The Agony and the Editing

If you've ever read a poorly edited book, you know agony. I mean pain. Most people don't even continue reading. 

And if you're a writer today - traditionally published or indie - you must learn how to edit your own writing and do it so well that you don't need much professional editing.

Why?

Traditional publishers rarely spend a lot on editing any of their author's books, including bestselling novelists. They just don't have the budget for heavy editing. So if you want your book accepted by a publishing house, you better get that sucker cleaned up.

Indie writers usually can't afford extensive editing. You must hire someone to edit your work, but you'll pay for their time and if you didn't do a ton of editing of your own before sending it out, count on a hefty bill (to the tune of thousands of dollars, money you may never recoup in sales no matter how convinced you are that your novel will be a runaway success (this is kind of like expecting to win the lottery)). 

The following are some suggested steps based on how I edit my own novels and hope it will be helpful to fellow writers. For you readers out there, you can see the amount of hard work that goes into those books you devour, books that may seem effortless and a pure pleasure to create for the author. Yes, writing has many great joys, but it is hard - sometimes agonizing - work.

Copy Editing Tips from the Trenches

"Soft" Edit

This should be your first method of editing. Edit within the live document (not printed). I recommend at least two soft edits. Be careful to keep the story as-is. The part of you that wrote the story and is the creator is better at storytelling than the editing part of you. They are literally different parts of your brain. Just fix things like:

• Awkward sentences or paragraphs
• Grammar (except for fragments - they can work to add punch to your writing if used correctly)
• Spelling
• Overused words
• Overused descriptions
• Continuity issues. Example: a character is wearing a green sweater and then suddenly it's red with no explanation.
• Story timeline issues. Example: the dinner party lasted three hours but dessert was served four hours after the party started.
• Clichés, unless they're meant to be tongue-in-cheek/a joke or used in dialogue. Lots of people use clichés in speech, but a novelist who describes their character as "sleeping like the dead" or "screaming like a Banshee" should be hung by their thumbs for a day and made to sing Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" over and over again for a crowd of angry mental patients.
• Update and research facts. You can't have things happening in your novel that are impossible. Even if you write sci-fi or fantasy, the things that happen have to be realistic in the world you've created.

Hard Edit

This is when you print out your book and grab a red pen or red pencil. It's

Beta Readers Rock

Think your own editing and a pro-editor is enough? Think again!

When I finished editing Barefoot Girls I knew that even though I'd gone over the manuscript too many times to count, I still needed many more pairs of eyes to see it and tell me about any flaws or problems or other issues.  No, not just one other pair of eyes, many and preferably not someone who would just say it was wonderful because they loved me. Like my mother.

So, I put out a request to all my Facebook friends and got five wonderful women who were willing to read the book and give me feedback. Let me tell you, it was a fantastic thing and a must-do for any writer, particularly if it is a first or second book and you're still learning the ropes. 

How do you get Beta Readers? Here are a few tips from my experience:

• Avoid asking anyone you think might just praise your writing no matter how bad it is. You're looking for feedback, not flattery.
• Likewise, avoid asking anyone you think tends to be overcritical. If they tear apart everything, your poor book will be torn apart, too, and that won't help you at all.
• Offer your beta readers either an ebook or a bound galley of some kind. Do not give them a huge printed wad of a manuscript - think about making it as convenient as possible for them. I offered an ebook in any format they wanted and used Calibre to create them (proofed them, too, before sending to make sure they weren't an illegible mess).
• Tell your Beta Readers that they will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements (and do it) as well as receive a print copy once the book is published for their library. Of course, make sure they actually want a print copy (almost all of mine did).
• When you get feedback, thank them for their time and help and note what their issues with the book were. Do not feel that you have to make every suggested change, but be open to it - otherwise, why bother asking for feedback? If more than one person finds the same problem, you HAVE to fix it. If you can't figure out how to fix it, either join a writer's workshop and submit it or get a developmental editor to help you with that section/part of the book. But if more than one person had a problem with anything in the book, the majority of readers will have the same problem and that must be fixed before any readers buy the book (and subsequently get pissed off, rightly so).

Hope this helps and, while I'm talking Beta Readers, a big shout-out to mine is in order. My eternal gratitude to Elise Gallivan, Tanya Hale, Yvette Hochberg, Rita Morgan, and Tanya Wells for your help and wisdom - you are all goddesses!

Who's Talking Trash About Chick Lit?

The short answer: lots of people. And it pisses me off.

What got me thinking on this was an internet surfing session a few days ago when I stumbled on a great post on Jennifer Weiner's blog, her keynote address about blogging at a recent blogging expo. In it she talked about her battle to defend her writing and her genre: chick lit, which is also sometimes called women's contemporary fiction (though that is a more generalized term). Let's face it: chick lit is often made fun of, the words said with a sneer. But as Jen pointed out: 

"As anyone who’s taken a women’s studies class will tell you, as long as there’s a woman writing about her own life, there’s someone – sometimes a man, sometimes another woman -- to tell her that what she’s written is unworthy, unimportant, beneath notice, that it’s not real literature and not worth taking seriously."

Link the the whole post here: http://jenniferweiner.blogspot.com/2012/06/let-me-start-by-saying-that-i-know-im.html

 That is the issue with some people's crappy attitude about chick lit: it dismisses women, says that our silly little problems aren't important. It's insulting and the people who have to start standing up against it are women, because all too often it's a woman doing the sneering. And if we sneer at each other, aren't we validating the argument that is being made against us?

