Getting to the Heart of A Different Matter

by Staci Troilo

Hello. If you’re stopping by hoping to read another anecdote about my family or my friends, you’re going to be disappointed today. Or maybe not.

We’ve been discussing my relationships for a while now. I’ve told you stories about my grandparents, my parents, my siblings. You’ve read about my husband, my kids, my friends, heck, even my dogs.

What we haven’t discussed much lately is my work life. And we should. Because as far as relationships go, we have professional ones as well as personal ones. And if you’re as lucky as I am, you’re as passionate about your career as I am about mine, which means your professional relationships have the potential to be quite powerful, meaningful.

writing conferenceThis weekend I attended the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Workshop Annual Conference in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It’s been a while since I saw some of the attendees, some of the people I only knew from online and I got to meet in person for the first time, and some people were complete strangers to me but became new friends and colleagues. A great time was had by all, and there was some valuable information presented.

greg campThe day started with Greg Camp, Publishing Director of
Oghma Creative Media doing a presentation on
editing for publication.
Greg’s talk covered the importance of a few key points
in fiction writing in order to avoid getting rejection letters. Well, to avoid getting as many as you would otherwise, anyway.

  • Grammar—You must have no grammatical errors if you want to be considered for publication.
  • Research—You have to do your homework. Historical inaccuracies are a sure way to get your manuscript tossed.
  • Pacing—You can’t do an “info dump” and tell the reader everything within the first five pages of the novel. Action needs to be revealed through the POV character interacting with other characters at a measured rate throughout the novel.
  • Conflict and Motivation—You don’t have a story unless your characters are at odds with something or someone and are motivated to change their situation.

I’ve known Greg for a few years and we have a lot in common. We both taught at the college level (he still does), we both write fiction, and we both edit for a living. I can tell you two things about his presentation: He knows his stuff and his advice was spot on.

casey cowanThe next presenter was Casey Cowan, President and Creative Director of Oghma Creative Media. Casey’s presentation was all about the seduction and allure of book covers. He said four things sell books:

  1. Word of mouth/peer pressure
  2. Big name endorsements
  3. Eye appeal of the cover
  4. Author effort/interaction with readers

When Oghma Creative Media designs covers, they consider the demographic of the readers and the genre of the book, then they look at the book’s message or theme and work with the author to design a front cover and spine that has the appropriate appeal for the audience. Then they work on the back cover to design not only the right color, but also taglines, teasers, and endorsements so that the back works with the front and works with the genre, creating a comprehensive package.

Duke PennellKimberly PennellThen my bosses, Duke and Kimberly Pennell from Pen-L Publishing, did a presentation on the relationship between authors and publishers. They discussed author expectations, publisher expectations, and the importance of the two getting in sync for a rewarding relationship. Some points covered were:

  • Personality—It’s really a matter of chemistry between author and publisher. If you don’t like each other as people, you won’t trust each other and you won’t work well together.
  • Vision—What are you expecting for your book? Your promoting efforts? Your career as a writer? Talk about it and be sure your plans mesh.
  • Marketing/Promotion/Reviews—Publishers used to send books to reviewers, issue releases, handle the promotion efforts. Now the shoe’s on the author’s foot to handle the marketing. These plans should be agreed on in advance so there are no surprises or disappointments.
  • Editing—Typically work is done in Microsoft Word using “track changes.” If a different method is preferred, it should be discussed.
  • Distribution—You need to know where your books will be available for purchase, how much you can buy them for, if you can buy them at wholesale price, etc. Learn the details in advance.
  • Support—Support shouldn’t end when the book is released. If you have questions or concerns, you should be able to call your editor. If you are doing a marketing tour, it’s not unreasonable to request a media packet be sent on your behalf. Make certain you have this support in place. Remember, your publisher doesn’t make money unless you do. They should be on your side.

velda brothertonAfter lunch, one of the founding members of the group, Velda Brotherton, discussed her twenty year writing journey. She encouraged us to hang on to everything we write, even our early work, because while we might not find a publisher for it immediately, years later we might. She’s finding success with some of her work twenty years after she wrote it. She offered a lot of advice, applicable to novices and experienced writers.

  • Write the best book you can (This involves more than just writing; it means studying the craft, joining critique groups, going to conferences, writing every day, editing ruthlessly, and having your work edited—with a thick skin.)
  • Build your platform so people can find you and follow you—Promote!
  • Publish your own work if you have to so your tribe can start reading your work
  • Avail yourself of small publishers
  • Use Createspace
  • Look into audiobooks
  • Then go for broke in New York (This is where conferences are so important. You’ll make connections with agents and editors there to get your foot in the door.)

Dusty RichardsWe ended the day with the other co-founder, Dusty Richards. Dusty discussed everything and anything you’d want to know about writing.

  • How to measure page count (1 page = 250 words)
  • How to structure a novel (1st quarter, hero’s lost. 2nd quarter, hero’s alone. 3rd quarter, hero gets support. 4th quarter, hero becomes hero or martyr.)
  • How to end a chapter (with some teaser to keep readers turning the page)
  • How to analyze the experts (Read every other page; you’ll see their structure. Or read one scene in the middle of the book and pick it apart.)
  • How to get experience (Work on short stories first, then work on single person POV.)

It’s been a privilege being in Dusty and Velda’s group for the last several years. Between them they have close to two hundred books published and decades of wisdom that they willingly share. All of the speakers were full of knowledge and quite entertaining. It was a really good day.

