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mary rosenblum
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HJi, all!
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm sorry you didn't get an
announcement of the Forum. I sent out TWO and for some reason, neither of
them went ou.
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mary rosenblum
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I planned to talk about
revision today...how to approach it.
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mary rosenblum
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Aha. Just checked my email...
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mary rosenblum
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and they upgraded the virus
protection on the server.
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mary rosenblum
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Good news for all of us, but
that means I can't send out the serve list announcements until they get the
bugs out.
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mary rosenblum
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So the website update may be a
bit late today.
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mary rosenblum
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Or rather...this week.
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mary rosenblum
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Sorry, I can't think, and read
email at the same time!
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mary rosenblum
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But I do want to talk about
revision a bit...
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mary rosenblum
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since this is the hardest part
of writing for many new writers...
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mary rosenblum
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And there are some writers who
advocate NOT revising...who tell workshop attendees to write the first
draft, send it out, and go on to the next story.
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mary rosenblum
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I know a few of these folk.
And they publish a lot of short short stories.
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mary rosenblum
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But you know what? They don't
publish in the major markets and they aren't known as major writers.
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mary rosenblum
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There is a lot to be said for
revision.
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mary rosenblum
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It is a very separate thing
from creating.
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forest elf
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Yipes! If I did that I would
never get published!
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mary rosenblum
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What's that forest? Move on to
the next story?
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mary rosenblum
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-)
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mary rosenblum
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Revision is a whole lot more
important when you're first starting out, because you tend to have larger
problems when you're new.
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mary rosenblum
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But even when you're a pro,
making your work stronger is never a bad thing.
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mbvoelker
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I love editing, but I think I
need a refresher in basics after my health-related writing derailment. What
are the most fundamental aspects of revising?
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mary rosenblum
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MB, this is a perfect
question, thank you!
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mary rosenblum
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Do realize that revising is
not editing.
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mary rosenblum
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They are different things,
although they have similar roles in the writing process.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't edit until I am done
revising.
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mary rosenblum
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An editor may edit my work,
but if she tries to revise it, I'll never work with her again.
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forest elf
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But can you do both at the same
time?
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mary rosenblum
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I can't.
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mary rosenblum
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But my friend, Sage, can
write, revise and edit all on the same draft, so it can certainly be done.
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mary rosenblum
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I do three revisions. (Used to
do more, but I don't make as many BIG mistakes as I used to!)
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mary rosenblum
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I should say I do three
drafts, sorry.
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mary rosenblum
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First draft is the creation
process.
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mary rosenblum
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Second draft is revision.
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mary rosenblum
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Third draft is editing.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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The difference between
revising and editing is that when you revise, you make changes...not just
to language and grammar but to content and story.
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mary rosenblum
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Ha, beat you to it, info. :-)
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bengalrose
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So, what IS revision? How does
one go about revising? How does it DIFFER from editing?
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mary rosenblum
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Basically, when you are
revising, you do not want to be worrying about whether you should use a
different word here, or whether this sentence is passive voice.
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mary rosenblum
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You want to know...is this
character behavior realistically? Would he REALLY say this?
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mary rosenblum
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Is this how she would really
react when faced with this attack?
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mary rosenblum
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You thought so when you wrote
that first draft, but now you have finished. You can see the entire
landscape...
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mary rosenblum
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and you know exactly how that
story proceeds and ends, short or novel length
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mary rosenblum
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Some of the things that worked
in the first draft, when you only envisioned that latter part...
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mary rosenblum
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may not be quite right now.
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bengalrose
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Darn! Too fast for me, Mary ;-)
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mary rosenblum
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What, my typing? Sorry,
Bengal.
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mary rosenblum
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There will be transcripts,
remember. :-)
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bengalrose
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So, revising refers to changes
made to the STORY itself and editing refers to changes in language, word
usage, grammar, etc???
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, exactly, bengal.
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mary rosenblum
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What I find is that the
'revision' brain is more like the first draft brain, the creative brain.
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mary rosenblum
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While the 'editing' brain is
that left brain...the organizer, the nit picker.
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mary rosenblum
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I can't do both at once
without weakening both functions. I need to do a revision where I ONLY
worry about content...
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mary rosenblum
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mostly character behavior. And
then I put on my editor hat, send the right brain out to play by itself...
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mary rosenblum
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and start paying attention to
langauge, visuals, rhythms and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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I pay NO attention to content
unless something leaps out and bites me.
