Essential Writing Concepts: ADD

Courtesy of Chris Corwin at Flickr

There are many writing concepts that, once pointed out are so obvious that you are sure you knew it all along. This is one of those. It is the clarification of an idea, a marking out the boundaries of something so obvious that you will instinctual know it. However, in realising it intellectually, you will be able to assess your writing anew and with more insight. 

All prose is made up of three things: A D D (which doesn't actually stand for Attention Deficit Disorder, in case you were wondering).

Action: Mary picked up the glass and threw it at his head.

Dialogue: "You pig. How dare you bring her here?"

Description: The room was brightly lit, and the expensive sound system played hits from the 90's. Waiters with champagne glasses on silver trays paused, and peroxided ladies in glittering dresses held their breath. 

That's all there is in a novel, the combination of bits of action, dialogue, and description. Sometimes description can include action, or action description, but the division of the two is necessary for understanding pacing. Action moves a story forward, while description is pausing to look around.

At different points in the history of prose, and in different cultures, the ratios between these three things have varied. As previously mentioned, I'm working to edit and develop a piece written by my great grandfather over half a century ago. The first thing that struck me was that the manuscript has a very large amount of dialogue, and almost no description at all (which, by the way, is quite annoying as I can fill in the dialogue, but have more trouble developing the description of early 20th century Scotland.) Discussing it with my grandfather, he pointed out that it used to be considered the height of sophistication to be able to move a story along by the dialogue, without the need for description. But nowadays so much dialogue leaves no room for the imagination. 

Each genre has its own requirements for how much of each you should use. Take action/adventure, Matthew Reilly as an example. To keep the pace up, the books have large sections which are just action and dialogue, with reduced description. Then, move across to the romance genre, and say Georgette Heyer, and you get long descriptions of every article of clothing worn. 

Similarly, a writer's particular style is developed from how they choose to use these three elements.

In another post I will look at how to utilise the three in your pacing. But as a basis, writing should be made up of equal parts of the three. In peaks of tension, you might have more action and dialogue, and the troughs of your story will generally be more descriptive. However, over all, most pages should have some of all three. 

Exercise:

Now if you are editing a work, try this exercise to better understand your own writing.

Take three different coloured highlights: one for action, one for dialogue and one for description (this can also be done with the highlight feature in your word processor).

Go through your entire manuscript highlighting every part into one of the three.

Are there pages that are predominantly one colour? This is a bad sign, and you probably need to break this up a bit. (This is one of the big problems with "The Ill Made Mute", a book I loved, but there were pages and pages of nothing but description, which I ended up flicking past until I say the next set of quotation marks.)

ROW 80 Goals:

So, last Monday I set the following goals:

- Finish the first run through of Bootcamp and sent it off for a structural edit.
- Started editing After The Winter.
- Create the cover for Bootcamp (I want to play with the one I already have a bit), and start a Goodreads Giveaway for the hard copy, giving myself a deadline for when it will come out.

How much of that have I done? That would be none.

Instead I dedicated this week to getting all those other life errands fixed that require time and energy. I got my car cleaned, picked up the screws I needed to fix my desk, went to Ikea to get more storage for my room, put my car into the mechanics, finally got my hair done, and organised my little flat a bit more. And somehow that was my week gone.

So, the only solution is to try again this week. Wish me luck!

An Introduction To Editing

Courtesy of Piotr Lewandowski at stock.xchng

I am saddened that most students are no longer taught the joys and the art of editing. I am not sure I was ever taught it at school, and it was only a personal mentor at university that tried to make me see the light.

Most university students hand in essays that have either never been edited, or have had a quick proof read which they believe to be the same thing.

And then I come to writers. I admit, I was the same at first. I do the writing, the editor does the editing. Makes sense, right?

Nein, Nein, Nein!
(studying German was one of my new year goals, thank you Duolingo for helping me). 

An editor is like a sports coach. They don't run the race for you, they just point out issues with your technique to help you get better. It is the writer's job, part of our training towards being masters, to edit our own work. It is only to overcome our own blind spots, and crush our egos into submission that an editor is for.

The practice of editing your own work is one of the best things you can do for your own writing. Trust me.

My brother handed me his last book and told me to edit it for him, write in the changes myself, and not bother him with it any more. So I did. Now I come to edit his second book and see the problem with this approach. 90% of the things I am now correcting he did again last time. If he had gone through and implemented the changes then, he would not have written them in again now.

This time I'm flatly refusing to re-write it for him. The first edit I'm going through doing no more than leaving comments for him to think about. It is the only way I will be able to break him of his bad habits. Picking out every overused adverb and finding a better way to describe the action is the writing lines on the board of being an author. It gives you a deep hatred of the problem, ensuring you never do it again.

However, as mentioned, most people have never been taught to edit, and get lost when handed back a manuscript and told to edit it. Often people think it is just a proof read.

So let me give you the basics of editing.

Editing is a three stage process. In some cases, some of these stages might be condensed together, but it is best to think of them individually. Each stage requires a different focus and different skills. Today I'm going to describe the different stages, and then in later posts discuss tactics for dragging your own work through each of them.


