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. 

GUEST POST! Darlene Reilley Stops By To Talk Research

GUEST POST TIME!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Writing

Hi! I’m Darlene. I write science fiction and romance. A funny thing happened on my path to becoming a writer. I took a detour through religion, private investigation, and anthropology. I’d like to talk with you today about the last because it can help you with your research.

I’m a dragon at research. My love of deep history is one of the reasons I detoured into anthropology. You see, way back in 2011, I took an anthropology class called Introduction to Anthropology. I blame Indiana Jones and Stargate for piquing my interest and reminding me that in my childhood one of my favorite things to do was to research Ancient Egypt.

That class was taught by an awesome anthropology teacher, Dr. Kathryn Keith, who wore the coolest outfits – one day she would come in wearing high heels and a blue wig, and other days she’d be wearing outfits from various time periods and always had fun hats. It was one of the toughest classes I took because although it was a 101 class, she taught it like it was a 300 level class, but it ignited the kindle in my heart for research. It also set me down a strange and winding path.

How can this help you, the writer, staring at your keyboard and wondering what the Yanomamo or !Kung have to do with current writers? You know why – we are inspired by the events we experience and the books we read.

I read “Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamo” by Napoleon A. Chagon and was inspired to look past my cultures. This same paper would trigger a cascade of cultures that inhabit the universe of my work in progress, The Divantinum Project.

In that same class, I read “Too Many Bananas, Not Enough Pineapples, and No Watermelons at all. Three Object Lessons in Living with Reciprocity” by David Coutis. Long story short, it tells the tale of reciprocity and how sharing is encouraged in some societies. This article triggered a look at what would happen if humanity lived on the moon and not everyone shared in my short story “Barista on the Moon.”

One of the most interesting cultures I came across in my anthropology studies was the !Kung bushmen who live in the Kalahari. Not the tv-version you see in some movies from the 70s or 80s, but the real bushmen and how they live. When Richard Borshay Lee and his wife traveled there to study the bushmen, they brought Christmas with them, and thus began an exchange of culture. He learned about the culture based on the exchange.

In that class, we learned of several cultures, and the reasons why anthropologists want to study them. We learned valuable lessons like how anthropologists see the world, how they think, and their code of ethics. I learned that anthropology is the study of humanity in all our forms – from childrearing to taboos and all concepts of culture.

Anthropologists look at things from a holistic perspective and a comparative perspective. And it was here where I met Steven Lansing who had an experience with the Green Revolution and Bali. [I would later write an awesome paper and give a presentation on Lansing’s research and the Green Revolution.]

But there were things that Anthropologists saw that I didn’t see until I took that class. It opened my eyes to different perspectives. Anthropology classes are like chips: you can’t just take one.

In 2012, I took Ancient Civilizations with Dr. K. I dove into research. Here I learned about the difference between pseudoarchaeology and scientific archaeology. I learned about Eric Von Daniken and Chariot of the Gods. He was one of the first to claim a link between ancient humans and aliens. Now, scientific Darlene knows the difference between the two, but it also had a really interesting effect on my sci-fi writer brain. I was thrown back to my childhood when I did everything I could to learn about Atlantis. Bouncing back and forth just before November, I turned this fun mix of information into a first-draft novel for NaNoWriMo. It’s sitting in my computer, waiting for edits.

Bouncing back and forth between anthropology brain and writer brain had some interesting effects. I got my B.A. in anthropology and minored in creative writing…then I went to Goddard where I wrote my thesis. But this mixing of science and writing came up with a fantastic world full of unique creatures and places for my character, Gaia, to explore. But I couldn’t do it in a normal way. She had to look through the lens of an anthropologist.

You could say everything from the first moments I stepped into college to the last, I was preparing to write the thesis I did with the aliens, gods and goddesses, and historical notes.

What insight can I give you for research?

Follow your gut. I couldn’t have known back in 2011 that I was preparing to write my Thesis. I couldn’t know that I would get so sucked into this world, I would create worlds, spaceships, and cultures. When I read Bonvillain’s Cultural Anthropology, 2^nd edition, I was reading it for myself, but a small part of me was creating the character who would become Gaia.

I have been told by many people that you don’t need to go deep into research (you may or may not agree), but it is my experience that the only way I can write deep, meaningful characters in a world all their own, is through research.

So dive into Buddhism. Read about Baseball Magic. Learn the Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead. Explore how Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events. Learn about Totemism and the A.E.F. Then go learn about the Mystique of the Masai. [These are all titles of articles I read during my 101 class]

I would request that as you research, keep a notebook (or twelve) with the information of your research –the notebooks I have from 2011 made my current research easier and I return to them often for inspiration and cultural facts I couldn’t get anywhere else.

