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mary rosenblum
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Hello all!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you had a fine weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
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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. We're
talking about revision today . 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 in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about
revision a bit today...
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mary rosenblum
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because it's a major part of
writing...and something that a lot of novice writers have trouble with.
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mephistopheles
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Mary when do you know you have
to revise a piece or mss?
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mary rosenblum
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Meph, you ALWAYS need to
revise a piece.
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mary rosenblum
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Really and truely. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It may not seem like it when
you finish, but that's because you know it so well, you KNOW everything is
there and perfect.
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mary rosenblum
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The problem is, when we write,
whether it's fiction or nonfiction, we know what we want to say...
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mary rosenblum
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and we know everything about
that fictional world and characters or that NF topic.
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mary rosenblum
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And so, when you're done, the
piece is seamless. No holes.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT you don't realize how many
holes you fill in with your knowlege. The readers don't have that
knowledge...
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mary rosenblum
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and those holes are only
visible to you after you've backed off a bit or let a critquer or three
read it.
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mephistopheles
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I know but sometimes after
reading the darn thing 20 times you become blind and overlook simple
errors. Is it best to put it down for a couple of days and pick it up again
and try to read it with an open mind and hopefully you will see mistakes
and areas for improvement or expansion of story to make it clearer for the
reader what is going on in your world?
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, meph.
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mary rosenblum
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Most people find it take more
thana couple of days.
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mary rosenblum
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Myself, I have always found
that if I worked on a different piece, got involved with that...
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mary rosenblum
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it sort of cleared my head.
And when I went back to revise the first piece, I could see the holes I was
blind to when I finished it.
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mary rosenblum
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Most writers I know find it's
a matter of weeks or even months needed to let something rest.
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mary rosenblum
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Which is why most of us use
critiquers.
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mary rosenblum
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THEY have clear eyes.
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mephistopheles
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I know I took 2 months off from
my mini-novel and still found mistakes and areas I could improve on and I
am going to go through it one more time and have a friend read it and see
if I am sane or insane in my story world.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good way to do it,
meph.
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dawndancer
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Mary, please define revision vs
rewrite
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mary rosenblum
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There's no real 'dicitonary'
definition dawn, in terms of difference.
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to refer to major
structural changes...a new character, different plot, alternate end...
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mary rosenblum
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as 'rewriting'...
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mary rosenblum
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while tweaks to
characterization, pacing, etc, where the structure does not change, I call
revising.
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mary rosenblum
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The terms get used
interchangeably by various writers.
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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. We're
talking about revision today . 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 in your regular send bar to reach me.
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tolkienlvr
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Revise --When I look at a piece
like the one I'm revising today and realize how much unnessessary verbose
stuff I put in there that all needs to come out, LOL, it's kind of fun to
revise it and see it become better. : )
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mary rosenblum
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That's the whole point of
revision, tolkien. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, if you put stuff
aside for several months and you're writing all the time, improving your
craft, you'll be shocked when you look at that piece, just how much you
have grown in those months.
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dreamergirl
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I sometimes can write the whole
short story, without going through the character/plot step by step, is this
a good way, then go back for rewriting?
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mary rosenblum
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Whatever works for you, dream.
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mary rosenblum
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There is no right or wrong way
to write.
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mephistopheles
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I was going to ask if the terms
are interchangeable from writer to writer. Doesn't this make it hard to
know what to do when you get a slip back that says revise , do the mean
rewrite or simply revise?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, without any other
information, that's pretty vague, meph.
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mary rosenblum
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Usually, if an editor is going
to say anything to you about changes, he/she will be specific...the end
didn't work...
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mary rosenblum
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'revise' or 'rewrite' just
means change it, and you can change any story in any one of 1000 ways or
so.
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pook
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I am trying to wind up my story
for assignment 10 and it keeps getting longer. I don't have a good ending.
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mary rosenblum
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You know pook, that suggests
to me...without really having any clue what the story is about...that maybe
you don't really know what your central conflict is?
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes that can make it
hard to find the right end.
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dwkav
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My problem is that I start to
revise, get new ideas and end up rewriting. Pretty soon I'm so confused and
I can't finish the darn thing. Ahhhh!
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, that can happen.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes a bit of self
discipline and a bit of a slower revision pace will help.