Stage 1: The Structural Edit

This is your big picture stuff. No one cares about typos at this stage. It is all about how well each sections leads from one to another, the pacing of the action, and whether it culminates in an appropriate climax at the right place.

As with essay writing, the order in which you tell the story is sometimes the most important part. A joke only works if the punchline comes at the end, a suspense only if the reader feels a build up of tension.

Structural editing is all about the art of leading the reader on. Learn to do this, and you will have readers, even if you never win any literary awards.


Stage 2: The Copy Edit

I like to think of this as a romance with language. It is not about how you've ordered the chapters, or about nit-picky points of grammar. Instead, it is looking at how you can best seduce the reader with appropriate points of language. It is the ripping out of clunky writing, scrapping off the cliches and worn metaphors, and buffing up the paragraphs and sentences to shine.

Each story should have its own voice, its own tone. The copy edit is where you make sure this is consistent and as clear as possible. It ranges from questioning whole styles of speech for a particular character, down to use of particular punctuation, all for the purpose of creating a more beautiful work.

If you can't tell, I'm a big fan of the copy edit. It is stretching your writing to the next level, looking at what you have written as objectively as possible and saying 'is that the best possible sentence I could come up with to express that idea?' And the more you do it, the better your writing will be next time around. Don't be led into cheap prostitution by 'easy writing', tired expressions that trip off your pen because they no longer have any meaning of their own.


Stage 3: The Proof Read

This is the final of the three edits. In an ideal world, we would all do the best possible edit we could, then have someone do a structural edit and give it back to us. We would then do the new best we could, and then have someone do a copy edit and give it back. Then we would do an even better edit and finally have someone do the proof read, which we would then go through and approve. Only after all that would we have confidence we were putting out our best work.

It is almost impossible to catch all the typos in one edit, sometimes even two. Some argue that typos don't really matter. It is getting content out, and fast, that makes the difference. And to a certain extent I agree with them. You can hold onto a manuscript too long, polishing it until even the gleams appear to be smudges, so you forever stay in a loop of adjusting your adjustments. However, if you are a writer, compared to someone who just happens to write, then there must be some pride in our work.

Now I know I probably have a lot of typos in this blog. That I accept for being able to get the information out relatively quickly. But I also don't ask people to pay for it. Just as I wouldn't pay for a dress that still had threads sticking out because they couldn't be bothered to cut them off, I think books should, to the best of human ability, be polished. They should be complete and ready to go. If I want quick disposable content, then I will go to the internet, to a blog or website. But when I purchase a book, I expect more.

You might not agree with me, that's fine. I'm happy knowing that I'm working towards being a master in my field. As every sports person analyses their last race or training session to look for just that little bit that will make them better, faster, I am learning to go over my own writing and see how I can do it better next time.

I have to admit it's darn hard at the moment when also trying to write a whole lot of new drafts, as well as editing other people's work, but who doesn't like a challenge?

In that vein, lets look at my ROW 80 goals so far.

First of all, I forgot to add to my four goals from Monday that I've also got a reading goal: to read every book on my shelf that I've never read before. When I moved I put them all into their own box, and am now picking one out ever week and a half (there are about 35 I believe) and seeing how I go. So far I started and finished My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin before 2014, and then finished My Career Goes Bung just two days into the year. I am now reading Anna Karenina, but not sure I'll be able to get through all that in 1.5 weeks while trying to move states and start a new job. So might come back to that one and do one of the lighter reads next.

Since Monday I have done none of my own writing. I have, however, sorted through all my paperwork, made and kept the various appointments I needed to sort out before leaving, caught up with my close group of friends, send out the Goodread Giveaway books for my aunt, arrange some giveaways for my father's book, and started editing my brother's second book. I hope to have the initial structural edit done by Tuesday, before I leave. (I'm also combining a little bit of copy editing, pointing out mistakes he falls into again and again, so next edit I can take it even further.)

Also, I've been listening to the podcast: The Creative Penn, by thriller author and speaker Joanna Penn. Highly recommended, as she has really interesting interviews and realistic advice for authors, or creative entrepreneurs as she calls us :D

I've also decided I need some deadlines for my work. So, to keep myself on track:
1. I'm releasing the second Five Day Writer book on Monday Feb 17th: The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp. I've finished the first draft, and just need to get in and do some serious editing. I'll be arranging pre-release copies for people who want to review it, and will run a pre-launch giveaway on Goodreads. So look foward to that.

2. I'm releasing After the Winter, my 1920's romance, for Monday the 10th of March, my birthday. I'll be having a launch party Sunday the 9th in Melbourne (and maybe one up in Brisbane if I have the interest). I'm thinking a 1920's garden party, with paperback copies of the book available. If you are interested in an invite, let me know. Also, will be doing pre-release review copies and a giveaway.

So that's it from me. Live large!

