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How to Critique & Edit Your Own Work

/ dragonqueen3 / 1 Comment

First off, understand that the first draft of what you are going to write is most definitely going to cause you to cringe and want to burn it on sight. I would not recommend this since editing it is fairly easy, and there’s no reason to give your neighbors a heart attack with squealing smoke alarms. You will have times when your writing flows as easily as a beautiful river. You will face times when you have to force the writing out. There will be filler words such as “that,” grammar issues, lack of descriptive imagery, characters so shallow you want to cry.

The first step is to just breathe. Once your first draft is completely finished, set it aside. Lock it away if you have to. Don’t look at it for at least a couple of weeks. Give yourself time to catch up on reading, watching movies, and schedule that spa day. You can work on another project, even if it’s the sequel to the first draft you just finished. Whatever you do, do not look at the first draft until two weeks has passed. That’s fourteen days for those that are stubborn. You know who you are.

The second step is to read your draft as though you were someone else. It should be fairly easy now that you’ve set it aside for the past two weeks. Be brutal. Reading from another perspective gives you the opportunity to find the plot holes more easily, the shallow characters who were never mentioned again, and more. Take your time reading it over.

The third step is the grammar. Make sure there are no run-on sentences (average long sentence length should not exceed 25 words), your homonyms(to/too/two) are correctly used, etc. Grammar is essential to making your story readable and enjoyable to readers.

The fourth step is checking the tense throughout the story. This means the past tense, present tense, future tense. If your wording is off, it will be difficult to read and will give readers different ideas than what you’re portraying.

The fifth step is to read the entire story out loud. This can be tiresome, but if you can’t get through the entire draft in a breeze, neither can your readers. If the sentences feel awkward to say, this means they are awkward to read. Definitely go through this step repeatedly until all of those errors are fixed. Normally it’s something that can be resolved by switching a couple of words around or deleting a word.

The sixth step is to read the entire draft with all of the steps above in mind. Fix any lingering issues you see. Make sure to use the spell checker in whatever program you are using to write in.

Hopefully by this time, you have found and edited everything. A word of warning: just when you think everything is perfect and you hit publish, you’ll find errors you overlooked. Don’t panic, don’t pull the book off the shelves in horror. Calmly document all of the errors, update the document, and upload the updated version. There may be a limitless amount of times you have to do this, so just accept your fate.

In conclusion, that is at least five times you need to read your first draft in order to edit it. If you just exclaimed negatively over that fact, this line of work is not for you. If you don’t want to take the time to read over your own work several times, why would anyone else want to take the time to read it?

Tips to Stay Motivated

/ arellana26 / Leave a comment

Coming into November there are probably a fair few of us who are giving NaNoWriMo a shot. Whether it’s your first time participating or you’re a seasoned vet, there will always be the problem of motivation that arises at some point throughout the month. It’s a natural part of the writing process to reach a certain point where the words don’t flow as easily and you’re finding yourself grasping at straws. When this happens during NaNoWriMo, it’s easy to throw in the towel and give up. But if you want to try to push through and stay motivated here are some tips to pushing yourself to write when you’re not feeling it – they can even be used outside of the sacred writing month of November as well!

Tip 1: Establish a Routine

Getting into a habit and sticking to it is the best way to combat any feelings of burnout. Whether it’s your home office, an outdoor café, your living room sofa, pick a place you’re most comfortable in and make it a habit. You can allot yourself as little as 20 minutes a day, but make sure you squeeze it in. You’ll find that the simple act of making a routine helps you write something, even if it’s not your best work. The key is just getting it out on paper. The editing comes later. Personally, I’ve also found that trying to fit in your writing in the morning works best because as the day wears on you will end up finding more excuses and distractions to draw you away from your writing. I know that’s not what the night owls want to hear but try giving morning writing a chance. It might surprise you.

Tip 2: Get Rid of Distractions

When I write during the week, I usually have a timer that I set for 20-40 minutes – depending on how early I managed to wake up. However, I always place it on the opposite side of the room, face down and notifications off, so I don’t get distracted. If it’s next to me on the table I’ll fall down the rabbit hole of scrolling through social media. If you know that you can’t write without looking at your phone, leave your phone in another room or on the opposite side of the room. If you get distracted checking work emails on your laptop then forgo the laptop and write using pen and paper. If you get distracted doing research for your story then perhaps try plotting ahead of your writing session that way the research is already done and you can just write. This time, however long or short, should be solely focused on producing words. Everything else can wait. And if you know what your weaknesses are in terms of distractions, try eliminating them ahead of time so you can have a productive writing session. 

Tip 3: Daily Goals

Giving yourself a daily word goal helps to keep you on track. Even if it’s something small like 500 words, it’s still something that can serve as a motivator to keep going. If you’re someone who doesn’t necessarily like thinking word count, then maybe make your goal something like finishing a certain scene you’ve been working on or writing another character’s perspective. So long as you have something that you are striving for on a daily basis you can battle against the distractions and writer’s block.

Hope these tips were helpful and good luck this November!

Author Interview with Robert Prescott

/ dragonqueen3 / Leave a comment

Dragon Soul Press took a moment to interview All Dark Places 2 Author Robert Prescott.

1. What inspired you to start writing?

I caught the bug in high school through reading. I read a lot of fantasy and horror, and I was enthralled with the world building and relationships between the characters I was reading about. That led to me writing my own stories, which I’d bring to my creative writing teacher for feedback.

2. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?

