The Polish Edit

I haven't had much time in the past few weeks to work on the polish edit of the GIANT, but I've found enough time to make it through the first 40 (of 218 and shrinking) pages. It's going well, most passages flow well and I don't feel the compulsion to rewrite everything. The heaviest work I've done is moving sentences around. I'm trimming a lot of extra words out as well - I've taken 3 total pages out - for the most part individual words and sentences.

I'm wondering if I'm overediting this. For the first time in my life I've been reading books on how to write. I never took to English classes too well, and I never had a creative writing class, so finer techniques I'm not too up on. Like words that end in ly (adverbs?) and passive voice - both big no-nos. I turned on grammar check for the first time as well - thinking I would get barraged with warnings (as I did when I used it in college or high school), but apparently I've learned something - most of the warnings were for using contractions or sentence fragments. Sentence fragments.

At the same time I have had the outline for the book open. I'm updating it and adding choice quotes to it. I'll use this to construct an outline and synopsis for the book - though I'm not clear on the difference between the two. One is longer and one is a little more boring - I checked out a book from the library that tells me which is which - I'll have to recheck.

Another draft finished. One more to go?

I'm working on two GIANT related items right now - one is finding and agent / publisher, the other is writing. Having just come from the writing desk, I'll speak about writing here.

I finished up the last draft quicker than I though - it was short - only dealing with four or five chapters, but two of those were completely new. It turned out the newest chapters were the easiest to edit - there was little change needed. It was mostly pacing, dialog and typo pickups. It leads me to think that I'm finally figuring out how to write. I've read a lot of 'how I write books' lately - all by established authors. Everyone of them says they only have three or so big drafts of their novels. That worried me - I've at least doubled that number. I knew that everyone works differently and I'm still early in my writing development, but still . . . So finding those new chapters in great shape boosted my confidence.

The other half of the edit was more rigorous, but well worth it. I had earlier made hand edits to the first few chapters of the second section of the book. The chapters were really suffering from poor flow, bad description, and a serious case of Boring. I cut a ton out of the paragraphs and rearranged a lot of what was left to really pick up the pacing. Additionally strengthened the back story and main character's motivation.

After all this I started a new draft for the cleanup last pass before I start shopping this around. Though all my paragraphs were not indented and had spaces between them. This made it handier to print and correct and had a good look on the screen, but needed to be standardized. It took about an hour and a half to indent all the paragraphs - in the end I took out 30 of 249 pages just by removing white space. Whew. In a few weeks I'm going to sit back down and start the typo pass.

Writing a New Ending

I've had the opportunity to devote a lot of time to writing as of late, and feel that if I don't take the opportunity to do it now, I'll never have it again. So, I've been writing and editing, writing and writing a lot these past few weeks. I think its paying off - the proof of course will be when I try to shop this thing around. Most of what I've been reading lately is good - there's not a lot of cutting and rewriting anymore. I'm not sighing and asking myself why I wrote so much terrible nonsense. Not to say that everything is golden - there are still rough patches here and there.

Today I made it to the end of the draft and started writing a new ending to the novel (the GIANT). I was afraid of this - I know what the ending is - I don't have an outline, but its only a chapter or two. I do have a number of conversations sketched out as well. BUT - for the most part it would have to come out of my head and end up on the screen - the screen that is blank. To counter this end of the line blankness, I pasted in a paragraph that I had cut from the old ending, but wanted to rework into the new ending, so I could fool myself into thinking I was just rolling along with the edit as I've been doing for months now.

Turns out, I didn't have much to fear. The words just poured out of me, which was a relief. It was going so well that ideas for further along in the ending were coming to me, so I wrote them in as well. Not bad.

While I've been working on the computer, I've been hand editing a few chapters from earlier in the book. They are the first three chapters from the NOW section of the novel (see earlier posts if you're confused, but NOW is basically the second half of the book). There are some ROUGH stretches in these chapters. I've discovered a shortcoming in that I have trouble describing places. Description of action comes much easier for me. This is something I'll have to work on.

As soon as I'm finished with this hand edit, I'm going to make the revisions to the digital file. Then I'll go back and edit the as yet not finished new ending. From there I'm going to go through the whole thing again and check for errors - hopefully it won't need much intensive editing. If all goes well its a spell check and I'm off to look for agents and publishers.

Writer's Block

My former understanding of writer's block came from popular media. Writer's block was something like this: a writer sits in front of his typewriter staring at a blank piece of paper, unable to think of the final paragraph that will finish his next great american novel.

Here's what I think it is now. Writer's block is an impasse between the brain and the paper (or screen). I'm editing now, and its going pretty well, but I find patches that I want to rework. Usually these are parts where my intended theme or idea just isn't coming through - there was a problem with the langauge. Ha! Sometimes I find the words to fix it, sometimes I just struggle with the idea still in my head. It's SO frustrating to type a few words, then delete them, type some other words, then yell ARGH and delete those. I get fidgety - if I have music on I'll turn it off, no music on? Well lets hear some tunes - maybe that will help.

