I Scream, You Scream. We All Scream at Editing.

Courtesy of the website www.wonderbaby.org/images/ivan-screams.jpg

Okay, I must confess. This was me yesterday. Literally. I received the news most authors dread to hear. That your wonderful book did not make the grade with the editors. Look, I remember those papers we handed in in school. They had big red pen marks on them and a large letter on top that was the grade. Well, I got my grade from the editors. And it was not an A. Not a B either. Maybe a C for the idea only. But the writing was bad. The plot was wrong. The characterizations were lacking. It was poor work. It hovered at an F.

AAGH. I screamed. More out of the realization of how much work I would need to do to make it right. Like having to rewrite a good portion of the book (with many scenes from scratch). And all of this when I had another book due in that I was currently working on. And having only a few weeks to accomplish the revision.

Then for some reason I remembered a quote I saw on Anne of Green Gables, in the second movie. Gilbert is complaining about Anne's article that won a baking powder contest instead of something superior. The style, the mumbo jumbo, the poor plot. She screams at him. And he says quite plainly, "You can cry all you want. It won't make you write a better novel." That scene helped settle me down. Nothing was going to change unless I calmed myself and got down to business.

And I realized something else, too. This is not my little book. These are not my ideas. The book was entrusted to me by God. It's His work. I am a vessel of His truth through fiction. And I need to do it the best way I know how. I often wonder if God made some of the apostles rewrite books of the Bible because it wasn't what He wanted. :) That some of man's ideas were thrust in there, and He said calmly, Do it over, please. Of course that probably didn't happen. But I wonder. And if so, the end result was worth it--a life changing message that affects people today.

And so I have stopped screaming and have settled down. The rewrite is massive--the most I have ever had to do for a novel. But for all I know, it could be my best book ever. And that's a book worth writing...

Bad Book Postures

I've been doing some reading lately. As a writer, I find it helpful to look over other works and see what other authors are doing. And after a few books, I have found that they start off quick and energetic, with interesting characters and plot. But by the middle of the book, the story starts to sag. The energy level is gone. The characters have no spark left but just seem to be existing day by day as if they themselves are bored of the storyline (and thus, I am too). And then as the book goes on, by the ending chapters, the energy is back again to reach that satisfying conclusion.

So what to do about the sagging middle? I realize sometimes it's like we as writers just want to make it through the book so we can get to our victorious conclusion. The hero wins. The guy gets the girl. Evil is overcome. Or whatever the case may be. But to get there, we must keep the energy level high throughout the book. To write a story that will keep readers turning the pages so they do make it to that great end. So I will begin from now on to analyze my own work better, especially that forgotten middle section. I don't want to see the characters lose their zing or the plot to drag. Keep the story flowing. Perhaps add in an extra twist in the plot by a minor subplot. To not get bogged down with the day to day living that can really be a drag. To put in new and quirky things with the characters to keep readers entertained. To make it an interesting work through and through. To make the story stand upright all the way to the end.

Get rid of bad posture in your book. Keep it fresh and the writing lively from page one on.

The Final Editing Stage...Walk Away

Okay, I have done the major rewrite on my upcoming novel due in to the editor.


But now I am tired. Worn out. My fingers are frazzled, and my mind is numb after all the rewriting. I am thoroughly sick and tired of the book. So what do I do?



Let it rest and walk away. Literally.


Yes, I took a week off, walked away from my computer and went into the woods to enjoy a bit of the coming spring. I went hiking for a week.

I enjoyed blooming redbud and the dogwood. And allowed some refreshing times to enter my weary soul. Afterwards, I returned to the book that had been sitting patiently in my computer, awaiting my attention. I read it as though I had not seen it before. And I was able to detect the flow of the writing better. To see small mistakes that would have likely been overlooked, having stared at the document for so long. And put the finishing touches on a manuscript to ready it for the editor.


So what to do on that last stage of editing? Walk away. Take a rest. Then come back and have a new look at it. In the end you will have a final product that gleams.