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3 Media Press
CRAFTY PERSISTENCE: REVISION AND EDITING
CRAFTY PERSISTENCE: REVISION AND EDITING
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There are two parts to writing any type of fiction: the fun part where you spin the story and play all the parts in it through your characters and the not-so-fun part where you prove your worth as a professional writer in doing the revision and editing. If you picked up this title in the Writing Workshops in Book Form, you've reached the moment of truth and are ready to enter the final phase of the process.
It doesn't matter whether you intend to submit your darling child – the manuscript – to an editor, an agent, or go the Independent publishing route. The story must be polished, buffed, molded to not only put its best proverbial foot forward but to be free of errors/distractions and thus enthrall the audience reading it.
If you compare creating the first draft of your completely spun tale to building a house from the ground up, then this is the stage when the sawdust is swept up, the paint cans are tossed out, the wood or tile floors are buffed to a nice shine, and the newly laid carpet has been swept. But it's also when a piece of wallboard gets replaced because a ladder fell over and scored it or punched a hole in it. When the discovery is made that when the sun is shining through the newly cleaned window that the color used on the walls looks ghastly and the room needs to be repainted. When the door scrapes one part of the threshold when being opened or closed...the key doesn't work...the garage door isn't speaking the same language as the garage door opener...the flue on the fireplace won't budge...the kitchen faucet keeps dripping and the electric socket in the master bathroom doesn't work. While the house/manuscript feels like it is finished, it isn't ready to be shown off yet.
Editing and revision can be little things but they can be big things. The process will require patience, probably a stack of reference books (dictionary, thesaurus, grammar book), the willingness to sacrifice favorite parts of what you've written in favor of a smoother flowing, more succinct, clear, exciting, faster paced tale, the ability to distance yourself from the story and look at the construction materials that went into building it and then alter scenes and elements that you thought were behind you.
As the author, all of this is your job. Sure you can hire someone to do some of it, but they can't do the remodeling, though they might suggest it. This is your baby and you're responsible for everything that goes into its creation. Once it reaches the stage of standing in the open doorway and saying "bye Mom, bye Dad. I'm off to take the world by storm", you need to have it ready to face that world and the competition it will run into in the marketplace.
The text first appeared as lectures for an online class although it has been augmented for this book version.
It doesn't matter whether you intend to submit your darling child – the manuscript – to an editor, an agent, or go the Independent publishing route. The story must be polished, buffed, molded to not only put its best proverbial foot forward but to be free of errors/distractions and thus enthrall the audience reading it.
If you compare creating the first draft of your completely spun tale to building a house from the ground up, then this is the stage when the sawdust is swept up, the paint cans are tossed out, the wood or tile floors are buffed to a nice shine, and the newly laid carpet has been swept. But it's also when a piece of wallboard gets replaced because a ladder fell over and scored it or punched a hole in it. When the discovery is made that when the sun is shining through the newly cleaned window that the color used on the walls looks ghastly and the room needs to be repainted. When the door scrapes one part of the threshold when being opened or closed...the key doesn't work...the garage door isn't speaking the same language as the garage door opener...the flue on the fireplace won't budge...the kitchen faucet keeps dripping and the electric socket in the master bathroom doesn't work. While the house/manuscript feels like it is finished, it isn't ready to be shown off yet.
Editing and revision can be little things but they can be big things. The process will require patience, probably a stack of reference books (dictionary, thesaurus, grammar book), the willingness to sacrifice favorite parts of what you've written in favor of a smoother flowing, more succinct, clear, exciting, faster paced tale, the ability to distance yourself from the story and look at the construction materials that went into building it and then alter scenes and elements that you thought were behind you.
As the author, all of this is your job. Sure you can hire someone to do some of it, but they can't do the remodeling, though they might suggest it. This is your baby and you're responsible for everything that goes into its creation. Once it reaches the stage of standing in the open doorway and saying "bye Mom, bye Dad. I'm off to take the world by storm", you need to have it ready to face that world and the competition it will run into in the marketplace.
The text first appeared as lectures for an online class although it has been augmented for this book version.
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