The Editing Process: Slacking

So, this last week kind of sucked when it came to editing. I didn't work on Dowsers at all. I instead worked on The Survival Agreement because it needed some work. I'm going to have to get started on editing my short story for that contest. I really need to get things done.

Basically I'm slacking. I did finish planning my two novels and created the cover art for it already. I'm actually pretty happy about it. I put aside my editing to do this so I really need to get back on track.

How To Handle Constructive Criticism

Constructive criticism can be a scary thing when you've written or made something for others to see. While you'd love for people to just tell you how awesome you are, it's not very realistic that someone would do that. People are more than likely going to point out what you could do better, and while it will feel like you are being stabbed, you'll find that you can actually learn from it.

Things to know about constructive criticism:

•  It can be painful to hear. It really can be painful to hear but you will learn to handle it better the more it happens and you'll be able to distinguish the good from the bad. 

• It can help you improve. There is a point where you are going to need help from an outside source, especially if you aren't planning publishing through traditional means. Constructive criticism is a way to help your story and your writing improve.

• You can learn from it. It kind of falls in with the previous point but I'm going with it anyway. Constructive criticism can help you find your weaknesses and places that need help. Learn from it so you don't make the same mistake twice.

 Things you SHOULDN'T do about constructive criticism

• Ignore them. Do NOT ignore the constructive criticism, especially if you asked for someone to review your story. That's just rude and you might end up losing readers. I guess this is for people who post online more than published authors.

• Laugh at them or play it off as a joke. Again, that's rude. That is disrespecting them and their opinion. If you don't like it then maybe you shouldn't be posting your work for people to see. 

• Reject everything. Just don't. Some things are okay. When it's consistent, maybe you should look into that. If they just tell you that you suck, then you can forget everything I said and ignore them. That's not being constructive. 

• Take everything too personally. There are people who are going to have biased opinions and aren't going to like what you wrote. That's fine. You can't please everyone. Just remember that there are going to be people who loved your story. Not everyone liked Harry Potter or Twilight or Hunger Games. It's going to be the same for everything.

• Ask for critiques if you aren't going to like it. I feel like this one is rather obvious but people tend to do this a lot. I'm not sure why you would ask someone to critique your work if you didn't want to accept it but just don't do it if you don't want to hear what they have to say. 

• Belittle the person giving you a critique. This is also rude. They took the time out to try to help you and you go and try to make them feel bad about it. That's not okay. Respect them. If you don't like what they said then just say "Thank you for reading my story," or "I'm sorry this story wasn't to your liking." etc. Be polite even if you want to reach through your computer and strangle them.

This might not have been the best guide ever to how to handle constructive criticism but I have a hard time wrapping my head around why people react to it badly. I get my fair share of constructive criticism and I welcome it. It helps me become a better writer and improvement is something all writers should strive for. 

The Editing Process: My Ending Sucks

Does editing ever make you want to rip your hair out? Because that's what I'm feeling this week. I'm still on lesson two of How To Revise Your Novel. This novel is really long and I feel bad for the people who wrote an even longer novel.

Basically, I've come to the conclusion that the ending part of this novel sucks and that it's going to need a massive overhaul. Well, the whole novel needs an overhaul but the ending needs one especially. It's awful. The ending shouldn't be awful. I think I have too many fillers and info dump because I was rushing to get this over with.

This is probably another reason why I don't actually want to publish this novel, Dowsers. I don't think I had much inspiration writing it. Hopefully the editing will go well. I plan on posting the first chapter by 217 on Wattpad.

The Importance of Outlining

Some people believe that outlining a novel or story isn't always important. The people who we call "Pantsers" as they are the ones who write by the seat of their pants. I used to be one of them until I discovered the wonderful thing called an outline.
An outline is basically a guideline for your book. You write down your scenes in order of how you want them in your book. Or you outline by chapter, it really depends on you as a writer. It's important for you to have one at some point in your writing process.

What outlines can do for you as a writer:

• They keep you from taking your characters down an unplanned road.  I don't know about you but some writers lose track of what they are writing. An outline is a way that you can keep your characters down the right road.