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mary rosenblum
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And then...annoyed...I have to
call the creative part back to work.
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mary rosenblum
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And I wasn't nearly so aware
of the dual nature of writing when I started, no.
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mary rosenblum
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But I have spent a LOT of time
writing over the past 14 years or so!
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forest elf
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Is it normal for this process to
take a few weeks?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes, elf. Or longer if I
encounter basic plot problems.
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mary rosenblum
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Never underestimate the value
of letting a piece of work 'cool off'.
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mary rosenblum
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When you come back to it,
small problems that you overlooked before will leap out at you.
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mary rosenblum
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When you finish that first
draft it is perfect. You did everything you meant to do.
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mary rosenblum
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But later, reading it as a
slightly less familiar reader, you will notice the holes you left.
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mary rosenblum
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And the weak places.
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mary rosenblum
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You know your story way too
well when you have finished.
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mary rosenblum
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When I first started out, I
tended to work on one piece at a time, and the wait time was a nuisance.
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mary rosenblum
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I have since discovered that
even a couple of days spent working on another story will clear my mind and
make that first story 'new' again.
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forest elf
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So Sage uses the right and left
brain at the same time?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, apparently she does, elf,
and she does it well, too.
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mary rosenblum
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But it also takes her a LONG
time to write a novel length draft...longer than it takes me to do my three
drafts.
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mary rosenblum
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Is my way better? For me, yes.
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mary rosenblum
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Doesn't work for Sage.
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mary rosenblum
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So you do what works for you.
Always.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you find revision a
real chore, maybe you need to try breaking it down into revision and
editing.
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mary rosenblum
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It may go easier for you that
way.
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mary rosenblum
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The difficulty I find is
losing 'the picture'.
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mary rosenblum
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If I focus too narrowly on the
sentences, on the words, the visuals...
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mary rosenblum
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I lose track of what is going
on and I miss character discrepancies.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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We're talking about revision
today.
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forest elf
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I feel like an English teacher
grading a paper! It's work!
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mary rosenblum
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That sounds like an editing
pass to me, forest! That's how I feel when I"m doing my third, editing
run.
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mary rosenblum
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But you know...one of the
things that makes even editing...i dotting, t crossing...work easier?
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mary rosenblum
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It is the realization that the
work is not to get an A from the editor...that Authority Figure looming on
the horizon.
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mary rosenblum
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It is to sweep your reader
away into your world, so that they fall absolutely in love with your story.
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mary rosenblum
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Once it finally dawned on me
that I was editing for my readers, not some Person behind a desk, it
stopped being a chore.
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forest elf
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I can't ignore its editing needs
while revising. I do both.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I do obvious things,
too, elf. Anything that stands out.
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mary rosenblum
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But editing is more than just
catching grammar mistakes.
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mary rosenblum
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I really learned a LOT from my
first book editor, Ellen Key Harris.
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mary rosenblum
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She could take my prose and
make it shorter and tighter and I couldn't figure out what she had revmoved
without going back to look at the original draft.
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mary rosenblum
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It's about presenting images
and information with the fewest words possible...
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mary rosenblum
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and making every scene as
visually complete as possible with the minimal amount of description.
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mary rosenblum
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One BIG novice mistake we all
make is to put down description and then never think about it again.
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mary rosenblum
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We showed the reader the room,
street, spaceship, whatever.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't need to worry about it
now.
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mary rosenblum
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But you DO.
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mary rosenblum
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Flabby prose will obscure even
a very good story. And while a very good story may sell and engage readers
in spite of flabby prose...
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mary rosenblum
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why not have something that is
utterly compelling and sells WAY more books?
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bengalrose
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Thank you, Mary, for the
clarification. I've been spending a LOT of time trying to edit and revise
at the same time. I am going to try separating to two tasks and see if it
helps me be more productive.
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mary rosenblum
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See if it works for you.
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mary rosenblum
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As I said, once you begin to
get feedback from readers and realize that you are editing and revising for
readers and not that shadowy editor, it may become much easier for you.
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mary rosenblum
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Not for all. I know some very
well published pros who still HATE revision, but most of us like it.
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info
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If a person starts a story,
scrap it and start over because
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info
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of to many discrepancies, is
that the same as revising?
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mary rosenblum
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If it's the same story, sure,
info.
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mary rosenblum
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I know I've told the story of
my most intensive revision before...
