Are You Ready to Submit?

I have read dozens of blogs and so many articles I can't count on the subject of finishing a manuscript. There doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules for being done. In fact, many writers submit thinking they are done and then end up making changes because their agent or editor said to. However, Agent Kate Schafer Testerman, gives a good checklist to submission here. It has helped me to know when things are ready to go. 

Manuscript Problems

There are some other things to take into consideration before sending off your MS. Chuck Sambuchino has a great post here on finding problems in your MS. This is what I want to talk about today. Mr. Sambuchino has a great point about subconscious problems in your MS. He says that most people already know there is a problem, they just hope no one else can spot it. When it is pointed out to them, they acknowledge it and find the gumption to jump in and fix it. This is where I stand. I have a great 83,000 word MS that I'd love to send in to a publisher but I know there is a problem with it. It needs to be fixed before I send it and I don't have time to do it. I've also been through this MS so many times I can't stand to see it open on my desktop. Blech. Alas, it has to be done.

The Key to Submitting

So this is the key (for me and maybe for you too) for submitting: PATIENCE. I want to get these books out there and get them published - now. In fact, if I could do it, I'd send them out after a rough draft. However, one look at my rough draft and an agent or editor would send out a form rejection faster than you can say, "Shoot." So, I edit and then edit some more. It isn't my favorite part of the process. I love drafting, meeting new characters and finding out what they will do when I throw them into horrific circumstances. It makes me feel alive. Editing, on the other hand, makes me feel like I'm combing through a pile of dirt to find a penny. The editing is just as important as the drafting - if not more so. 

Ever Done?

Will I ever be done? Will you? I will give you a resounding - YES!

We will finish these manuscripts and we will send them out into the big scary world of cut-throat agents and red-ink happy editors and we will continue to love them and nurture them until that beautiful day when we sign a contract and see them fly! Carry on writers - carry on!

My list of naughty words

Last week I promised the complete list of naughty words that I search and destroy during the editing process. This process is so specific that it forces my inner editor out of the dark hole she prefers and into the light of day. It's like waking a sleeping bear; once I poke her a few times with these words, she comes out roaring. So this is always my first step in editing.

Here it is, feel free to add some of your own in the comments.

ly

of

that

was/were

his/her

very

every

only

had

seemed

looked 

Tighten up your writing - Week 4

Three weeks of frightening words are behind us. We're now ready to tackle the major one, the big daddy of them all -

LY
Ly words. I can't count the number of times my teachers would tell me to add descriptive words and I would fall on the ol' ly's. The sad part? They ate it up! It's not that they are evil or anything. But Stephen King in On Writing, says a good writer never uses an ly word.

I've tried to rid my writing of them but haven't been able to do it completely. :-) It is, however, something I'm continually working on.  (On a side note - if I used curse words in place of ly words, I could get rid of them all. I choose not to take that route.)

Let's take a look at an easy fix.

"Fera ran quickly from the room."

Why is this an easy fix? Because quickly is redundant. If you're going to run, you're going to do it quickly. Otherwise, pick another word; jogged, ambled, skipped and etc.

One more example...

"Fera wore an extremely large diamond."

You saw it, didn't you? Your inner editor screamed, "Huge - just type huge!!!" or gargantuan or empire or twenty other words that mean extremely large.

So that wraps up my mini-series on single word edits. I hope it's been helpful for you to take such a specific look at your word choice. Let me know if you've found your own naughty words. I am a firm believer in the power of words and even one word can have a gargantuan affect on your reader. Happy writing!

Tighten up your writing - Week 3

We are in our third week of searching out those specific words that give us trouble. This week, let's look at a wishy-washy word.

Seemed
Oh, the word!

"It seemed out of character for Fara to flirt."

"Well was it or wasn't it? Make up your mind!" says my beady-eyed, internal editor. Oh, here's another one.

"It seemed like she had a hard time sharing her feelings."

That's telling not showing. Paint the picture.

"Fara chewed on her lip and twisted the program in her delicate hands. She opened her mouth, shutting it again before she embarrassed herself."

When I see the word seemed pop up in my WIP, I know I'm telling the reader something that I could be showing them. Showing the reader, allows them to get to know my character and believe it. The difference is second-hand gossip versus a personal account.

Do you have a wishy-washy word? Feel free to share it because sometimes we don't recognize them until someone points them out.

Tighten up your writing - Week 2

Last week I introduced to you my list of naughty words. (Words that lead to passive voice or are used as a crutch.) Let's keep it going and bring in a few more.

His/Her
People vary on the amount of description they like to write or read for that matter. Some enjoy long paragraphs detailing gardens or ball rooms while others skip it all and read the dialog. Whatever your taste, description should be written just as conscience as any other section in your WIP.

"George had a silver ring on his finger."

Why is this a flag word? Because it alerts me to wordiness. My wicked little editor, who I believe has short, spiky hair, would change it to this:

"George wore a silver ring."

Because, in all honesty, we know he's wearing it on his finger because that's were we wear rings. My editor says to give my readers credit and shorten it up.

Only

This is my whiny word. It's also a lazy word for me to use.

"Fera only wanted one dance with George."

There's no image here; no getting into the character's head.

"Fera wanted one dance with George. One dance to take home in her heart."

