Editing with Charts by Leah Cypress

First drafts serve different purposes for different writers. I know writers who describe their first drafts as embarrassing, and would rather die than show them to anyone; I know writers who revise as they go and end up with a “first” draft that is almost ready to send to an agent. (Note: almost. I don’t know anyone who sends in a first draft without any revision.)

I’m between those extremes. For me, a first draft is where the magic happens: where my characters come alive, the plot become twisty, and the sense of wonder makes itself felt. If none of that happens in the first draft, I’ll abandon the draft and, upon occasion, the project. But if it does… then I have something to work with.

And I do mean work.

My first drafts are complete messes. They tend to be littered with notes to myself, anything from “think of a better word” to “need a motivation for her to do this” to “explain stuff about sorcery here.” And that’s just the stuff I knew was problematic as I was writing. Once I sit down to revise, I quickly realize that I’ve invented contradictory rules for my world, one character suffers from a personality change halfway through the novel, people knew things in chapter 2 that they discovered for the first time in chapter 10, and I’ve used the phrase “narrowed her eyes” approximately three times per page.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when I realize just how full of holes my manuscript is; but now that I’ve been through the revisions process several times, and realize just how much my draft is going to change along the way, I know better than to panic. The important thing, for me, is not to start in on the manuscript itself – at least not right away. Instead, I create a couple of new documents, which might include: (1) a timeline, (2) a character-motivation chart, (3) a list of over-used words (I actually have a semi-permanent one that I use for every manuscript – I tend to be a repeat offender), and (3) a compilation of various scenes where I need to make sure the descriptions/information is consistent. And most importantly, I make one of these:

This chart, specifically, was made for Nightspell – a novel told from the point of view of three different people, with the motives and knowledge of various other people to take into account. Each column represents what one of my characters knows at every point in the book, and the colored post-its represent the various plot threads and plans winding through the book. I got the idea from Lon Prater, a fellow writer and member of my online critique group. (Diana Rowland, another writer, said she uses post-its on the living room wall. Maybe when my kids are old enough not to be way too tempted by that...)

Eventually, of course, I do plunge back into the manuscript. But with my folder-full of charts and outlines to help me, I find it much easier to see where my story has gone wrong, and what I have to do to make it right.

Leah Cypess used to be a practicing attorney in New York and is now a  full-time writer in Boston. She much prefers her current situation. She writes adult and young adult fantasy, and enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with her husband and children. Her two published fantasy books are MISTWOOD, about an ancient shapeshifter  trapped in the form of a human girl, and NIGHTSPELL, about a country where ghosts come back from the grave to solve their own murders.

Darth Vader and the Death Star: An Editing Ideology by Laura Lascarso

In between construction on Death Stars I and II, Darth Vader moonlighted as senior editor for a major publishing house. He applied his same philosophy in running the Death Star to critiquing manuscripts, using the Force to ensure that writers were as ruthless with words as he was with underlings. He valued, above all else, economy and efficiency. 

Here are a few pointers from the Darth Vader school of thought:

1. Choke your darlings.

If you have a minor character who is underperforming, or worse, not performing at all, choke them out using the Force. If you have a droid and a human who serve the same function, combine them into a cyborg, thus making them more than both. There is no room on the Death Star or in a manuscript for freeloaders.

2. Blast your adverbs, clichés, unnecessary dialogue tags, etc.

These time-wasters are like Stormtroopers—can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Like the Imperial Army, they’re incredible ineffective. They have state-of-the-art weapons, but never actually hit their mark. In fact, they are the laughingstock of the entire galaxy. Economize the best and pulverize the rest.

3. Treat your adversaries with respect, but show no mercy.

Make your protagonist work, your antagonist too. Don’t let their fates be handed to them. If your protagonist is lacking oomph, make life harder—murder his aunt and uncle, cut off his hand, throw him down a vent shaft. If your antagonist seems two-dimensional, give him an inglorious Jedi past, a lost love, a dysfunctional father-son relationship. Give them both motivations and desires. And plans. Your antag and protag should each have a master plan that is in direct conflict with each other. Also, a fight scene with lightsabers never hurts.

4. Curb your tangents.

Keep only what’s interesting, relevant and well-written. This applies to both descriptions and random factoids. Do you know what the Death Star serves in the cafeteria on Wednesdays? Or how Darth Vader feels about the Emperor’s new job creation policies? Don’t distract from the story with too many asides. Keep the reader in the action of the story.