Oh, and by the way, if you need help with editing and don't know where to go, I have a number of brilliant editors on tap, just waiting to help you out. Give me a buzz at Buffy@thefivedaywriter.com

Round of Words in 80 Days: Round 1 2014 - Are You Ready To Rumble?

For those who have been following me for a while, you'll know that last year I discovered ROW80 - Round of Words in 80 days, and became a sponsor for the challenge.

It is a writing challenge that runs across the year in four rounds, inspiring you to set adaptable writing goals. As a sponsor, it's my role to write one inspirational piece per round, as well as visit other members' blogs each week to offer encouragement and support. It's a pretty sweet deal as I get handed a list of inspirational writers and get told to go and read their blogs. It is a great community and I love being part of it.

However, for the last round I was absent. I took a break, largely because I didn't know what I was doing, about life and everything else. And I missed it.

But now I'm back, better than ever!

So, I need to set some goals for this Round!

In less than a fortnight I'm going to be starting full time work again, in a new state and city, with an unusual shift roster. I have absolutely no idea how well or poorly I'm going to adapt to the change in climate (Brisbane is tropical, compared to frozen little Melbourne), the new work routine, and the new setting. Which is why I love this challenge, because it accepts that I might have to change my goals as life hurls its abuse and generosity at me.

Having said that, the basics of my writing goals should stay the same:

1. write new drafts, starting with a season of Romance writing (exciting, no?)
2. edit already written drafts and get them published (yah!)
3. work with clients: editing, publishing and promoting their books (having finished one round, they are all writing sequels!)
4. keep building my online presence (mainly blogging and facebook at the moment).

So, the plan is to do something towards each of these five days per week, with writing new drafts the most important goal.

Yup, it's a lot of work, and a bit overwhelming, but as the internet marketers say, it's all about the hustle. I've tried giving up my day job, and that didn't help me at all to get more done. And I'm never going to be in a better position to make it as a writer than now. So, tally ho!

And I'm a firm believer that dreaming big is the best way to go. It is easier to achieve outrageous goals than just mediumly difficult goals, because mediumly difficult goals usually aren't worth the effort, while ridiculous goals fill you with joy just thinking that they might be achieved. Think about it.

Anyone else got ridiculous goals? 

Faith In Writing

I was just watching a Joyce Meyer TV podcast (does that sound like an oxymoron to anyone else?). For those of you who don't know, Joyce Meyer is an American Christian speaker, whom I love for her down to earth attitude. She reminds me very much of my mother. She's not worried with the big theologies, but that you gossiped behind someone's back. While the big theologies do need to be thought out and fought for, I think we will find that God in the end cares more about the little stuff we've done (yes, I studied theology at Oxford, which is why I think I can say this). 

Anyway, back to my point. She was talking about faith. In my theology blog, Buffy and God - The Blog, I did an early post on What Is Faith? So sometimes I feel that if I've written on it, I don't need to think about it anymore. However, it was good to be reminded, especially now because I think it applies very strongly to my writing as well. 

Joyce was saying that faith isn't something that we feel but the way that we act, where we put our trust, and that this once acted upon can bring the feeling. Does anyone else find their writing like this? I know I love writing, but there are a lot of times I don't feel like writing, which at times makes me question whether I really should be doing it. However, whenever I step out in faith and force myself to sit down, the good feelings towards writing (usually) come flooding back. 

Same with this blog. I struggle to even write on it, though once I get going I realise I have so much I want to say. Though, at the moment I'm a little drained of writing advice. I'm working on the second Five Day Writer's book: The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp. I'm just over a 1/4 of the way through, and ideally would like the first done by the end of the week, but realistically think it will be next week. Pouring out that much writing related advice does leave me a bit dry for writing on the blog. All the good things I have to say are going in there, so just read the book when it comes out. (And not to toot my own horn, but some of the ideas that are coming out are surprisingly good, even to me! Now I just need to put them into practice :D). 

So the point of today's little ramble is to have faith: act as if you are a writer, and don't fear because you don't feel like you are one.

ROW 80 Check-In:

I finally finished the first draft of A Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating Profiles. It took longer than I wanted, but I was good and after the two weeks were up, I started on my next project and worked on this only in the evenings as overtime. It took me another week, but it is now all there in rough form. Now I just need to edit it, get one of my great fellow editors to go over it, and then it will be available to the world. If you know any guys that could do with a few handy and friendly hints, this is the book for them. It's clear, practical, and not designed to make them feel like crap about themselves (so many things out there were really negative! Don't they realise that most unsuccessful guys just need to be given a few more tips, not made to feel even worse?) 

As mentioned above, just over 1/4 through Bootcamp. Am getting back into my routine of waking up at 7am and writing for at least 2 hours before doing anything else. Up until recently I haven't been as faithful with my writing, so have lost a lot of my speed which is sad. Slowly working my way back up, but at the moment am averaging around 1,000 words an hour, compared to my previous 2,000-2,5000. Should probably follow more of my own writing advice! Does it make me a fraud if I can give other people really good writing advice but don't always do it myself? Anyone else do this? (okay, admittedly I can also give other people really good dieting advice, but watch out if you leave me alone with a block of choc.) 

