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Editor’s Notes: Throwing In The Towel
BY MCKENNA GARDNER
I quit!
Sometimes that’s all we want to say when the going gets rough. And rougher than rough. Really, who would it hurt? And who needs it anyway? Just toss your computer in the trash, wipe your hands of all the insanity, and go binge on a dozen chocolate éclairs. Walk away from the world of writing, which never seems to be good enough—at least not compared to all those famous authors out there—and find a new hobby, right?
Wrong.
Imagine it. What would you think about as you lay your head upon your pillow at night? Your hero—his ability to be stronger than he knows. Your villain—his idiosyncrasies which endear him to your reader. Your heroine—her courage to face her single greatest fear. They won’t leave you alone. That’s why you started telling their story in the first place. Don’t be fooled by the misconception that you can quit writing, and for that matter, editing.
Your characters, story, and setting all deserve to reach their potential, and only you can do that. However, having an experienced outside influence show you some potential weaknesses, or inconsistencies, or straight up errors, will allow you to see what kind of future you can give your hero, villain, and heroine.
It’s a challenge to write a novel. It’s a beast to have it edited and to make revisions. At times, it may even classify as a nightmare. But ask any single author who has gone through the process, finished, and sold books, whether or not they’d do it all again. If they’re smart, they will, because otherwise, those characters niggling in the back of their mind will start running the show.
Writing. A blessing and a curse. But it’s one we can’t quit. No matter how rocky the terrain turns. We are writers, and the harder we work, the better we will become.
In addition to her editorial and diplomatic skills, workhorse and Senior Editor McKenna Gardner serves as the communications board member of an international writers’ guild. For The X, she fills much the same role, clearing lines of communications between authors and editors, management and staff, and the Editorial, Marketing, and Graphics Departments. She stays sane by writing mystery/suspense/thrillers and historical fiction.
McKenna’s most recent project, Kingdom City: Resurrection by Ben Ireland, is slated for release in February 2014.
Author Spotlight: Candace J. Thomas
BY SHAUNTEL SIMPER
Tell us about you, Candace! How did you get started in this writing business?
Hi there! I think I’m pretty funny. I love humor and wit. If you made me laugh, I’ll keep you forever. I love, and I mean LOVE anything Geek-worthy. I go to extremes people might say, but I don’t care. I love having a good time!
I’d say I’m made of Pepsi and Sweettarts, since that it my snack staple, but I also love Count Chocula and place one away for when I’m finishing a big writing project. I have one saved right now.
I’ve always been writing on one thing or another, but nothing I figured would ever go anywhere. I was working at a job in a hospital where we had to be staffed 24/7. Because of this, I had some downtime. I got really good a Sudoku and I thought, “What a waste of time. I could have written a novel with all the time I wasted on this puzzle.”
So, I gave up Sudoku and started writing. A friend told me about the League of Utah Writers. She wanted me to go to a conference with her. So, I found out about a local chapter which met at a library close by. It was great to meet with others like me and found a good “Support Group” for my habit.
Looking back on your own experience, what might you say to someone in your position who, like you did, lacked the confidence to publish?
It takes a lot of guts to show your work to other people. So, try to find a writer’s group or a writer’s chapter, like I did. Family and friends are great, but they don’t want to tell you your stuff stinks. They’ll say they love it and the stories good, but that really won’t help you improve as a writer. Find people who also write who you can trust with your baby. And don’t be afraid of what they have to say.
When you are writing a story, as the author, you can’t see the problems. You sometimes need to step back and let someone else look at it to gain a different perspective. They want it to work as much as you do, so don’t be afraid to listen to them.
When my editors first told me what I needed to do for Vivatera I nearly passed out, but they were dead on and I thank them everyday for pushing me and making me a better writer.
Your short story, “Hawkweed” isn’t your first publication with Xchyler. Can you tell us about the process you went through to make it happen?
It was through the LUW that I discovered my courage and decided to send off my manuscript to Xchyler. I lacked the confidence needed to be a self-published author. I doubted my work and thought it was pretty crumby.
An email was sent through my chapter that Xchyler, a new publisher, was looking for new talent. I looked up their website and thought, “This is for me.” I knew immediately that my story, Vivatera, would fit with them.
What were the differences in publishing a short story versus your novel, Vivatera?
I didn’t think there would be such a difference, but there is. I feel kind of sorry for leaving Hawkweed as a short story. There is such a fantastic world to explore. Vivatera’s world is rather complex and I had to do a lot of research and character development to get it right, but it was not as emotionally draining as “Hawkweed.”
“Hawkweed” is very personal to me, as many will find out when they read it. I was glad it was a short story. I say that now, but as I wrote it so many ideas came to me. I hope to get the chance to explore it as a novel. I think it would rock!