5. Break his heart.

Darth Vader no longer has a heart, but he remembers what it was like to have one. He wants to feel things too. Give your protagonist an internal struggle, have them build relationships with other characters, then destroy those relationships only to rebuild them again. Darth still wonders how a Wookie has more friends on Facebook than he does. Don’t they know he can destroy them with a single thought? It’s because at the end of the day, neither superweapons, nor annihilation can fill that empty space in Darth Vader’s chest.

Only the heart of your story can.

Laura Lascarso lives in in North Florida with her darling husband, two children, three chickens and a dog named Lucy. Her book, Counting Backwards, is coming out August 2012 from Antheneum (Simon & Schuster).

The Final Week of Edmo is Here

Dear Edmos,

The final week is upon us. Um... when the heck did that happen? I'm not really sure. But it did. It's here, and we just have to deal with it the best we can. This is often times, a rough part of the month for many people. You're sitting there watching your friends and family members march past the 50 hour line and wonder when you'll get there. And then you wonder what's going to become of your life the moment Editing Month is over. No more spending time in the forums talking to people, no more filling up your spare time (or maybe your work time... don't worry, we won't tell the Boss.) with editing and other equally important writing endeavors.

Yes, spending loads of cash from your recent pay check to buy that new (or antique) pen you've been ogling is a perfectly good writing endeavor. No writer can write without the best equipment they can buy. Well... they can, but it not nearly as fun, is it? I've got a new fountain pen in mind myself. I just have to reach that 50 hour goal before I can spend the money. Remember that people, goals are good. They keep you in line when you want to veer off track.

So, here's what I have to say: You WILL cross the finish line. No matter how many hours you have left to complete, I've got full faith that you'll manage to pull it off. Even if you have to remember how to fake a cough from your high school days and call in sick.

Right now, there is no need to worry about what will happen after Edmo is over. Just remember, we'll be back again next year and the best is always reserved for those who are patient enough to wait. Also, it is my belief that those people who are brave enough to attempt Edmo are also serious enough about their writing to do it year round, whether or not there's a no-competition competition (to use Chris Baty's words) going on. And if that's the case for you: More power to you! And I hope to see your book published some day. (I want a signed copy, you hear?)

Even if you don't write or edit year round, I applaud you for coming out of your shell and attempting National Novel Editing Month, especially if this is your first time. Editing is not easy. It's not fun. And many writers would prefer to skip it. I've been doing NaNoEdMo for years now, even before I took over as Queen, and this is honestly the first year I've ever truly enjoyed editing something I've written. I think for the most part it has to do with the fact that I've finally written something I deem publishable, something that I love, something I enjoyed writing in the first place. And it also has to be because there is NaNoEdMo. Because if there was no EdMo, I would never have even tried to edit my work. It's thanks to you guys for wanting to edit, for joining up, and becoming a great community, that so many writers are getting their work polished and (hopefully) published.

Now, I'm keeping this email very brief because I know we're all short on time, and because lately I haven't had time to do anything during the day so I'm doing it late at night, and I'm getting wicked tired... so I'm blaming all mistakes and errors within this message on my poor tired brain. Sleep will come soon... I just know it will.

And in the meantime, keep editing folks. It's the only way.

-Anna
QueenOfTheUniverse

Revisions Don't Have to Suck by Susan Dennard

Everyone thinks revisions suck. They think that cleaning their story/prose is zero fun—all the fun is in the inspired writing, right?

WRONG. You can enjoy revising. Heck, I’d WAAAY rather revise a book than write it. I mean, we’re talking about 1) creating something from nothing versus 2) fixing up something you’ve already made. #2  will ALWAYS be easier than #1.

The key is to get organized and to be patient. 


Cleanliness…er… Organization Is Next To Godliness

I’ve written a lot of posts about getting organized and staying organized when revising. This is so, so, so important because it allows you to work more quickly, to always know how much ground you’ve covered (and how much you have left), and to really hone your skills as a storyteller (I swear: the more you revise, the stronger your grasp of storytelling will become—and that means your future first drafts will come out cleaner).

Always, always begin BIG and work down to small. What I mean by this is that you should start with Big Picture Issues—plot holes, flat characters, bland setting—and work down to the line edits.  Why? Because Big Picture Issues affect every page. If you decide to completely nix a subplot, you’re affecting a ton of prose—so why line edit those words if you’re only going to cut them later on?

