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The Second Draft of My Novel Doesn’t Suck
After letting it stew for about a month, I finally sat down to read the second draft of my novel this morning. And I’m happy to report that I don’t hate it! (I did hate the first draft when I finally...
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Tracking Changes
In my job that actually pays the bills, I spend a lot of time working on reports. Generally, before any report is finalized it goes through about four rounds of edits, sometimes even more. And,...
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My two modes of editing others’ work – basic and ugly
(I’m procrastinating. A friend from college has asked me to swap critiques and, well…I thought I’d write a blog post instead.) In my job that pays the bills, I frequently have to review reports....
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Getting closer… (On Beta feedback and next steps)
So, Beta feedback is slowly trickling in. Three people other than me have actually read my novel and made it to the end – yippee! At this point there are some things I know I need to change: - Two...
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Doing a final read through
I’m about 100 pages into a final read through of the novel. This is the fifth(?) draft of the novel, although, quite frankly, it doesn’t really matter which draft it is. So, let’s see what I’ve done...
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Managing Expectations
I just had to send an e-mail I didn’t want to send. And the reason I had to send that e-mail all comes down to the other person’s inability to manage my expectations. So, with the first novel, it went...
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Writing Style vs. Grammar
When I was in school and learning grammar (which I hated–I swore I’d misuse whom ’til the day I died just to spite certain grammar zealots like my friend’s mom), grammar was presented as some sort of...
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Beware the clean edit
(Note: I have a cold. It’s quite possible I’m going to write very poorly today. Have a picture to make up for it. Spring hiking in Colorado – such fun!) I’m halfway through the (hopefully) final...
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Using the tools available to you (effectively)
First, if anyone is interested, I created a new page with some of the pictures I’ve put up on this blog at some point or other. You can find it here. I would’ve done them all, but it’s a little...
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The Danger in Liking An Early Draft
I’m currently working through the second draft of the second novel. The problem is that when I read the first draft I actually liked it. I didn’t have massive rewrites for this one. Which means that...
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This Writing Thing is HARD. Or is it?
So, I saw two different posts/videos that fit together nicely. First one is from the wonderful QQ: It’s not THAT hard to get published… right? WRONG. Read the whole post. It’s worth the time. But if...
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If You Want to Write, Master Grammar
First, I am really not the world’s foremost expert on grammar issues. I suck at figuring out whether to use lay vs. lie. Just suck at it. And it seems I have a may vs. might issue as well. So, this...
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Some Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing With Respect to My Writing
Wow, that’s a long-winded title. But I wanted it to be clear that this post wasn’t about the pros and cons of self-publishing. This is more about how self-publishing has influenced my writing so far....
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Should You Edit?
If you’re reading this blog post, the short answer to this question is: YES. There are authors out there who’ve been doing this writing thing for a very long time that may be able to get away with...
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Let It Go Or Revise One More Time?
This is a tricky one to deal with. I’ve seen more than one full-time long-term writer who advocates write and forget it. As in, write one draft, go back and fix up spelling and typos, and move on to...
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Do You Need Money To Start A Writing Business?
No. Yes. It depends. How’s that for helpful? I see this argument made all the time on self-publishing forums: You’re running a small business now, you have to expect to pay money to get it off the...
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When Editing Really Matters
So recently there was a self-published book that someone reviewed and said was fabulous. And just the type of book I like to read, too. Now, ironically, even though I’m self-published I tend to stick...
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