Good Advice on Writing Part 2: Editing

Good Advice on Writing Part 2: Editing

"Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it."

--Colette

In this week's foray into "Good Advice on Writing" I stopped on the above quote about editing. On our weekly FOCUS ON FANTASY ROMANCE PODCAST the ladies of the podcast and I interviewed an editor. Our conversation got me to thinking about editing and about the difference between thinking your work is good, and knowing it is. 

This is a double edged sword, in my opinion and one that many authors impale themselves on every day. At heart, writers are artistic beings with creative egos. We need to know that other people think our work is good. All too often, we are certain our story is the best, the most imaginative, the most perfect. It hurts us when our readers don't flock to us with reviews and words of praise. The publishing author has to get past this need for vindication, and understand that reading is subjective. Our vision of the "perfect" story is often at odds with our technical ability to create it. 

This is why we need editors! Editing comes in as many shapes and forms as writing, but in general there are three basic types of editors and they each provide important services to authors to help us create the best book we can. 

Content Edits:  When an author writes a first draft there are often "holes" in the plot, meaning that the story has aspects that don't actually make sense. The content editor can spot these issues, and point them out to the author. They also look for discrepancies in the story, like the main character had blue eyes on page 2 and brown eyes on page 98. Content edits are extremely important in creating a cohesive, streamlined story that the reader can easily understand.

Line Edits: Line editors are what most people think of when they think of "editing". Line editors look for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors as well as word repetition and overall sentence structure. Line editors can pick up on passive voice (telling, not showing) and on poor story structure. 

Proofreading: Proofreaders are the last line of defensive in editing. This is the last step a book goes through before it hits the presses. Proofreaders are reading for any typos (now instead of know, etc) and any errors the other two editors may have missed in their passes. Proofreading should catch those last minute boo-boos that might catch a reader's attention. 

It is the writer's job to write the story, the author's job to know when it needs help, and the editor's job to help! So, in this instance, I would agree with Colette. Writers need editors! We may study craft, may be astute at picking up errors in other people's work, but we are often the most blind to our own mistakes. Meet your editors. Know your editors. Love your editors. USE YOUR EDITORS! They are resources, just like your PC, your thesaurus and your imagination. If we want quality stories, we need quality editing. 

Good Advice on Writing: One Author's Perspective on Another's

A week or so ago I was given a book titled Good Advice on Writing. The book is a tome of quotations from famous authors to other writers about a variety of topics. I thought it might be pertinent to share a few of the quotes that caught my eye, and to talk a little about them. 

AUDIENCE

"Better to write for oneself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."

                                            --Cyril Connolly

As I was browsing the quotes in the book, this one was the first to catch my eye. What Cyril Connolly is trying to say resonates with me a level that I think many writers can relate to. Writing is an artistic endeavor, much the same as painting or making music. When we put our thoughts on the page we are baring our souls to the reader with the distinct hope that what we have to say will mean something to someone else. 

Why write for yourself? I can only speak for myself to answer this question, but the truth is that if I worried always about what my reader might or might not like, my books would never get written! I was a reader before I was an author, and so the specific loves I have for certain tropes and themes finds its way into my own stories even if I don't realize it at the time I'm writing the novel or story. The same thing goes for the aspects of stories that I don't like. One of the particular tropes that I dislike would never find its way into my story because I don't write stories that I don't like. 

Shouldn't authors think about their audience before they write? Of course we should! Doing our homework is part of the business of being an author. But there are two separate sides to being a published writer. The WRITING AUTHOR and the PUBLISHING AUTHOR. The writing author is the side that must concern themselves with the craft of the story. The writing author must keep plot and character motivation in mind while making the story they love come to life. The PUBLISHING AUTHOR is concerned with the business side of writing. This includes selling the stories we write. In order to find our targeted reader groups we have to do research and study genre and shelving and meta-data tags. It's hard to meld these two sides of writing when it comes time to put our stories on paper. How do we choose between what our target audience EXPECTS us to write, and what we WANT to write? There's no real answer to that question, because each author approaches the solution differently based on their personal goals for their career. 

In many ways, my books don't fit into expected genre roles. Redshift is both hard science fiction, romance, and time travel. Desolation is fantasy romance and literary fiction. Providence combines fantasy romance elements, many pantheons of gods, and pirates! Deciding how to present these stories to readers can be a challenge, because there are so many categories the stories can fit in to, and many readers who can relate to them. When it comes down to it, as an author I fall squarely into the category of writers who write to satisfy themselves first, with the hopes that readers will fall in love with the stories, too. I could never force myself to write to reader expectation if I hated what I was writing-- my distaste for the story would show in every word and readers would see it immediately!