Here’s a rough outline of the steps I follow:

1. Print the entire book out to determine what I wrote and find ALL of the problems (from plot to pacing to dialogue).
2. Get all the issues organized and break the book up into bite-size (i.e. scene-size) pieces.
3. Figure out what I want my book to be—i.e. if it were in perfect condition and in readers’ hands, what would I wantthem to be reading?
4. Make a Plan of Attack. I know what book I want, so how do I do that? (This step relies heavily on OCD-organization—color-coding, index cards, and lots of post-its!)
5. Write in my changes. I know what each scene needs, so now I dig in and make those changes directly on the printed manuscript.
6. Type in your changes! All those handwritten adjustments are now typed into your document, and if you have the desire (more like ability—I’m not so great at any edits on a screen), you can line edit as you go.
7. Congrats! You’ve got a solid novel ready for full line editing or a critique partner’s eyes!

For more info, I urge you to check out my Guide to Revisions—it’s really in-depth, has worksheets for you to follow, and is the epitome of organization. ;)


Patience Is Definitely a Writing Virtue

I’ve just given you a lot to swallow (and if you check out my Guide, you’ll see there’s A WHOLE LOT to swallow). It’s daunting—terrifying even. I’m scared every single time I sit down to revise…

Which means now, more than ever, you need to be patient. Be patient with your work, and above all, be patient with yourself. It can take a LOT of revising to get the manuscript As Good As You Can Make It, but if you’re trying to get published, you have to have a top-notch novel. Agents and editors read so many books—so many bad books—that you’ve really got to stand out by having a stellar story, strong characters, and solid prose.

So I want you to write down these three things and tape them somewhere you’ll see ‘em often. This will be your revisions (or writing…or line editing or anything!) mantra.

1. I CAN do it.
2. I HAVE to do it.
3. I will be GLAD I did in the end.

You CAN do it. If I can, then I know you can. It took me upwards of ten rounds of revisions before I even began querying for my first novel, Something Strange & Deadly. I HATED my book by the end, but…it definitely paid off. Within a month after I started querying, I signed with an agent and got a 3-book deal with HarperTeen.

And that’s why you HAVE to do it. If you want your story to stand out from the rest, you’ve got to make it better than the rest. You have the tools, so now all you have to do is crack down and< do it!
Once you do, you’ll be GLAD you did—just as I was (and still am and will always be). The hard work pays, the perseverance pays, the organization pays, and the patience absolutelypays. My first drafts for new novels are so, so much stronger! It only takes me one round of revisions to get it ready for my crit partners.

So dream big, never EVER give up, and get to work on those revisions! YOU CAN DO IT!!


Susan Dennard is a reader, writer, lover of animals, and eater of cookies. She used to be a marine biologist, but now she writes novels. And not novels about fish either, but novels about kick-butt heroines and swoon-worthy rogues (she really likes swoon-worthy rogues). She lives in Germany with her French husband and Irish setter, and you can learn more about her crazy thoughts and crippling cookie-addiction on twitter, facebook, or Goodreads. Her debut, Something Strange and Deadly, will be available from HarperCollins in July of 2012, and you will never believe how happy this makes her!

Character Motivation by Bobbi Miller

Who were your favorite characters when you were a young reader? Jo, of Little Women? Mattie, in True Grit? The Artful Dodger, in Oliver Twist? Emma, of Jane Austin fame? What about Huckleberry Finn? Why are we so drawn to certain characters? The key to creating compelling characters is for the writer to establish strong character motivation. Often in rejections, editors highlight interesting characters and plot, but so-what? Why does this character want what she wants? 

The character’s motivation creates empathy between herself and the reader. After all, readers can empathize with a character’s motivation, especially if it’s similar to her own. Readers want to know why these characters are in the mess they are in. They what to know what happens to these characters. If  the plot is what happens to your character, then her motivation is the force that sets the plot into motion and keeps it going. It’s why she goes after her goal in the first place.

Fiction is primarily an emotional exchange. The reader stays connected to the hero because she feels the story. The reader wants to see the character succeed, or at least wants to see what happens next.

An easy method to use in understanding your character’s motivation is simply to ask her. Just as you ask your friend or your significant other why s/he is doing something, ask your character.  This is a freewrite exercise, no holds barred.  Ask your character why does she yearn for this thing? What’s so important about it that she’s willing to take risks to get it? What is she willing to risk for it?  How would she describe her current situation? If you hear inconsistencies in your character’s answers, don’t discard them, or ignore them! These inconsistencies make your character more human, and that means more authentic. 