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mary rosenblum
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but I'll tell it again. When I
finished the first draft...400 pages...of my second SF novel Chimera...
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mary rosenblum
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I realized that one of my two
main characters simply did not work in this story.
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mary rosenblum
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Rather than try to change the
existing story, I deleted the files from my hard drive, wiped the floppy
back up, and dumped the 400 pages of ms into the recycle bin.
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mary rosenblum
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I really do not plan to EVER
do that again.
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mary rosenblum
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It was NOT fun. BUT it did
result in a novel that got me a lot of critical attention and propelled my
career strongly forward.
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forest elf
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I'm much happier with my revised
portion ...
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mary rosenblum
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Good forest!
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mary rosenblum
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Most of the time, revision
does indeed improve a piece. :-)
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mbvoelker
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I think that I must be doing
most of my revision during the outlining stage and that what I'm doing to
the drafts is 95% editing. Except, perhaps, for the wholesale chopping of
dud scenes.
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mary rosenblum
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You may be sticking closer to
your outline than I do, MB.
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mary rosenblum
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As I develop characters and
bring in spear carriers who suddenly morph into strong secondary characters
I tend to stray from my original outline...
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mary rosenblum
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But yes, if you have a very
complete chapter summary and stick to it closely, you can work out a lot of
the revision before you actually write.
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bengalrose
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Mary, is it ever appropriate to
send a story to an editor that already rejected it once if that story has
been significantly revised since then?
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bengalrose
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...Especially if it has been a
long time since that editor has seen the MS.
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mary rosenblum
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Bengal, it really isn't unless
the editor has given you some kind of pointer about what he/she didn't
like.
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mary rosenblum
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You really don't know why that
eidtor rejected your story.
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mary rosenblum
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It might have been for
content. He has three similar stories in inventory...
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mary rosenblum
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or she just plain hates
stories that feature cats.
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mary rosenblum
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Since you don't know...a
revision may not have fixed the problem.
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mary rosenblum
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AND...editors know if they
commented on your work. They get a lot of resubmits from people who got
form rejections...
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mary rosenblum
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and it ties up the mail room
and the assistant editor, and they hate 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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If an editor says, "I
liked this, but the ending just didn't work for me'...
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mary rosenblum
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then if you change the ending,
send it back to the editor with a letter saying...'You were right, I found
a stronger way to end it. I'm sending it back to you just in case you want
to see it again.'
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mary rosenblum
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One of my high school students
got a nice note from Stan Schmidt at Analog on a story, questioning his
science.
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mary rosenblum
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I told him to clarify the
science and send it back. Stan didn't want the story even with the science
fixed, but he appreciated the student's willingness to make the change..
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mary rosenblum
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and told me privately that he
expected to publish work from that kid soon.
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mary rosenblum
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So in that case, the revision
and resend was a good thing.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you get a form
rejection with no comments, make changes and resubmit, you';ll probably get
a form rejection that says 'we only look at stories once' and you'll annoy
the editor.
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mbvoelker
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Depending on the piece I may do
2-5 outlines before I'm happy with the story structure. And when I'm in the
middle and have a revelation of some kind I'll revise the rest of the
outline. I'm not comfortable writing without a plan. (I don't do much of
anything without a plan. LOL) ;-)
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mary rosenblum
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You certainly do a complete
outlines/summary then, mb, and always...what works for you is the right way
to do it.
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mary rosenblum
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There are many many ways to
work as a writer, and believe me there are writers that work in all those
many ways! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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For those of you who plan to
work on novel length stuff..or who already are...I have found a few habits
that really help speed revision.
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mary rosenblum
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One is keep a list of revision
notes as a separate file. As you write your first draft, open that
'revision' file and keep it on your computer desktop. In chapter six, where
you suddenly realize that your MC should have come...
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mary rosenblum
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from the city of Corbella
rather than Usher, write it in the revise file: Change city of origin to
Corbella...
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mary rosenblum
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When you sit down to do that
revision, you'll be reminded when you get to that point, instead of
remembering in chapter six and having to search back for that point in the
story.
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mary rosenblum
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In a 400 page ms you can spend
a LOT of time hunting for particular scenes to change
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forest elf
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I had to create a timetable for
my story...
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forest elf
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it involves the moon cycles ...
I wanted to be accurate
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mary rosenblum
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That is a very good idea, elf.
I'm laughing.
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mary rosenblum
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I got caught once or twice for
having the moon do interesting things, like be full a week after it was
new...
