Editing

Edit Ruthlessly (Photo credit: Dan Patterson)

I know, I know. I haven’t blogged for two weeks and I’ve given exactly no reason for it. Well, to be honest, I’ve just been too busy lately. What with Easter and a bunch of other things going on (birthday of youngest child, for example) I simply haven’t had the time. I’m sorry. I’m also going to be writing a Monday post on a Friday, mainly because I have something I want to talk about.

I’ve been editing. (What? I hear you say. You’ve had time to edit but not blog? What sort of author are you?) The thing is, of course, that editing does not require the internet so I haven’t needed a web connection to do it. This isn’t saying a web connection isn’t handy, but it’s certainly not necessary.

The funny thing is, I’ve been enjoying the editing process immensely. Sure, there’s still a long way to go, but there really is something satisfying about taking a red pen to a manuscript. Figuratively speaking, of course – I haven’t yet printed out my novel and I don’t want to until I cut at least another 10,000 words. (I’ve cut 15,000 so far, so it’s not impossible.) This isn’t due to any preference to editing on screen, though I generally have little problem with that, but more that I don’t want to use up too much paper. Especially considering that the only decent printer I have access to is at my work.

Generally, I’m happy with the structure at the moment. There are still some scenes that need rewriting or moving or incorporating into other scenes, but overall it’s looking pretty good. So what I’m focusing on now, because it’s easy and something I can do when I’m feeling a little brainless, is taking out words I use too much. A few samples of web-based editing services have told me “that” is a word I use approximately eight times as much as I should, and “just” is the next worst offender, so I’m using that old staple of find-and-replace to either change those words to other things, or, in many cases, just delete them entirely. I think I got rid of 1000 words by that method alone.

Like I said, though, there is still a long way to go. I intend to go to a proper professional editor when I am finally as happy with it as I can be through my own editing, but in the meantime there are some really helpful sites out there. Sites like Autocrit, FirstEditing, and Book Editing Services (to name a few) will give you a free sample edit, which is really helpful for identifying some of your common errors before you commit to a paid service. Helpful hints can also be found everywhere, like here and here. I’m now taking a few days off the edit to spend with my kids, but come next week, wish me luck!

And while we’re on the subject of luck, I know I’ll need more than a little to make it very far, but if you like my blog then I would love you to vote in the Best Australian Blogs competitions for this year. Just click on the button below and look for Emily’s Tea Leaves in the list.

I think you should also consider voting for Confessions of a Stuffed Olive, which is one of my favourite blogs and one I’ve mentioned more than once on these pages. You don’t have to be Australian to vote but you can only vote once, so please do so with care and consideration. Thank you.

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• DIY Editing (jwtroemner.wordpress.com)
• Hand editing an entire novel manuscript (cuppatae.wordpress.com)
• Writerly Tools: Editing Edition (thereanddraftagain.wordpress.com)
• Writing and Rewriting, Revising and Editing (rickybruce.wordpress.com)

Tales of the unexpected … oh, and please vote for me!

© Frenta | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

VOTE FOR ME!!! Please?

In what? I hear you ask. Good question.  I dare say that most people in the blogosphere aren’t familiar with the Sydney Writers’ Centre‘s competition to find the Best Australian Blogs of 2012. Well, the competition exists, and I entered it. If nothing else, I figured I could find some great blogs to follow from fellow entrants.

Anyway, there’s a People’s Choice Award as part of the comp, and that’s where you come in. You don’t need to be Australian to vote, so there’s nothing to stop you, right? All you do is click on the pretty badge below or in the sidebar, or, if the link doesn’t work for whatever reason, then you can just click here: VOTE HERE

You’ll have to scroll down to near the bottom of the page – just look for “Emily’s Tea Leaves” and tick the box.

While I have no way of knowing who has voted for me (if anyone, hahaha), if you do you can rest assured I will be forever grateful. And, if you have a blog and I don’t already follow you, leave me a link (in the comments section on this page) and I’ll head there pronto and hit “follow”. Promise!

And now, back to business. Today’s topic is unexpected subplots.

I was doing some writing yesterday – just sketching out a scene in my notebook, because it’s school holidays here at the moment and getting to my computer for any length of time is proving tricky – when it took an unexpected turn. Essentially it was a basic office/workplace scene, when my MC and another character started going off on their own tangent. This is a character for whom I have very little back story beyond a name and physical description, who was pretty much there to populate the scene and not do much else. However, contrary to all my expectations, halfway through the scene in question I noticed that what was was initially a minor disagreement had turned into outright hostility. There is history between these characters, and there is definitely a significant conflict. The question now is, what do I do with this?

Don’t get me wrong, the new tension is great. It’s something that I can really get my teeth into, and it adds a delightful aspect to the story that wasn’t previously there. (By delightful, I mean for me as an author, not for my MC.) Sure, I need to work out what this conflict is all about, but I can do that. Office rivalries are nothing new, but they can make the mundane of the workplace much more interesting to both read and write about, so the scenes that by necessity had to take place in that environment are now just that little bit spicier.

On the downside, it means that there’s a lot more writing to do in this story than I had originally thought. I think it will be the better for it, but my fingers are not thanking me. My imagination, on the other hand … who doesn’t love a nemesis? Even when it’s an unintended one.  :) My mind is going at a million miles an hour, and by the time this posts I could well have this character’s back story and her beef with my MC all worked out. Integrating it into the narrative is just another challenge.

Who else has had their story take unexpected turns when new and surprising subplots have arisen during the writing process? How did you deal with it – embrace it and follow it through, or try to quash it? And how did it turn out? I’d love to know.

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• I’m in – Best Australian Blog 2012 nominee (caroltravelwriter.wordpress.com)
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