Lots of editing for other people to be done, which is great, but struggling to do more than an hour or two a day at the moment. However, I think the stress of trying to move might be affecting my working ability. My apartment is in a shambles as I've tried to start sorting things, which involves pulling everything out of the drawers, then not knowing where to put them, so covering all the surfaces in different piles, deciding that before I sort this pile I really need to sort that pile, and eventually curling up on the couch fearful that the towering piles are going to crash down on me and I'll only be found when the Alsatians come to eat my body. Since the removalists are coming two weeks today, I probably shouldn't have started so early, and just done a made rush at the end. Oh well.

Other writing news, am going to start looking again at After The Winter, my 1920's romance tonight. I really love the characters in this, and want to write them through to their happy ending, but just feel the beginning is not so good, so every time I start looking at it I get discouraged. But this time I'm going to see it through. Lucinda, I will get you with Lord George if it's the last thing I do! 

There, now I have to do it, or my characters will come and murder me in my sleep. 

Nothing else to report, so I hope that you are all going well with your various projects. And sorry to the northern hemisphere, but I'm SOOOOOO glad that spring has finally arrived! Instant mood boost.

Just to make you all jealous, this was my walk to the Melbourne Writer's Festival on Friday.

Editing Metaphor and ROW 80 Check-In

I want to start with a metaphor for editing. It is a piece of writing that has been used as a metaphor for many things, and I have to admit that the author probably did not mean it to refer to the writing process. Though he was an English professor himself, so might appreciate the use. 

It comes from C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader, chapter 7. The most irritating character in the entire book is a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrub, and as the narrator notes 'he almost deserved it.' Part way through the book, for those of you who don't know it, Eustace becomes a dragon. 

I think that often when we are trying to write a book, our first draft is as rough and ungainly as a dragon, though we wish it to be slim and delicate like a child.  So how do we go from one state to the other?

Have a read of the conversation between Eustace and his cousin Edmund, when Eustace is found to be a boy again.

'Well, as I say, I was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me. And then - but, mind you, it may have been all a dream. I don't know."
"Go on," said Edmund, with considerable patience.
"Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn't that kind of fear. I wasn't afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it - if you can understand. Well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it."
"You mean it spoke?"
"I don't know. Now that you mention it, I don't think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it. And it led me a long way into the mountains. And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went. So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden - trees and fruit and everything. In the middle of it there was a well.
"I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.
"I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.
"But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So 1 scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.
"Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.
"Then the lion said" - but I don't know if it spoke - "You will have to let me undress you." I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.
"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."
"I know exactly what you mean," said Edmund.
"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again."

Editing, I believe, should always start with our own efforts. But not just scratching off a few words here and a few words there, but deep raking cuts that rip out entire sections. We should do that again and again until we can do no more. Then we must give it over to someone else, because we will rarely edit down til it hurts, and it is only then that you get through to the delicate message underneath. 

Editing is a hard lesson to learn, but so worth it when you have the chiseled, perfect product in front of you. 

I hope that imagery worked as well for you as it did for me.

ROW 80 Check-in:

I'm currently working away being a busy little bee, probably in a few too many areas of my life.

1. Starting last Friday, and continuing until this Sunday I'm volunteering at the Melbourne Writers Festival. This has been fun, and allowed me to go to other talks for free. However I have to admit that the 4-5 hour shifts, especially when they involve something thrilling like standing in foyer pointing people towards the appropriate rooms and not being able to sit down, do have their drawbacks. I've actually only had two shifts so far, and another on tomorrow and Friday, but they leave me exhausted. Having said that, it is great knowing what is happening in the Australian writing scene, who's who, and what works are coming out. 

2. At the beginning of this week I started my next two week draft: The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp, the sequel to Retreat. It's going well, and I'm enjoying writing it because some of the ideas that come out are novel to me too! I hope to get the first draft completed by the end of the next week, and then the goal is to have it published by the end of September, depending on if one of my editors has time to go through it. I'm off to a writing conference on the 11th of October. I plan to get a table so I can sell copies of Retreat and Bootcamp, as well as other books I've helped produce, if I can.

3. The project for last fortnight was The Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating Profiles. As I actually only spent a week on it, it was not completely done. I had scheduled this week and next to edit it in the evenings (after writing, working on my business, and doing all those annoying life things). I think I should be able to get it finished and edited in that time. This is not an important project, but just something I think will help a lot of men out there. It will only be in e-book format, and hopefully should be live by the end of September as well. 

4. I've been working on a few business projects. I'm still editing my aunt's novella: A Mother's Story, and haven't gotten that up yet. However, I hope to do so as soon as possible. I've also finally sent off for my US tax exemption identity number so Amazon and Smashwords only take 5% instead of 30%. It was one of those things that once I got myself organised, didn't take that long, but was just difficult to work out what to do and where to look etc. It's now going to take about 10 weeks before I actually hear back. So, lets hope I filled in the paperwork correctly!