Just like when we don’t fully understand why we do the things we do, you’ll discover that your character does not always understand her behavior.  This confusion, however, makes your character real to the reader. Her confusion reinforces her struggle. Madeleine L’Engle (The Heroic Personality, Origins of Story, 1999) offers that the heroic personality is human, not perfect.  What it means to be human is “to be perfectly and thoroughly human, and that is what is meant by being perfect: human, not infallible or impeccable or faultless, but human.”  Your character’s  confusion is authentic. This sense of authenticity is important in keeping the reader connected to your story. 

 At the core of your character’s confusion is her inner struggle. This inner struggle is what your character brings to the plot. It’s there before the story begins. It’s the struggle that is holding her back in life. And she’ll carry this struggle throughout her story.  James Scott Bell offers an experiment to help discover your character’s inner struggle:  Write down the one positive character you want to the reader to understand most about your character. Is she determined,  for example? Now, list those aspects that battle this characteristic, such as her timidity, or self-doubt. The presents the character’s inner struggle:  she is fighting with herself to achieve her goals.  Understanding how inner struggle influences motivation transforms your character “from plain vanilla to dynamic and dimensional.” (James Scott Bell, The Art of War For Writers, 2009)

And the key to understanding your character’s motivation is understanding your character’s history, called her backstory.  Backstory is defined as simply what happened before the present story begins.  Using backstory with care helps the reader to bond with your character. It deepens the relationship because it engages emotion and sympathy. Your character’s history relates to her inner struggle.   As Dr Phil tells us, our past affects our present. Understanding this psychological make-up of your character adds depth to your story. 

In another freewrite exercise, ask your character: What and why did she choose to wear those particular clothes? What is her attitude – about her family, her neighborhood, her friends?  How did your character grow up, was she loved, and what did she lose that helped shape her personality? What is your character’s disposition? How does she define herself? If you asked your character, “who are you”, how would she answer?

Of course,  you won’t have to use everything you discover about your character.  But, if you don’t know everything about your character, it shows in your writing!

Remember, the hero needs opposition to make her story worthwhile. Opposing characters simply stand contrary to your character. The antagonist may simply be all who disagree with the hero’s tactics. Villains, on the other hand, are usually dedicated to the destruction of the hero.  Christopher Vogler describes the difference between antagonist and villains: “Antagonists and heroes in conflict are like horses in a team pulling in different directions, while villains and heroes in conflict are like trains on a head-on collision course.” (Writer’s Journey, 1992)

Like the hero, villains also need their motivation.  Just as you sat down with your main character, spend some time talking to your villain.  Why does she oppose your character? Why must she have this thing? What’s so important about it that she’s willing to take risks to get it? What is she willing to risk for it? How would your villain describe her current situation? How would she describe your lead character? How would she describe her relationship with the hero?

And, like the hero, your villain has a history. And this history influences her motivation. Unless she was born evil, and few people are, villains were born human. Dean Koontz once offered that the best villains evoke pity, even sympathy, as well as terror.  Sympathy for a villain, deepens a story.  A bully doesn’t pick on someone just to be mean. Why did she become a bully?  What would your villain say about her family?  How was your villain raised? Did she experience a traumatic turning point that changed her emotionally?

In the end, villains are people, too.

However, as Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird, 1997) warns, you never know what you will find when you explore the depths of your character. When you explore the depths and shadows of your characters, you are touching upon your own shadows and fears. But this inner exploration is the key to creating memorable characters.

Says Ralph Keyes (The Courage To Write, 1995), “Daring is always more riveting than skill. Any juggler knows that the real crowd pleaser isn’t his hardest task, such as keeping five balls in the air. The biggest oohs and ahhs are reserved for feats that look as though they could main him…Bold writers have the same relationship to readers that a juggler has to his crowd. When they seem to catch an errant machete by the blade, their readers stay glued to the page.”

So, fear not and be bold! Dare to go deeper into your character!

