Mixed messages and the pursuit of done-ness

(A thoughts-on-writing post… just letting you know in case you want to slip out the back now before we begin. I won’t mind.)

Say you finish your novel – not just a first draft, but a revised, re-revised, and polished-to-a-shine version. You do a happy dance and have a party, and you feel giddy (but a little nauseous from one too many root beer floats). But then you realize that even though the novel is done, it’s not DONE done. So you take off the party hat, even though it looks so cute on you, and you decide you need some FEEDBACK. *insert menacing dun-dun-dun sound effect here*

Where are you going to get decent feedback? You know better than to send the manuscript to your mom* or your best friend (unless she’s a writer or editor or awesome critiquer) because now is not the time for pats on the back. You want non-biased, honest-but-kind, truly helpful feedback. Because otherwise there’s not much point, right?

If you’re lucky, you’re already part of a good critique group, or you have a tried-and-true critique partner. If not, your mission, should you choose to accept it – and IMHO it would be totally crazy not to – is to FIND A CRITIQUE GROUP! … Go ahead. I’ll wait…. Got one? Good. Okay, give them the manuscript.

Seriously. Let go.

kthx.

Now you wait. And you notice a weird phenomenon in which time actually slows down. It’s something to do with a glitch in Einstein’s theory of relativity and the time-space continuum. Don’t worry – that always happens when you hand over a piece of your soul. You distract yourself from the waiting by immersing yourself in your next novel – cuz you’re just smart that way – until the day finally comes when you receive the definitive word on the degree of done-ness possessed by your manuscript. Or not….

Instead of gleefully acknowledging the problems your readers discovered (all minor problems, of course) and getting right to work fixing them, you cry out to the gods in frustration. Why? Because every single reader/critiquer had a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OPINION! Talk about mixed messages. Sheesh. And now you’re thinking, what in the name of flaming hot Cheetos was the point of getting my manuscript critiqued?!

Take a breath.

Read all the comments again. See any common threads? Anything picked up by two or more people? Those are the things you want to really pay attention to. Those are the things that maybe didn’t quite arrive on the page the way they appeared in your brain. Or maybe they did, but you’d run out of coffee and your brain wasn’t working at full power the day you imagined that section, so that you ended up with a sub-plot or a character flaw or something, about which all you can say now is “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” You’ll wanna do some work on those bits….

But what of all those other random comments? The mixed messages and the opinions voiced by only a single critiquer? You kinda want to ignore them completely, don’t you, because if you don’t it’ll just mean more work. And you’re feeling ready to be done with this manuscript. But hang on a sec. Read the comments carefully. A good critiquer won’t have said “here’s how I would’ve written it”; he’ll have pointed out what doesn’t work for him, and why (in addition to mentioning what does work well). And if something doesn’t work for a reader, you have to consider it and decide if:

1. it’s simply a personal taste thing (sorry to say, but not everyone’s gonna love your writing… and that’s okay — do you love every book out there?); or
2. it’s just that reader having a less-than-stellar intellectual moment (hey, we all have those) and therefore doesn’t indicate the need to re-write the section in question; or
3. maybe, possibly, he has a point. You don’t want to change stuff for the sake of change, but if a comment resonates with you, take it to heart.

So there you have it. My lack-of-sleep influenced, long rambly post about FEEDBACK. The brilliant conclusion? Mixed messages aren’t such a terrible thing when it comes to improving your manuscript. Embrace them. Sift carefully through them. And get to work – that novel ain’t gonna finish itself!

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(*I sometimes send stuff to my mom to read because she IS a writer, and a helpful critiquer, but she’s good with the pats-on-the-back stuff, too. I’m just lucky that way.)

Revision Tips

In case you missed any of this summer’s Fix-It Friday posts, here’s a list of the authors who contributed tips (click a name to open their tip in a new window):

1. Cynthea Liu
2. Sara Zarr
3. Dia Reeves
4. Linda Gerber
5. Lauren Baratz-Logsted
6. Bev Katz Rosenbaum
7. D.L. Garfinkle
8. Maggie Stiefvater
9. Elizabeth Scott
10. Kelly Parra

Thanks again to all these awesome authors! (I actually received more tips than there were Fridays, so there may be an encore presentation of Fix-It Friday in the future.)

Good luck with your revisions, everyone. Have fun crafting your best story possible!

Fix-It Friday

As summer winds down, I bring you the last of this round of Fix-It Friday revision tips, courtesy of Kelly Parra, author of Graffiti Girl and Invisible Touch.

Revisions, revisions, translates to me as layers, layers.

I have never been able to focus on several elements of storytelling at once. So as I write my draft I’ll put down my first layer, which is usually action and some personality. Then I’ll add the second layer, description and setting. Then I’ll add a nice coat of tightening and emotion.

Same with revisions… If I feel something is missing, it will of course be another layer. I may scrape down a layer or two already written and reshape the layer once I get to know the character better and get a handle on her voice. Writing a new book is always about finding your voice. Once you get comfortable with that voice and know it inside and out, the revision comes a lot easier. Because your characters are suddenly your best friends and you just know what they’ll say and do. Just. Like. That.

So what did we learn today? Revision comes in layers, and there may be a hundred caked on before you’re through, and then once you know your voice, layers–er, I mean–revision comes a lot easier.