I agree. “Hawkweed” is something special! Can you give us any insights to what you might do to expand it? Any thoughts for a sequel?
This world I created for Hawkweed would be really cool to explore. When I was world-building I thought of that earthquake in Argentina that was so big that it sped up the earth by milliseconds, but I used that idea as a template. If I’m going dystopian, I thought I would look at what might happen if nuclear explosions rocked the Earth out it its natural orbit, pushing us a little further from the sun.
I’d also like to dive into the government more, some history behind Melina and Jaren’s family. I leave the story in a very happy place, but I’d like to continue on from that point and see what happens. I’m getting so excited just thinking about it. If I develop it enough, I think the story could take off into a few books. There’s enough material there. I’d love to try.
Are there any books you read growing up that inspired you to write your own? Any authors? Tell us about that.
Growing up I liked books that stretched my imagination, like A Wrinkle in Time and Phantom Tollbooth. I also fell in love with A. A. Milne, his poetry and stories. I started loving Ursula LeGuin, JRR Tolkien, and Terry Brooks in my teen years (I know, fantasy nerd alert).
I think JK Rowling turned my world on its head when I fell in love with Harry Potter. I started reading them when the third book came, so I’ve been with her for most of the journey. I love how complicated the world is and how well it is written.
I love adventures and going on an adventure through reading. I hope that’s what I achieve in my books.
Author Candace J. Thomas lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband, two daughters, and tailless cat. Her book, Vivatera, a YA fantasy, is currently available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.
The League of Utah Writers recently awarded Vivaterathe 2013 Novel of the Year.
Candace’s next book, Conjectrix, Book 2 of the Vivateraseries, will be released in May 2014. Her short story, “Hawkweed”, is featured in Moments in Millennia: a Fantasy Anthology, slated for release January 2014.
Follow Candace on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Goodreads.
Shauntel Simper lives in Arizona with her two pet turtles and various insane roommates, and her hobbies include singing, comic book reading, and pretending she can dance. After a strong tenure as an intern, Shauntel was promoted to editorial assistant here at The X. Her energy, dependability, solid education, and an eagerness to learn make her an excellent addition to the team.
Featured Friday: Over the Wall
THE COMING OF THE SECOND STORM
BY R. A. SMITH
I cheerfully volunteered to do the Featured Friday this week, in the knowledge that the day is a very important one for me, especially in my X-history (or X-story, if some of you prefer).
For today is the day that Book Two of the Grenshall Manor Chronicles is released upon the world. And that’s a big day in the Smith household, let me tell you.
I may have spoken in the past about that difficult second book, on this very page. No question, it wasn’t easy. Factor in the foundations that were set in the first, Oblivion Storm, that I wanted to nudge the story into a slightly different style to benefit the new central protagonist, and that whilst the final item that was Book One came about over seven years, there was significantly less time available for the production of Primal Storm.
Once the foundation idea turned up in my head, though, I had something I knew I could run with (a pun for those of you who have read the first chapter). A core concept blossomed into a story, and with it, the initial worry I had about how to follow up the first book trailed in the distance. With every paragraph I put down, I grew more confident. With every chapter completed, I could see it was starting to take shape.
That core concept is so very important. It’s not the same thing as your plot, or even your story question. The plot is something that Jennifer, chief protagonist in question, very much stumbles into. The question governing her story is where everything meets, and so is vital.
My editorial team will tell you the significance of working that part of your story out all day long. And rightly so. But as a lovely window dressing that we can make the rest function around, at least for Jennifer?
Well, I always had running in mind, even from the start of the story arc in Oblivion Storm. We meet the central protagonist in Book One because she’s running away from trouble. Or so she thinks. Jennifer finds herself running into a perilous adventure. And quite early on, she’s okay with that.
So, says I, on with my cosmetic dressing of the theme. How can we amp this up a bit? Because that extra jolt suits Jennifer down to the ground. And then, I considered the whole business of freerunning.
Hop on to a media channel and search under ‘parkour’. Some of the footage you see of real people doing crazy things like that will blow your mind. It did mine, and that very much attracted me to the sport as a plan for Jennifer to get better after her rather nasty—well, I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read Oblivion Storm yet.
Which led me to do a little bit of further digging. I re-watched Casino Royale, still the best of the recent crop of Bond movies if you ask me. I watched a DVD called Jump Britain. There’s a link between the two in one of the stars of the show, so you know.