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mary rosenblum
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When you come up with that hot
new idea, don't just start tearing the story apart yet. Think about how it
will affect the story...
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mary rosenblum
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and let it sort of simmer in
the back of your brain for a day or two.
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mary rosenblum
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You might decide it won't
really make the story better, you might find a cascade of changes it will
cause...
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mary rosenblum
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and wait until it feels
'solid' before you start tearing the story apart.
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mary rosenblum
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That, by the way, is one
reason to plot out your story before you start and let it simmer for
awhile.
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mary rosenblum
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Often those 'good ideas' will
come BEFORE you write the whole thing. Saves you a lot of rewriting. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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New ideas always seem SO
wonderful...
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mary rosenblum
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but after a bit, they may turn
out to be less workable than you thought...
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mary rosenblum
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or might be better served as
the start of a new and different story.
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mary rosenblum
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Or they may be well worth the
surgery of rewriting.
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mary rosenblum
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I've had both successes --
where the rewritten story was MUCH stronger -- and failures where I ended
up chasing down a false path and wasting a lot of time. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Just save your original story
as a separate document and you can always go back and start over if you get
too tangled up. :-)
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dawndancer
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Can't those
"inspirations" start a whole new story? Seem like with computers,
this would be a good way to explore a new story line.
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely. :-) I have
published many 'story chains' ...several short stories that grew from one
original...the others were interesting characters too strong for the
original...
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mary rosenblum
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or subplots that grew too
large.
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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. We're
talking about revision today . 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 in your regular send bar to reach me.
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ducky
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Have you ever been writing a
story and had a character "tell" you (via the muse) that you
weren't portraying him or her correctly?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, more or less, ducky. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes a character just
doesn't work...or your hindbrain realizes that this person isn't behaving
realistically.
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mary rosenblum
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It's usually a good idea to
listen to that small still voice. :-)
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dawndancer
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Okay, please expound on that one
for us new people!
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mary rosenblum
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On what, dawn?
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dawndancer
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Having a character
"tell" you, the author, about him/herself
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mary rosenblum
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Well, the 'telling' part is
just how some people describe it...but I'd say it's that moment when you
feel that this person doesn't seem quite 'right'.
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mary rosenblum
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You get that uneasy sensation
that this person isn't behaving the way he /she really needs to behave.
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mary rosenblum
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And it may be that you have
the wrong character for this story...
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mary rosenblum
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or your characterization is
flawed and this person isn't acting like a real person.
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mary rosenblum
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We all do know how real people
behave even if you can't articulate it yet. :-)
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ducky
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Good to hear that - because this
means major surgery on a big story, but worth it I think. Even this guy's
credibility was coming into question.
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mary rosenblum
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If it's a character issue,
ducky, major surgery is in order!
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mary rosenblum
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I tossed an entire novel
draft...deleted the file, everything...
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mary rosenblum
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because I had the wrong
character as a major player.
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mary rosenblum
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And had to start over with a
totally different character.
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ducky
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[gets out the scalpel]
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mary rosenblum
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In my case, it was a chainsaw!
LOL
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mary rosenblum
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You don't know the pain of
hitting 'delete' and vanishing a 100,000 word file! Ouch!
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ducky
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hard to do that when you
remember that Stephen King threw "Carrie" in the trash can.
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mary rosenblum
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Yea, but he fished it out, and
when I rewrote the novel it was much better.
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onepozy
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I find I miss a lot if I revise
at too fast a pace
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mary rosenblum
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You need to revise more than
once, one, really.
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mary rosenblum
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I do at least three
revisions...
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mary rosenblum
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a first draft (which I HATE),
a solid first revision where I make any major structural changes...
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mary rosenblum
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then I give it to my
readers...then I do another revision where I tweak polish and incorporate
reader suggestions.
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mary rosenblum
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And then maybe one more if I
feel the piece needs it, maybe not.
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mary rosenblum
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Then for a novel, I'll do one
more complete revision after I get the editor's input...
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mary rosenblum
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and probably need to tweak and
polish here and there if I have a good, nitpicky editor. :-)
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ducky
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No, Tabby his wife fished it
out! As usually the woman knew better. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Probably a good thing I'm a
woman then, eh? :-)
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mephistopheles
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is 4 revisions is too much?
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mary rosenblum
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Hardly. I have some pro
friends who do more revisions than I do...
