Melbourne Romance Writers Guild Blog

Tackling Editor Revisions - Part II by Stefanie London

11/5/2014

Following on from Part I of tackling editor revisions, where I outlined steps for getting into the right revision headspace, now I’ll share my approach to completing revisions.

The first step is possibly the most important: pat yourself on the back. Editors don’t give everyone the opportunity to revise and resubmit, so you’ve obviously captured the editor’s attention and you’re on the road to publication.

The next thing to do is to work out what the editor is asking for, it might be about working one or all of the below:

Structure and plot – there might be something to do with the events in the story that aren’t working, perhaps the premise is a little cliché or there are some events which seem to be too heavily reliant on coincidence (my first revision letters was largely around fixing plot and structure problems)

Characters – perhaps the plot is good but the characters aren’t fleshed out enough or maybe they’re not leaping off the page yet. Or, if you’re like me, you had way too many secondary characters and need to kill some of them off…yep, that happened

Conflict – the dreaded conflict, this can be a tough one for first-time writers (and it can still be a problem even after you’ve written a few manuscripts, trust me!) Often this is about layering in more detail to strengthen the characters conflict and motivation (but that’s a whole other blog post).

Voice – another one that’s really tough for new authors. This is more about how the book is written than what the story is about or what the characters are doing. I would highly recommend reading articles on finding your voice if you’re a new author

There could be a whole host of other reasons why you might need to revise your book, but these are some of the common ones. Having a good understanding of what the editor feels you need to work on will help you understand what you need to do next.

In getting organised to start revisions I do the following:

1.       Print the revision letter out

2.       Read it slowly

3.       Read it again

4.       This time read it and highlight what you feel might be the actual changes you need to make (e.g. the editor may point to a specific event in the book which needs tweaking or they might point to a general problem and then you will need to work out where in the book to make those tweaks)

5.       Have a notebook or Word doc handy and make a list of all the changes (I sort mine into big and little changes. A big change might be the removal of a character and a small change might be changing the name of a town or street.)

Then as I go through the manuscript from start to finish, I mark off the changes as I go. I find this step to be crucial in helping me to understand how much I have done. It’s easy to get lost in the middle of revisions and forget what you’ve changed and what you haven’t. Tracking the changes really helps me.

After I’ve gone through the manuscript from start to finish, I will often read it again. Then I ‘weed out the bad words’ i.e. just, actually, really…all those words that don’t add any value. If I have time I’ll either send the entire manuscript (or the parts which have had the most work) to a critique partner or my beta reader.

Then I do a final read through to catch any typos, spelling errors, inconsistencies etc. before sending it back to my editor.

Don’t forget, you can always go back to the editor and ask for clarification. You can also ask to discuss any changes they’ve requested which don’t feel right for your book. The relationship between an editor and author is a two-way street, so don’t ever be afraid of talking to your editor about your concerns.

Stefanie London’s debut novel, ONLY THE BRAVE TRY BALLET, will be out with Harlequin Mills and Boon in July 2014. She writes sparkling, contemporary romances with a pinch of spice.

Stefanie loves to connect with readers. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Good Reads or via her website.

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Tackling Editor Revisions - Part I by Stefanie London

17/3/2014

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Scenario: You’ve completed your manuscript and polished it until it’s so shiny you can see your own face in it. You’ve found a publisher that would be PERFECT for your story and you’ve worked up the guts (or had enough glasses of champagne) to hit ‘send’ on your submission. After a nail-biting wait, you’ve heard back from the editor. They love your story (woo hoo!) but it’s not quite ready for publication. They’d like you to have a go at revising the manuscript according to their suggestions.

This scenario is not an uncommon one, believe me. My manuscript for ONLY THE BRAVE TRY BALLET went through three rounds of revisions before I got ‘the call’ and even then they threw a fourth round in for good measure.

Here’s the good news: revisions mean the editor thinks your work is worth his/her time. They don’t do this for everyone, so if you get revisions from an editor it means you’re doing something right.

Bad news: revisions can be scary as all hell.

My first revision letter was three pages long and it involved me re-writing approximately half of my story. However, in listening to the editor’s advice I was able to better shape my story, clarify the hero and heroine’s conflict and generally make the story better.

Tackling the revisions, however, can be a very daunting task. Where do you start? How should you approach it? What if you disagree with one of the suggestions?

I’m not an expert, I’m just an author who managed to feel her way through enough revisions to convince an editor to say ‘yes’. So I do have some experience in tackling revisions both from a mental perspective and a process perspective.

Part 1 – Tackling revisions from a mental perspective

There are a couple of things that you should do before actually working on the revisions.

1.       Get a cup of coffee, tea, vodka (insert your poison of choice here)

2.       Print the letter out and read it

3.       Cry, scream, shout, complain to your husband and/or cat

4.       Rip up the letter

5.       Wait at least three or four days before attempting to look at the letter again

6.       Repeat steps 1-3

7.       Create a plan for tackling the revisions (I’ll cover this off more in part II)

Revisions can mess with your head. But taking the right steps to mentally prepare for revisions is important. My approach allows me time to digest the information and figure out the best way to move forward.