And you know what? Parkour turned out to be a perfect vehicle (if you’ll pardon the pun) for Jennifer. You see, it’s not just the movement. It’s the philosophy behind it that fitted so comfortably. Getting from point to point in the smoothest, most efficient and non-stopping manner. Not stopping and protesting, ‘oh, crap, that’s a huge brick wall’, but instead asking, ‘how do I get over it? Or more specifically, how do I get past it?’
And there I had it. A nice little sub-theme. As I said, Jennifer mostly just runs into the rest. But then asks those two questions each time. Never stopping. Never admitting defeat.
And now that Primal Storm is on my virtual shelf (paperback coming soon), set loose upon the world, as an author, I have to ask myself a similar two questions asked by my character, in order to make Book Three happen the way I would like it to.
First, how do I get over the hurdle that is going from blank page to this wondrous day of ‘IT IS DONE! I sleep now. . .’? The answer will be, Penny permitting me those three days’ rest she promised, turning these little sound-bites of an idea into a nice paper road map. When I hit a number of these destinations, I’ll find the map was out-of-date in places, but perfectly good for getting me there.
Then, we make that first draft happen. It’ll be like the first draft for Primal Storm. The spine will be in place, but the other bones may require assembly or relocation. And that’s okay. Everybody likes a challenge, right?
On the second question, brick walls come in many shapes and sizes. Fortunately, although it doesn’t always feel like it at the time, writers have a significant array of tools to bring to bear when it comes to overcoming them. You don’t have to just jump. Ask, ‘how do I get past it?’ And for an author, the answer is, over it, under it, around it, OR through it, depending on what takes the mood.
And now, I’m going to enjoy my rest, as I limber up for some more hurdles.
An avid gamer and role player/reenactor, Russell hails from Manchester, England, where he lives with his girlfriend and his cats. Primal Storm, Book Two of The Grenshall Manor Chronicles, was released on January 24, 2014. Oblivion Storm (Book One) was released in December 2012.
Russell can be found elsewhere on the web at his blog, ProjectShadowLondon, Facebook, and Twitter.
Chapter One of Primal Storm can be found in our Facebook page feed. Listen to Russell’s interview with The Book Worm here.
Editor’s Notes: Get ‘er Done
BY LAURISA REYES
Not long ago, I was interviewed by two high-school students for a class project. Their assignment was to interview an author, since that is what they plan to be when they get older. They asked me lots of great questions, but one in particular stuck in my mind:
What is the hardest part about being a writer?
My answer: finishing a first draft.
I’ve spoken with countless aspiring writers and this seems to be a universal struggle. Many of those who want to write, who claim to have a story clawing to get out, but who have yet to enter the active world of writing and trying to get published, share a similar barrier; they have yet to complete their first manuscript.
I know from personal experience how challenging it is to write a novel. I’ve written sixteen in the past eight years. The hardest one was the first. Well, maybe the second. Hmmm, on second thought they’ve all been challenging. But I succeeded. How?
Well, I’ll tell you my little secret. But first let me quickly describe why I, of all people, ought to have failed. I have five kids. (Enough said?) I am a stay-at-home mom, which, though some people might scoff at that, being home doesn’t mean I ever time to sit on the couch and eat bon bons—or write. My days are completely filled from sunrise to long after sundown with cooking and cleaning and transporting children everywhere, and doing homework (oh, did I mention I’ve been a homeschool mom for fifteen years?). To top that off, I also work part-time from home as a book editor, magazine editor-in-chief, AND I am in graduate school.
I feel suffocated just writing all this!
And still I write, on average, two complete novels per year. Now do you want to know my secret? Well, there are two secrets, really, and here they are:
1. BABY STEPS
When I was a kid I was in honors choir for our school district. One of the songs we performed had the following lyrics which I have never forgotten: If you can’t climb a mountain then climb a hill. That’s much better than standing still. There’s a way if you’ve got the will. And little by little you’re there.
I write 500 words a day, most days of the week. That’s about two pages double-spaced. Takes me about twenty minutes, tops. When my kids were young, I did it late at night after they went to bed. Today I do it before they wake up. That’s all the time I have to spare, really. But you know what? Even if I wrote one page a day, in a year I would have a completed novel.
2. DON’T LOOK BACK
I never, and I mean NEVER, edit or revise anything I’ve written UNTIL the entire manuscript is completed. I don’t read what I wrote the previous day. I don’t even think about it. I always move forward. My first two novels did take a year to write. Now I can whip out a manuscript in about four months, depending on my anticipated word count.
I actually create an Excel spreadsheet for each project, with columns of little squares. Each square represents a page. As I write, I highlight those little squares, one for each page. It is a visual record of my progress. The more squares I fill in, the closer I get to my goal, the more motivated I feel to reach that finish line.
