Belletrinsic

GOAL: Revise a 60,000 word manuscript in a week.

PLAN: Spend every waking moment (not at work) revising and rewriting.

Can I do it?

I won’t know until I stop playing on the internet and get to work.

While it is up for debate whether a book can be “good” or “bad”—which is generally attributed to personal taste and opinion—there are definite indicators whether a book has been well or poorly executed. Often, I think someone categorizes a book as “bad” when it is poorly written or edited, but the reader may be unable to pinpoint why they struggled to read and enjoy the book. The assertion by many readers and writers that bookstores are full of junk stems, in part, from poor execution.

This point struck me the other night as I read a book I’d picked up at the bookstore earlier that day. I wanted something light and fun, with a touch of romance. I wasn’t expecting a literary work, but I had hoped to find something easily readable and with a nice flavor. I was severely disappointed.

What I found was poor execution in numerous aspects. The plot was nice and simple like I’d hoped, but there were glaring inconsistencies, trite stereotypes, and unoriginality in language and dialogue that prevented me from enjoying my purchase. Each time I stumbled because of the writing, it pulled me from the story. That is the worst thing that can happen to a reader, and it often ends with the book tossed, unfinished, into the goodwill bag.

Let me share some examples to illustrate the point.

The most teeth-grinding error for me was the incorrect spelling of a main character’s name. Now, if it had happened once—maybe, maybe twice—I would have forgiven it. When that same mispelling happens so many times throughout the book that I’m not sure which is the correct spelling, it becomes a major problem. In this case, it was one letter that caused the problem. A simple “r” was either included or left out each time. Many would consider this an inconsequential error, but when it prevented me from forming an idea of this character in my head, that’s a serious error.

The next example involves the breaking of a certain “rule” that I actually condone on a limited basis: starting a sentence with “and” or “but.” In certain cases, this is perfectly acceptable, but to do so with numerous sentences on the same page—and an untold number of times throughout the book—exhibits a laziness during editing. I tend to start sentences this way when I’m writing a first draft, but then excise them ruthlessly during editing. As is generally the case, removing the “and” or “but” improves clarity and flow.

Grammar and punctuation are there to help the reader. When a sentence is so convoluted as to make it incomprehensible, no one benefits. There are times where bending or breaking rules of grammar add life to a sentence, but continually ignoring those rules makes the writer look foolish and novice.

As for stereotypes, I found so many that the book became little more than a regurgitation of childhood tales. In this case, I am currently editing a nonfiction book at work on the same historic period. While some of the misinformation could be attributed to lack of research, the assertion by the author at the end of the book that numerous facts were accurate made me cringe. Some research may well have been done, but not enough.

I’ll stop there with the examples, but just know that there were also problems with characterization, cliches, and other examples of lazy or uneducated writing. The author isn’t the only one to take responsibility in a case like this; everyone involved in a book’s production is accountable when a poorly executed book makes its way into the marketplace. While it may be easy to write off this book as a juvenile effort by a new writer, it is far from accurate. This writer has numerous books listed in her biography.

The lesson for writers? Don’t be like this. Even when you have several publishing credits, take as much time to polish and perfect each book as you did with the first. Poor execution reflects most often on you. It is not up to your agent or editor to make your book perfect. You should do this before ever sending your book out. It is your name on the line. Be proud enough to do a good job.

It looks like Lea Ann McCombs was the only brave soul to post her short synopsis. Way to go, Lea Ann!

So here’s the critique. Comments are in blue.

The Legacy…………..
Abandoned at birth, Sara Purvis determines to find the mother who refused to be a part of her life. Use more more exciting verbs and words here. Determines, find aren’t the strongest choices. But her search leads her to a group of people who do not wish to be invaded. What is the group of people called? Would they kill to keep her from finding out more? Are they evil? Also, stronger verbs here as well. “Do not wish to be invaded” doesn’t sound terribly exciting. Add a few details. She must ask herself: Is her mother a victim or a villain? And does she really want to know? In general, avoid rhetorical questions, especially in queries. You can rephrase to something like: Sara must discover whether her mother is the victim—or the villain.

Good job, and good luck!

Saturday I attended a local writing event* hosted by a slew of authors from my area. Now, these aren’t just any writers—they’re well-known, popular writers who each have a different story on how they got published. But the thing with each of them is that it took many years and a lot of work before they got to that point.

The thing I noticed, both in their stories and in the questions asked by the aspiring authors attending, was that writers always want to get published NOW. We write what we think is a great book, do a few rounds of edits, and then send it off well before it’s ready. It’s a common theme.

Now, not everyone may follow this pattern, but I’ve noticed it time and again. I’ve even done it myself. That’s part of the publishing process, really. But don’t let yourself get hung up on it.

Most of the authors who spoke about getting published mentioned that it was their third, fourth, even eighth book that was the first published. Not the first one they wrote. There are always exceptions, but for the most part, it takes a good eight to ten years from the time you pick up a pen until your book hits the shelves. I’ve been at this five years already, and I’m still waiting to be accepted for publication.