Too often I have walked away from the computer and come back later (sometimes its 15 minutes, sometimes a day), but I'm really trying to stop doing that now. This book isn't going to write itself for one, but I'm also not going to get better unless I force myself through the tough patches. I'm too far along with this novel to leave problems to be fixed in later drafts. I don't see too many more drafts before I start shopping this thing around for publishing (thankfully - what a long road its been). So I do my best to sit still and type my way out of all the plot messes and descriptive duds I wrote myself into. The proof, ultimately, will be in the reading - my hope is that when I'm finished most of the next draft will just be picking up typos and switching "there" into "their" and "wonder" into "wander" - wish I would have paid more attention in fourth grade english.

Rough Roads and Smooth Sailing

My slow editing, writing, and rewriting continued, but today I made it over the hump and really slammed out some pages. I know I talk a lot about the number of pages I have left, or the number I get through in a day, but it's not a quantity issue. With the revising, assuming I'm paying attention, when I make it through pages quickly it means what I'd written previously is good. Slow days indicate a lot of problems and necessary slow revisions.

I mentioned in the previous post there are two sections to the book: Before and Now. Before, being roughly present day and Now being the future. The slowness of late has been with the first few chapters of Now. The chapters set up a lot of the background (nuts and bolts sort of stuff) for this future world as well as the beginning of the journey for one of the main characters. Apparently I've struggled mightily with this part. It's getting better now, but I think I'll print those chapters and give them a hand edit.

There's two main characters in the Now section and I've reached the point where both are active in the story and I find the reading and writing much smoother and enjoyable. One of the problems before the second character joins is the lack of dialogue and the amount of information the reader needs to understand what is going on. I want to get into the story quicker, but I need to set up the ground rules first. Previously I had distributed this throughout the novel, but my editor advised me to front load more of it as she was confused in several places. I think with another physical print and on screen edit that section should be pretty tight.

Ok, Now I'm Excited Again

I was down to the last nine pages of the edit, plus the new ending chapter I had to write from scratch. It turned out that I painted myself into a corner, or wrote a story to nowhere, I suppose in this case. What to do, what to do? I tried diagramming what I wanted the ending to be, but couldn't make it fit with the story I had in place. Uh oh.

If I couldn't make the ending fit the story, I would make the story fit the ending. Here's what I did: I typed my handwritten outline and made revisions. I made a quick sketch of what parts of the story would have to change and noted that on the printed outline. There was quite a bit of red by the time I was finished. To top it off I wrote some character sketches. Some would say you should write those before your fifth? draft. Whatever.

With these vital documents in hand I turned back to the computer. Draft 5 became draft 5a and away I went. Much to my surprise a lot of what I read was actually good. The first few days of the edit I flew through 20% of the novel. Not bad. The effort wasn't the slash and burn then rewrite extensively affair that previous revisions have been. Of course, this is not a major revision, just a tweak (hence the A in the draft number). For the most part I moved around sentences and paragraphs. I did write a fair amount, but took out much less. I added about eight computer pages and only took out one and a half.

The first few days went well, but the next two (also the last two) have been a little slower. A little background: There are two sections to the book - Before and Now. Before takes place (somewhat confusingly) in modern times. Now is 100-200 years in the future when life as we know it has been destroyed. Before is about 20% of the total. The past few days I've been working on Now, which during the previous edit I added a lot to the beginning. Reading it this week, it showed.

Some paragraphs looked scabbed together while the rest were obviously untouched or completely new. It might have been quicker for me to start over, but the thought of all that white is so intimidating. Methodically I moved paragraphs and sentences around to make the story flow with the new outline. On top of that I added a few paragraphs - Now was just not flowing as well as Before. There was so much revision that I added a new chapter. It's a short one, but it explains a lot to the reader. Previously I had spread out too many revelations through the entire story. Now, in Now, the reader gets a Cliff's Notes type explanation of the future (remember that Now is in the future).

To make a long story short - I have made some good changes that will make the story purposeful and upon reading my work over I feel that all the writing is finally at a level I am proud of.

Plans for the Next Edit

I continue to make major cuts towards the end here. Granted, I did revise the plot making much of the text outdated, but during past edits I think I cruised towards the end. Before, when I was near the end I tended to gloss over errors (this is obvious to me reading it now).

My plans for the next edit, starting sometime in the spring will be to revise the first section first, then I will jump into the ending. This should give me a fresh take on the end and also allow me to tie in themes and language from the beginning into the end.

I'm going to type my handwritten outline so I can make further changes to it before the next edit as I'm still having doubts wondering if readers will completely buy into the world I have created. Still I don't feel that I have explained themes enough. Is this a case of me trying to seek higher levels of perfection, or am I still coming into my own as a writer?

