29 Dec

Write Edit Right Edit- Put YoursELF on the SHELF!

Jena Henry A Sexagenarian's How To's, Blog 3 0

Put YoursELF on the SHELF

Here’s the Best New Year’s Resolution- write and publish your book in 2017.

Yes, it’s that time of year when you and I will be nagged to make our New Year’s dreams come true; we will be prodded to lose weight, get in shape, quit smoking, be more grateful, or adopt a kale plant. But what will make you truly happy and fulfilled this year is to finally write YOUR book! Turn the page of the year and your life–and begin!

My first step as a writer was to create a cozy work area and I vowed to sit down and write-every day at the same time. Fellow writer, I will now share with you some more topics to ponder on your writing journey.

When I have appeared at book signings or when I happen to mention to the grocery checkout person that I am an author, the number one question I am asked is, “May I buy 10 copies of your book and will you sign them?” Just kidding. The real question I am asked all the time is, “How long did it take you to write your book?”

I am not sure why people ask this. Do they assume it would take a long time, so if I reply, “Oh, about three months?”, they will then think I am a light-weight loser? On the other hand, if I answer, “eighteen years”, will they write me off as a weird basement dweller? I generally tell them, “Three months to write and three months of self-editing, before I send it to the professional editors.”

In my cozy loft office, the dog and I write 1,000 words per day and then do a light edit of the previous day’s work.

What do I look for?

Gaps in the plot
Timelines out of wack
Overuse of a word- I had a few days where everything I described was big
Ly words– also known as adverbs. He didn’t just walk- He lurched or stumbled or strutted, right?
I make sure I used said, and not any other dialogue tags.

Funny story about said. While I was writing my first book, I found a post on Facebook that listed 200 words to use instead of said. I used every one of them in my book. I had characters stuttering, choking, shrieking, gasping, explaining and mumbling

“Hi,” he quipped.

“Hi,” she barked.

“How are you?” he thundered.

“Fine,” she ranted.

My editor made me replace each dialogue concoction with said. I was allowed to use one ask.

When I finish each book, I am now on my ~~third~~ fourth in a planned series, I review the entire book several times. Then it’s off to the editors to fix all my comma problems, typos, and plodding language. One editor at iUniverse caught me describing a tire as a sphere. Wrong! Do you know what shape a tire is- a torus. I deleted the incorrect sphere and used donut to describe the object, and I was thankful I had been saved from a big mistake.