Category: Revision Page 1 of 2

On the Benefits of an Honest Critique

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On June 1, 2014

In Just Keep Writing, Learning, Revision, Things That Are Hard

As a writer, probably one of my least favourite things to do is share my work with others and ask for a critique. Not because I’m worried they’re going to tear it apart, but because I’m afraid they’ll just say “I think it’s great!” and hand it back.

A critique like that is exactly 0% helpful. I don’t want my ego stroked. I want to know what doesn’t work so I can make it better. Whether it’s something I know needs work but I can’t figure out how to fix it, or feedback that takes me entirely by surprise, a good critique can only be helpful, if you listen to it.

This article from the Huffington Post sums up how I feel about the subject nicely. It’s worth a read by anyone who strives to improve themselves, whether at work, at a creative pursuit or even aspects of their personality.

I’m not saying critique doesn’t hurt. My dad is a particularly thorough critic of my writing and some of the stuff he says makes my cheeks burn when I read it. Instinctively, my reaction is always along the lines of “well you’re just wrong.” And I vow to ignore it.

Via http://sweetochii.deviantart.com

A few days later I read his critique again. And even if I don’t take every word to heart – there’s no rule that says you can’t stick with your original thought or plot device or whatever – I still consider his reaction and why he might feel that way. You can’t make everyone happy, but you can listen to everyone’s complaints and assess them. All feedback is useful in some way, as long as it’s constructive. I often end up coming around to the critiquer’s point of view and make some changes.

I kind of love critiques. Like in a sadistic, “hit me ’til it hurts” sort of way. I mean ultimately, even if it makes me squirm, my goal is to be a better writer, right? I used to hate it in school when I’d get a paper back all marked up with red ink and I didn’t have the opportunity to re-write based on the feedback to improve it. It was just done. With the long editing process and multiple drafts involved in writing a novel, I finally get to do that. You’re damn right I’m going to listen to someone who has an opinion if they’re willing to take the time to offer it to me.

Draft Complete, and Other Housekeeping

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On August 23, 2013

In Musical Interlude, Planning for the Future, Revision

I have a working draft of The Unseeing in my file folder. It’s been sent off to a few readers now to see how the greater populace takes it. I did two rounds of revisions before I shared it out, and cut about 7,000 words from the original draft. I think it’s in decent shape, but I also thought my third draft of The Unraveling was in decent shape and ended up doing a major overhaul in the fifth and sixth.

One thing I really wish I could find is a real crit group of other writers I could trade feedback for. I’m sure in my city of more than a million people there must be a few, but I have no idea how to find one. Then there’s the fact that I’d be coming into the group with two completed novels for critiquing. And the fact that I’d prefer a slow, torturous death to sitting in front of strangers and reading my rough work aloud. Is there an online-only crit group out there somewhere?

Seriously, is there?

While I’m waiting for the feedback from my beta readers to trickle in, it’s back to the grind of querying for me. I got some helpful notes with one rejection that I want to apply, so that’s my focus for the next couple weeks. Then I plan on spending a good amount of time outlining the next book. My tentative plan is to start writing it for NaNo 2013 in November, but I’ll need a solid outline if I’m going to hit 50K without losing my mind like I did the last time I attempted it. My outlines are no small feat – the last one was 6,000 words of point-form notes.

It’s nice to have the next couple months planned out, although the workload seems like it’s a bit light without major editing or new content to write. Might be a good time to start developing some of the other story ideas I have kicking around in my head… this song keeps coming up on iTunes and sparking scenes and ideas. I’m listening, universe…

The Book Was Written Passively By Me

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On August 8, 2013

In Learning, Revision, Things That Make You Weep For Your Sanity

I’m elbows deep in editing my current WIP right now, and to my dismay and bafflement, I’m seeing a lot of passive language. I don’t know how I fell into the habit, because it’s not my usual style of writing, but it’s all over the place and it’s been tortuously slow editing it all out and changing it to a more active structure. I have to look at every sentence I wrote and find the subject, verb and noun and make sure they’re in the right order. It’s easy enough with short, simple sentences, but complex ones sometimes make my head ache trying to sort it out. This is going to be a long slog, and I’m sure it’ll take a couple more rounds of revisions than usual to make sure I catch it all.

I did write the first draft much quicker than I did my first one – less thought into sentence structure in an effort to just get it all down on paper may account for it. I wonder if subconsciously it’s not a reflection of what my main character is feeling in this story as well – not in control for a lot of the time, having things done to her instead of doing things herself. With that in mind I’m preserving some of it, rules be damned. It’s told in first person, so sometimes a passive structure feels more appropriate. Just not as extensive as what I apparently wrote.