• You have a clear cut visual of your story. Sure there are still things that might surprise you here and there but not everything should be a surprise to you as the writer. What might come as a surprise is more of an epiphany moment. You finally figured out how to connect point B and C or something along those lines.

• Outlines can keep you from writing unnecessary scenes. This kind of goes with the first point. Outlines can keep you from writing filler scenes or anything that is unnecessary to the plot of your novel. If you follow your outline, you're sure to not write filler scenes. As long as you don't plot filler scenes (a post I'll get into later).

• It keeps you organized. Writing can be absolute chaos sometimes. You've got to research and figure out your characters and all sorts of things. Sometimes you have to create some kind of chart to figure out how your character(s) get from point A to point B or how object C connects with the suspect of your character. Having all of this in various places can be really hard to find. It's best to find a way to keep it all in one place. An outline is a nice way to keep it all right there, even if it's just a little note or however you add it to your outline.

•  It won't add unnecessary characters. This kind of goes along with the unnecessary scenes. Basically, anything that you don't need, it will help you keep them out of your story. It helps when you're editing so you don't have to trim them out later.

• It helps you explore new ideas for your story. This is one of my favorite things about outlining. It opens up new ideas and subplots for your novels. You will be able to see where a story will go if you changed a scene even in the slightest. You might even find a way to make your story stronger. 

• It's fun. Okay, this isn't why it's important but I feel like I should add it anyway. I love outlining my novels. There are so many ways to do it too. I do a lot of different things but I generally end up going back to the index cards. 

There are benefits to outlining. If you've never outlined a novel before, then you should consider trying one. Going about it is easy but you should try different methods to figure out which one suits you.

The Editing Process: Going By Slowly

I'm getting a little frustrated this week. Lesson two of How To Revise You Novel is taking me forever. I think it's my novel itself. I'm getting bored with it already. I just want to get to the part where I re-plot everything. This story needs a massive overhaul.

I'm almost done though. After this I have several more lessons before I get to the overhaul but hopefully it will get better. I still have to fix the broken plot and whatever the other chapters have. So much work. I have to keep at it because I have to finish it by the end of the year. Then I have to start working on my other story that is halfway through the Holly Lisle class.

But in order to finish it, I'm going to have to find my plot cards that I made...I cant remember where I put them.

I absolutely need to finish Lesson Two by Saturday. I have to.

How To Make the Most of Your Beta Readers

I've recently run into issues when beta reading. People don't seem to take it seriously. As a beta reader, being blown off and basically told that my opinion doesn't matter really pisses me off. Despite the fact that I'm trying to help, writers tend to think that my opinion isn't important.

As a writer, these are the things that are really going to help you improve. It's important that you take someone's comment into consideration if they gave you constructive feedback. I'm also a writer, I hate people telling me that there is something wrong with my story, but I consider that they might be right. More than half the time, they are.

So writers, before you get a beta reader, here are some things you might want to remember as you continue with your writing path.

Some things you SHOULDN'T do with your beta reader:

• Tell them that their opinion is wrong - They are your reader, your audience. Their opinion really does matter. While not all of their opinions should effect your story, you should at least try to see it from their point of view - as long as it's reasonable. If there is some kind of biased against a type of person or event then I think it's safe to say that was just an opinion and you can ignore it.

• Think that betas are there just to compliment you - if that's what you are expecting, then I think you'll be in for a rude awakening. It's not realistic to believe that your writing is the best. If your beta reader isn't finding anything wrong with your story, then they are probably lying to you. They are bound to dislike something.

• Argue with your betas about something you disagree with - It's petty. Arguing with your beta is something you should avoid, especially when the beta is just giving you his or her opinion your story. They are allowed their own opinion. Trying to justify yourself shows a lot of who you are as a person and you will lose betas that way. It makes you sound like you believe your writing is superior to anything they have to say.

• Do not expect your beta readers to finish in one day - Come on, let's be real. They have jobs and lives too. If you send them a 150k novel and hope that they will finish it in a day, then you are sadly mistaken. If you want quality input, be patient.

Some things you SHOULD do with your beta readers: 

• Ask questions - Questions can get you very far when it comes to your betas because you then get to pick apart their brain and really discover why they may have or may not have liked a certain part of your story.