So, in the end, I think I have to agree with Cyril Connolly. Writers who satisfy themselves first, will inevitably satisfy readers. And that's our true goal-- transporting readers to worlds and into situations we create with hopes they will love them as much as we do!

FIND THE BOOK HERE

Cyborg Sunday: Meet Primary One

Meet Primary One

Hello and welcome to Cyborg Sunday. If you're here of your own free will, I thank you. If the cyborgs dragged you here to assimilate you-- well, just try to relax and enjoy it!

Let's do a little bit of background about my particular group of cyborgs before we introduce today's character. The year was 2638. A group of monks, certain that their mission was heaven-sent, created a secret project to explore how the use of cybernetics might help prolong the most precious gift: life. The project was Aeon Project, and Primary One was their first subject. Flash forward a few decades and MANY tragedies later, and Primary One is now free of the monks and the military who later took over the project. He lives on a backwater planet in the ERCA Territories with his four sons. He takes pleasure in growing plants and nourishing them, just as he tries to heal the many wounds, both psychological and physical, that his sons bear. 

One is a quiet man, whose anger and rage long ago burned down into smoldering embers. He managed to put aside most of his personal grief so that he can take care of his sons. When the army began to worry that One was too attached to his family, they separated him from his wife and implanted a chip in his brain to control him. One's sons, after enduring countless experiments of their own, also ended up with the implant. Their mother disappeared, and they became part of an elite force fighting for the military. One was able to break the hold the government had on his mind, and eventually he was able to free his sons. They ran, and never looked back. 

FLASH FORWARD to 2677. Sharyn has shared a staggering bit of news with One and the other cyborgs. Their mother, One's wife, is still alive. After their separation, the military put her into cryostasis in a defunct lab near Dead Man's Drift. Upon learning that Yurie is still alive, One races to find her and bring her home. DARK STAR is book 2 of the Aeon Project series, and it will tell the story of One and Yurie reuniting after twenty three long years. 

I'll tell you a quick secret about One. He is one of the sweetest, most gentle characters in An Enduring Sun. He says so many profound things, and the way he loves his sons is undeniable. But, in Dark Star, you will get to see another side to Primary One. The raw, dark side that would do anything to protect those he loves. And I do mean ANYTHING. The thing about One is that his deep sense of loyalty and honor wasn't something that the monks or the military could give him-- he was born with it. It makes him a fearsome opponent and a dedicated husband. These are some of the many reasons that I have deeply enjoyed writing One's journey back to Yurie. 

"If they find out who we are, they'll come for us," Ren said.

"Let them come. It's time they faced what they made. If they can."

Despite his understanding of what they are, and what they've done, One deeply believes that he and his sons deserve a chance at real happiness. He is the first to tell his sons that they can't run from their past forever. Standing to fight is the only way they can keep the peace they have stolen for themselves. When it comes to Yurie, however, One has more fear than he ever showed on the battlefield. She is the one person who could break him with a rejection, or make him whole with a kiss. 

Thanks for stopping by (or being dragged in) to Cyborg Sunday. Stay tuned for next week, when we meet Ren's younger brother and One's second son-- VEX. 

Dark Star is book 2 of the Aeon Project series, and will release in the summer of 2017 from Challis Tower Books and the Takamo Universe Project.

Catch up on the series now, and pick up An Enduring Sun, book 1, at the retailer of your choice. 

www.books2read.com/anenduringsun

Wanna read the previous blog post to catch up on my cyborg heroes? Find it HERE.

Until next time remember:

CONVERSION FOR ALL OR LIFE FOR NONE.

Writing Prompt Wednesday: A World of Music

Create a World Based on a Genre of Music

Meet Author Lia Rees:

Psytrance

You better watch your step, you're in Psytrance World.

As you walk onwards the scenery shifts.

Something flashes on the horizon but it's gone the second you look at it.

The beat is constant - it resonates into all your senses,

permeating your body with a constant pulse,

turning you into an instrument.

The synthesis of everything is centred in you,

and you can barely grasp the million billion connections.

They scintillate like constellations.

You have become a kaleidoscope.

There is a direct pathway from the spinning of the galaxies

to the electric signals in your cells,

and you are standing here in Middle World

with a prime position to observe them both.

And the beat pulsates with your brainwaves in synchronicity.

Lightning flashes through your neurons.

Sounds both organic and unearthly fuse and make a twisted kind of sense.

The lens of the universe is focused on you. This is the source, the nexus, the eternal flux.

Psytrance.