A couple links I found useful when it comes to passive voice:

Seven Examples of Passive Voice (and how to fix them)

Passive Voice: Linking Verbs and Wordiness

Fiction Writing and Other Oddities: Passive Voice

I found the last one especially useful because I’m writing in first-person, past-tense, which means I do use ‘was’ and ‘had’ in the course of my writing. Differentiating between past-tense and passive writing can be difficult when many resources advise to just look for those two key words (plus a couple more) and delete them. I’m definitely guilty of a lot of ‘was +ing verb’ writing this time around though, which isn’t passive, but is wordy and a lot of times can be changed.

The good news is, I’m getting aggressive with my passive writing.

Giant Cringe

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On July 28, 2013

In Distractions, Revision

Just for fun, I went back today and read the a couple chapters from the first draft of The Unravelling. It’s been so long since I’ve started it, and I’ve been through so many revision drafts that I didn’t really have much of a feel for the original manifestation anymore. Back in those days I didn’t outline and just let the words flow freely, at best spending a bit of time each night before I fell asleep dreaming up what I was going to write the next day.

Let’s be kind and say I’ve come a long way in a year and a half.

It’s actually kind of encouraging, if you look at it from the perspective of seeing how much I’ve learned since I started out. And the bones of the story were always good, there was just a lot of fat to be trimmed.

In all the cuts, I’d forgotten some little details, things that weren’t at all important to the development of the story, but make the characters richer in my mind. Things like the fact that Poppy was the fourth of eight children. Or that Callie’s job used to be designing websites. And revisiting characters that I subsequently cut completely from the book was kind of fun too. One has since reappeared in a slightly different characterization in The Unseeing, which just goes to show the importance of never deleting previous versions.

The next question is whether I have the courage to revisit my NaNoWriMo 2011 novel. I haven’t so much as opened the document again since November 30th of that year. But it, too, was a learning experience and while I’ll never even attempt to publish it, it was my first step toward authordom, and for that I’ll always hold it fondly in my heart, even if I have to read the whole thing peeking between my fingers.

Because It’s A Day Ending in Y, I Must Be Changing My Mind

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On March 23, 2013

In My Failings As A Proper Novelist, Revision, Things That Are Hard

So, a few weeks ago, when I was talking about how there were some things that I was thinking about editing, but decided not to because I liked those scenes?

Yeah, they’re all gone.

It was all stuff that I loved, it’s true. But I loved it for me, not for the story, and it didn’t offer anything relevant to the plot. THIS is the hard choice that I wasn’t ready to make before. THIS is why I got five form rejections in five days. It hurts my heart a little bit to see all that stuff go. But you know what? It’s all right. I don’t regret having written it in the first place, and I’m glad I have my previous drafts saved so I can hang on to those deleted scenes. Even my first draft, which I look back on now and just kind of shake my head. I’ve come a long way in the past six months and I absolutely love this learning process, even if it has left a bitter taste in my mouth from time to time.

I do feel bad that I started querying too soon, and closed some doors on myself before I was truly ready. But there are still lots of places I’d like to send it, once I’m finished this revision and get a bit of feedback on it. Next month should see me querying anew, with a stronger manuscript, one that maybe actually has a chance.

Bitch-Slapping My Inner Editor

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On March 6, 2013

In Just Keep Writing, Revision, Talking It Out, Things That Are Hard

I’m editing right now. Fourth draft. The plan – beforehand at least – was to make some tough cuts, chop out a couple characters and some extra scenes, trim it down a bit.

Well I can’t. I don’t want to. It just doesn’t feel right.

Would it bring the reader to a climactic scene a bit sooner? Yes. Around 3,000-ish words sooner. Would it reduce the overall word count? Yes, by about 5-7,000 words, I think.

Would the reader know my protagonist as well, understand what makes her tick a bit better? Definitely not. Would it hinder the story arc over three books? Yes, a little.

I’ve been worried – obsessed, if you want the truth – about the fact that this one pivotal scene happens around a quarter of the way through the book. I’ve gotten it into my head that that’s too long. But the thing is, something like a dozen people have read it so far, and not a single person has shared that sentiment. I think I’ve been so focused on advice that says you have to lay out ALL THE ACTION!!! on the first page, but there’s more than one way to write a book. Do my first few pages lay the foundation for some action? Yes they do. This go-around I’ve been working on ramping up the spookiness so there’s a better sense of impending peril, which admittedly wasn’t as effective as it could be in previous drafts. If I’m doing it right, there should be lots for the reader to worry and wonder about. And those pages leading up to that one big scene certainly aren’t devoid of action. There’s lots going on.

I’m coming to the realization that cutting the chracters and scenes I was contemplating really does a disservice to the story. The reader needs to know who Callie was before in order to appreciate the way she changes throughout the series. By cutting all those parts, she’s less vibrant, less passionate, less anchored to her old life.

Are there still some thoughtful changes to be made? Absolutely. But this is going to be my final draft. I can’t keep going back and forth on this issue, wondering if I should or shouldn’t. It’s time to finish it and move on.

