some hybrid. I’ve finished entire first chapters and still have not known. That’s an issue. I should feel like I am there with the character, and part of that, is knowing where I am.

On Feedback

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Mariah over at 600 Second Saga recently posted about feedback on writing.

This has been a tricky area for me as I am coming closer to finishing a project and preparing it for publication.

I don’t exactly broadcast that I’m a writer. Only a few members of my family and a couple of friends know. None of my co-workers do. I might be a full on closet writer, and I prefer it that way.

Part of it is I worry my work sucks. Back in my youth, when I did let the world know I wanted to be a writer, a lot of people wanted me to review their work. Almost all of it was terrible. Really, really terrible. I tried at first to give good feedback. When that backfired, I learned a “pretty good!” usually made them happy and let me get back to my work. But then I started to wonder if mine was that bad, too. It probably was.

I even took a Writing for Publishing class, and the only thing I got out of it was meeting my DH. So, really, big win there. Writing wise, even the professor was terrible at giving constructive feedback.

I don’t even know what to ask the handful of people I trust.

I have never signed up for any kind of book swap or reading other people’s work and giving critique in order to receive it. As my only finished piece of work is novel length, I feel like these venues don’t work well other than knowing if the first few pages has a good enough hook.

I am extremely lucky that I have an excellent beta reader that I happen to be related to.

Finally, an area I have been seeing in posts lately is on paying professionals to edit, beta read, whatever. I agree, professionals need to be paid. I get paid to do my day job, and I’d stop going if they stopped paying me.

I have not paid a professional for help with my current manuscript. Not sure I will.

First, it’s hard for me to justify the expense to my family when my writing has never earned a dime. From what I’ve read about author’s advances and royalties, and comparing that to the fees professionals charge, there is the very real possibility you’d end up paying more than you’d ever earn. That’s fine if you can afford it. I can’t afford expensive hobbies right now.

Second, I don’t know how to judge quality. Some of the fees I’ve seen for a professional edit cost more than painting my house. I’ve got a pretty good idea if the painters did a good job painting or not. How do you know if an editor did a good job or not? How do you even find one? I found the painters through word of mouth because lots of people I know need their house painted. They were happy to tell me if someone did a great job or if they sucked. No one I know needs a book edited.

This is definitely a tricky area. On the one hand, you want to be viewed as a professional. Getting professional advice and services can make your work better. On the other hand, if it is a hobby (or still is one), and you aren’t a professional, it’s difficult to afford. And a part of me wonders if it’s worth it. As I have never been able to afford it, I can’t say.