5. The other big news in my life at the moment is that I signed a break lease contract last week, and I'm moving out of my (beautiful) apartment to be nomadic until the end of the year. Mostly this was to keep costs down so I can give myself a decent shot at making it before having to get some other work. So I've had open for inspections Monday, Tuesday and today. Trying to keep my place perfectly clean for 3 days in a row has been a bit of a strain. However, it looks like they have found a great tenant, who will be able to move in just 10 days later than I wanted (considering the other possibility was that we found no one and I had to pay rent for months and months while not living there, this is great). Because I know ahead of time, I'm not going to move out for an extra week, so I get to enjoy my place for a little bit longer. 

But in two weeks time I'm going to have to start the big clear out and pack. I'm hoping to do a major sort and declutter, giving away all the extra things I'm not going to use for quite a while. But this will take a lot of time going through everything, deciding what to keep and what to throw out, making sure it is clean to be packed into storage or given away, etc. However, once it's all done, it will feel great, like having a dragon skin removed! 

Luckily I have nothing else planned for September, though in October things start to get busy again. I'm organising advertising for my weekend intensive. Here's a flyer I've made up today. What do you think?  It's going to be A5, is it easy enough to read? Does it make you want to come to the country and write? Any suggestions?

The Importance of Editing and ROW 80 Check-In

One of the best things about now being dedicated to writing is that I can attend as many writing conferences and workshops as I like/can afford. And I have taken this opportunity and gone overboard!

I attended one conference a few weekends ago, another this weekend, have been accepted as a volunteer for the Melbourne Writer's Festival (so get to go to all main events for free, which I plan to take advantage of) and then another Christian writer's conference in Brisbane in October.

Further, I think God might be trying to give me a subtly hint, as the two workshops I have attended recently have emphasised different aspects of editing. 


Winter Writer's Workshop: 

A few weekends' ago I was at the Winter Writer's Workshop, which featured Damon Young (who does more academic and literary writing, but has a fantastic voice that you could just listen to for ages), Jo Case who wrote a memoir about when she found out her son had autism (and was involved in the Australian writing scene a lot before that), and my favourite, Kate Forsyth (fantasy writer who I saw last year. I even did one of my very first posts on her method of creating flow. Vintage 100FD!)

If you are in Australia, and ever see a course run by Kate (she does quite a few, particularly in Sydney, where she lives. I'm currently contemplating whether to fly up for one), I highly recommend them. She has such a gift for breaking down the writing process and actually teaching you tools that will help you to critically approach your writing and improve it. Her advice on structure and pacing is fantastic.

One thought she raised that I want to share with you is about editing. A lot of writers (me included at times) think that they do the creative process of getting the rough draft, and then someone else can do the boring part of editing. Kate is completely against this. As a writer, the editing process is still your responsibility, and makes you a stronger writer. I have now come to completely agree with her. The process of analysing your own writing and determining whether you have used the most effective tools to get your meaning across is how you learn and develop. It also allows you to put a stronger personal voice on it, rather than having more of someone else's style in your writing. So, learn to edit! (but also always get someone else to have a look, after you have done your very best.)


Melbourne Word Writer's Intensive:

This weekend I was offered a very special opportunity. The Word Writers, a Christian writing group focused on promoting Australian Christian Writers (yes, they exist, and all of the ones I've met so far as awesome), had an intensive editing workshop on Friday and then a conference on Saturday.

The intensive editing workshop was amazing. I sent in the first chapter of my manuscript. (Sally Hunt, as the appraisal from the competition said it needed a lot of editing, though I've still been short listed, yah!) About a week ago I received in depth commentary back on that from Mary Hawkins, an Australian romance writer (both Christian and mainstream - her first  published books were by Mills and Boon, which is funny for a minister's wife :D ). However, she then requested the rest of the manuscript, just to see what the appraiser meant by certain comments, so I sent that through.

I turned up on Friday and she had gone through my entire manuscript and made comments! It was not as in depth as the first chapter, but it made so much sense. I have to admit, there had been comments by the appraiser which I was like 'where have I done that? What does she mean by that?' But when I saw the parts that Mary had highlighted, and her suggestions, there was an 'Oh, that bit... right....' moment or two.

My biggest problem was point of view. I know when editing other people's work to look out for point of view, but in my own work some of my 'darlings' were witty things I had said as the narrator which were outside of the point of view I should have been in. So, time to be humble and fix those up. I spent the day editing away, and then a large part of the night as well, and I'm still about halfway through. I have also re-written my climax scene (it was theologically controversial how I had presented it). I am so much happier with my manuscript and feel I've lifted it to another level. I'll also remember in future when writing to keep tight control on my internal camera.

So all I can say is that new writer or old, you need someone else who will critically look at your manuscript. It can take it to a new level, and teach you things about your own writing style that will help you in the future.


ROW80 Check-In:

I haven't checked in for a while, and my goals were particularly for that week. However, I have managed to get some things done, but probably not as much as I like.