Therefore, my serious top tips for mental preparation are as follows:

1.       Allow yourself some thinking time. As I said, read the letter and then put it away for a few days. In the heat of the moment it might be tempting to dismiss the editor’s suggestions, to take the revisions to mean your work isn’t good enough etc. By taking a few days away from the letter you give your brain time to digest the information fully and to let the emotions clear.

2.       Check your mindset. The editors are very busy and the fact that they’ve taken time out to write you a revision letter means they like what they see – you MUST remember this. Choosing to see the letter as an investment in your writing will help you tackle it more positively.

3.       Check in with your support network. I am a HUGE believer in the support network. After I got my first letter I read it to my husband. You might want to turn to your critique group, a beta readers, your mum – whoever. But they will see the letter for what it is: a fantastic opportunity.

4.       Look at it with a critical eye. Is there anything which you’re uncomfortable with? Are there any suggestions which you think don’t fit your story or style? You can always raise these with the editor, I’ve done this and while it can be intimidating it’s ultimately what’s best for your story. Just remember, always be polite and professional.

5.       Set time aside to plan. After you’ve had a little space from the letter and you’re comfortable with the suggestions make some time to sit down and plan how to tackle the revisions. Don’t jump straight back into writing, give yourself at least one writing session’s worth of time to think strategically about how you’re going to make your story better.

In part II I’ll share how I actually go about tackling revisions from a process perspective. In the meantime, if you’ve gotten yourself a revision letter don’t forget to pay yourself on the back. You’re doing great! If you have any tips on how to mentally prepare for revisions please share them in the comments below – I’d love to hear them!

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Tips for Eliminating Wordiness and Tightening Your Writing by Serena Tatti

20/1/2013

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Description:

There are times when less is more and an easy way to improve our writing is to look for too much description and delete it. As writers, we paint a picture by describing settings, characters, and clothes, but it’s not always necessary to describe every little detail.

When we enter a room for the first time, our senses work in unison. We take in the sights, smells, and sounds, we feel the heat/cold/ambience, but mostly taste doesn’t come into play in this instance. We use our five senses concurrently and view the overall picture. Our eyes take in the main parts—the light or darkness, key colours, furniture, maybe some paintings, but we don’t focus on every single trinket on every table or dresser, or the brush strokes used in the paintings. If we went into complete details about the entire room, chances are we would lose our reader after a couple of paragraphs.

The same goes for descriptions of every character and what each person is wearing. An overview is sufficient.

Active/Passive voice:

The subject of an active voice sentence performs the action of the verb.

*I painted the wall* is written in the active voice.

*I* is the subject

*painted* is the verb

*the wall* is the object

When the object of the sentence is having something done to it, the verb is passive.

*The wall was painted by me* is in the passive voice.

*the wall* changes from object to subject

*I* becomes *me* when turned from subject to object.

*painted* becomes *was painted*

Of course it’s fine to use the passive voice occasionally, but a paragraph with half a dozen *wases* or *weres* can be very distracting.

Unnecessary words:

Concentrate on the words that don’t add anything to your story, whether repeating the same word several times close to each other (unless occasionally for emphasis), or conveying the same information more than once.
e.g. my most used word is *just*. I just love writing just about anything using the word *just*, just too often.
Here’s a list I’ve compiled through several sources of words that are used too often, or words that add little to the meaning of a sentence:
• Almost
• Anyway
• At the present time
• Began to
• By means of
• Certainly
• Considering the fact that
• Definitely
• Even
• Just
• Moved to
• Perhaps
• So
• Some
• Started
• That
• Very

Some of them might seem fine by you, but most of these are imprecise in certain circumstances.

*Mary moved to go to the bedroom* sounds a bit awkward.

*Mary headed to the bedroom* sounds stronger. Similarly, using *tiptoed, sauntered, ambled, or stomped* would make it easier to visualise the way Mary is travelling to the bedroom.

Lastly, think of the parts of a story that you tend to skim over to get to the exciting bits. You want to avoid those skimmed over bits and have your book full of exciting bits. Use your words wisely. Be concise and your manuscript will flow better.

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On the other side of “the call” by Emmie Dark

9/7/2012

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On the other side of “the call”

by Emmie Dark

I realized the other day that I’ve just reached the year’s anniversary of the date I got my “call”. It’s been an amazing twelve months and I thought it was timely to re-cap some of the key moments of my journey. So, with a whole one year’s experience as a published author, here’s my recap on the year so far.

Things I expected:

There are lots of exciting things that come with being a first-time published author. Holding your book in your hands for the very first time. Seeing your book on a shelf in a store. The first time a reader – someone you’ve never even met – writes to you to tell you they enjoyed reading your story.

So is finally getting the call and seeing your dreams come true as exciting as you always thought? You better believe it.

Things I didn’t expect:

All the things I just mentioned become even more precious because of the blood, sweat and tears you put into your book AFTER the call. That’s right – unfortunately the hard work of polishing your manuscript until it glows in order to get it noticed is only the very first step in getting it out to readers. You’re going to have to polish that book until your fingers cramp and you’re so sick of every single word you never want to see it again.