The reason I bring this up is that the most talked about thing at that conference was getting an agent. The question that was brought up again and again: How do I get an agent? Who is your agent? Agent, agent, agent.

Honestly, if this is the first writing conference you’ve attended and you haven’t done research yourself on the intricacies of finding an agent, you’re not ready. You need to focus on your writing and revising a bit more. Then, after you’ve exhausted all of your own efforts, maybe it’s time to start googling to find out a bit more on agents and how to get one.

But until then, focus on the writing. Getting published will come in its own time.

*If you’re curious about the event, it was Writing for Charity, and the authors included Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, James Dashner, Sara Zarr, Jessica Day George, and many others.

Please step away from the keyboard!

I understand, ma’am, that you’ve got a book you think it ready to start querying agents with.

Yes, yes. Just take it slow now. Move your finger off of that mouse and we can talk. Nice and easy.

How long ago did you finish writing it? Hmm. Yes, three months to write a book is excellent. And two months of editing? Good job, you.

Hold it! Don’t move a finger toward that send button!

So, five months since you first started working on the book, is that correct? That makes me ask the question: did you set the book aside at all? A week in between edits to “clear your head”?

Put the query down and no one gets hurt.

And during that week, did you think about the book at all? All the time? Really? So did the week actually “clear your head” or just make you irritated you couldn’t start querying already?

I said, let it be. You’re only hurting yourself by doing this.

And all those agents who blog. You didn’t think they were talking to you when they gave their advice? Are you too good for their help? It’s not like that? Really. So you’re just the exception. You don’t need to set your book aside for a few months and come back to it fresh. You, as a new writer, can just edit away. You know exactly what you’re doing. Is that how it is?

Don’t ruin your chance. You’ve only got one shot with this agent. Are you sure you’re ready?

I don’t think you are the exception. Sure you’ve been to writers conferences and you’ve done your homework. And you graduated from college as an English/journalism major? That’s great. But has it taught you how to write an entire book and then edit it? I didn’t think so. You’ve had to learn that on your own, haven’t you. You’ve taught yourself most of what you know about writing. But you haven’t taught yourself how to be patient, have you? You want to be the first-time author who hits it big without putting in the hours of work and tears first. I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s probably not going to happen like that for you.

Aw, don’t cry. Just put the laptop down and we can help you. It’s not too late.

We want you to succeed, and so listening to all that advice about leaving the book alone for three, four months is good advice. Really. Why don’t we go get you a bag of chocolate and put this little manuscript in the freezer for a few months. Then, when you’ve nearly forgotten about it, you can come back and make it even better. I promise.

This dramatization is brought to you as part of a public service to first-time writers. Anything you write in a query letter can and will be used against you while looking for an agent. Make sure you get it right the first time.

In my last blog post, I discussed weaknesses in characters and how important it is to have them. Well, I have them too, and it’s not as fun having them as writing them for another character. My weakness? Impatience.

I want everything now and don’t want to put in the requisite time and effort to accomplish those tasks. I want things to come easily.

The reason I bring this up is because a good friend taught me this lesson this morning. She didn’t realize she was doing it, but I appreciate her teaching it to me all the same.

I’ve written two books now. The first one I had queried and gotten some positive feedback, but people weren’t loving the book enough. A friend just read the whole thing and gave me her comments. The important thing is that she did it in a loving, caring way.

Now I’m going back through the book with her comments in mind, and I see exactly what she means. And I’m also realizing that my impatience has hindered me, yet again.

Agents and editors love to give the advice to let a book sit for a few months, and then go back to it before even thinking of querying agents with it. Well, I was impatient and didn’t do that. I haven’t completely shot myself in the foot because of this, but it’s come pretty close.

I wanted to be the exception, the person who could write a book in a few weeks, edit in a few more, and then get an agent very quickly soon after. To be honest, I’m not at that point yet. I’m still learning, and that’s okay.

So the plan right now is to go back and fix book one (Surviving Eden) while putting book two (Jessamine) in the freezer for a bit.

I know Surviving Eden isn’t the book that’s going to get me an agent, but I need to learn the process of revising and editing my own work if I’m to do an even better job of it the second time around.

I’m stubborn, and so some lessons have to come the hard way. The most important ones, really. Take it from me, learn the easy way. It’s much better for the sanity.

Epiphany: Last night I realized that I’m spinning my wheels a bit trying to write the sequel when I should be polishing up the first book so I can start querying.

What this means: It’s back to the grind for me, spending every free moment I have working on revising and rewriting my book. If I push myself a bit, I can get the first revision done in a few weeks, and then spend time fine-tuning from there. After revising the first four chapter last night, I realized that what I’ve got is pretty good, in that I need to fill in places, but it won’t take as long as I’d imagined earlier.

That said, you can expect me to return to my cave for the next few months, emerging for social interaction on occasion but more or less working steadfastly on achieving my dream.

Wish me luck! Or, maybe it would be better if you wished me stamina instead.