Overall, I now have 4 of Dave's short stories out (two hunting ones and two military adventure), all on Smashwords and 3 of which are on Amazon. (Two are on Smashwords for free, and I feel bad about putting them on Amazon for 99c when you can get them for free. So have listed one on Amazon and advised them it can be purchased cheaper elsewhere, will see if they match it.) If you get a copy, a short review would be really appreciated.

I have also finished the initial edit of 'A Little Bit of Leaven', the story my great-grandfather wrote. It's strange because it's not thrilling, suspenseful, romantic etc., but after every session I just felt really peaceful and comforted. Then in the last part I was almost in tears, in a good way. I am excited about what to do, but also a bit fearful that I won't do it justice. But better than it being hidden away!


So, my goals for this week:

1. Write up everything I want to change/add to improve A Little Bit of Leaven.

2. Create a Print On Demand version of 'The Five Day Writer's Retreat'. Have done most of the cover, just struggling with a gripping blurb. Then I just need to reformat the document to print properly. Going to be testing out CreateSpace.

3. Finish editing 'Tom Grafton Vs. The Environmentalists'. Meant to do this last week, but instead got the two military short stories out for Dave.

4. Organise my first writing intensive workshop! This is pretty exciting. At the Christian writer's conference people were asking about self-publishing, so I mentioned that I had started a company helping authors self-publish by offering whatever services they need to complement their skills. One lady was really interested and asked if I could help her. I mentioned to her that I was running a workshop through my local community centre on 'An Intro to Self-Publishing'. She was very excited, but lives about 3 hours away from me. She asked if I could run a weekend intensive on the topic? Thinking about it overnight, I came back the next day and said Yes!

So, end of October, The Five Day Writer is going to run its first weekend intensive on 'What's Involved In Self-Publishing'. It will cover all the steps and what you need to know to complete each one. It won't be as practical as my 7 week course through the Woodend Community Centre, as there is just not enough time to walk everyone through setting up their author pages, etc. But it will show you where to go, what to do, and how to find the help you need.

I'm very excited about that, but also a little bit scared. I at least have two people already prepared to come (my aunt said she would come as well), and my little sister has agreed to help me with the catering. My parents will be travelling and said I can use their gorgeous American Colonial house in the country to host it. It will be an intimate group in comfortable chairs around a fire, eating, chatting, passionate about writing.

So, if you know of anyone interested in self-publishing who lives in or around Melbourne, point them my way!

What questions would you want answered about self-publishing?

One Week In To Self-Employment

So, my first week of self-employment down and dusted. 

My biggest focus has been on the business plan and mapping out the company's procedures. Having spent a few more days in business planning and praying (an important part of a good business plan, if I do say so), I am starting to get a better idea of what The Five Day Writer company is about. Though, coming up with a tag-line is still illusive (which you would think, as a writer, would be the easy part!). 

The purpose of the business is to help writers self-publish with ease and greater reach than if they did it themselves. My future goal (not quite there yet, give me a few years) is to be able to help writers self-publish with more exposure than if they had gone with a traditional publisher. (Got to dream big). 

So, the taglines I've been thinking of:

Giving Writers Whatever Support They Need to Succeed. 

or

Making Your Writing a Business. 

Like, dislike, makes you want to gag? 

To keep me on track, I'm going to use my ROW 80 goals to give myself weekly challenges on what to achieve. 

Work-wise:

This week I'm going to be intensively editing Dave's book, Tom Grafton Vs The Environmentalists, as next week I plan to start the re-launch for it. Once I've finished editing it, there will be review copies offered to everyone on the Five Day Writer's newsletter. 

If you are interested in receiving free books in exchange for reviews, please sign up for the newsletter (I'll be putting a signup form here on 100firstdrafts on the sidebar, but if it's not there yet, go across to www.thefivedaywriter.com). For every book that my company, The Five Day Writer, helps to produce, I'm going to send out a blurb the newsletter list with an option to get a free review copy. So if you like a stream of new and varied works, why not get them for free? 

I'm also going to be formatting and publishing on Smashwords a free short story for my aunt's webpage (www.churchdispute.com) called 'A Mother's Tale'. It is non-fiction, about the impact of an abuse case within the Anglican church in Sydney from a mother's perspective. I've actually just gotten the cover created, what do you think?

(Though I realise it breaks Ben's rule about having blank colour up the top, but I think it blends in enough.) 

I was testing out a new service. Have you ever heard of fiverr.com? basically, it's a place where people offer to do different things for five US dollars. This cover was created for me by webmark for $5. And yes, it is something I could have done myself, but it would have taken me at least an hour and my time is worth a lot more than $5/h. I gave him the title etc., and described what I wanted and gave him an example image. His first design had 'Abuse' in red, which I could see why but I asked for it to be the same as everything else, so he redid it all for the original price. Also, it only took a day. 

I'm also looking at getting a voice over intro for my Dad's podcast done through them, and a few other things. Now, sometimes I'm sure I'll get a dud, but to be honest... it's only $5. A dud at that price is much better than a dud at $100. So at the moment I'm recommending you go and have a look around. I wouldn't use it for covers that I wanted something a bit more complex, but if you really just want a simple stock image with heading etc., it's pretty good. And for an extra $10 (I think), he'll give you the full cover (back and front), or a 3D version of the book, etc.