Case in point: after reading Jen's post, I Googled Jen's earlier post

Guest Post on Thoughts in Progress!

I had the pleasure of guest posting on Mason Canyon's wonderful book blog, Thoughts in Progress, today. Mason's prompt-questions were very inspiring and a pleasure to think through, particularly those about the messages behind my novel, Barefoot Girls. I don't think anyone sits down to write a novel with a specific message, but it's fascinating to discover what themes came through as the work was created; things that usually are very meaningful to the writer.

What a great experience - thanks, Mason!

Check it out here:
http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com/2012/04/author-tara-mctiernan-voracious-reader.html

How Do You Get Your Inspiration?

I've recently been asked the following question a number of times: "How do you get your inspiration?"

This is a time-worn question to writers along with the well-meant-but-still-insulting, "Where do you find the time to write?" (Apparently, we writers have just so much time on our hands! It's remarkable! Yet, most novelists have demanding full-time jobs, spouses, children, pets and a wide assortment of time-sucking responsibilities to attend to just like everyone else.)

The first question is not insulting at all. It's flattering. It is the innocent and fascinated question of a person who probably reads quite a lot; who read your novel and wondered, where does she come up with this stuff? Is there an ethereal being, the revered and also feared Muse, at her beck and call? How can I get this Muse to come to my house? Does she like warm cookies and milk?

The train of thought about creativity I just described is common. In fact, it's so common that a film, a late-90s comedy, was built around this premise of the necessity of a muse. It was called, appropriately, The Muse and starred Sharon Stone as the coveted creature living in the lap of luxury thanks to an army of deluded Hollywood screenwriters and directors who vie for her magical abilities. 

 

But the writer who waits for the muse writes sporadically if at all. No, if you want that magic, you're going to have some butt-in-chair time, hands on the keyboard, sans fairy dust. The only way to get inspired is

I meant to do that…

 

One of my favorite lines of Pee Wee Herman’s is “I meant to do that.” Usually said after falling on his face.

What was funny about it (and it still makes me laugh) is the implication that every mistake is somehow a failure and that we must hide our mistakes behind protestations that we did whatever foolish thing we did on purpose, making it not so foolish, but rather wise and well-thought-out.

But making mistakes is part of being human, and if you want to be a great writer (raising my hand tentatively), you have to own all parts of being human to help prevent hardening of the creative mind and keep your characters from becoming cardboard cutouts who either have no flaws, or are so evil they’re cartoons. Sooooo…

If you’re noticing the blog posts I removed, I made a boo-boo and I’m going to admit it to you now. Here goes: me being a fallible human being. I can do this, really I can.

What happened is this: I kept hearing that I had to have a “platform” as a writer. I read some books about how to build one. I tried to figure out what kind of “platform” I was going to build.

Options for novelists wanting to build an oh-so-essential platform:

1. Write a blog about writing.  Why not? Well there are TONS of blogs about writing. So many, another will just be static, another screaming voice in the melee. Also, I’m a fairly new writer. I’m still learning. Personally, I don’t believe that novices should teach. I’ve written tons of short stories, some of them published, plus two novels (one a trunk novel that will never see the light of day and one that will be published this year), but I wouldn’t call myself a pro just yet. Someday, maybe after I have at least five published novels I may start to give advice. Not now.
2. Write a blog about my subject matter. Uh…what subject matter? I’m a fiction writer and will write about lots of subjects. My latest book is about mothers and daughters set on a remote island in the Great South Bay of Long Island. My current book as nothing to do with that. My idea for the book after that is also very different.
3. Write a blog about books. I love books and read tons of novels annually. It’s not a stretch to believe I could write excellent reviews on books. Bunch of problems though:

• I can’t do it. Write a scathing review, that is. Why? Because I know exactly how hard it is to write a novel. I’ve written two so far, and they were both like giving birth. Now I’m working on a third and the labor is agonizing. I just can’t rip apart someone else’s pride and joy. And hey, guess what? Just because I hated a novel doesn’t mean thousands of others won’t love it. Many beloved books have been on the receiving end of a tear-em-apart book review or ten.
• There are TONS of book bloggers and review sites. It’s not like there aren’t enough of them.
• I don’t want people asking me to review their book. Being a softie means that if it’s a book I don’t like, I might feel bad for the person and give their book a more flattering review than it merits. Right now, if someone wants me to read their book or just has a book recommendation, I can read it (assuming I find the time – my to-be-read pile towers high) and like it or not. No one gets hurt.

So, I started writing a book recommendation blog, a blog where all I wrote was about books I loved. But even that was stressing me out, because, you see, I already get up every day at 4:00 am in order to have time to write as I also have a full-time day job. In order to properly research the book, make notes on it, and read enough books to blog regularly on them (wow, book bloggers, have I  mentioned how much I admire you? Seriously!), I would have to cut deeply into my writing time. You know, stop me from achieving my ultimate goal: to be a professional novelist, preferably full-time. That is pure craziness.

When I realized exactly how little time I was spending on the actual writing of my next book, I stopped, looked around, and said, “What the hell am I doing???” I just deleted all the old posts except for the first one because I loved it too much to hit delete.

Here’s what I will be blogging about: my book releases, any special deals for readers, and anything I think my readers would actually be interested in. BTW, that means there will not be posts about the tuna fish sandwich I ate for lunch or other ramblings. I will post when there’s something worth posting about, something that I would want to see if my favorite author wrote a blog.

I hereby dedicate this blog to my readers. It’s all you guys!