So there you have it, my secrets for completing writing projects. If you are struggling to finish your book, maybe these will help. Do you have a system that motivates you to reach that last page? If so, feel free to share it here.
Author, editor, and lecturer Laurisa Reyes works from her home in California. Her recent middle-grade fantasy, The Last Enchanter, was released in October, 2013.
Laurisa’s first project with The X, A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk by Scott E. Tarbet, was released in November 2013. with The X, Reflected by Joanne Kershaw, the sequel to Vanguard Legacy: Foretold, is slated for release in March 2014.
Follow Laurisa on her blog and Twitter.
Editor’s Notes: Just So You Know
BY FARIDA MIRZA
CONTENT AND LINE EDITING AND PROOFREADING
As an English teacher correcting student essays, I was content editing, line editing and proofreading without being aware of the differences in the three processes. Equipped with a pen or pencil, I was suggesting, commenting, correcting and doing whatever was necessary to help the student’s writing reach its potential. My goal was to help the student say what he or she wanted to say in the most effective way possible.
It was later in life, when I took up editing as a job, that I realized I had to separate the skills I had been instinctively using into three sections: content editing, line editing and proofreading. Though there is some overlap, there are differences in what each of the three processes involves.
CONTENT (OR DEVELOPMENTAL) EDITING
A content editor picks up a manuscript and reads it in order to grasp the author’s vision, intention and voice. What follows is a series of exchanges, and back-and-forth edits between the author and the content editor. The author makes revisions as the content editor suggests and guides. A close relationship develops between the two.
The content editor gives comprehensive guidance and helps the author find his/her voice, improve plot credibility, develop characters by enhancing strengths and diminishing weaknesses, deal with rising peril issues, introduce or reinforce emotional content, cut down descriptions if there are too many that might bore the reader, add to descriptions to satisfy a reader, change title and chapter headings to make them more dramatic or relevant, and work towards an attention grabbing beginning or a satisfying ending. A content editor is a guide in all matters of good story-telling.
The content editor ensures that the story stays true to the author’s vision, voice and intention. The manuscript goes through as many revisions as it takes to give it shape and polish and make it effective and sellable.
When the manuscript has undergone revisions, and there will be revisions, and the content editor and author are satisfied that the story is in place, the manuscript is ready for line-editing.
LINE EDITING
Line editors take the manuscript that has been shaped and polished, and help the author give it the sparkle necessary to make it readable and sellable.
Line editing is a qualitative process that follows content editing. Line editors understand the creative use of language elements and ensure the language used is appropriate for the reading level of the audience, conveys the intent of the author, is consistent in voice and style, reads smoothly and uses literary devices to enhance effect.
A line editor will look at the writing in great detail, gleaning out syntax errors, smoothing the flow of words, checking grammatical elements, spellings, punctuation, in general ensuring that all elements of the English language are being used appropriately. Line editors ensure that the author’s voice is not lost in the process.
After many backs and forths between the line editor and the author, the manuscript is sent to the person in charge of the editorial process for a final check. Once the manuscript is approved, it is ready for proofreading, the final stage of the editorial process.
PROOFREADING
A proofreader does the final check of the manuscript before publication. A proofreader checks for typographic mistakes in punctuation, spelling, grammar and spacing. Proofreaders check page numbers, headers, footers, sections, chapters and title. They ensure that font style and size is consistent throughout the manuscript.
Proofreaders correct but not revise. If they come across grammatical or syntax errors, they bring them to the attention of the person in charge of editorial but cannot make any changes themselves. There are reasons why proofreaders are constrained from revising; they might not be aware of language elements that appear to be incorrect but might have been intentionally inserted as a result of some agreement between author and content or line editors.
Bringing attention to the issues rather than revising them is an acceptable way for proofreaders to deal with such discrepancies. Revising the text at the proofreading stage can result in the addition or deletion of words or lines that in turn can result in the displacement of the typeset of the final copy and the disturbance of graphics.
SOME GUIDELINES FOR EDITORS
• When communicating with one another, through writing or discussions, choose words carefully, ensuring that questions and concerns address the story, not the writer or editor.
• When suggesting a change, explain the context within which the change is suggested and what prompted the change.
• Suggest revisions but do not rewrite.
• When an author is creative with words, coins words and plays around with words, do not reject without careful consideration.
• Never obliterate the author’s voice.
Although Farida has taught English in the Subcontinent, the Middle East, Farida, lives, writes, and edits from her home in Southern California. Her children’s book, Suraj the Tiger Cub, has recently been picked up by Oxford University Press.
Farida is currently working on several projects for The X, including Darkness Rising, a high fantasy adventure by fellow world traveler, Elizabeth Lunyou. Darkness Risingis slated for release later in 2014.