Anyway, back to my work checklist: I'll have to set up my aunt's author pages on Amazon, Smashwords and Good Reads as well this week.

My writing-wise: 

I'm hoping to spend the mornings focused just on my writing. This week, I'm going to start a really exciting new project. I might have mentioned months ago that my grandparents gave me a manuscript written by my great grandfather of early settler tales. They have asked for me to look at it, edit (and where necessary re-write it) and see if I can turn it into something. I haven't started looking at it yet. It's a leather bound book sitting tantalizingly on my shelf, like a birthday present that you know you could open early, but you hold onto until the actual day to make it more special. 

The book is supposedly short stories based around the main character, a young theologian. I'm currently thinking to rework them (after getting them all typed up) and see if I can publish them as a series of short stories as well as compiling them into one work which I will make print on demand (so my grandparents can get a copy). But will be able to tell you more on Wednesday. 

I am also going to turn my short story - John Verry into a free ebook on Smashwords etc to start building up my author page. 

Finally, I've gotten The Five Day Writer's Retreat completely re-edited, and I'm going to be re-launching it with a new price of just $4.95. Anyone who has received a free copy through the Five Day Writer newsletter, I would really, really appreciate an Amazon, Smashwords or Good Reads review. It makes such a huge difference to me if there are even just a few honest reviews. Yes, I'm prepared to beg if I need to.

Also, if anyone would like a review copy, I'm more than happy to hand them out, so email me at Buffy@thefivedaywriter.com. 

Well, those are my goals for this week. 

In my next post I'm going to discuss my return to internet dating, so stay tuned if you're interested!

The End of ROW 80 Round 2

It is useful to have goals and deadlines. However, watching them flit past can arose some existential qualms in even the most placid of souls.

And, with the end of the second Round of Words in 80 Days for 2013, I wonder if I have let life pass me by. What have I been doing for the past 80 days, and was it really worth it?

At the beginning of the round I was excited about my new DSLR camera, and promised some video blogs. So at least on that I delivered (check out my YouTube Channel for a video review of Lite'n'Easy, or just some entertaining short videos of me fooling around while trying to record a thank.)

I also bravely promised that while working 5 days a week I would write a blog post or article every working day.

How has that gone for me?

Yeah, possibly not as well as imagined.

I also optimistically said I would read 1 book per fortnight.
I have gotten through a few books, which is great (jumping between non-fiction on running a business, and fiction just for fun). But I don't think it would equate to 1 per fortnight.

And so at this stage some people might despair and ask what was the meaning of life, were they really living, etc. etc.

Not me. Let's look at all the other things I've managed to accomplish:

Finished re-editing my Sally Hunt book to enter into a Christian Writing competition. Just last week I received the appraisal (do not yet know if I have been short listed). Just for my ego's sake I will point out some of my favourite bits:

'General comment from appraiser on characters: Very true to life and realistic' (why thank you).

And at the very end:
'Please give some thought to this as this is a really excellent, solid story which I personally think deserves publishing'.

However, she does then rip apart my editing, use of swear words (too many for a Christian market), and my ending (which was always going to be a bit controversial). But if I don't get short-listed, it has given me a very good idea of what I need to do in order to shape the book up. (Is very sad that you can read your own work again and again and still have some many errors, but that's what editors are for.)

I also managed to start my third blog, www.buffyandgod.com, though posting has been a bit lean.

Finally, I have managed to get my first TWO clients for the Buffy Group - Making Your Writing a Business. Yes, they are both related to me, one is my brother and the other is my aunt, but everyone must start somewhere! Also, it's been really great because they are forgiving as I adapt to their requirements and work out what needs to be done.

Having Dave and Louise pay me and actually want results has forced me to work out my procedures and services. It's also really testing me as to whether I can delivery what I say I can.

I've developed the business strategy further, and started the business bank account, brought on talented editors as freelancers, and am working with a graphic designer to do book covers.

So, we will just have to see where it all goes from here!

Bring on Round 3!

Woodend Winter Arts Festival Review and ROW 80 Check In

I've just come back from a wonderful weekend staying with my parents who live in Woodend. Woodend is a wonderful little town just an hour of Melbourne, at the base of Mt. Macedon. It is becoming quite a hub for cultural events and one of the highlights of the calendar is the Woodend Winter Arts Festival. Among the music concerts and art shows, the Festival also holds a series of talks about writing and for writers. Yah!

Over the weekend I attended 5 different talks at the Festival. However, instead of summarising them all, I want to focus on one that interested as well as annoyed me and in the end gave me a lot of food for thought (and ideas for new plans!)

Saturday afternoon I attended the talk Getting Over the Line with Toni Jordan (writer and mentor), Christine Nagel (editor and assessor) and Sheila Drummond (a local literary agent, to whom I once submitted a query and she never replied, so had fallen from my good graces, but I was prepared to overlook that.) To be completely honest, I had never heard of Toni Jordan or Christine Nagel before the event, but they were interesting enough to listen to. The talk was on the role each of these people (mentor, assessor/editor, literary agent) played in taking a writer/manuscript and preparing them to approach a publisher. 