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mary rosenblum
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There are several ways to make
revision simpler. Keep notes on when each character is introduced...what
chapter.
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mary rosenblum
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If you suddenly decide you
want to give on character red hair, you can go straight to chapter seven,
when she first appears, instead of hunting through those first six chapters
for her initial appearance.
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mary rosenblum
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And by ALL means keep these
files. If you do a sequel or this is the first book in a series, you will
bless yourself.
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forest elf
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I also made a character list
with descriptions ....
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forest elf
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can't change eye color
midstory...
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mary rosenblum
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No kidding, elf.
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mary rosenblum
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I usually have several files
for each story.
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mary rosenblum
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We're talking novel length,
now.
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mary rosenblum
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For a short story, you can
just search!
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mary rosenblum
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I keep a file for the
world...where things are, descriptions of strange critters, ecology,
sociology, etc.
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mary rosenblum
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I keep a character file that
includes every single character in the book, even if the person is a spear
carrier and all I have is hair color, eye color, and gender.
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mary rosenblum
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I keep a timeline so I know
what day we're on. You run into problems when you send your character to
the bank on Sunday morning and it's open!
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sailor
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I know you don't like comparing
writing to movies, but a CD I have includes scenes that were cut, with the
director explaining why he cut them. His reasons reminded me of our
sessions. One scene did not move the story forward. Another added nothing
to the development of the characters. He commented on one scene he really
liked, but he knew the movie would be better without it.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you're right, sailor.
The construction of a strong story is pretty much the same whether the
media is visual or prose.
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mary rosenblum
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Same process. :-)
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info
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If you aren't sure how long your
story is going to be, can
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info
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you add chapters as a part of
revisions?
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mary rosenblum
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Tiy sure can, elf. Often I'll
break a chapter into two, if it feels unweildy and long to me.
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mary rosenblum
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Or I may add an entire chapter
if I feel that I need a new scene in order to make things clear later.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
forest elf
|
Oooh, I discovered it's good to
research a made up word ....
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes indeed. There are a lot
of interesting words that we never hear...but they ARE words.
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gskearney
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Do you think it's worthwhile to
try using this stuff on a short story first to see how it works and whether
it will work for you? --gk
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mary rosenblum
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Do you mean revise/edit or
timelines, etc, gary?
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mary rosenblum
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As far as revisions go, I do
my short stories exactly the same as my novels: first draft, revision
draft, editing draft.
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mary rosenblum
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As to timelines, etc...I often
do that, too, because I tend to write at novelette length, and that means
quite a few pages.
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forest elf
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a creature I made up turned out
to be a type of enzyme ...
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mary rosenblum
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I'm laughing forest! And I
guarantee you readers out there would have caught it and written letters to
the editor!
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gskearney
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Any and all. I've been trying a
lot of different writing techniques to find what works for me. --gk
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mary rosenblum
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That's the best way to do it,
gary.
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mary rosenblum
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I spent a lot of time trying
different things. :-)
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mbvoelker
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Speaking of keeping timeline
notes: I made a calendar for Faerie Sword -- used a real year so I'd get
the dates for Ash Wednesday, Easter, etc. right and keep the phases of the
moon in order. I make scene notes on the calendar so I can see at a glance
how much time has passed and when I have action too dense or two thin for
the amount of time available.
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mary rosenblum
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And don't feel that you need
to cover all the time evenly, MB.
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mary rosenblum
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It's perfectly okay to simply
leap over a few months or years for that matter.
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mary rosenblum
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If we are intensely following
the action of a ten year old boy, we might end at a strong pause-point, and
begin the next chapter: In the spring of his 13th year, Orion rode into
Almar's life again....
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mary rosenblum
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We have left these characters
when Almar was ten, and it is now three years later.
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mary rosenblum
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The transition closes the gap
neatly.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. If you're
new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or
the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen,
or use the ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question
to reach me.
|
|
mrsdesktop
|
Three drafts, first, revision,
editing. What does your....
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mrsdesktop
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revision draft include? Are you
still primarily in the....
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mrsdesktop
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creative process here? (Just
wanting clarification.) Thanks.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, Mrs D. My first draft
just tells the story. That's all I worry about...getting the story down,
however crudely.
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mary rosenblum
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In my second draft, I pay
attention to that story...does this scene come too late, is the story
lagging here? Are her reactions realistic? Do I need to add a subplot about
this person's past?