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mary rosenblum
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you are only doing too many
revisions if you're not really making changes, but just substituting one
word for another...
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mary rosenblum
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or making tiny, tweaky changes
that don't really affect the overall quality of the book.
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mary rosenblum
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Then maybe it's turning into
avoidance behavior...as in you can't get rejected if you never send it off.
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margieh
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How is an editor's editing
different from...
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margieh
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an author's revision?
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mary rosenblum
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No different, margieh.
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mary rosenblum
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You and the editor have the
same ultimate goal.
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mary rosenblum
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You want a really strong book
that has the impact on the readers that you intend.
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mary rosenblum
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You take it as far as you are
able.
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mary rosenblum
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Your editor is simply a highly
skilled critiquer.
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mary rosenblum
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That editor hopefully sees any
holes or weak points you've missed.
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mephistopheles
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I feel like now that I have it
done I am going through it with a fine tooth comb like you said and making
minor changes
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mary rosenblum
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Well, a good 'polishing'
revision is very wise, meph.
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mary rosenblum
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You face a lot of competition
in the publishing world...at least if you're aiming for NY...
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mary rosenblum
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and you want that book to
shine.
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jackie7777
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But what I am afraid of - is
when the editors' changes - changes the story.
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mary rosenblum
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I
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mary rosenblum
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I"ve never known an
editor to ask for changes that changed the story AFTER they bought it,
jackie.
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mary rosenblum
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If they think your story or
book would be powerful if you made a major change, they'll ask YOU to do
it.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors don't CHANGE things.
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mary rosenblum
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They ask YOU to change things.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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And since big changes will
certainly affect the quality of the book, they rarely put money down on it
before they suggest that change.
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mary rosenblum
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Plus, many writers never learn
to make big changes.
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mary rosenblum
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It's 'take it or leave it'...
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geezer
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By tightening I reduced my
manuscript from 122,000 to 113,000 words. Do you think it need to do cuts?
I was told publishers won't even look at over 100,000 words.
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on your book geeze.
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mary rosenblum
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That 'won't look at' is not
true.
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mary rosenblum
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They are going to insist on a
more powerful book because at 113,000 words it's going to cost the reader a
bit more money to buy than a 70.000 word novel.
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mary rosenblum
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So they want to be sure it
will sell.
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mary rosenblum
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And some imprints won't do
books that long. Read the guidelines.
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mary rosenblum
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They know what sells and where
their cost-effective limit lies.
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dawndancer
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Good thing Tolstoy didn't know
that!
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you can still publish
huge books, but they have to need to be that long. :-) Back then, he got
paid for the word, remember. LOL
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ducky
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I used to be "take it or
leave it" about my music-my songs. Almost sold one except I refused to
entertain the changes suggested by the person offering to buy. That was a
hard lesson.
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mary rosenblum
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You will succeed much more
slowly in the publishing world if you are 'don't touch my words'.
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mary rosenblum
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For one thing, you won't learn
as fast.
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mary rosenblum
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You learn by making changes
...or by writing many many many works.
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mary rosenblum
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You can write fewer works and
learn just as much if you change.
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ducky
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once I learned that lesson, I've
done nothing BUT change my creative works! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you. :-)
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speckledorf
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It really is hard to make those
major changes suggested by others. It took me a while to be able to do it.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, that's true of everyone!
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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Most novice writers are
willing to change a few words. Nothing else.
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mary rosenblum
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You have to grow into that
realization that stories and articles are Leggo creations.
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mary rosenblum
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If it's not perfect, tear it
down into the blocks and try another shape. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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These are not 'first born
children', they are toys to play with. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I think all of us feel our
words are sacrosanct when we start.
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mary rosenblum
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Those who progress learn that
Leggo lesson.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll grow a lot faster if
you can tear stuff apart and redo it.
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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. We're
talking about revision today . 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 in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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One thing to try...
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mary rosenblum
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especially if you're a 'start
on page one and write to the end' writer...
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mary rosenblum
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is to let your first draft sit
around and just think about it for awhile.
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mary rosenblum
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What if this happened instead?
What if that happened?
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mary rosenblum
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Don't jump right in and start
changing things!
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mary rosenblum
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That what if might not be
particularly good for the story after all...
