You know how in films it seems the director makes a person pause for an eternity before answering a question, but in real life it might only take two seconds? I'm telling you after I burst out with, "The suspense is killing me. What do you think about the book?" it felt like 20 years went by before Terri replied. In that pause I told myself I totally sucked as a writer. Then I ran away from home, dug a hole, and buried myself in it.
Well, I did it. I think some of my edits might look like drunk writing towards the end of the manuscript, but no matter. My book has gone to the beta reader test group. I selected people who are discerning and detail-oriented, so heaven help me. While I'm nervous, I'm also looking forward to hearing …
Continue reading People are reading my book. REAL PEOPLE! *bites nails*
Nine...chapters...done...21...to...go. Did I mention that I also did some editing during my Technical Writer career? This is an advantage when it comes to reading my manuscript and looking for plot discrepancies, thin chapters, flow issues, grammar usage, unnecessary and overly-repeated words, and good ol' spelling mistakes. My beta-reader draft is underway, but these redlines, oh, the …
Continue reading Incorporating Redlines, or, How I Want to Punch Myself in the Face
I gave myself a few days to shout, "Whoo-hoo, I finished my first draft!" Now, I'm back to chewing all my nails and the first few centimetres of each finger as I realize my next step is to write the draft that my beta readers will review. Uh, excuse me for a moment. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! OK, that …
I've written about this before, but after going through the exercise several times, I had to say it again. There is nothing like listening to someone else read your writing to you. I find it does the following: Lets you know if your story flows from one chapter to the next. .. Validates the rhythm …
OK, OK, I did it again. I lost my poop. I took my eyes off the pleasure of writing and started fretting about how to publish--who would accept me, how would people regard me if I self-published, and on and on and on. This is what I call The Dark Vacuum of Joylessness. I just get sucked …
Cait Gordon—author and editor 