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mary rosenblum
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This is where I tend to add or
tweak subplots, split or add or delete chapters, use transitions in place
of scenes, or scenes to replace transitions..
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mary rosenblum
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and do a lot of character
tweaking so that the person I began with is the same person in the later
parts of the story.
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mary rosenblum
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When I get to my third draft,
my editing draft, I am through messing with story.
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mary rosenblum
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Instead, I put on my up-close
glasses and pay attention to each scene.
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mary rosenblum
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As he walks into the clearing,
what would catch his eye? Would he notice some small details here, since
he's under stress?
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mary rosenblum
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What would he hear? How to I
show the reader the deciduous forest in the fewest words.
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mary rosenblum
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In this fight scene, what is
the actual action and how do I make the reader see it with the fewest
possible words?
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mary rosenblum
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Of course, I am also, at the
same time, fixing grammar and finding shorter and stronger versions of the
first-draft sentences.
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info
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Is it possible to have the
charactors different between
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info
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beginning and end to show a
growth in that character?
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mary rosenblum
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Info, the definition of
'story' as opposed to 'slice of life' or 'vignette' is that the character
changes in some way.
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mary rosenblum
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So you must show a change in
your character if this is a story.
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mary rosenblum
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It can be a subtle change...
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mary rosenblum
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your character sees the world
a bit differently, maybe he's not quite so innocent now, maybe she has
learned to trust a bit more easily...
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mary rosenblum
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but those characters are not
quite the same person at the end of your story.
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mary rosenblum
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That is something to pay
attention to on your revision by the way. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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is the change in your
character going to be clear to the reader?
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mary rosenblum
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Especially if it's a subtle
change -- which it nearly always is in a short story -- you need to find a
way to point to that change for the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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Without up and TELLING the
reader.
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mary rosenblum
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It's easy to have a character
grow and change during 350 pages of adventures!
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mary rosenblum
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It's much tougher when you are
dealing with a few thousand words.
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mary rosenblum
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And doing it in a short short,
under 1500 words is a real challenge. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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ONe of the things I pay a lot
of attention to in my revision stage...
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mary rosenblum
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is character revelation. What
is my character showing the reader in this scene? What does the reader need
to 'get' here?
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mary rosenblum
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Is it clear enough? Will that
reader get it?
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mary rosenblum
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Those questions probably take
up the greatest part of my revision time, but then, my fiction is nearly
always character driven.
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arfelin
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I'm having trouble keeping the
revising side of my mind out of my first drafts. Drives me nuts! Do you
think I should just totally ignore it during that first draft?
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mary rosenblum
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I sure would, arfelin.
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mary rosenblum
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If I let my revision brain
brain get too involved, I lose momentum and sort of run out of enthusiasm
before the end of the story.
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to sort of close my
eyes and charge through to the end.
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mary rosenblum
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Once that story arc is down on
paper..well, the screen...I can mess with it all I want...
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mary rosenblum
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change the plot, recraft
it...but it is solid for me.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that one of the
realities that ALL writers struggle with to a greater or lesser degree is
the presence of shoulder vultures.
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mary rosenblum
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They whisper nasty little
doubts in your ears...this isn't any good..this has been done...this isn't as
good as your last story...
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mary rosenblum
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And revision/editing is too
much like that. You are intentionally finding weak places in your writing.
To fix 'em, yes, but they can begin to slow you down as you are trying to
write that first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Now my friend Sage does the
whole process at once. She's a great example of...
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mary rosenblum
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you do what works. She simply
cannot write a raw first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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At the end of her 'first'
draft, she types [end] and boxes it for her agent.
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mary rosenblum
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So whatever works works.
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forest elf
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That's what happened to me. I
just wanted to get the story
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forest elf
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out of my brain and on to paper
before I lost it ....
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mary rosenblum
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That's what works for me, elf.
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diannalmt
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Great Visual!
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mary rosenblum
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Shoulder vultures? Oh they're
quite real. Turn your head real fast next time you're feeling discouraged
and you'll catch a glimpse... :-)
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mrsdesktop
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Mary, is your first draft the
inspiration? And your other...
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mrsdesktop
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drafts the 99Qard work?
Perspiration! To give your ideas..
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mrsdesktop
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the structure, so that they can
be seen?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, sort of but not quite,
mrs D.
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mary rosenblum
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yes, the first draft is
inspiration. And personally, I HATE it.