I hope this has encouraged you to think about cultures and the connection between science and fiction. I like to write at the place where science, anthropology, romance, and literature meet.

If you liked this and I’ve piqued your interest, I have a suggestion. I’m giving a workshop on Anthropology, Archaeology, and Romance at FF&P. It lasts the whole month of May and will explore all four fields of anthropology. Come join me on an exploration of humanity.  

https://darwrites.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/anthropology-archaeology-romance-a-workshop-for-writers/

Write on,

Darlene Reilley 

Freelance Writer

dreilley7@gmail.com

My workshops and latest links:

​​

Anthropology and Romance Writers Workshop

Art & Yeats: the Wild Swans at Coole

Writing Toolbox: 20 Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Writing

Podcast: Interview with Chris Allen-Riley Editor

INTERVIEW WITH AN EDITOR

Hear what the ladies of the podcast want to know from a professional editor!

ARC Readers Needed!

Do you love to read? ARC readers get exclusive access to books before they're published. If you like science fiction, fantasy, romance and punk genres then please click the link below to join my ARC reading team. I'll contact you when I have a book that needs reviews, and all you have to do is claim your free e-copy, read, and review it! 

If you are interested in joining, please click the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/X54LdrFg3qaonV7F2

I look forward to your reviews!

~AR DeClerck

Cyborg Sunday: Vexillum

MEET VEX: THE HEALER & THE KILLER

Ah, hello again cyborg fans! I'm so happy to see that you've joined me for another Cyborg Sunday. Today we meet Primary One's second son, and Ren's younger brother, Vex. Vex is a special kind of cyborg, unlike the others we've met so far. I'd love to introduce you and tell you all about him!

Vex's book will be number 3 in the Aeon Project series, and the title will be Decaying Orbit. There are many things about Vex's story that make this title apropos, and some of them I just can't divulge because SPOILERS! But, I will tell you a bit about our enigmatic hero. 

Vex has been modified with nanites and cybernetics to be the ultimate assassin. As he passes you in a crowd, or touches your hand on the street, he can end your life. All manner of chemicals can be excreted through his skin, making poisoning his victims easy. He can knock out his target, expose them to pheromones, or even give them a dose of hallucinagens with just a brush of his hand. 

Of course, having this ability is both a blessing and curse. In a war-time situation, it makes absolute sense to have an operative who could blend in and destroy high-profile targets in a few minutes time. Now that Vex is free from his military obligations, he does his best to work as a doctor when he can. Controlling his ability to secrete deadly toxins wears heavily on him, and it requires all his control to make sure he doesn't inadvertently kill his patient while trying to save their lives. 

Because he doesn't completely trust his ability to control his deadly touch, Vex has never had a romantic relationship with a woman. Of course, now that I'm writing his story, that's exactly where he's headed! I can't wait to dive into his complex and emotionally challenging story and finally give him the happiness he deserves. 

If Vex's story interests you, make sure you start with Book I in the Aeon Project series. An Enduring Sun introduces you to Vex and his family and sets you on their journey toward peace and happiness. 

PURCHASE AN ENDURING SUN HERE

Until next time:

CONVERSION FOR ALL OR LIFE FOR NONE.

Book Stop! Scavenger Vanishes by Liza O'Connor

Scavenger Vanishes

Fort Brag vs. Fort Braggs

Fort Braggs is the largest base in the world (by population). The base is located in four counties of North Carolina. It was named after the confederate office Braxton Bragg. Bragg was an aggressive general, a strict disciplinarian, and would frequently argue with his superiors. In his mind, he was the alpha male of the fort. 

As is often the case, abusive discipline does not result in the best of soldiers.  In fact, Bragg only had one successful battle in his entire career. Throughout the war, the officers beneath him desperately tried to get him replaced. He was reputed to have spent just as much time fighting his men as fighting the enemy. 

Finally, Ulysses Grant routed him once and for all at the battles of Chattanooga. Bragg offered his resignation to the South’s President Davis, and was outraged when the man accepted it.  

Still, President Davis made him his military advisor.  With his new status, Bragg begin to bully and fight with the Secretary of War, the Commissary General, members of Congress, the press, and many of his fellow generals. Eventually, Robert E. Lee took his position, and Bragg was sent about trying to find something he could do well. 

Even Bragg's staunchest supporters admonished him for his quick temper, general irritability, and tendency to wound innocent men with barbs thrown during his frequent fits of anger. His reluctance to praise or flatter was exceeded, we are told, only by the tenacity with which, once formed, he clung to an adverse impression of a subordinate. For such officers—and they were many in the Army of the Mississippi—Bragg's removal or their transfer were the only alternatives to an unbearable existence.

