Agent Contest-deadline January 31

Kidlit Contest

Mary Cole, one of the agents at Andrea Brown Literary Agency is having a contest.

Show her the first 500 words of your completed middle-grade or young adult novel!

Click the link above and HURRY!! Contest ends on January 31st.

Hate writers - Hate editors - NOT

Do you feel at times like pulling your hair out? Does that migraine hit you hard when you get the edits back from your editor? Feel all stressed out?

Now why do you feel like that?

I've been wondering this for a while now and have a few theories I'd like to pass on to you.

CAUTION: This post is not for the faint at heart. If you don't like to hear the truth then skip this post and move on to another blog.

1- There are different writers out there - the serious writers and the wannabe writers. Nothing new in this information. The biggest difference is that the serious writers absorb suggestions from their editors and contemplate them, analyzing the different ways it will improve their manuscripts. In other words, they work as partners, not against each other. They may debate a chapter or scene, but it's a healthy discussion of pros and cons for the over all enhancement of the manuscript. No egos involved. No hurt feelings. If feelings are going to get hurt at this stage, imagine the devastating emotional roller-coaster ride once negative reviews begin to enter the picture. Editors are there to try and avoid the latter.

The wannabes know it all and prefer to email or call their editors to ask them why they dared to suggest a change in a scene when it was working just fine the way it was written. Hmmm...can you say NOT BEING OBJECTIVE? I will add more to this thought in my closing below.

2- But let's give writers some leeway - there are horrible editors out there who have a title and proud of it, but have no clue what industry standards are, what publishers are seeking, or how to bloody begin editing a manuscript, let alone what to look for in the editing stage. This worries me. Why? Because writers are duped into thinking their manuscripts are in good hands, and they trust what these 'editors' have to say. It's like one of my daughter's grade four teacher where parents complained constantly about her poor teaching methods. We trust the educational system to teach our children. Writers trust their editors to improve their manuscripts.

3- Which brings me to my closing and a few more words I'm biting back to be diplomatic about.

The writers who are not objective are like that perhaps of the vast number of publishers out there now who are more interested in getting tons of books in their bookstores than really caring about the quality of the books they are dishing out to the general public. Remember this is only my own theory and not based on fact, so allow me my little rant here.

Where was I...oh yes...getting back to the writers who are not objective. These writers may be published, were told they had a good manuscript, little editing was needed, and voila, they are published authors. But I can't help but wonder:

• if these authors were given editors who knew to explain to them why they can't headhop from one paragraph to the next
• if these authors were shown by their editors how to eliminate the passive telling voice
• if these authors had the opportunity to flesh out their characters and make them memorable to their readers
• if these authors had editors who understood the elements of a good beginning, eliminating backstory and descriptive details that only bog down the read from the start
• if these authors had a chance to grow as writers because of their editors
  

 So I don't fault a writer most of the time because I just assume the editors they may have had in the past just didn't know how to mentor and allow these writers to improve their craft.

What I do despise with a passion, however, is when a writer turns around and says that 'so-and-so does it in her book and her publisher said it was okay, so therefore I'm going to do the same thing' - this annoys me because not every publisher has the same standards. If so-and-so's publisher wants crap just to rob readers and stagnate a writer's ability to perfect their craft, why jump off that same bridge and die? Your present publisher is demanding higher standards, be happy for that.

Writers and editors need to work together, period! Editors should not change a writer's voice. Writers should not eagerly dismiss what their editors suggest. The confusion between a good partnership happens because of past editors and the mishaps writers may have gone through with them.

And the reason some writers get headaches is because of the confused state they are in, listening to contradicting comments and suggestions from one editor to the next. Other than unique writing voices, there are elements in a story that should not be ignored nor overlooked.

The moral of this post? Live and learn.

Helpful tips when self-editing

Although I strongly believe that writers should either seek out a critique partner or editor to help improve their manuscripts, here are a few tips I’d like to share with you when self-editing.

The number one top on my list when mentoring writers is to check your work. Don’t rely on spell checker alone, do ewe get my meaning? Words may be spelled correctly but not in the context you intended.

Go over each sentence for clarity. You may know what you’re saying but is it clear to the reader? This is where a good critique partner or editor can help you out. A second pair of eyes is crucial. For example, think back to your school days, to that teacher who taught but really didn't know 'how' to teach. Everything she said was a mystery to you because she explained things in a puzzle-like way, omitting things crucial to a better understanding of that lesson. She knew what she was talking about, but the class didn't!

Another trick I use is I open my own personal CHECKLIST file and note any common mistakes or misspelled words in each of my manuscripts while in the editing stage. This helps me improve and not duplicate those errors. With time I finally delete the ones that are now implanted in my head forever.

Step away from your manuscript after you’ve been editing for a while. What happens is that you begin to rush your edits, tired sitting by the computer, and you speed read at some point but don’t realize it because you’ve read that passage over and over again – that’s when mistakes and oversights happen. As an editor I’ve experienced this with my own manuscripts and curse myself when my critique partners hand back my manuscript with red markings – two instead of too, bye instead of buy – simple mistakes I should have picked up on but didn’t because I was speed reading.

During one of the editing rounds, read your book out loud. You’ll be amazed how you pick up on sentences that read awkward but sound okay in your head. While reading, try to imagine your target audience. Again, you will be amazed how many clarifications and edits you will need to do when you are reading to your pretend audience. For some odd reason, while focusing on your audience you realize what you’ve omitted to offer them a fully fleshed out story according to that genre’s needs.

My last round of edits begins at the very last page of my manuscript. That’s right, the last page. What this does it allows you to actually read words and sentences without worrying about the plot and story progress. This is usually done to ascertain I didn’t miss eliminating any passive sentences. One powerful word beats three or four mundane passive ones.

I won't go into the boring tip about eliminating as many 'was', 'that', 'began to' passive tone--okay, I guess I sort of did--but these are elementary stuff every writer, beginner or seasoned, should know by now.

And if you're still stuck, hey, stop biting your keyboard!!  PEN PERFECT ASSOCIATES is officially open for business. Check us out. Website is still under construction.