I started off my Christmas excitement with an episode of Glee that, as always, made me cry tears of joy and some sadness. There are currently only three more days until the start of my Christmas vacation with the hubster. Christmas in Kentucky will be a beautiful thing. I've got my bag packed already, in very me like fashion. As anyone who has ever seen me prepare for vacation knows, I am always packed a week in advance. This time it wasn't as preemptive if only because most of my winter clothes consist of the same four pairs of pants and socks. But I am still ready to go! Ready for baking with my momma-san whom I adore. Ready to look at houses in preparation for the big move next year. Ready to go sledding down the hill on the 100 acres of Pop Pop Bruce's land. Ready to have my husband, free of work calls and emails, for an entire week. And ready to enjoy a nice 10 hour road trip with my Piglet and our babies. This will be my first Christmas away from my family. It is weird that I wont see them, wont get drunk with my cousins and say naughty things that still dont make it weird at Christmas. I wont get into a mini food fight with my brother that ends in one of my aunts reprimanding us. Christmas hasnt always been the same for me, year after year. My parents separated, causing me to see them both on different days. My mother sold her house, and other people hosted our Christmas Eve family get together. I had boyfriends who I spent Christmas Day with. But I was always with my family, and so this year will be very different for me. I know that next year, even after we move, I will come back to New York for Christmas, because then it will be the only time I am able to visit. It's a sad thing to think, and a sad reality, but things change, this change must happen. My Sal gave me the saddest look when I told him I wouldnt be home for Christmas. We never really spent any of it together, usually just a quick hour or so of time with one another, but we always see each other. For the better part of 8 years we always saw each other for Christmas. This year it will have to wait.
And a side note about darling Sal. He is most likely the weirdest, and best part of my life. An ex boyfriend with whom I have a very odd relationship. We've hurt each other in many terrible ways over the years. Through high school and through adult hood. We loved each other so much it seemed like we would never be apart. We've hated each other so much we thought we would never speak again. We settled on a semblance of friendship knowing we would always be with one another in some way. While we pick on each other in a mix of sibling and marital bickering, we have a way with each other that even my husband and I dont have. I'll yell at Sal and tell him where to go, how to get there and how long to stay there. He'll get pissed at me and tell me how much he hates me some days. I ignore his idle threats because after the hundredth time of him saying it, I just stopped listening. I know that no amount of my bitching will ever truly make him hate me, because it just isnt in our capacity to live without the other. I have a memory of him coming to a family BBQ of sorts and being greeted by my aunt. Of course knowing him since I was thirteen means he has met my family, but some only once or twice. Having my aunt greet him with the words 'Hi baby' like he was just another one of her nieces or nephews made me realize how big a part of my life he really is. How he isnt just part of me, but a part of my family.
Christmas just wont be the same without my family.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Print Edit
While Stumbling around online I found this Blog by a book editor. They gave a few tips on how to improve editing your own work and prepping it for submission. Some information about how to write was a little too specific in that it left no room for a difference of opinion. I had later stumbled on excerpts from Stephen Kings book on writing and he gave almost the exact opposite opinion on how to write a book. Mostly the debate was over plotting, sticking to your plot and also how often you should be writing. I felt torn because it is true the editor is the one reading it and approving it. On the other hand though, Stephen King has written a great many book, all the same way, and I feel if anyone would know the best way to get out a great story, it would be him. But I digress, that is not the reason for this post.
The reason for this post is that I did agree with a lot of the other advice and information provided on editing a book. The editor, whose name I do not mean to forget, suggested printing out your novel or work in the format it would be sent for a submission. Once it is printed out, edit it for grammar, plot holes and all around story development. It is true that when writing and editing on a computer you have too much temptation to just scroll past a section or skip down when something strikes you. When its in your hands, ready to be nipped and tucked its so much easier. You can cross out a line or a word and if you decide later to put it back in its not lost because you deleted it from the computer. Having the page there lets you see how many times you've used the word 'I' or 'Well'. I know I often repeat words, mostly because I go back and forth with writing and if I dont re-read the section before it, I dont know what word's I have already overused. On top of it all I find that when I look from one chapter to the next I see that perhaps there should be a better segue, that maybe there was more information I could have provided. On the bottom of the paper I make a note to myself to fix this issue. Its much harder to do this on the computer and I feel you have a better chance of skipping over it while scrolling, simply because you didnt see it.