A Thin Stack Remains

After getting through the big conversation edit and revision I come back to a thin stack of printed pages. The conversation cut and edit was a lot of work, but as has been the case previously, well worth it. Formerly the story was disjointed and jumpy - its much smoother now.

I keep track of total pages and pages to go - six total pages were cut during the last editing session. I also keep a digital file of long cut passages, usually anything more than a sentence. My packratedness certainly extends to the electronic world, but I also like to keep all the cut material somewhere in case I decide to pull it back in (I have not yet) and to see how far I've come. The cut file now contains 25,000 words. Witness the wrath of the displeased writer.

Slugging it Out

I've reached the part of the GIANT where two of the main characters engage in a long discussion - seven or eight pages worth. It's a big part of the book - where the characters make decisions and the reader is let in on a few secrets.

My problem now is that I have tweaked the plot and sequencing of the story so much that the conversation had to be reordered and revised. During my recent hand edit I was able to lay out all the pages in front of me and resort the paragraphs. I broke the conversation into nine sections and noted the draft as such.

However, I could not put my hard work to use as during this digital edit I revised the plot just enough to make this new conversation inaccurate. A third of the conversation was cut entirely while another third was reworked. It was tedious work, referring to my original notes, scanning through the pages on screen, and trying to make sense of it all. I wanted to give up and leave it for another day, but I'm trying to put in as much work as I can, so there was no quitting.

Thankfully its finished and I'm onto smoother waters.

Crawling Along

A few weeks later it's still slow going, but this was a particularly slow (even boring at times) stretch, so all the work is worthwile. I think I'm about through this passage and should be making some good time soon - I hope. I've been working on the GIANT for many years now, and I worry that I may never finish the thing.

I'm not a writer, but I am a creator. I make things. I have always enjoyed writing, but have never found any great feedback from my work and I'm trying with teh GIANT to find that recognition. I don't know what motivates other creative people, but for me its about 80-90% for the sake of the work and the rest for compliments.

A New Year

The first part of the GIANT is complete, it's now onto the second. I had thought that the second part would go more quickly than the first, but so far I'm moving no more quickly than before. It seems like I've been working on some of these pages for days at a time.

The slowness, however, is for the betterment of the book. During my hand edit I noticed the text is often empty of description and place setting. I made a note for myself about setting the scene - sights, sounds, smells, emotions, etc. I taped this on a shelf next to my computer monitor. In my print of the text, where the story needed better description I simply wrote "SET SCENE".

I haven't taken a lot of writing courses, so I forget about some of the visual communication to the reader. I'll find myself picturing the scene in my mind, but negelecting to describe it on paper.

Hand Edit Complete

My latest hand edit is complete. My strategy of moving quickly through the work and making outline notes instead of long blocks of text paid off. For the first time I came away with a good overall sense of what pieces fall into place where. No more wondering if a character had revealed some important fact about his life or if the narrator had explained something to the reader! Instead of having read the passage in question months ago, it was a matter of days - everything was very fresh. I will tackle future hand edits in such a rapid fashion, with the only exception of following the quick edit with a comprehensive follow up edit.

Now its onto the digital edit - I have just short of three months before the end of the year - wouldn't it be great to complete it before 2010? It would, but given my slow history with this, I won't hold my breath.

The Hand Edit Continues

I have moved through the edit of the first section of the GIANT (which is about 20% of the book), and have made a decision. My last hand edit was an intensive affair, where I hand wrote long passages, but it was a slow process. So far, this edit is no different and has been a slow, but productive affair. I feel as though I have made a lot of good changes, but when I move onto the rest of the story, I'm going to change the pace.

There are a lot of plot points and timing issues to remember (I still don't have an outline), so I'm going to move through the rest of the edit as quickly as possible so as to not forget points. Instead of handwriting long passages, I'm going to make more broad suggestions and make the actual changes on the computer. If I have particularly good ideas, I'll write those out, but otherwise I'm going to make this a quick strike sort of affair.

Onto the Next Draft

The GIANT is broken into two sections, and it is clear from the outside edit that the first section needs a fair ammount of work. It has been months since I have read through the entire manuscript, and more than a year since I've held a physical copy of it. Additionally, I have tweeked the plot somewhat, so just a short way into the edit I have significant changes to make.

What I've spent a lot of time focusing on is pulling the reader quickly into the story. Always critical to a story's success (who wants to plow through a boring story by an unknown author?), a good beginning is doubly important to the GIANT to explain the technical structure of the story.

Editor's Comments

I've flipped through the latest manuscript which has my editor's, Stacy, comments. It is quite helpful to see the story through another person's eyes. There have been quite a few, "why did I do that?" revelations on my part.