About Lia:

"Supposed" to be a book designer and cover artist (FreeYourWords.com), Lia Rees insists on playing with such disparate things as T-shirt design and jewellery making. Her first book, But I'm Not Depressed, is a memoir about brain injury. At the time of writing, she is planning a poetry collection titled Electric Blue, to be printed by herself in blue ink. She has a liking for music, open-source culture and anything to do with space. She is a multipotentialite - look that up - and Myers-Briggs xNTP (still working out the first letter). The American anarchist fiance has not become sick of her craziness yet.

Links:

http://www.LiaRees.com

http://www.facebook.com/LiaWayward

AR's World

Singing the Blues

I rode the yellow broken-down bus, painted with rainbows and smiling faces. My head, leaning against the windows, I listened to the squeak and squeal of the under carriage. Beyond the cracked glass I saw empty fields dotted here and there with discarded couches and old refrigerators. The grass was dead and brown, the sky a heavy, leaden gray. 

The concrete was broken, dilapidated buildings leaned sideways as shutters flapped in the wind. No one walked alone in these neighborhoods, even during the day. 

A speck of red caught my eye, and I leaned forward, interested to see what made the splash of color in the otherwise drab surroundings. Growing from the corner of a crumbling corner building I saw a flower. One tiny red bud, reaching for the sky. It made my stomach clench and tears gather in the corners of my eyes. Even here, there was something beautiful. 

Do you like Writing Prompt Wednesday? Leave a comment and tell me what else you'd like to see on the blog!

CYBORG SUNDAY: Weekly Genre Love-Fest

WEEKLY GENRE LOVE-FEST

I have decided that I am going to dedicate Sundays to my current genre obsession: CYBORGS! This means that every Sunday you should expect to see something related to cyborgs or the cyborg genre on this blog.

Why do cyborgs fascinate me? Well, to be perfectly honest, I always enjoyed reading stories about cyborgs and mechanical beings. The intellectual, societal and moral implications of AI have always fascinated me. Cyborgs didn't really become an obsession until I wrote The Clockwork Countenance. Now, I will agree that TCC isn't your typical cyborg story. Reginald is completely mechanical, without a bit of flesh to his name. However, what Reginald and Ember are striving for is a human countenance for his very human-like brain. That's pretty close to cyborg, if you ask me! TCC takes place in the 1840s in London and is full of fabulous characters that include Reginald, Ember, and even Nicola Tesla himself. (He was super fun to write!) TCC was part of the Infinite Possibilities boxed set, but will soon be released as a stand-alone novella for lovers of steampunk AND cyborgs to enjoy. I'll post a link when the novella goes live. 

***

When Takamo Universe approached me to write a SF novel, my mind immediately went to the 'cyborg problem'. Takamo's villains are the Truppen, fully cybernetic warriors hell-bent on destroying every organic life form in existence. What if, I told myself, there were earlier models? A pilot program that was intended to prolong human life with the use of enhancements and cybernetic implants? Once the military got wind, of course, there were other implications, but at their base these cyborgs were created to protect the sanctity of life. At least, in the beginning.  Thus was born the Aeon Project. I'll introduce you to my heroes in the project as we explore our love for cyborgs!

REN

The first character I want to introduce is Ren. Ren is the second child, born to a mother who loved and doted on him and his brothers. Ren and his siblings, however, were born as part of an experiment to determine whether or not nanites could be passed to children from their father via conception. Their lives were never easy. At the age of six, Ren had his first procedure. I won't go into the gory details, but it was far from pleasant. Thanks to the nanites, his healing ability was a thousand times that of a normal humanoid. Short of cutting off his head, there were no injuries he could not survive. The pain, however, was a motivator. 

Ren's name comes from the first experiment the scientists performed on him. His full name is SCHLEINREN, a geological term which means layers and layers of substrate lying on top of one another. Ren's bones and tissues have been coated with layers and layers of a substance that makes them stronger and more flexible than a normal man's. 

When we first meet Ren he has years and years of secrets and regrets bottled up inside. He is angry and ashamed at what he did and how he was forced to behave. In his mind, he is no longer worthy of affection outside that of his small family unit. 

I decided to show him that he was wrong.

If you want to know more about Ren, and about his love story, you can find it in my first novel for Takamo Universe. 

An Enduring Sun is a story of redemption, acceptance and ass-kickery to the 10th degree. 

www.books2read.com/anenduringsun

I'd like to invite you all back next week to learn some more about Aeon Project. Ren has three extremely interesting brothers and one very enigmatic father! Their stories will be told throughout subsequent Aeon Project books and I'll keep you informed as to when you can expect those to release as well. 