Mmm, layers…. Reminds me of cake. And this:

But I digress. Thinking of revisions as adding layers makes so much sense! Thanks, Kelly, for sharing this great tip! Drop by any time and I’ll share some cake with you in return.

Fix-It Friday

This week, I’m pleased to bring you a revision tip from Elizabeth Scott, author of Something, Maybe and Love You Hate You Miss You.

Here’s something I think about when I’m revising that I’ve always
found helpful–it actually comes from Elmore Leonard.

Leonard is famous for saying “I try to leave out the parts that
readers skip,” and it’s really, really good advice. I tend to lose
massive chunks of my first drafts (in one case, I lost 50%!) this
way, but I find that streamlining things helps the story move.

Is it painful to cut out so much? Sometimes it’s agony. Other times–
like when I’ve written ten pages about people eating breakfast–it
makes me very happy.

I’ve heard something similar to Leonard’s advice — leave out the boring parts — and for sure it seems wise to look at our manuscript this way, with our readers in mind. Thanks very much for sharing this tip, Elizabeth!

Fix-It Friday

This week’s Fix-It Friday revision tip comes from Maggie Stiefvater, author of Lament and Shiver.

I am very organic with my revising. Revising is a chance to look at your manuscript clinically, as one big piece, now that you have all the pieces together. I tend to imagine my manuscript as a movie or as a mixtape. Ideally, my finished novel has the same feel as both of those things: every scene has the same “sound” while following a pattern of “up” moments followed by “down” moments — like a minor key song following a major key, a slow song following a fast one. I frequently imagine my books as movies and picture how a scene would follow another if it were a movie. I try to make sure every scene looks different from the one before it; that’s a great tip to grab from movies. It’s hard to see those patterns when you’re drafting, so revision is when I tackle that — usually before my editor even sees it. I always tackle the big stuff before the small stuff, because the little details will often change while I’m shifting scenes from place to place.

Sounds like a great approach to revisions — thanks, Maggie!

Fix-It Friday

After a two-week blog hiatus while I was on vacation, Fix-It Friday is back! This week, I’m pleased to share a revision strategy from D.L. Garfinkle, author of the Supernatural Rubber Chicken series, The Band trilogy, Storky, and Stuck in the 70’s.

I do separate revisions for every big problem with the manuscript. For instance, I’ve done a revision based on some comments that the arc needed work, and solely focused on making the manuscript less episodic. I just revised a manuscript because some editors thought the voice wasn’t compelling enough. To do so, I thought about the main character’s motivation in each chapter and his quirky take on the events and the people around him. I added a lot of internal thought. I’m now going through a manuscript solely to improve the diction and actions to make it more teenage boy-like.

For me, it’s good to be focused on one big issue per revision. Otherwise I could get stuck on little things like commas and lose track of the big picture problems that need improving.

Thanks for the tip, Debra! And happy revising, everyone.

Breaking News

The low-budget news team reports on a disturbance at the home of Aspiring Author.

Yes, it’s true. This round of revisions is done. But, you say, how is that possible? You were on vacation! Indeed I was, but it turns out sunshine and sand and family time and good books are all fine fuel for revising. Who knew? And now, the manuscript is off to my trusty crit partner and then should be winging its way to Brilliant Agent’s desk sometime next week (eek!) (um, unless trusty crit partner has devastating news for me after reading the manuscript… time will tell).

(Vacation pics under the cut.)

Fix-It Friday

For today’s Fix-It Friday tip, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, author of I was a Teenage Popsicle and Beyond Cool, shares how she approaches a revision letter.

I do all the little things first (gives you a great sense of accomplishment right off the bat!), then tackle each of the big points one by one.  If a particular subplot needs to be expanded, say, I’ll go through the book and mark up the places where I think I could add in new subplot scenes.  Then I’ll go on to the next big point and keep marking up the manuscript.  Finally, I’ll go through the marked up manuscript and physically add in the new scenes.  Works for me!

Thanks, Bev!

Breaking News

Fix-It Friday

Wow, I haven’t blogged since the last Fix-It Friday post. Oops. I’ve been working the “day-job” during the day, revising a little at night, and sleeping… uh…. What is this thing you call “sleep”?

This weekend I hope to have a marathon revision session, but it will be interrupted by one important thing, as illustrated below (click to view full-size):

Can’t wait! For now, though, it’s time to think about revisions…. This week’s Fix-It Friday tip comes from Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Sisters Eight series.

When approaching a revision letter, I always find the best way is to attack
the small things first, the page-by-page notes, working the book back to
front so that the page numbers even correspond. This stage can be done
quickly which is mentally good – it makes you feel like you’re making real
headway: “I can do this thing!” Next, do any mid-size changes, i.e., those that
concern a particular chapter or scene. Finally, the big stuff, anything
that requires going through the whole or a large part of the book, like adding
or altering a subplot. And then – one more ‘finally’! – read through the
whole, cleaning over the traces.

And that’s it! If you take it as a methodical exercise, a job with a
checklist where ticking off each item leads you closer to your goal of an
improved book, there’s no need to freak. You *can* do this thing. It’s part of
what being a writer is all about.

Thanks so much for the tips, Lauren, and for the encouraging words!

Happy revising, everyone. (Or happy movie-going, as the case may be.)