• Value and respect their opinion - These people are your audience. They are taking time out of their busy day to read the story you wrote and while some of their opinions may hurt, you've got to learn to take it. Some of them might just tell you that it sucks and give you no reason as to why - ignore them. They are being assholes. You want them to explain why it sucks. Take things into consideration.

• Get to know your betas - I don't know about you, but I would want to know the person who is about to rake through my manuscript.

• Be firm about certain points - People will argue and argue about a lot of the things that really needs to be there in your story. You should know what is relevant to your story and what isn't. If they feel like your character needs to be a badass when your character isn't then tell them no. There are some things you need to stand firm about, especially when someone is trying to change the entire plot of your story. That's not what a beta reader is for.

• Compile facts - If a good portion of your beta readers say that there is a certain part that they really just can't stand or they don't like what a character did (within reason - antagonists tend to be disliked sometimes) then you might want to consider changing that or fixing it. Try to figure out what they didn't like about it and work on it. It doesn't matter if you liked the scene or if you didn't, sometimes you write things that aren't important to the story.

• Find a good platform that works for the both of you - Personally, I think Google Docs is the best place to go when beta reading and editing need to be conducted. It's easily available and you don't need to have a Gmail account to send it to someone without a Gmail account. My friends don't have one and they are able to use the comment feature just fine. You should also be lenient about how it's sent to them. 

• Edit your manuscript before giving it to a beta reader - This is for the sake of a the beta reader. They don't want to read your sloppy first draft. Fix it up to the best of your abilities and then give it out for someone to read. It makes it easier on them as a reader and they can actually enjoy the story.

• Set up a way you can communicate with each other - Keeping in touch is a good way to connect with your beta reader. If you have questions, then you can ask each other without problem. In any kind of partnership, communication is key.

These are my general thoughts and opinions on how writers should benefit from beta readers. As a writer, it is important to remember that you have room to grow.  You will never be the best at it as you keep changing and improving. Beta readers can help you there so please treat them with respect.

The Editing Process: Pushing Ahead

I don't think I've mentioned this before but I've been using Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel course to edit my novels. For Dowsers, I'm only on lesson two of the class and have been on lesson two for weeks. Not because I stopped. The beginning lessons tend to take a lot more time than some of the other ones.

Dowsers is also a very long novel. And the longer the novel, the more work I'm going to have to put into it. Currently, this novel is at 122k words. Printed, that's 177 pages (normally) and that isn't separating my chapters onto a new page. It might not seem like a lot but if you ever take this class, you'll realize just how much time it takes.

I'm not going to lie, it's totally worth it. I was reading another novel I took through the process (and still need to finish) and it's way better! I mean, leagues better. I put it on my kindle to read and I'm going to finish editing it after I finish Dowsers.

I'm hoping that Dowsers will have the same results as my other novel. So far, I'm picking apart my novel and seeing all of my plot holes and other things that were terrible. And I have to keep going with it if I want to get it done on time. I have so much more to do. 

What I Do With My Time

Procrastination
What is your worst time waster? How long do you allow yourself to procrastinate? Do you regret it, or do you think it’s worth it?

Bonus: Try to forego one of your time wasters this month and see how much higher your WC is! But not that school, work, necessary stuff. We need you happy, healthy and not in trouble for truancy.

Lately, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos. I have my moments but I just get really tired when I get home and just want to veg. My hours at work at changing and I'm trying to get used to it all, not to mention school has started. Sometimes I just want to kick back. YouTube videos are usually short and I try to use them as more of a character study since I don't have the energy to go out and people watch. It's really easy to pick up on certain quirks that people have. You have to go and find the right ones though. Not the scripted messes that people tend to make.

I don't know if that's considered procrastinating since I'm actually doing something but I think it's procrastinating. It's not something I do for long, maybe an hour or so before I get bored and go back to writing. My attention span for watching videos/TV/Movies is really short. I don't mind when I'm doing something while its playing in the background but I can't always just sit down and watch stuff.

Since I tend to pick up a few personality traits that I can use, I don't tend to regret it much...until I see the pile of work I have to do later - then I regret it. So, yes. Yes I do regret it. Actually, writing this post is me procrastinating from the massive amount of stuff I really should be doing...