When I started editing my first novel, I felt like an astronaut in free fall. Yes, my novel had problems. Some of them big, some of them small, but mostly workable. The problem was, approaching it with a list of fix-its wasn't always helpful, and was, at times, a back-fire, because it meant I only approached edits with my critical, logical mind rather than letting my writer's brain have a say.
Part of the reason it's so hard to convey how to edit a story is because 1) we all have our own process and 2) I don't think people care to put down the emotional aspect of how to look at a story. So when I found this article by David Farland about your character's feelings and how your book portrays them, I was thrilled.
It's another good way of looking at edits. Here's a small quote from it:
Ultimately, with every pass, every rewrite, you need to ask yourself, “Is this the right choice of words, images, and scenes to make the reader feel what I want? Have I selected the right details?”
Showing posts with label writing articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing articles. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Two Really Great Blog Posts
I don't post a lot of link sharing on my blog because, frankly, when most people do it on theirs, I skip it unless there's one that REALLY stands out. It's to stop me from falling into the internet rabbit hole, and I'm sure you're the same.
Having said that, these two articles were so good, I just had to put them on here, for my reference, even if no one else cares.
In the first, Kameron Hurley, autho of God's War, discusses how SF/F genre is guilty of using the same unimaginative futures instead of thinking outside the box. And you know what? I love those genres, I read and write in them, and she's absolutely right. This is something I've been thinking about for awhile now, ever since I realized the boxes people put female lead characters into which irritates the heck outta me (either she needs to be masculine in her ways or have super snarkiness, 9/10 times) .
It gets feminist me really thinking even more. I'm not the only one who sees it.
And another one dear to my heart is this post from the Smart Bitches about people who shame readers about their genre reading choice. This happens, I know, to quite a few genre readers, but none nearly so much as romance readers. When discussing this with a fellow writer, she told me it was just as bad for romance writers.
"It's sadly common for them to get comments on how good they are in the sack, once people hear of their genre," she told me. "Funny how that sort of comparison doesn't happen to mystery writers."
Having said that, these two articles were so good, I just had to put them on here, for my reference, even if no one else cares.
In the first, Kameron Hurley, autho of God's War, discusses how SF/F genre is guilty of using the same unimaginative futures instead of thinking outside the box. And you know what? I love those genres, I read and write in them, and she's absolutely right. This is something I've been thinking about for awhile now, ever since I realized the boxes people put female lead characters into which irritates the heck outta me (either she needs to be masculine in her ways or have super snarkiness, 9/10 times) .
It gets feminist me really thinking even more. I'm not the only one who sees it.
And another one dear to my heart is this post from the Smart Bitches about people who shame readers about their genre reading choice. This happens, I know, to quite a few genre readers, but none nearly so much as romance readers. When discussing this with a fellow writer, she told me it was just as bad for romance writers.
"It's sadly common for them to get comments on how good they are in the sack, once people hear of their genre," she told me. "Funny how that sort of comparison doesn't happen to mystery writers."
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