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mary rosenblum
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but think about it for
awhile...how that might change it, would it be stronger?
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mary rosenblum
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And before you start on that
draft two, make notes about what you think might work.
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mary rosenblum
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That way you won't get
yourself so tangled up in changes that you lose track of where your story
is going. Been there, done that. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Remember, I know how these
things happen because I did them all when I started out! :-) I'm just
sharing the benefits of all my mistakes with you.
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ducky
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Thanks for the Leggo analogy - a
lightbulb just went on - I just realized I've got several ideas I can play
with like leggo blocks.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, think of it as having
this huge, immense, colorful set of Leggos. You can make so many very cool
creations with the same blocks!
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mary rosenblum
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And if one block doesn't work,
toss it back into the box and use it later.
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mary rosenblum
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I think the most important
thing I've learned about revision in my years of writing is...take your
time.
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mary rosenblum
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You can be in SUCH a rush to
finish a new story that you just don't give those ideas and characters time
to grow and develop.
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mary rosenblum
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And you miss all kinds of
complex things that could add to your story if you had just thought of
them.
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mary rosenblum
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This is one good argument for
working on multiple projects.
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mary rosenblum
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Finish a first draft and don't
revise right away.
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mary rosenblum
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Start something new.
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mary rosenblum
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Wait until that one slows down
or you finish that first draft...
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mary rosenblum
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and then go back and work on
the first piece.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you'll have a bit more
perspective.
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t green
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when do you usually stop
revising non-fiction, mary?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't usually need to so as
many revisions, t, because unless it's personal narrative, I don't have the
characterization and...
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mary rosenblum
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dramatic issues to deal with.
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mary rosenblum
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But I usually do three.
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mary rosenblum
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First draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Then I go through when it's
'cool' and tweak the structure...make sure my points are strongly
supportive to my topic...
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mary rosenblum
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watch out for repetitive
parts, tighten the langauge.
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mary rosenblum
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And then I do one for
esthetics...language, more powerful verbs, just polishing and tightening
overall.
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mary rosenblum
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I find that I cannot pay
attention to structure -- content -- and language at the same time.
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mary rosenblum
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If I focus on langauge, I
can't pay attention to the content.
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ducky
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"take your time" -
this is soooo true. I've been piddling around with this one story for about
3 years now. It's only in the last year that I've figgered out exactly what
that story (now a novel) is supposed to convey.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes it takes that long,
but do work on other things in the meantime, ducky!
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mary rosenblum
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You are, right? :-)
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pook
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Mary. I have been taking the BIP
LR course for 3 years. I had some leaves and a lot of mental block. What do
you think I should do when I finish?
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mary rosenblum
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Write, pook. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Write lots.
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mary rosenblum
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I can't say too often, that
you will only improve as a writer if you write, write, write.
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mary rosenblum
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The more you write, the better
you will get. The less you write, the more you will stay the same.
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ducky
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Oh, yeah, little short jobs -
submitting one of those to Asimov's right now.
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mary rosenblum
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Good luck, ducky!
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pook
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SHould I take another course?
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mary rosenblum
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If you feel you need it, pook.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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The BiP covers short story and
NF very well.
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mary rosenblum
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The people I know who are well
published, successful authors, wrote and wrote, and wrote.
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mary rosenblum
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They didn't write one novel or
a couple of stories and end up a Big Name.
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mary rosenblum
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they wrote tons of stuff that
didn't sell, got rejected, they wrote more and more and more.
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ducky
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Did LR ever come up with a
course on novel writing?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes. It's been available
since january, ducky.
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mary rosenblum
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I have quite a few novel
students. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Right now, until they develop
an entry test, it's only available to graduates of a basic LR or ICL
course.
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idwins
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What other classes do you have
if it's appropriate to ask
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mary rosenblum
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Gosh, id, LR and ICL offer a
LOT of courses. I don't know them all, but you can query and get a list.
You'll find information on the websites.
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speckledorf
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The novel course is GREAT! If
you want to write a novel, I highly recommend it.
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mary rosenblum
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And of course, novels take a
lot more revision than short stories..
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mary rosenblum
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because you have so much more
going on.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good idea to focus on
specific things when you do a 'revision pass'.
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mary rosenblum
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For example, on your second
draft, you might focus on larger issues...