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mary rosenblum
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THAT is work, to me. Getting
my idea actually down in words so that I can change 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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The part I love is the
revision draft. That is when I bring my characters to life, where I fine
tune the interactions, the pressures of the events in the story.
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mary rosenblum
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That is where my story becomes
real.
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mary rosenblum
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Editing is just...editing.
It's intense. I genearally do an entire novel in 1 or 2 days, depending on
what else I have to do. I'm exhausted by the time I'm done.
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mary rosenblum
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It is simply polishing the
story to the highest gloss.
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mary rosenblum
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So I guess my editing draft is
the 99% hard work draft for me!
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diannalmt
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that negative thing mascarading
as my spouse is really a shoulder vulture? !?!
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mary rosenblum
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oooh...I'm sorry to hear that.
I had one of those. Once.
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mary rosenblum
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LOL
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t green
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Do you ever find that your
thoughts flow faster than you can type? I find sometimes that when I'm in
"the zone" the scenes in my head go faster than i can get them
down on paper. How do you get them back?
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mary rosenblum
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OOOH yes, t green. All the
time. Although I've turned into a darn fast typist in an effort to catch
up! LOL
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mary rosenblum
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I'll stop and make a note when
the action starts to get ahead of my typing.
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mary rosenblum
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I may just space down a couple
of lines, type in my 'and then...' note, and backspace up to continue where
I left off.
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mary rosenblum
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That doesn't break the flow of
my draft like opening a new file would.
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mary rosenblum
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I just have to remember to
delete all the leftover notes at the bottom of the story or chapter before
I print it out!
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deb1234
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Do you do your revision draft
right after the 1st draft or do you let it sit?
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes, deb. Sometimes I
need to let it sit.
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mary rosenblum
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I like to do revision drafts
in one chunk of time.
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mary rosenblum
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A novel revision...not the
editing stage...will usually take me four or five days to make the changes
on the hardcopy.
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mary rosenblum
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So I try to begin it when I
have those four or five days in a row to work.
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mary rosenblum
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It works both ways for me.
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mary rosenblum
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If I have to wait before I
start the revision, I see a lot more weak places more easily...
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mary rosenblum
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but I bring a lot more energy
to it if I do the revision right after the first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Waiting gives me a better
result, when I can force myself to wait. :-)
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info
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Is it much harder to revise when
you have a day here or ther
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mary rosenblum
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For me it is, infor.
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mary rosenblum
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The problem is, that in order
to make sure everything works as a whole, you need to have the whole
picture of the story in your head.
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mary rosenblum
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And it fades -- at least it
does for me -- when I can't work on it for a day or two.
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mary rosenblum
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So then I have to take the
time to read back over the part I've done and regain that picture.
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mary rosenblum
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So it slows me down a lot.
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sailor
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When you're doing your revision
draft, how may hard copies do you go through before your done?
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mary rosenblum
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I print out my first draft,
sailor, and I make my revision changes on that. Then I enter the changes
and print out a clean second draft.
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mary rosenblum
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This goes to my readers.
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mary rosenblum
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When I get their notes back, I
usually sit down to do the edit draft, incorporating their suggestions in
that draft (on the hardcopy)...
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mary rosenblum
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unless I need to go back to
revision mode and make BIG changes.
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mary rosenblum
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When I am finished with the
edit changes, I enter them on the computer, and print a new clean draft.
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mary rosenblum
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This goes to my agent.
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mary rosenblum
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So I print out three drafts
total.
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info
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Do you your revision draft to
edit right after revising or
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mary rosenblum
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No, info. I always give my
stuff to a couple of readers at least.
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mary rosenblum
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So it can be weeks before I'm
ready to do the edit draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Depending on how long it takes
to get a response from my readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been fun!
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mary rosenblum
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I apologize for the failure of
the announcement.
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mary rosenblum
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I may not get the website
update mailed out to everyone until later in the week...depends on how long
it takes them to get the bugs out of the upgraded software!
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mary rosenblum
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If you don't hear from me, our
Friday After Hours is on as usual...
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mary rosenblum
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and I'll be talking about
writing the short short.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week, all!
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mary rosenblum
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Hopefully you'll all get some
summer weather!
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mary rosenblum
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I'm going outside to work in
the sunshine! Woohoo!
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mary rosenblum
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See you all tomorrow for our
casual chat!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript in
the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks for coming all!
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mary rosenblum
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See you tomorrow!
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