A storycollector,  storyteller, and a writer who teaches writing, Bobbi Miller earned her MFA in children’s writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a MA in children’s literature at Simmons College. Her picturebooks, One Fine Trade (illus. by Will Hillenbrand) and Davy Crockett Gets Hitched (illus. by Megan Lloyd) made the Bank Street College of Education List for Best Children’s Book of the Year 2010. Her third picturebook, Miss Sally Ann and the Panther, will be released in 2012. She is represented by Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary.  Find out more about her process, including her recent article on Voice, on her website http://www.bobbimillerbooks.com.

Editing with Timelines by Laura Bickle

Writers tend to get into a lot of trouble with time. There's making time to write, managing deadlines, and the vagaries of market timing.

One issue with time, however, is entirely within the author's control. And that's the timeline of the story.

I never paid a whole lot of critical attention to time when I read. Sure, I was conscious that some passages in stories could be languid and slow-moving like a drippy faucet. Others were exhaustingly rushed. I never was quite able to put my finger on why.

And then, when my first book was accepted for publication, I discovered the answer:  books can grow timeline issues. They're very subtle, but can really cause problems with the reader's perception of a work.

A timeline problem occurs when characters have too many events crammed into a period of time - or not enough. A succession of tasks emerges that would require the bending of the rules of the space-time continuum or superhuman abilities to accomplish. It occurs when your main character hasn't slept for days. It happens when she travels an impossible distance in an hour. It can take place when your main character hasn't worked regular hours at her day job without explanation. This goes for crazy amounts of overtime, or not working at all. It happens when your character is doing "cop stuff" for seven days in a row without a day off or at least a pro forma request for overtime.  It's easy for an author to lose track of what day it is, and a character can get trapped in a month-long weekend or a year of Wednesdays.

Mundane concerns? Maybe. But they catch an editor's eye and seep into the subconscious of the reader. And sometimes, we've gotta pay attention to the rules of the real world - like time - in order to allow the reader to suspend disbelief for the really magical things we want to do with the story.

My editor asked me to turn a timeline in with my book. Something simple, listing the day, night, and all the scenes that happened in each. By reviewing my manuscript in this way, I could see where I crammed too many activities into the heroine's day  - or (eep!) not enough. When I finish a draft, I read through it and start constructing my timeline.

I also create a second list that's not strictly a timeline. It's one that notes where chapters begin and end, how many scenes are included in the chapter, and how many pages each chapter is. Sticking a ten-page chapter next to a twenty-five page chapter creates unevenness, and keeping a note helps me be more aware of it. It also shows me where I have a bunch of stubby two-page scenes strung together. This causes me to question whether I'm head-hopping or whether I really need to find a way to collapse those scenes into less choppy ones. It helps me analyze flow. It also shows me whether I'm doing a good job of ending chapters in the middle of the action, causing the reader to want to turn the page to the next.

By doing this kind of post-hoc analysis, and correcting the results, I found that pacing issues automatically ironed themselves out.

           

I've turned a timeline in for every book since, whether or not I was asked. And it's really reduced the amount of time I spend fixing structural issues in revisions. Now, I tend to work with that timeline in my head, and it keeps me honest. It keeps my very human characters from turning into Wonder Women and Supermen.

Not only do I have to manage time, but my characters do, too. Maintaining a timeline is a front-line editing fix I suggest that every writer keep in her toolbox. 

Laura Bickle (also writing as Alayna Williams) writes urban and young adult fantasy. She’s written four novels for Pocket Books: EMBERS, SPARKS, DARK ORACLE, and ROGUE ORACLE. Both DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE are National Novel Writing Month books. She has two upcoming YA novels with Houghton Mifflin’s Graphia line in 2012 and 2013, beginning with THE HALLOWED ONES in fall. She lives in the Midwestern U.S. with her chief muse, where they are owned by five semi-reformed feral cats. More information on her work is here: www.laurabickle.com.

Your Weekly Edmo Pep Email!

Hello Edmos!

I hear there are new members signing up every day! Hooray! We're glad to have you on board. Welcome! Find yourself a comfy state room and bring your laptop, or your printed manuscript out on deck for some fun editing in the sun! There will be a wonderful massage treatment for everyone as soon as you've completed today's hour goal. And a wonderful dinner will be waiting for us after that. Whatever your favorite food is, we have it. And I made the chef order lots of extra chocolate and champagne just in case things get bad, or someone finishes their fifty hours early.

The way things have been going this month, its certainly not been the best March ever. Thus, I figured a good cruise in tropical waters would do us good and help cheer us up. As most of you know, our website was taken over by hackers so getting to the homepage or other pages was spotty, at best. The site is back up now, though all of the features have not been activated. What is activated? The two most important parts: the forums and the hour logger!