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mary rosenblum
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do you need a subplot in a
slow middle, or do you have scenes that just don't add enough to the
story...
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mary rosenblum
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to justify their words?
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mary rosenblum
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YOu might even take out whole
chapters that don't really contribute much.
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mary rosenblum
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On your next pass, focus on
your characters.
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mary rosenblum
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Work on that dialogue, make
sure they reveal their feelings through their body language...
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mary rosenblum
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so that readers can get a
sense of their motivations.
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mary rosenblum
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On your third pass, watch
language...get rid of adverbs, to be verbs, passive voice...use more
colorful verbs, better description so you can do more with fewer words.
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mephistopheles
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I know in my mini novel of
58,000 words I made sure that any money spent added up in the end so that a
reader doesn't say, you know you didn't do the numbers right.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, those are called 'logic
errors' meph. Your editor and copy editor, if you have both eventually,
will watch for them, too.
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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. We're
talking about revision today . 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 in your regular send bar to reach me.
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monda
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Sheepishly...what's ICL
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mary rosenblum
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Institute of Children's
Literature. LR's sister school...focuses on writing for children.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're working on a novel,
it is a very good idea to make lots of notes about hair color, eye color,
what car this character drives...
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mary rosenblum
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what the house looks like,
what the neighbor's dog is.
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mary rosenblum
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You and that novel will be
living together for a long time and you'll forget these trivial details.
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mary rosenblum
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But readers have SUCH sharp
eyes for that Lhasa Apso in chapter two who becomes a Pekinese in chapter
ten.
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ducky
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re: logic errors. I've been
having to construct time lines for this one project. I am not really using
the dates directly, but I'm afraid if I don't plot out the history, the
reader will catch inconsistencies. Is this worthwhile?
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely.
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mary rosenblum
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I always do a time line as I
work on a first draft of a novel...
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mary rosenblum
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or of a short story if it
covers a lot of time (most of mine do not).
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mary rosenblum
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You may find that you have
your MC in the bank cashing a check on Sunday afternoon if you don't!
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mary rosenblum
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I've done that.
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mary rosenblum
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Had to go back to the start
and change the day of the week!
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mary rosenblum
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I keep a revision file.
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mary rosenblum
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I really advise against going
back to revise in the first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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usually, I revise the previous
few pages to get into the 'voice' of the story when I sit down to work on a
first draft...
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mary rosenblum
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but if I decide to change
something that happened earlier in the story...
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mary rosenblum
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I'll just make myself a
note...'plant Murphy's past association with Gail'...
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mary rosenblum
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and I'll keep a list of those
revision changes.
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mary rosenblum
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I'll deal with them on the
second draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Be wary of breaking that
momentum when you're writing a first draft and constantly going back to fix
things.
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mary rosenblum
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I have a very good friend, who
has been published, but who has hard a very hard time finishing novels...
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mary rosenblum
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because of that. She tends to
grind to a halt in the middle...
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mary rosenblum
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but she is constantly revising
and changing that first draft as she goes and she just runs out of
enthusiasm.
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mary rosenblum
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I keep nagging her to just do
a messy, sloppy, first draft full of weaknesses and inconsitancies and fix
it all later. Maybe one of these days she'll try it. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Do realize that your creative
brain and your revision brain are not the same thing.
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mary rosenblum
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They don't work well together.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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Do your best to shut off the
editor during your first draft.
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mary rosenblum
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Just get it all in there, get
it down.
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mary rosenblum
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use passive voice. Use the to
be verbs. Fill with adverbs.
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mary rosenblum
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Who cares?
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mary rosenblum
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Fix it all later, after you
have that first draft done.
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mephistopheles
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is it okay to make changes to
spelling mistakes as you go along or should you just get the story out of
your head and onto paper and go back later to fix problems?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh fix anything that doesn't
take too much attention away from your work, meph.
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mary rosenblum
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If I notice something, I'll
fix it.
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mary rosenblum
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But I don't go back and tweak
and polish. Heck, I might delete the whole scene anyway, who knows?
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ducky
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Hmm... I think I see myself in
the last few comments. I've been revising during a first draft - could be
why I'm not finished.
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mary rosenblum
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It might be.
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speckledorf
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No editor allowed is what I
really like about NaNo. It forces you to get the idea on paper and fix all
those things later. And...you can't fix it if you never write it:--)
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, it's a good exercise
that way.