Why he got a fort named after him, I’ve no idea. However, in my story 200 years in the future, The Brags Fort (one G not two) is located in the south east, and run by a sadist who teaches his selected soldiers how to manipulate and conquer those above you in rank. This sociopath has systematically corrupted the purpose and honor of the SkyRyder Corp, and Logan intends to see it stopped once and for all! However, my future Fort Brags is NOT Fort Braggs of the present. 

Blurb

Stationed on opposite coasts, Alisha and Logan must each face their own demons and challenges. On the West Coast, Alisha loses her rank for butting heads with General Powell and soon discovers the life of a private can be utter hell. On the East Coast, newly promoted General Logan discovers his soldiers do not recognize his authority to command. In an effort to retake control of the East Coast Corps, Logan authorizes unthinkable actions. When Alisha faces a life-threatening crisis, will Logan rise above his own troubles, or will she discover love and rescue with her best friend Jack?

SALES LINK

The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 3

Scavenger Vanishes

AMAZON

About the Author

Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels.

OTHER BOOKS BY LIZA O’CONNOR

SCIENCE FICTION

The Multiverse Series

Sci-Fi Soap Opera with humor, romance, and science

The Gods of Probabilities

Surviving Outbound

Surviving Terranue

Surviving Sojourn

Artificial Intelligence Series

Sci-Fi/Romance

Public Secrets

Birth of Adam

The SkyRyders Series

Sci-Fi Romance

Scavenger’s Mission

Scavenger Falters

Scavenger Vanishes

Follow Liza O'Connor 

Check out all my books on Amazon

Be sure to click FOLLOW  on my Amazon page so I can alert you to new books.

Stop by my Author Facebook Page 

which I've dedicate to Sci Fi books

Wander over to my personal Facebook Page

where I talk and share about books, politics, and other silliness.

Twitter is a great place to find me: @Liza0Connor 

(That's @Liza, the number 0, then Connor)

ALL OF LIZA’S BOOKS

THERE’S OVER 30 OF THEM

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

All Things Punk: DECOPUNK

A genre of books, movies and other entertainment media set primarily in the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne art eras-- mostly from the early 1920s-50s.

Prior to World War I, France was the center of art and learning in the modern world. The artistic style named Art Deco became popular in Paris during this time, and spread throughout the world. Art Deco, or Style Moderne, is characterized by rich colors, bold geometry and decadent detail work. Writers and producers of the DECOPUNK style have infused science fiction into the bold world of the roaring 20s and beyond.

My first foray into the world of decopunk took place when I saw the fantastic Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Combining the movie-glamour of the early WWI spy scene with the over-the-top adventure and futuristic tech, SC&TWoT was one of the freshest and most imaginative movies I'd ever seen. 

You can't go wrong with intrigue, glamour, fashion, and murder! When ingenue Phryne Fisher returns to her hometown of Melbourne and takes up the dubious title of Lady Detective sparks fly between her and Inspector Jack Robinson. This is classic decopunk! Set in Australia after WWI, we get to see the world through the eyes of the magnificent Miss Fisher. She experiences all that the time period has to offer, and we get to tag along. 

Whenever you "punk" any era, you're expected to take the standards of fashion and give it a sci-fi flare. In the photo above (courtesy of DeviantArt @doppleganger) the standard German serviceman's suit has been given a high-tech upgrade in the form of her headphones. What do you think she hears through those?!

Do you adore the glitz, glamour and fashion of The Great Gatsby? Do you thirst for sci-fi, high-tech action? Combine the two and you get DECOPUNK! The books above are just a few of the books currently available in the genre. You'll see that they share the love of bold colors, geometric patterns, and intricate details. Suave spies dashing about in pre-War London, chasing flapper girls in glittering gowns who carry pistols loaded with diesel-powered bullets? You'll find that and more when you explore the exciting world of DECOPUNK!

Even the video game industry is falling in love with DecoPunk. In Fallout 4, the 40s and 50s never ended and the world is a place of peace and prosperity until the great Resource War ends in nuclear holocaust. When the player, the Lone Survivor, emerges from his vault, he finds a post-apocalyptic world with smudges of the world he remembers remaining. There are hundreds of DecoPunk touches sprinkled in with the chaos of Fallout 4. 

There is nothing more enchanting than discovering a world of glittering excitement and intrigue mixed with your favorite sci-fi tropes. The fashion of the 20s-50s, the architecture and the romance, combined with elements of sci-fi make DECOPUNK a genre you won't want to miss!

Podcast: Shifter Romance vs Bestiality

In which we discuss our personal opinions re: the line between shifter romance and bestiality. A great topic-- check out the video for more.

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!