Yes, you can now log your hours as you go. Just be aware, the logger may have erased any hours previously logged before the site went down. Never fear if this is the case. Just give it your over all hours logged, and everything should be fine.

We've been doing a lot of things off the website to keep Edmo going. If you have Twitter, or have been thinking about joining Twitter, check out our Twitter feed: @NaNoEdMo. We've been posting updates about the site there, as well as the minimum hours you need to log in each day to make it to fifty by the end of the month.

We also have a new temporary blog where we've been posting the articles and the weekly pep emails, because for awhile we were unable to send out emails to all of you participants. If you don't get an email, or think you've missed one, check out the blog here: www.nanoedmo.blogspot.com.

On my end, I've finally got my internet at home up and running and it looks like our mass power outage from last week is getting cleared up as we speak. For most of the week and into the weekend a large portion of my city was being run by huge generators because a power station exploded Tuesday night. Even so, I kept on editing, doing all I could to stay ahead of the game.

If I can do it, so can you! I'm ahead by several days and this is the first time I've ever been this much ahead during Edmo. Of course, today, my real life smacks me in the face to tell me that if I don't get my laundry done and don't go grocery shopping I'm going to be in big trouble soon. ... I guess that means I need to get out there and get some of that boring work done so I can come back and continue to work on the story of my two hot detectives. 

I'm looking forward to getting my novel finished and am debating what I'll do for myself when that happens. Do I buy the expensive fountain pen I've been eyeing? Or do I get that relaxing massage? I think by the end of this novel, I'll have earned both.

What are you planning to do for yourself when you get your novels finished? Will you celebrate on April 1st, or will you wait until your book is absolutely done, no matter how long it takes you? These are great things to think about now. They'll give you something to look forward to. And hey, maybe some of you will wait until you land that publishing deal. Whatever it is you're striving for, good luck, and I hope you get it.

With only two weeks left to scramble,
Anna (aka QueenOfTheUniverse)

Revising is Only the Beginning by Peter Salomon

On Thursday January 5, 2012 I emailed the ‘final’ revisions of my debut novel to my Editor at Flux (and by ‘final’ I mean that the file I emailed will be transformed into the ARC and so there are only a small number of revisions left between now and the scheduled date of publication in Sept. 2012). Two years ago this month I signed with my agent for this book. Two years before that I started writing what would become HENRY FRANKS.

Almost five years (give or take) from concept to publication. It took less than three months to write the first draft. I’ve been editing ever since.

There are numerous books to help edit and revise, and beta readers to tell you what works and what doesn’t, but nothing changes one simple fact: if you don’t edit, it’ll never be as good as it could be. Editing changes everything. Every line, every word of HENRY FRANKS (even the title) has gone through revisions. And you know what? It was fun. It was worth every moment.

So, you’ve finished the first draft…now what? Well, first of all, a small celebration is in order. If I had to guess I’d say most people have, at one point or another, thought ‘I’d like to write a book’ (or something to that effect). Far fewer of them started and even fewer finished. You accomplished something, even if no one knows about it. Even if, like most first drafts, it’s in need of serious work. You finished! Celebrate.

Ok, time for the fun part (otherwise known as ‘work’). Always remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel (and sometimes, yes, it’s a train, but every so often the train is actually going your way). Don’t give up because you don’t think it’s worth it or you don’t believe you’ll ever finish.

I long ago lost track of how many versions of HENRY FRANK I went through to get it to where it is now. But every time I finished a revision the book was so much better than the last revision. And I know, deep down in the secret places of my heart, that once I’m holding the book in my hand, flipping the pages and marveling at the reality of my debut novel, I know that I’ll find something more I could have should have might have changed. Just a little. Maybe a missing word. Or an extra word. Or something that I wish I had revised.

Just one more time.

Because, trust me, revising will be the best thing that ever happened to that finished first draft of yours. And it will also be the best thing that ever happened to the second draft.  And one day, before you know it, you’ll think to yourself ‘it’s time to query’ and because of all the time you’ve spent revising and learning to edit and editing again that query will be an extension of the manuscript, rich with your voice and the hook of it will land an agent.

And guess what happens then? You guessed it, more revising. More editing. Until one day your agent will let you know that they believe it’s time to submit to publishing houses. And one day, before you know it, your phone will ring and you’ll hear nothing your agent says beyond the word ‘sold!’