I would never advise doing this on something you havent already looked over and developed a solid story line. It shouldn't be a story that you may add another 30-40 pages to. The one thing all writing adviser's have agreed upon is, writing the story first and worrying about editing later. When you dwell on perfect spelling, sentence structure, hell even plot structure, you risk stifling your creativity and developing writers block. Focusing solely on getting the story out is your main concern. Once everything is in place and the story feels finished, then print it out and find out that you made Tom the vampire 100 years old one minute and 200 the next. Theyre quick, simple fixes, but if dwelt upon while writing it could throw you off course and cause you to forget that great scene you were just writing.
I will say this about the print edit though, it is not fun. I know for me once I read my stories I dont often feel like re-reading them right away. Printing it out and going over every word right after writing it is the last thing I want to do. Some writers suggest putting the print edit away for a month and coming back with a clear head. Others say to force it and push through while the story is still fresh in your mind. Ultimately, your print edit will look like my 5th grade math test- littered with red pen corrections and notes from the teacher. Something along the lines of, 'What in the hell were you thinking?' and 'This makes no sense whatsoever.' In the end, you will feel better for having corrected it yourself, and learning better editing for future writing.
The reason for this post is that I did agree with a lot of the other advice and information provided on editing a book. The editor, whose name I do not mean to forget, suggested printing out your novel or work in the format it would be sent for a submission. Once it is printed out, edit it for grammar, plot holes and all around story development. It is true that when writing and editing on a computer you have too much temptation to just scroll past a section or skip down when something strikes you. When its in your hands, ready to be nipped and tucked its so much easier. You can cross out a line or a word and if you decide later to put it back in its not lost because you deleted it from the computer. Having the page there lets you see how many times you've used the word 'I' or 'Well'. I know I often repeat words, mostly because I go back and forth with writing and if I dont re-read the section before it, I dont know what word's I have already overused. On top of it all I find that when I look from one chapter to the next I see that perhaps there should be a better segue, that maybe there was more information I could have provided. On the bottom of the paper I make a note to myself to fix this issue. Its much harder to do this on the computer and I feel you have a better chance of skipping over it while scrolling, simply because you didnt see it.
I would never advise doing this on something you havent already looked over and developed a solid story line. It shouldn't be a story that you may add another 30-40 pages to. The one thing all writing adviser's have agreed upon is, writing the story first and worrying about editing later. When you dwell on perfect spelling, sentence structure, hell even plot structure, you risk stifling your creativity and developing writers block. Focusing solely on getting the story out is your main concern. Once everything is in place and the story feels finished, then print it out and find out that you made Tom the vampire 100 years old one minute and 200 the next. Theyre quick, simple fixes, but if dwelt upon while writing it could throw you off course and cause you to forget that great scene you were just writing.
I will say this about the print edit though, it is not fun. I know for me once I read my stories I dont often feel like re-reading them right away. Printing it out and going over every word right after writing it is the last thing I want to do. Some writers suggest putting the print edit away for a month and coming back with a clear head. Others say to force it and push through while the story is still fresh in your mind. Ultimately, your print edit will look like my 5th grade math test- littered with red pen corrections and notes from the teacher. Something along the lines of, 'What in the hell were you thinking?' and 'This makes no sense whatsoever.' In the end, you will feel better for having corrected it yourself, and learning better editing for future writing.
Say My Name, Say My Name
Names haunt me. Sometimes more than the story itself. Names of characters, places, the book! All of it is important because these names are what readers cling to. They need a name to put the description to. They need a name to mention when talking about the book. A name ties it all together. Sure you could throw any old Tom, Dick and Harry name in there, but how boring would it be if every book had those same names over and over? Especially if Tom is a vampire, Dick is a shapeshifter and Harry is short for Harriet who is in love with both. I would definitely say that Harry should be the shapeshifter just for the comedy effect, but that's me. These god forsaken names ruin my days sometimes. Why? Because if the name doesnt fit then every time someone says it, or even when I think of it, it stifles something in me. A bad name choice can utterly ruin any interest I have in this person, place or all around book itself. Yes, a writer shouldnt dwell on a name so much because ultimately you can change it. But, sometimes, and only sometimes, the name helps you find out something you never knew before when it was just (city) or (pretty girl). I named a character Kaige. Silly, I know, took the word cage added an 'i' and swapped the 'c' for a 'k' and suddenly this inanimate object is now a sex kitten. What I didnt know when choosing this name, was how perfect it really is for her. She is a succubus who lives a life stifled by her urges, by her need to find the perfect mate. She is literally caged by her desires to the point where she has almost no free will. She may walk around and feel as though she is free to make her choices but at the end of the day she has to feed her demon or else die. Aren't we all caged in some way though? Some are just harder to see than others.
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