But I think my favorite part was the people. I used to be intimidated by conferences, but now I love them. I like meeting new people and catching up with old friends.

conferenceThis was the first time I set up a book table. That was a new experience for me, and it was a blast. It’s always a shock to me when someone wants my autograph, and this time someone even wanted to take my picture! I even had one woman come up to me and say she saw my book cover from all the way across the room and she just had to come over and see what it was about. That was a real honor. Yes, I met a lot of new people, made some new friends, and had a really good time.

So this post wasn’t about family, but it was about relationships—professional ones. And I’m just as passionate about them and treasure them just as much as I do all the other relationships in my life. What about your professional relationships? Have you recently been to a conference? Are you in sales? Do you have a funny work story to tell? Share it with us here.

It’s NaNoEditMo—Five Ways to be Sure You’re Successful This Editcember

editingCongratulations to those of you who earned win badges from NaNoWriMo. Hitting the 50,000 word mark is an accomplishment for anyone; doing it in thirty days is a highlight few will ever be able to say they managed to hit. Now what? It’s easy to coast on a sugar cookie high (who wouldn’t want to do that?) and immerse yourself in holiday shopping and tree-trimming, but beware… before you know it January will have rolled around, new year resolutions will have begun (and possibly ended just as quickly), and the manuscript you toiled over before Thanksgiving will be a forgotten bunch of words—a sad little file taking up space on your laptop or flash drive.

Doesn’t your effort and time deserve better?

Doesn’t your story deserve a chance to be heard?

Unless you’re some kind of genius who managed to knock out such a brilliant rough draft in the first go round that it’s beyond the need for revision and polish, that NaNo treasure is just waiting for you to open it up and show it some love. If you were a pantser during November, you may have more work ahead of you than the plotters who went into the challenger with a roadmap, but with a little TLC and a lot of work, chances are you can shape your manuscript into a real gem.

1)      Reread the novel.
I know, it seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many people try to start editing on page one without having taken a pass at the document. Your fingers were typing at the speed of, well, not light, but they were typing really fast. And you haven’t looked at your draft in over a month. It’s likely that you’ve forgotten some things that are in there, especially if you were a pantser or if you veered far from your outline. Give the manuscript a quick once-over, just to re-familiarize yourself with its contents.

2)      Consider goals and conflicts for your main characters
Each character in your story has to have motivation for every action. Do you know what those motivations are? If you have scenes where you noticed your characters doing something you consider odd, or your story veers off in a strange direction, or the pace just lags, it’s probably because the motivation wasn’t logical, or the character wasn’t acting toward his or her goal, or there wasn’t any conflict in the scene (and we all know the only scenes that are interesting are the ones that build conflict). Make notes for yourself in the manuscript to revisit these passages and correct the problems accordingly.

3)      Check your scenes for content and structure
Make sure you have each scene written as tightly as possible. Did you stay in the correct tense and point of view? Did you really establish the character’s voice, in both dialogue and internalization? Is the scene building conflict and is there good pace in the scene (rising and falling action)? Do you start with a hook and end with a cliffhanger of some sort to keep the reader turning the pages? If the answer to any of these questions is no, go back and see how you can correct the problem. It might be as simple as rewriting a few passages of dialogue or as difficult as redoing whole sections of text, but the end result will be worth it.

4)      Look at individual passages for weak writing
Now that the big issues are dealt with, look for places to spice things up. Add details to make the novel more rich and realistic. Are there places where the dialogue can be tweaked to sound more authentic? Can the setting be described better, or have you neglected to describe it at all? Are there places where you did too much telling, where you can add a scene to show the characters interacting and reveal more about them or their motives? Perhaps there are places where some foreshadowing can be subtly added, or conversely there may be times when you’ve done too much of these things and you need to know when to cut back.

5)      Polish the manuscript
The final step in revising your novel is to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Almost literally. Proofread the document. Look for any repetitive words, fragments or run-on sentences. Spell-check and grammar check the document. Find and correct any typos or passages with poor writing technique. This is your last chance to shine. Take advantage of it.

So you did it. You completed NaNoWriMo. Do you have what it takes to edit your novel? If you can write an entire book in thirty days, squeeze in a national holiday, and still manage to function in society, I have every confidence in you. Plus, writers are awesome. We support each other. If you don’t already have a critique group, find one, in person or online, to offer advice or just a hug while you go through the process. And I’m always here for you.

You wrote your draft. That was the easy part. Now you need to make it shine. That’s the hard part. But you can do it. And there are millions of readers out here who want to read it. Get busy editing. We’re waiting.

To Edit or Not to Edit, That is the Question

Of course you edit! What kind of ridiculous question is that?

I don’t mean ever, naturally. I mean as you write. I’ve heard this topic discussed a lot, and my friend Joy (joykeeney.wordpress.com) just blogged her way through her thoughts on the topic. What’s a writer to make of it all?

Here’s my two cents (and that’s about what it’s worth).

Most writers tell you not to edit as you go. They tell you to get the words on the page and revise later. They don’t want to break the creative process with the mundane chore of grammar, punctuation and the like. There is merit to that school of thought.

Some people, the edit-happy writers of the bunch, advocate editing as they write because it saves time later. Does it break creative flow? Possibly. Do you run the risk of losing the idea of the century? Yes, you do. So why risk it? Because if, in the course of editing, you discover a plot point error in chapter 2, it will save you weeks if not months of editing later.

Where do I fall? I tend to fix the little things I notice as I go, but mostly plow forward. Then I spend the beginning of each day reviewing the prior day’s work to fix the big things. It seems to be a happy medium, and it works for me. I’d recommend this technique to anyone.

Why do I think this post is only worth two cents? Because, while I think it’s great advice, writers seem to be creatures of habit and I don’t believe anything written here will change their ways on the matter. But writers are also dreamers, and I’m ever hopeful!

Keep writing, everybody. And editing!

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