There's nothing like creating a hero who believes he can never be loved-- and then proving to him that he's wrong! For cyborgs, more than most, the search for where they belong in the universe is a long and exhausting one with many twists and turns. I plan to explore as many of these issues as I can, while bringing light to my cyborgs' lives in the process.

WELCOME TO CYBORG SUNDAY

CONVERSION FOR ALL- OR LIFE FOR NONE.

Writing Prompt Wednesday

Authors Share 10 Minute Free-Writes

Every author is different. We all look at a bouquet of flowers and see different aspects of the blooms. The same goes with writing. So, in the spirit of experimentation, I wanted to see exactly how different we authors really are. I put up a writing prompt and asked several writers to sit down and write for 10 minutes on the idea. Here are their offerings! Enjoy!

The first author up is Paul Schumacher. Find out more about Paul here.

Two thousand warriors drew their swords for a war they would not win. The roar of their determination was deafening … and yet it would all be in vain. The watcher drew back from the crystal that allowed him to see through space and time. The fates of these warriors were directly linked to the end of the world. This end was his present and it was a terrible one.

The watcher was of the last generation. No more children were born in his world and none could see how to fix the problem. The elders had withered. The enforcers were dead. No one was left to stop the watcher from meddling with time.

The watcher stared at the writings of his life and contemplated the events he might change. So many events led to this present and he could not change more than a few moments. Should he deliver a message to a king? Should he alter the course of an arrow by a few degrees? Should he try to influence the decisions of a woman whose lack of action got an important general killed before his time?

Any of these events could change the future … but where they enough? Would any of it matter? Time was a fickle beast but it had momentum. Certain events in history were so massive that they created a type of gravity in the time stream. The watcher knew he could change a few events but fate might bring the event about in a different way. Assassinate the evil dictator and the next one does the same thing under a different name and face. Save the general from the arrow and he chokes on his dinner later that night.

The watcher looked back at the crystal sphere. Two thousand warriors was a lot of manpower. That many soldiers could push hard against the great boulders of historical events. All they needed was a push in the correct direction. The watcher took a deep breath and let it out slowly. With one last look at his notes, he waved his hand.

A little girl’s face appeared in the crystal. With a light tap he knocked over the glass on her nightstand. She screamed as it spilled onto the ground and then stood there looking guilty as she was scolded. The family dog trotted over and began to lick up the spilled drink. The dog then let out a howl and died.

“There,” the watcher said with a grin, “the assassination failed. Now let us see what has happened.”

Cynthia Sax is the talented author of one of my favorite genres: cyborg romance! Find out more about Cyn here.

Two thousand warriors drew their swords for a war they would not win. Every sunrise, they would fight until they couldn’t fight anymore. Other warriors would take their place while they rested. Then they would fight again.

It was futile. The alien invaders had unlimited warriors. They pushed the humans back a couple of strides every planet rotation. Soon they would reach the settlement.

And everyone Jerrica loved would die.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, screamed her frustration into the wind, and swung her sword with both hands, decapitating her opponent with one strike. The alien’s round bald head rolled to the right, his antennae twitching. Another alien stepped forward.

Jolie Mason writes SciFi with heart. Her books are always full of epic feels. Find out more about Jolie here.

Two thousand warriors drew their swords for a war they would not win.

That was how the old stories always began with the tragedy at the fore, and they reminded Nischa of her father. He’d tell the story of his conscription into the merc guard at the old age of sixteen, and he’d tell the story of his first battle. 

She’d been there for his last. That last breath draw deep and shallow in the effort to keep it just a little longer. He’d fought so she’d spent the last hours of his life begging him to give up. 

An old soldier should never die in bed, he’d say. Oh, it had infuriated him so that he had, in fact, been fated to die in bed. 

That was before Nischa had inherited the burden of her brothers and sisters greed and stupidity. They wanted this. They wanted that.  It was dawn on the day after his fushwa when she’d thrown a pack on her back and headed for the tram.

She sat in the tram car watching the cities turn to farms and the farms back into cities, and then she got to the station and looked up. Sadly, the stars were hidden behind a curtain of pollution and glare, but she knew they were out there. And, she was going to get to them one way or another.

My Contribution:

The world was a glorious place. Ashoh raised his eyes to the sky and watched Mother Falcon fly free and fierce over the battlefield. There were times when Brother Wolf howled in the dark of night that Ashoh felt afraid, but today he felt... alive.

There were thousands of men surrounding him, each one armed and full of pride. Ashoh looked down at his own weapon and checked it once again. There could be no mistakes.