And, I almost hate to say it, but guess what happens then?

And it will all be fun. It will all be worth it. Every single moment of it. Because when you stand there flipping through the pages of your debut novel, marveling at the reality of your sweetest dream come true, you’ll find something you could have should have might have changed.

Just one more time.



Peter Adam Salomon graduated Emory University in Atlanta, GA with a BA in Theater and Film Studies in 1989. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Boston and New Orleans chapters of Mensa as the Editor of their monthly newsletters and was also a Judge for the 2006 Savannah Children’s Book Festival Young Writer’s Contest. He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Horror Writers Association and The Authors Guild and is represented by the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. His debut novel, HENRY FRANKS, will be published by Flux in September 2012.


Peter Adam Salomon lives in New Orleans with his wife Anna and their three sons: André Logan, Joshua Kyle and Adin Jeremy.

Editing Doesn’t Have to be a Soul-Killing Existential Horror by Jeff Somers

Nobody knows anybody. Not that well.

Writing a book is sort of like going out on a three-day bender1. At first it seems like a good idea, then gets out of hand quickly, ending in tears, nausea, and lost time. Sometimes arrest. In extreme cases, loss of pants. Then, after you’ve sobered up, paid your fines2, and begged your loved ones for forgiveness, you look back on what you have created and frown in puzzlement, because you don’t remember most of it.

Novels are always surprises. Characters that by end of story are essential players are transparent ciphers for the first twenty thousand words. Plot twists that seemed brilliant on page 231 are rendered totally nonsensical by events on page 45. You forgot your own rules in the universe, you discover an inserted comment that reads “DON’T FORGET TO WRITE THIS SCENE LATER” on page 105, and you changed tense from third-person omniscient to second-person past perfect on page 145. You become convinced you are suffering from multiple personalities, because you don’t even remember writing most of it.

Don’t despair! This just means you are ready to embark on the most satisfying and amazing part of writing a novel: Editing3!

The trick to editing is to appreciate editing for what it is: The ability to fix your mistakes. The ability to improve, the ability to time-travel back to the day you drank an entire bottle of cough syrup and decided that Chapter 4 should be told from the dog’s POV, and change history4. Editing is not drudgery, or failure. Editing is a super power.

Every manuscript I write is a mess in draft one5. Usually literally, covered in coffee spills, tear stains, and sticky fingerprints, but also metaphorically. Some authors meticulously plan their novels, using software or flash cards or spreadsheets to plan out plots and keep track of characters6. My technique differs: I get really drunk and just start writing, using a strong visual image as a jumping off point. I just write; I am what scientists call a Pantser7. So my first drafts are messy, filled with digressions and false starts, characters and subplots that fade away and are never resolved or utilized, and new ideas introduced midway that change the entire scope and feel of the book. First drafts are sometimes difficult for this reason, as I get a little lost in the details8.

Details are not my strong suit; I am a man who often leaves the house forgetting to wear pants, after all.

As a result, editing is my favorite part of writing9. Because the heavy lifting is done – the plot has been mapped out, the characters defined, the whole point discovered and dusted off, marveled over. Editing is where I can clean everything up and make it resemble a novel instead of a Diary of the Insane10. Editing is also where I re-read my own creation with an almost childlike amazement that I created it, and in doing so I can riff on my own ideas the same way I get inspired by someone else’s work – I start thinking, well, this is okay, but what if this and that and before you know it, the book is eleventy billion times better11.

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1    I say this largely because I usually wake up after Lost Weekends with epic hangovers and completed novels.

2    Possibly: Fled the country.

3    Stay with me, here.

4    You have to think of this imaginary chapter 4 as Adolf Hitler. You’d kill Hitler, wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

5    My agent and editors would probably edit that sentence to include most, if not all, subsequent revisions. They are mean.

6    Some authors also pay their taxes, obey the orders of peace officers, and never leave the house without pants. Pffft.

7    Ironically, I hate wearing pants. I’m not wearing any right now.

8    Plus, it’s difficult to work on a novel when you keep waking up in Mexican jails, pantsless, and everyone refers to you as Muchacho blanco estúpido.

9    Especially if I have convinced someone else to actually write the first draft as an unpaid ghostwriter.

10 Unless the title of the novel is, in fact, Diary of the Insane.

11 Approximate number.