Wish me luck!

Balance

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On February 22, 2013

In My Failings As A Proper Novelist, Revision, Things That Are Hard

I feel like I’m being pulled in all different directions at once. I want to keep writing my work in progress! I want to go back and edit my completed novel! I want to work on the outline for my next novel! I want to eat all the pie!

Well the last one I can do while I’m working on any of the above. Pie goes with everything.

But seriously, I don’t know how to manage my time when I have so many different things I want to be doing. I’m the sort of person who eats all of one thing on my plate before moving on to the next, which I also consume in full, before starting in on the third, and it’s a bit the same with writing. Right now doing anything that isn’t adding to my work in progress feels like sliding backwards, but I also need to get moving on finishing up some edits on my first book so I can start querying. For some reason it doesn’t feel like a good idea to have two books of the series completed before I start sending it out. I’m just so in love with writing right now, and while editing never feels like work to me, it is harder.

So. Decision time. I think I know what I have to do – take a short break from writing to focus on editing. I can keep putting it off, waiting for time to be “just right” according to various imagined criteria that will never be met, but only one should really matter – whether I’m ready to do the work.

Am I Crazy?

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On January 27, 2013

In Revision, Things That Are Hard, Things That Make You Weep For Your Sanity

I just decided to re-write the first four chapters of The Unravelling AGAIN. For those of you keeping track, this will be the fourth time.

My biggest issue with the way the first third of the book unfolds is that it takes too long to get to the pivotal event, the scene which sets the whole rest of the series in motion. Right now it happens at the end of chapter SIX, a whole quarter of the way into a 100,000-word book. Yes there are events leading up to it that are important for the story as a whole, and there’s definitely some suspense building up to that point, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like a lot of it could go without any loss to the story arc.

My first three revisions I chopped about 8,000 words from those six chapters, and I’m going to aim for at least 5,000 more. It will mean sacrificing two characters that I really like a lot, which makes me a bit sad. They will cease to exist entirely, other than the briefest of mentions. Which leads me to the question, how many characters is too few?

I could also just be second-guessing myself, wondering if I’m really ready to move forward. So far the only person who’s read it and thought it was slow to get to that life-changing event is… me. But then none of my friends or family are editors, more’s the pity.

I’m going to play around with it a bit and see if I like the new revision idea. It can’t hurt, right? Even now I’m thinking of compromises that will allow me to keep my two secondary characters but still shorten that first act. Bring out the pruning shears.

Validation

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On January 8, 2013

In Revision, Things That Are Awesome, Writer's High

I had my fifteen-page critique today. My city is fortunate to have a writer in residence, who will kindly review samples by writers in the community. I was really nervous going into it (so much so that I got off the train at the wrong station and had to get on the next one!) but it was a really rewarding, valuable experience. I feel great about my chances at publication now. Of course there were some issues and fixes we talked about, but overall the feedback was very, very positive. I couldn’t be happier! High-fives all around.

When I told my mom on chat, she said, “BELIEVE IT!! We have always known that you had a gift for writing but you didn’t believe it. Now I think you are starting to!” and that’s totally the truth. And when those rejections start rolling in, as I have no doubt they will, I can go back and read that, as well as the letter Deborah included with my critique, for a little ‘atta girl, chin up’ when I need it.

It’s The Most Busiest Time Of The Year…

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On December 17, 2012

In Beyond Writing, Revision

December. You drive me crazy. The parties. The kids’ events. The shopping. The decorating. The wrapping. The visits with family. Birthmas. It’s a lot to take on, on top of the regular work and household stuff. I’m at the point now where I start bowing out of things I’ve committed to because I need what my three-year-old refers to as ‘lone time.’ I’m a person who very much values her lone time. So is he. Sometimes we have lone time together, the two of us cuddling in bed, and even though we’re not alone, it’s just fine with me. Both my kids have been getting lots of extra hugs over the weekend, like I’m sure most are.

The good news is with my lone time I’m making excellent progress on this latest rewrite. Another 3,000 words have been cut, mostly from the first three chapters. Tonight I’ve been further refining my first fifteen pages so I can send them for a critique from my city’s writer-in-residence. I’m excited but nervous for the feedback. I think some of the stuff I’ve changed works, some of it maybe doesn’t. My appointment isn’t until the new year, but I have to submit this week. I’ve also finished my character profiles, but have yet to do my relationship profiles. After I’m confident my fifteen pages are what I want to send off, that will be my next task. Then I’ll finish the rewrite.

I feel like after this draft is finished, I’ll start querying in earnest and see where that takes me. 2013 will be The Year of the Query! I’m not a new year’s resolutions person, but I’ll be setting some goals in January.

Until then, merry Christmas to everyone! May your holidays be filled with joy and good cheer.

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