For lack of any good blogging ideas I've decided to do a little thing on the chapters I got back from my editor. The post will probably end up being small and not the best I've done but I hope you guys still like and learn from it. :)
So a few days ago I got the first two chapters back of Weapon Icean from my editor and I am pretty excited. Two chapters isn't much but I can already see how useful and wonderful and helpful an editor is. She fixed up my grammar (I am one of those writers that is horrible at grammar!) and cleaned up my writing. I can't wait to get the rest back and see what else she's done to make Weapon Icean sparkle. Just through the first two edited chapters I absorbed so much from writing.
First of all that having a second pair of eyes really is helpful. For the longest time I didn't think an editor or beta readers would really help. I mean I know what's best for my book right? I'm the one that came up with it, wrote it and loved on it so how could anyone else make this book better? Well for starters they aren't emotionally attached to it. Weapon Icean? That's my baby. One of my favorites. And the characters? I am more in love and in sync with them than ever before. I pour everything into my writing and I poured everything into WI. There are certain lines and phrases that I just love. Ever heard the phrase kill your darlings? Well... I sort of never agreed with that writing tip because I never could bring myself to kill my darlings. That oh so wonderfully crafted line of thought? Not getting rid of that. And that paragraph of beautiful description that makes me feel like a genius because of how amazingly written? That's staying right there. Oh yeah and that scrap of dialogue that is hilarious and sarcastic and has nothing to do with the plot at all? Well it's just gotta stay there because it's just too good, too funny to get rid of.
But this is the thing. An editor or a beta reader or even a friend who didn't write this book and the characters and everything in between? Who didn't put their heart and soul and everything they had into this book? Well they see that incredibly genius line of dialogue, wrinkle their nose and cut it. They see that awesome line of thought and cut that too. And it hurts at first and you want to put it back in there and say no! This is my book and I'm gonna do what I want with it! But then you read back through that paragraph, page and chapter and you realize it reads a whole lot better without that line or dialogue or word. You read it and the chapter, page or paragraph feel fresh and polished and even better than before. And that's when you take a deep breath and let those words that you love so dear be cut away so that the story as a whole can shine.
I was kind of scared when I clicked on the link to my Track Changes filled chapters and became a bit overwhelmed (yes with just two chapters!) at all the changes and the red and blue splattered across the pages but when I read through them and accepted the changes and read through the comments it just made me smile. It's good to be emotionally attached to your writing. You have to be to write anything good but once the writing is done and you can't think of anything else to do with this story then it's time to give it over to an editor and let them work their magic.
I had no idea how to polish a book but I have a feeling that by the time WI is done and I get the whole thing I'll have a pretty good idea of how to cut out the clutter and make my draft shine. Of course I can't deny I will never be able to go back to being editor-free but at least by the time I get all of WI back I'll have a better understanding of how to make my books even better.
There's so much more to say and I'm sure I'll have more to talk about in the future during my long self-publishing journey but for now the biggest thing I've learned is that it's ok to kill your darlings and to cut and cut and cut and polish until you get the very core of your story.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
So a few days ago I got the first two chapters back of Weapon Icean from my editor and I am pretty excited. Two chapters isn't much but I can already see how useful and wonderful and helpful an editor is. She fixed up my grammar (I am one of those writers that is horrible at grammar!) and cleaned up my writing. I can't wait to get the rest back and see what else she's done to make Weapon Icean sparkle. Just through the first two edited chapters I absorbed so much from writing.
First of all that having a second pair of eyes really is helpful. For the longest time I didn't think an editor or beta readers would really help. I mean I know what's best for my book right? I'm the one that came up with it, wrote it and loved on it so how could anyone else make this book better? Well for starters they aren't emotionally attached to it. Weapon Icean? That's my baby. One of my favorites. And the characters? I am more in love and in sync with them than ever before. I pour everything into my writing and I poured everything into WI. There are certain lines and phrases that I just love. Ever heard the phrase kill your darlings? Well... I sort of never agreed with that writing tip because I never could bring myself to kill my darlings. That oh so wonderfully crafted line of thought? Not getting rid of that. And that paragraph of beautiful description that makes me feel like a genius because of how amazingly written? That's staying right there. Oh yeah and that scrap of dialogue that is hilarious and sarcastic and has nothing to do with the plot at all? Well it's just gotta stay there because it's just too good, too funny to get rid of.
But this is the thing. An editor or a beta reader or even a friend who didn't write this book and the characters and everything in between? Who didn't put their heart and soul and everything they had into this book? Well they see that incredibly genius line of dialogue, wrinkle their nose and cut it. They see that awesome line of thought and cut that too. And it hurts at first and you want to put it back in there and say no! This is my book and I'm gonna do what I want with it! But then you read back through that paragraph, page and chapter and you realize it reads a whole lot better without that line or dialogue or word. You read it and the chapter, page or paragraph feel fresh and polished and even better than before. And that's when you take a deep breath and let those words that you love so dear be cut away so that the story as a whole can shine.
I was kind of scared when I clicked on the link to my Track Changes filled chapters and became a bit overwhelmed (yes with just two chapters!) at all the changes and the red and blue splattered across the pages but when I read through them and accepted the changes and read through the comments it just made me smile. It's good to be emotionally attached to your writing. You have to be to write anything good but once the writing is done and you can't think of anything else to do with this story then it's time to give it over to an editor and let them work their magic.
I had no idea how to polish a book but I have a feeling that by the time WI is done and I get the whole thing I'll have a pretty good idea of how to cut out the clutter and make my draft shine. Of course I can't deny I will never be able to go back to being editor-free but at least by the time I get all of WI back I'll have a better understanding of how to make my books even better.
There's so much more to say and I'm sure I'll have more to talk about in the future during my long self-publishing journey but for now the biggest thing I've learned is that it's ok to kill your darlings and to cut and cut and cut and polish until you get the very core of your story.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
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