This is one of the few times when I add words while I edit. Explain the only. Why is it only one? This clarifies my character's motivations. Whether my reader agrees with them or not is a whole other blog post.

Does this help? Are these some of your trouble words?

Tighten up your writing - Week 1

I believe it was Stephen King in, On Writing, who said that good writing is the first draft minus 10%. For the next few blog posts I'd like to share some of the 10% I take out in the hopes that it will help you, dear reader, improve your writing.

I have a list, it's not a long list, of words to search out and destroy. I keep the list on an ever present post-it note on my office wall. While drafting, I turn my back on the list and let the words flow - even the passive ones! Then, when my evil editor enters the scene, she pulls the list off the wall with a wicked smile because she's going to use it to blast holes in my beautiful (not) first draft. Here are two of her favorite targets.

Had Been
"Fera had been wanting to tell George her feelings; but refrained out of respect for his missing wife."

Cheesy writing aside, what is wrong with this sentence? There's a distance there. It's like Fera stepped outside of herself, analyzed her feelings, without feeling them all that strong. When I read stuff like this I want to scream, well did she want to or not?

"Fera wanted to tell George her feelings, but refrained out of respect for his missing wife."

Can't you feel her wanting now? Now it's personal. Now the reader is sucked into Fera's desire. It also reads faster so readers have less time to worry about their own lives or let their minds wander.

WAS
"Fera was crying out her frustrations while George was walking away."

(Yuck!) Doesn't reading that just make it feel like someone shoved your computer three feet away. It should. Passive voice distances the reader and makes it difficult for them to become involved in the story.

"Fera cried out her frustrations while George walked away."

Now that I can visualize. The first sentence is just words, the second sentence is a picture. That's what we want to write, pictures.

So now that you know this, you can start your own list of words to search out and destroy. Word's search and find tool is so helpful in editing.

What are your trigger words? Are there some you rely in when you get lazy or just because they're a habit?

Tags

On the subject of tags. No not the kind that the boys used to poke out of their shirts so girls would reach behind and tuck them back in. I’m talking about a different kind of tag. The kind of tag that tells you who is speaking. There’s a rule. It’s unofficial. I’ve never seen a place where these rules are written down – unless you count the several dozen books on writing I’ve digested over the last five years.

Anywho...

Here’s what I hear from agents/writers/editors and the like: stick with said/answered/asked. (Although, in my opinion – which counts for like, nothing - the asked is redundant if there’s a question mark.)

Apparently, the reader’s mind doesn’t actually read those words. They skim the meaning by the shape of the letters. So they register the character’s name by the first letter of their name and completely skip the said/answered/asked. If you add more, it interrupts the reader’s flow.

For example: “I hate peanut brittle,” John drawled. “It always sticks to my teeth.

Vs.: “I hate peanut brittle,” said John. “It always sticks to my teeth.”

Even better: “I hate peanut brittle,” John said as he chewed the candy like a cow working its cud. (Can you tell why? There’s a little more show in this one and a little less tell. I don’t tell you it sticks to John’s teeth; I show you by the way he chews.)

Let me just do one more example.

“Do you like peanut brittle?” Sarah asked.

Isn’t it obvious she asked by the fact that there is a question mark? So I find asked a little redundant. (But that might be the proofreader on the one side of my brain who likes to poke things with a sharp stick.)

You might try to fix it like this:

“Do you like peanut brittle?” Sarah asked with a shy smile.

Little better, but try this.

“Do you like peanut brittle?” Sarah’s soft, round eyes were wells of hope. Caught in their depth, John found himself reaching for the largest piece.

So, stick to the basics. Said/Answered/Asked and if you can get away with it – get rid of asked. 

Cut, cut, cut

I've spent the last two weeks overhauling a MS I wasn't sure I ever wanted to see again.
You know how it goes, you write then edit, edit, edit, edit, edit and then you can't see the project anymore because your mind is all wrapped up in the technicalities. It's wrapped so tight that the idea of going through it - just one more time - makes you want to cry.

That's where I was. And hand-in-hand with what I'll call "Editing Blindness" where you no longer see the faults, comes despair ushered forth by mindless whispering.
"It will take too much work to get this ready for publication."
"It would be easier to start on something new."
"It's probably not good enough to publish, I should just set it aside."

Well, I did set it aside. Not because I wanted to give up on it, but because I needed a break.

Kind of like when you've just started in an intense relationship with a person you think is "the one." Three months into it, you just need air.

So you break it off.

A month later, you bump into that guy/girl and realize they are amazing. You chat, decide to give it just one more date. That one date leads to another and another. Your cautious. No jumping into the deep end here. A chapter at a time you see the faults, you decide if you can live with them or not. In the end, you see why you loved this MS and it will always hold a special place in your heart; but it's time to send it off to someone new -

 AN AGENT!!!

One of the changes that can be so hard is cutting. Cutting scenes, cutting characters, and just plain cutting words that were so hard to come up with in the first place made me shake. But I made myself do it because I had two criteria:
1) does the scene accomplish anything?
2) is this character a stand alone or can he/she be combined with someone else?

It's harsh because sometimes the answer to number 1 was no and sometimes the answer to number 2 was yes and I had to say farewell.

Is it worth it? Yes. In the end, my MS is much better off without the extra scenes/players/words. Have you ever had to cut something that hurt?