It was interesting and reinforced the importance of editing and being part of a writer's group, as well as attending writing courses etc. So in that way was worth going to the talk.

However, two things irked me. 

First is that they all saw themselves as graciously helping 'a writer's dream come true', as they said. They treated the writer as some poor misfit who needed their fairy-godmother talents to turn the work into anything good. That annoys me. It is rude to say about any client who is paying you for your services that you are doing them a favour. 

Also, it downplays all the effort and hard work the writer does. I think editors and literary agents (literary agents in particular, as I feel they offer the least to the writer when small ones such as Ms. Drummond don't appear to help market the work, or edit the work, or do much else than submit it to publishers and negotiate the contract) that they only exist because of writers. Writers would go on even if no editors or agents came into being, but the other way around can not be said. 

(Am I bitter because she wouldn't accept my manuscript? Maybe. Though not because she wouldn't accept it, but she was so rude as not to even reply. To send out a template email takes 2 minutes, and at least lets the writer know not to waste their time waiting. But to be honest, I had actually completely forgotten it was her I had sent the query too, and just got annoyed when I listened to her talk.  She started by saying she was a literary agent, and because there were so few in Australia, they wielded a great amount of power. Not at all arrogant!).

The second thing I found lacking is that they paid no attention to the online world and how important it is for a writer nowadays. When they spoke of self-publishing, they appeared to only be referring to paying a publisher to do a run of books and were very negative about it. They appeared to have no idea about the possibility of publishing just electronically online, or anything like that, as they kept saying how expensive and difficult it was.

When I was brave enough to ask whether they considered a writer should have a platform and whether that would help with attracting publishers, Ms. Drummond first asked me what I meant by a 'platform'. I felt like saying 'Well, I mean what everyone who knows anything about the current state of publishing means', but I just smiled and said 'well, in particularly I was thinking of an online platform, but other forms as appropriate as well.' 

Ms. Drummond answered that it might be useful for some genres, but she had no interest in these things. Toni Jordan then added that she didn't have anything, she didn't even have facebook except for her friends. To which Ms. Drummond said that must answer my question.

I couldn't believe that an agent who was meant to be preparing and marketing her clients as well as possible refused to look at anything online! Is it just me? Most of you, my readers, are also writers. Do you think people should be told that being online is of no important if they want to make a career of being a writer? Or have it suggested that only going through a literary agent and a traditional publisher matters?

For my ROW 80 check in: well, my own writing might not be going as fast as I might like, but things are definitely moving. Two particular ideas came up out of this weekend.

The festival was filled with older people who wanted to write the book they had been thinking of all their lives, and who probably won't ever find an agent interested. However, with some help, they would be able to self publish and at least their family and friends would buy a copy, and they could see their names on Amazon. 

Therefore, I'm developing plans to start small, personalised seminars for new writers on self-publishing and creating an online presence. I'm going to create a series based on the 6 steps of my Five Day Writer's books, which will take them from dreaming about being a writer to actually being published.

So it looks like my little company, The Buffy Group, is finally taking shape as a consultancy for online publishing and marketing. 

This is further supported by the fact I have my very first client!

Yes, my brother has just hired me to help develop and promote his new ebook, Tom Grafton Vs. The Environmentalists. I'm going to work on developing his webpage, getting traffic, designing a new cover, and getting reviews. He's going to be a bit of a guinea pig as I find out what is really the most effective and useful online strategies that I can present to others.  

It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm so excited about it all.

Time For Action

So, last ROW80 check in I said I was going to be better at writing.

See my big mistake there?

Like lots of wishful thinking, I had a goal I wanted to achieve but hadn't set out any specific plan to make it happen. 

Work is getting even more crazy so I come home totally brain dead and dragging my (becoming smaller!) ass to the gym uses up the last of my will power. For a while I had managed to get some writing in at lunchtime, but now even by then I'm out of it, and the thought of it makes me want to curl up and cry.

So how exactly was I planning on getting more writing done?

I was just hoping it would happen. Like how I hoped for two years that I would be able to run a half marathon.

Surprisingly, didn't get anywhere.

However, having downloaded a half marathon training app about a month ago, I'm now over halfway towards my goal (went for a 1.5hour jog this afternoon, which covered 13.2km!). Four training sessions a week, slowly increasing in distance, and all I have to do is show up and do them.

Therefore, I'm going to set myself a time goal. I'm going to sit down for at least 20 minutes every morning before going to work, and try to write. I'm not going to say how much I'll get done, I just want to train myself (again) to give the first part of my day to writing.

Yes having a full time job and trying to write is hard, but if anyone is going to do it, I want to make sure it is me! 

And if I can't write during work, and I can't write after work, that really only leaves me one other option, because not writing is not an option!

Every morning. 20 minutes. Because I'm not going to be working a day job for the rest of my life.