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mary rosenblum
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NaNO for those of you who
don't know, is National Novel Writing Month...write a 60,000 word novel
during the month of November.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a worthwhile undertaking.
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mary rosenblum
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Another thing about revision.
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mary rosenblum
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I never give my fully revised
mss to a critquer.
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mary rosenblum
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By the time I'm done revising,
I'm not planning on making any big changes.
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mary rosenblum
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So I give my mss to readers
after the second draft...when I've closed the gaping holes and fixed the
really bad scenes...
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mary rosenblum
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but the story is still rough.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that the more polished
your story is, the less open you are likely to be to suggestions for
changes.
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monda
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so is the problem with adverbs
that they tell and don't show
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, monda.
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mary rosenblum
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You can use stronger, more
vivid verbs and do a better job.
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margieh
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Feedback while it's still rough
draft for short stories too?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. Do you really want
someone to suggest you do major surgery after you've spent many hours
polishing every perfect word?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't care if the zits show
when I give stuff to readers. :-) I want the story to work when it's done.
They can see the scaffolding and two by fours and bent nails. That's fine.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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LATER it will look seamless
and polished. :-)
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mephistopheles
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never thouht of it that way, I
will keep my eyes open for adverbs
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, meph, 'he walked
slowly'...the author is telling us how he walked.
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mary rosenblum
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He stumbled, he limped, he
shambled...we're seeing it for ourselves.
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geezer
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Except your two by fours and
nails look like our polished pieces!
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mary rosenblum
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oooh,well, I don't think
you've ever seen one of my rough drafts. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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LOL
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tolkienlvr
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Mary - what other words do you
use in place of "frowned" or "grimaced"? My thesaurus
is not helping me here... : )
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mary rosenblum
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Scowled? You can let the
person reveal that emotion another way.
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mary rosenblum
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Hunched his shoulders.
Furrowed his brows. His jaw tightened.
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mary rosenblum
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Glared.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're trying to express a
particular emotion, we use our bodies, not just our facial expressions. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I have to say, that the best
investment you can make in a book on revision...
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mary rosenblum
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is Ken Rand's 10% Solution.
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mary rosenblum
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From Fairwood Press.
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mary rosenblum
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It's under ten bucks and it's
a step by step how-to on ridding your mss of a lot of very common bad prose
habits.
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dwkav
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Yeah, m puppy loved it! :o)
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mary rosenblum
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And it's a great chew toy for
puppies, too! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'ts a very practical manual
for tightening anything.
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mary rosenblum
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He addresses all the most
common weaknesses...passive voice, adverbs, that sort of thing.
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dwkav
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LOL. But, it really is a good
book on tightening your prose.
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mary rosenblum
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It is indeed. Well worth the
very modest price.
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mary rosenblum
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Any last questions before we
run out of hour?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been fun.
Remember...try to turn off the editor while you're writing the first draft
and let it be messy.
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mary rosenblum
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That's what revisions are for.
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mary rosenblum
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jackie...
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mary rosenblum
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I saw your question.
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mary rosenblum
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Jackie asked whether she
should pay an agent to send mss to various houses...
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mary rosenblum
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only if you're sending work in
to big NY publishers who require agents, Jackie. Then, of course, you must.
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mary rosenblum
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But if a publisher does not
have an 'agent only' policy, then you don't need one to submit.
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mary rosenblum
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Have fun revising.
Remember...think Legos!
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jackie7777
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I had an agent interested in my
piece and she charged wanted to charge me for each publisher she submitted
it to.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a scam, Jackie.
Legitimate agents only take 15% of what the publisher pays you. People like
this...
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mary rosenblum
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will send your mss out to MANY
houses...and the editors there KNOW this person is a scammer, and they
ignore the subs...
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mary rosenblum
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and you pay a lot of money for
nothing.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't do it.
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mary rosenblum
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Publishers know the real
agents. They get tons of these 'bulk submissions', usually big wads of mss
from the 'agent'.
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mary rosenblum
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they don't take 'em seriously.
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dawndancer
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Mary, there are so many good
things in this I couldn't keep up. Will you be posting this?
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mary rosenblum
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Always, dawn. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's in Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week all! Join us
tomorrow here for our casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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We'll just talk about
whatever.
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