"You look worried, Ash," his friend Josiah said with his usual grin. Josiah was full of swagger and unimpeded hubris. Sometimes Ashoh felt envious, but usually he was annoyed.

"I'm as good as any of them," he reminded his friend. "I know I can beat them."

"Beating them isn't good enough. We have to slaughter them all if we want to call this a real victory."

Ashoh remembered the last time he'd waded in the blood of his enemies. It was a powerful feeling. "I just hope they know that we're the stronger group. It's always sad to watch them fight to hang on when they should let go."

"The flag has been raised." Josiah took his place beside Ashoh and they opened the 3D rendering of the battlefield on their wristlets. "How's your battery level?"

"Full. I checked the code again last night. We can win this."

"Do you remember when men came with knives and guns and actually killed each other?" Josiah shook his head as anticipation made his whole body tremble.

"Dying is no longer necessary. We fight our battles in cyberspace now, and the winners take home the prizes." Ashoh wanted control of the only cybertech company that could rival his own. He looked over his employees again, mentally cataloging each one. They would attack the other company while he and Josiah worked their way past security with the intent to plant their virus, ultimately destroying the other group for good.

"How many people does Grayson have?"

Ashoh looked at the other group, lined up across the field. "Two thousand, give or take."

"He's about to drop the flag." Josiah grinned at Ashoh and placed his hand over the start button on his wrist. "Ready?"

"Ready." Ashoh looked at Grayson's employees with a bit of regret. They didn't know it yet, but two thousand men drew their swords in a war they could not win.



If you enjoyed these free writes, please stop by the authors' pages and check out their full length works. I hope to have a few more Writing Prompt Wednesdays in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Happy Reading!

Steampunk Costuming: Creating A Character Via Their Clothes

Creating a Character Via Their Clothes

There are many ways to introduce a reader to your characters. Many times, the way your character looks is one of the first things that a reader learns. A favorite way to tell a reader about your character without actually telling them anything, is to describe traits about your character with the kinds of clothing they like to wear. For example, if you tell a reader that your character wears a crown of daisies in her hair, that she prefers brightly colored skirts that float and twirl around her ankles, and that she wears her Birkenstocks year round, your reader can automatically infer a few things about your character. Creating a character via costuming is especially fun to do in a steampunk setting. Why? Because steampunk is an amalgam of Victorian and Gothic clothing, both romantic and practical and especially fun to play around with.

Let's play with some steampunk costuming. 

Character A: Character A is a man of genteel upbringing, who rarely musses his coiffure. You'll never find him with a scuff on his boot, or a stray hair upon his coat. I would dress Character A in the following clothes, to tell my reader about him without ever uttering a word.

Purchase a Coat Like This Here

The Callahan Frock Coat in charcoal says my character understands fashion, and practicality. 

Purchase Boots Like These

Our gentleman, with his highly polished boots, would have no issues doing a bit of boisterous fighting, should the need arise.

No gentleman of worth would leave the house without his hat. Something expensive, but sensible, without a lot of pomp, I should think. His attitude has all the pomp required!

His walking stick is practical, but obviously handmade and quite expensive. Character A is swordsman, so something sharp might be hiding in there if you twist the handle just right!

Find These Items Here

Character B: Character B is a woman of wit, sophistication, and learning. She understands not only her worth, but the worth of her opinions. Raised in a home that placed value on education, Character B is the woman you might find dancing the night away at the ball, or just as probably, toiling away in a laboratory. 

Purchase This Dress

Our lady's daywear would include dresses of both fashionable taste and practical thinking. The single-breasted dress offers her functionality without the loss of beauty in the stitching and design. 

No lady would have a complete wardrobe without a ballgown. This bowknot gown is stunning, and leaves our lady's arms free (in case she needs to wield a weapon in a fight, of course). 

Find this dress here

 Our lady would never go out without her baubles, all of which are beautiful, but are they also deadly? Character B likes to keep secrets, you know....

Find these items here

So there you have it. We've taken 2 blank slates and we dressed them, and in doing so, we've created characters that our readers have gotten to know WITHOUT EVER TELLING THEM A THING! Clothing is important to who we are, it tells people a lot about our likes, dislikes and our inner nature. By dressing your characters with specific traits in mind, you can create the idea of a living, breathing person in the mind of the reader, giving them a more immersive and encompassing read.

Thanks for joining me today to discuss Costuming for Characters. I look  forward to talking more about this subject when we delve into other types of punk! Deco, Cyber, Atomic, Bio....what would THOSE characters be wearing?!

Stay tuned and we'll get to play dress up with them, too!