Monday, January 24

Oh, The Ways to Revise...

So, I seem to have made it a habit to blog on Mondays. I think I'll keep with that! =) And today's topic comes from what I've been doing since January 18, err... give or take. Revising!

When I work on books, I haven't really had a set thing of plotting or pantsing or doing a little of both. I don't have a set way of building characters, they come to me in different ways. Sometimes they just float into my head, and sometimes I actively make them. (Although, on that note, this past time with my cyberpunk romance novella, I did actively build my hero using Holly Lisle's The Character Workshop -- Designing A Life article, and it worked wonderfully! So I'll definitely have to try that again in the future.) But, I digress. The point is, I don't have a set way of doing things.

Most often, I dive into revising by looking at page one, line one and working my way through. Reading each line, fixing each line. Rinse. Repeat. Honestly, the process overwhelms me sometimes. But that really isn't the best way to see continuity issues and fix the big picture items that might be haunting the manuscript. I know this, and I've had my critique partner pick out those kinds of problems in a previous book.

Right now, I'm on a tight schedule with editing, so I don't have the luxury of going through it three or four times to figure out those things. And geez, not like I'd want to!

There have been a couple of articles on revising, namely Rachel Caine's Cruel to Be Kind method and there's Lori Devoti's Revision Checklist too, that I've always wanted to implement into my process, but I've been too in a hurry and stuck with the ol' line-edit the manuscript to death trick. Ha! This time I decided to try them out. I'm basically using Rachel Caine's process, but I'll probably also do the Computer Search mentioned in Lori Devoti's. All I can say so far is: WOW! I've made it through The Reading Pass, and I've found so many things that need fixed. Things I might've missed if I hadn't been reading straight through.

This has shown me the ultimate importance of reading the book straight through a first time (and taking notes) before line-editing. I am so glad I've discovered these methods now. A really interesting article I found today by Jody Hedlund called Three Simple Stages of Self-Editing basically goes over the process Publishing Houses use when editing and how effective it'd be to utilize that system. That process is: Substantive, Line-Editing, and Copyediting. Basically, it follows, to an extent, the two methods above! And really, wouldn't it be great to get into the habit of doing edits like publishing houses before getting contracted?

How do you revise? Do you have a set way, or are you still trying to figure out your process?

Monday, January 17

The End!

Last night, I wrote The End on my cyberpunk romance novella. Woohoo! Afterward, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I'm so excited about this story. I think it's fun and definitely unique. I can't wait for it to find a home! Now I'll give it a day or two to cool down before hopping into edits. Eek!

But in the meantime, I'll be able to return to edits on my post-apoc paranormal romance. It's been going slowly due to the cyberpunk novella, but I'm just as excited about it too. Going over it, I've been surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. *sigh of relief* I just hope an agent and editor will agree!

Reading has been slow as well, but at least I'm doing some. I've never really juggled two projects like this before, so I guess it's good practice for when I get contracted.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Monday, January 10

Busy, busy...

This month looks like it's not letting up. I'm busy, busy, busy! But what better way to start a new year than that? What am I juggling? Writing (and then revising) a novella, revising a novel to share with my critique group, and being a good critique partner for my critique group (oh, and ya know, a good wife, healthy eater, etc., etc., etc). I think I'm really looking forward to February. lol!

But, I think I've done pretty well with the juggling so far. I'm nearly half-way through the novella; okay, I've only revised 1 chapter of my novel... pffft!; I've also participated with the critique group, so I'm not horrible there; and the good wife stuff... eh... I'm sure hubby would think so. =) But... no perverted thoughts, okay? *grin*

Anyways, just popping by to say hello and give an update! Now back to work for me.

Thursday, January 6

Posting at Castles & Guns today!

Hey everyone! I'm posting at Castles & Guns today. Check it out. I blogged about the importance of trying new things. That's something exciting for me since I've recently been branching out a little into different genres. Just like in normal day life and trying new hobbies, etc. I think it's good to occasionally experiment in writing!

http://www.castlesandguns.com/2011/01/importance-of-trying-new-things.html

Wednesday, January 5

So far, so good!

This year has started pretty well! I'm a decent way into the cyberpunk romance novella I'm writing (and loving), and well, I've started editing my post-apocalyptic paranormal romance novel. I know I need to buckle down with it if I want to get it edited by my hopeful due date. Also, my desk is somewhat clean, and I've already started figuring out what projects I'd like to accomplish throughout the rest of the year. Woo!

Pretty soon, I'll be putting in an update with my webmistress so you'll actually see new content on my website. What a shocker! lol That's another good idea for this year, not leave my website so sad and not updated. I think that depends on the progress I make with getting published though. =)

Hope everyone else has had a great start of the year so far as well!
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