Some of my writer friends seem to going through a transition period in their work. I thought I would take a minute to talk about editing. Critique partners are very instrumental in tightening and tweaking manuscripts before they are sent on to an editor or agent.
Once you can find a perfect group you feel comfortable with, the different voices among the group can help in various ways. Someone may be a grammar whiz while another will catch pov or repetitive words. Another may see, as a reader might, an awkward sentence or phrase.
I am very lucky to have found a group of talented and creative writers who are newly pubbed or ready to cross the line. They are constructive without being destructive to my voice and ego!
One of the issues I want to bring up today is creative methods that encourage or motivate you to write. What does it for you? Well...I tried Nano writing in the month of November because I needed a kick in the butt to push away from my internal editor and finish the story. Did it help?
Yes ~ I finished the story. YEAH!!
No ~ I am almost having to completely rewrite the dang thang!
But I think the positive outweights the negative. At least I have a base to work from. But some of my friends are struggling and having their own issues. Does it help to walk away and come back...or trudge through and push on? One the girls is dealing with her synopsis!?! Ugghhh! I have tried to get mine done but...aarrgghhh. There are a few good articles out there and I ran across one recently on a RWA website:
They have some good articles to browse through that I found interesting. I always like to look around at different sites for tips. Anytime and author or group offers advice...never hurts to take a peek see.
3 comments:
Chelle,
Good question. I've been writing non-stop for four years now, and maybe that's why I had so much trouble with the last MS. Giving myself a break might clear my head and give me fresh insight.
Writing is hard ...
I LOVE editing. I could monkey around and tweak sentences all day. LOL.
It's getting the intial words on the paper that's sheer agony. LOL!
Maybe I'll do NANO next year...
I love editing, too.
I used to edit as I wrote but I could never seemed to get the entire book finished. I tried NANO one year, and actually finished the first draft. It was a great help to me.
How are you holding up, Chelle?
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