Don’t do what I did. After high school I let writing fall by the wayside because of my career and other creative outlets like music. It was only in the last year or so that I rediscovered how much I love telling stories, and now that I’m refocused, I regret the time I lost. Aside from that, I’d say don’t be afraid to submit your work. Be confident in yourself and your story—all they can say is no, right? That doesn’t mean someone else won’t say yes. Lastly, make sure every part of your submission (the story, the body of your e-mail, your author bio) are all fully proofread and professionally presented.

3. How do you handle writer’s block?

How do you come up with the titles to your books? I’ve only written short stories so far, and I usually look for a common theme in the story to help me with the title. In The Cell Block, that theme was obvious since the entire story takes place in the town jail. I did the same thing for another story of mine titled Black Friday.

4. How do you do research for your books?

I’ve mostly used the internet to find what I need. It can be risky due to the loads of misinformation on the web, but if you take your time you can find a lot of good primary and secondary sources for your topic, and even peer reviewed articles if your story contains more technical or scientific aspects.

5. Who is your favorite author and why?

Stephen King. He’s probably the main author who inspired me to write. Any time I’m describing what a character is thinking or feeling during a scene, it’s because I read so much of that in his work.

6. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

When I’m not writing I’m either playing guitar (mostly rock and hard rock), gaming (PC, Xbox, or Switch), spending time with my girlfriend, or reading.

7. Favorite artist and favorite song?

Music is a huge part of my life—there are too many artists to pick a favorite! Right now I’ve got “Blood From Above” by Stryper on heavy rotation, and I’ve also been listening to a lot of Metallica, ZZ Top, and Rush.

8. What are you reading now?

I just started re-reading The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.

9. What’s your favorite food?

Italian food, definitely. Manicotti, lasagna, and spaghetti are some of my favorites.

10. Where can readers learn more about you?

My Amazon author page, Facebook author page, and lastly, my Instagram author account.

Funding Your Writing

/ ladyspiderwitch / Leave a comment

Teamworks recently approved me for a mentorship to help in editing my novel. I am so happy.  An editor, Valerie Compton is available to edit my novel.  I was stressed out for two weeks because I couldn’t afford to pay her.

Then I contacted Teamworks. They are an organization that helps people gain more meaningful employment that supports their passion in life and helps them cope with their struggles in disabilities. I have a learning disability. Rather than let that defeat me, I found ways to turn it into an opportunity.

To qualify for the funding, Valerie Compton and Teamworks agreed to turn the editing job into a mentorship. This means that the process will  take longer, but I don’t care. I know the mentorship will be valuable and I will learn a lot in the process.

Anyone who faces my struggles can enjoy the same success as anyone else. You just need to know who to reach out to.

Sometimes knowing who that can be is a challenge in itself. I am fortunate because the resource was in plain sight. Teamworks funded my copyediting course. I graduated successfully from the course, which was a bonus when I applied for the mentorship. This fall, Valerie Compton will mentor me, editing and revising my novel to its very best. I can’t wait to work with her.

Other places offer funding, such as the Canada Council. It gives out grants to writers. Writing organizations are a great place to search for other sources of funding. The local libraries are a way to find information. Libraries are slowly opening to the public after the pandemic lockdown. 

If you wish to meet with an arts grants officer to discuss a proposal for funding, don’t let the social distancing and lockdown get you down. Zoom meetings and Skype are great alternatives to meeting in person. You don’t have to leave your house. Just log onto your laptop and you’re all set.

I have to keep in mind though that as I get this funding that helps me complete what would otherwise be financially impossible, is that they often expect an outcome. For example, when I graduated from the copyediting certification course. That was a positive outcome. Teamworks will want a measure of achievement from this first half of the mentorship. I am not sure yet what that will be, but to quote Indiana Jones, “I’ll think of something.”

Don’t let a disability, no matter what type, be a barrier to you seeking success in life. Turn an obstacle into an opportunity. Arts grants are now more inclusive of people who face those struggles. It opens doors for them instead of the door being closed to them. It is not easy, but not impossible. This is proof of the positive changes taking place in society today that benefit everyone.

Let’s hope that continues.

 

 

Playlists and Mood Boards

/ arellana26 / Leave a comment

We’ve all struggled with some form of writer’s block. Either the right words just aren’t flowing, or you’ve hit a wall in terms of story progression. Sometimes the story is there, but we just don’t feel a motivation to write.  Regardless of what form your writer’s block takes, you can’t sit and wait for inspiration or motivation. If you do, your manuscript will never get written. It’s painful, but sometimes you just need to push through until you find your stride again.

While I find that storyboarding everything out definitely helps in terms of linearity, just staring at my cork board full of different colored index cards isn’t always enough to get me fully inspired. Sometimes, you just need a little something extra. 

Playlists and Mood Boards are perhaps some of my favorite tools for getting myself hyped to write. The sounds and visuals definitely help to spark the creativity when basic text on some index cards isn’t cutting it. I like hearing what my characters would be hearing in the moment – it makes me feel like I’ve stepped into their world. Youtube has been my go-to since it’s pretty simple to add songs to playlists for yourself. But a new site that I discovered was ambient-mixer.com. Not only do they already have dozens of already mixed soundscapes to choose from, there is also the option to create your own! That little bit of creativity of making your own mixes will definitely get the creativity flowing. 

As for mood boards, I find that these visuals are wonderful to look at to get in the spirit of your story. You can make one for either a scene, a chapter, or your whole novel. My go-to place is Pinterest, of course. I love to create mood boards for different chapters or characters of mine using the many aesthetic images that interest has to offer. But lately, I’ve gotten a little old school in my pursuits. I’ve taken to cutting pictures out of magazines to printing pictures straight from Pinterest and just making collages at home that I then pin to my cork board along with my notes. It’s very 1995, but it’s fun!