Stacy left quite a few notes on the pages. I am not a professional writer, nor have I taken more than the required English courses during my educational life, so there are quite a few technial aspects I am not clear on. It's always helpful when someone helps me out in that regard. Stacy also pointed out a few places where my writing style was either confusing, uneeded, or out of place. For example, I started a wealth of sentences with And and But, and an attempt to control pacing I used too many short sentences.

Stacy also provided quite a few big picture comments which shows me where I had not explained the plot and story well enough.

I will begin my next edit (hand) soon.

My editor's comments

I recently met with my editor, Stacy. She's not a profressional editor, but has a lot of writing experience, and more importantly was willing to read the entire manusrcipt. She asked me if I wanted her feedback straight or with a little sugar. Give it to me straight, I say. If this book is going to be ANYTHING, I need honest feedback from every corner.

Overall Stacy said the story is worthwhile and I should pursue publishing (I plan to), but I need to put in a lot of work before that time. The text needs a good amount of technical editing, as the wording is distracting in places now. Part of the story is set in a future world, and Stacy doesn't buy some of the situations and technologies there. She also made good recomendations to set up the story and pull the reader into the world.

Stacy also picked up on my lack of outline and subsequent attempts to change the plot. I had attempted a post-written sort of outline, but clearly it did not help me enough. I plan on during my next draft to write an outline as I go through the edit of the work - hopefully this will help me to keep everything straight in my mind, so that I will be able to keep the story straight for the reader.

This is Like Work

I'm down to the grit of the story - the parts that STILL aren't worked out. Places where I haven't added enough description, or where the characters are a little off. The description I understand - I now see that as a problem of mine. I tend to gloss over pieces, filling in the details in my mind. But the character stuff bugs me.

A few years ago when this all started the characters were a little different. I have since changed them for the better, but some of their old decisions, motivations, speach, etc. were still there. I thought I would have caught all of that in the last physical edit. Nope.

But - things are starting to shape up. There's big sections that I'm happy with. I've read every word at least four times, so the parts that still excite me and make me want to read more make me happy. I figure if I (the writer) want to read more, someone who hasn't read the book before will want to - that's my hope anyway.

The pace of my edit has slowed down a bit. I was motoring along for several weeks, but other non-book issues have demanded more attention of me lately. I'm tyring to remain focused, but time slips away from me quickly.

Digital Edit Complete

Draft 4a is complete. Now it's on to draft 4b. The titles don't mean much.

I found that I again had to rework the ending a bit. It no longer fit the characters and their personalities. Nor did it fit my revised (slightly) plot. The story is better now though. Every time I revise, it gets better. Which makes me wonder if I will ever stop revising. Will there be a point where I am satisfied?

I hope.

Here's my new plan. I'm going to do another digital edit. Hand it off to my wife. She'll make suggestions on a physical print. I'll probably make some markups on those pages and once again make digital revisions. From there I may have a friend or relative take a look at it. Then probably make a few more changes. I hope at that point its ready to head off to some agents. My new thinking is to have this commercially published (assuming there are interested parties). If not I'll give self publishing a shot. I've put so much effort into this, I want to see something come of it. Or maybe I'll publish it online. We shall see.

32 Pages Remain

32 pages remain for the hand edit to digital conversion. I've devoted more time to the effort now. I find that I can go for two hour stretches without getting out of the seat or getting distracted.

Getting distracted has been a real problem for me in the past. Reading books or magazines being the biggest culprit. I'm using an old computer to write on. I stipped most everything off of it. No games or internet capabilities. The only thing I left were music and pictures. Both are more inspirational than diverting.

Music in particular is helpful. It helps to keep parts of my brain from being bored. I also use it to put me into certain moods. Brooding, sad, joyous, and so on. Most of the time I listen to a set list of maybe 50 songs. Then I flip back and forth between maybe 10 cds. There's just enough variety in there.

I hope to slam out the remaining pages in the next two days. Then its back for another on screen edit. We'll see where things stand from there. I'm going to shift my focus from self publishing to traditional publishing, so I'm starting to work on query letters and plot summaries and all that. More on that later.

11 More Pages

I slammed out 11 more pages today in just over an hour. An hour seems to be a good time frame for inputting edits for me. Any longer and I get really twitchy. I'm happy when I run across a page with only a few edits on it. But they are few. Most have lots of scrawled out passages, arrows, and other notes I have trouble following. When will I learn to write clearly?

I try not to mention my life outside the book too often - only when something has a great impact on my work. I am for the second time in four months out of work again. Which leaves me with a lot of free time to work on projects like the GIANT, but leaves me with a shortage of money (with which I like to buy food). So I have spent much time looking for jobs (there aren't many out there) and worrying. It had been eight days before today since I worked on the GIANT. I hope that I can at least find 30-60 minutes a day to dedicate to the edits.