Of course, I knew there would be work to be done – no book is perfect. But I don’t think I’d ever properly thought about what life would be like as a proper author, when writing was a job and not just a passion.

And that leads me to my third and final point:

Things I wish I’d known:

Unless you’re incredibly fortunate, odds are you won’t be able to quit your day job when you get your call. But you know what? Being a published author is pretty much a full-time job. So prepare to work two jobs for a while.

Sleep is overrated, isn’t it?

One other thing I should mention, and I guess it goes under the heading of “Things I didn’t expect”, is the pleasure of seeing your book under various different covers.

Cassie and Ronan’s story is out this month (July) in Australia and New Zealand as a “Blush” imprint from Mills and Boon. It has a pretty pink/mauve cover with a lovely, happy-looking couple who I’m quite happy to consider to be Cassie and Ronan.

I imagine the thrill must wear off for some of those authors with dozens and dozens of books in translation all around the world. But for me there’ a special thrill in seeing Cassie’s Grand Plan with a different cover – perhaps because it’s the Australian release, right here in my very own home town.

Website: http://www.emmiedark.com

Blog: http://emmiedark.blogspot.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmieDarkFanPage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/EmmieDark

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The Perils of not de-cluterring

20/2/2012

19 Comments

By Margaret Tanner

The start of a new year is a great time to de-clutter, figuratively and literally speaking. A time to cast off the old and start afresh with the new.

I am a clutter collector from way back. I figure why throw anything out; you never know when you might need it. I inherited the hoarder gene.

“Waste not, want not” was my mother’s motto and she lived by it the whole of her life. Maybe it was because she lived through the great depression of the 1930’s and World War 2, that she would use and re-use, save and squirrel away stuff. Our house was never untidy, because most of the hoarded items were well out of sight.

I should have learned my lesson after my dear mother died about 20 years ago and my sister and I had to clear out her house. To say it was a nightmare was an understatement. It took weeks. My mother had kept receipts from the 1940’s, even her World War 2 ration book. And speaking of books, she had hundreds of them. Then there were the ornaments, pretty little knick-knacks that reposed on every shelf or level surface in the house. Boxes of china. Well, you get the idea.

Now you would think that after all this trauma and angst, I would have dashed home and gone through my own cupboards. I didn’t, but I did take a lot of my mother’s stuff with me. Well, how could I let it go? All those little treasures.

My mother-in-law passed away, same story, I kept a lot of her things too. I was a hoarder. It came as naturally as breathing or eating.

Well friends, retribution did come. The youngest of our sons finally left home, so hubby and I decided it was time to downsize. We bought a smaller house, and put our larger house on the market. “We’ve got a lot of stuff here, we’ll have to get rid of it,” hubby says.

Over my dead body. “No, we won’t do anything rash,” I said, “there’s plenty of time to work out what we want to keep.”

A week before the auction of our house, my husband had to have heart by-pass surgery, so I had to go on with the sale alone. After the auction and hubby’s successful operation, I had to start packing, because when he came home he couldn’t do anything for eight weeks. I really hit the panic button because we had a short settlement. Forty days to clear out all our stuff, that of my mother and mother-in-law (things I had kept, and shouldn’t have). Well, it was a nightmare. I did most of it on my own. I don’t know how many trips I made to donate all these “treasures” to the second hand thrift shop (we call them Op shops here in Australia. They are run by charities to raise money to help the less fortunate). And I did help the less fortunate - big time. The Op shop manager must have thought I was Mother Teresa re-incarnated.

It was terrible. I cried because I had to give away my treasures, mum’s treasures and my mother in-law’s treasures. Worse still, was the time it took to pack them and deliver them to the Op shop.

With the clock ticking, I had to be ruthless – and I was.

If you are even contemplating moving house, start to get rid of your surplus stuff early. In fact, don’t collect it in the first place. A lady once told me that if she didn’t wear a dress for a year, she was probably never going to wear it again, and she got rid of it. Smart lady. Wish I had such courage. I still cling to my favourite dresses, hey I might lose weight and they will fit me again???

The moral of this story is - don’t hoard. De-clutter as much as possible, because one day you will have to sort it out, or your children will have to sort it out.

The same goes for your writing. Be ruthless. If the manuscript you have expended blood, sweat and tears over isn’t working, discard it. Temporarily cast it into your bottom drawer is what I mean. Don’t destroy it, because you might be able to resurrect it at a later date. Start on something fresh and new. Once you get your writing tastebuds tingling again with a new premise, a feisty heroine and a spunky hero, the words will start flowing until they become a torrent.

Never give up. It is a steep climb to the top of the publishing mountain, but oh what a view once you get there.

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Tackling Editor Revisions - Part II by Stefanie London

Tackling Editor Revisions - Part I by Stefanie London

Tips for Eliminating Wordiness and Tightening Your Writing by Serena Tatti

On the other side of “the call” by Emmie Dark

The Perils of not de-cluterring

Writing With Passion

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