Backwards logic

One thing I love about writing is that you can use backwards logic. You do not necessarily have to understand all the motivations when you begin a story. You can get sudden insights as you write and then you can go back and foreshadow/weave bits in.
Sometimes, the bits are already there, and others you need to offer a few more hints.
When an editor is looking at your work, she will be using logic forwards. In other words, does it make sense from the beginning?
But writers are not editors. Writers create and the process of creation can be messy.
Often the insight into why does not come until the last page of the first draft. Sometimes, it takes longer.
The simplest reason for this is if a writer knows all the twists, turns and motivations, the story is told and the writer may become bored. I love the fact that Ian Rankin has been known to write in capital letters things like THE GIRL FROM PAGE 20 COULD BE IMPORTANT. His books are tightly plotted but even he allows his daemon to play.
In other words, sometimes knowing too much can destroy creativity. If you understand the motivations, you might lose focus of the purpose. Objects can take on symbolism as the story progresses, rather than having their symbolism telegraphed.
In early drafts,everything is fluid. Lose that fluidity and your wordscan harden like concrete.
For me, I prefer I sketchy road map. Some authors like to have every blade of grass detailed. It just depends. It is another great thing about writing -- there is no correct way to write, and each manuscript throws up different problems.
In other news:
My cold is getting better -- hooray!

Demystifying the editorial process

Editors are mysterious people. I mean love my editors very much, but really I could not do what they do. Scheduling, for example, is a black art.
I prefer to write my stories, but the thought of trying to figure out precisely what is wrong with a story or why it works or does not work, plus all the other things that go on in publishing would soon have me heading for the nearest exit.
But I am very interested in learning about the editorial process and publishing in general. It is one of the reasons why I love reading Isabel Swift's blog, and why I am interested whenever I come across articles on editors.
My college alumni magazine recently published an article on Cheryl Klein who among other things served as the Scholastic continuity editor for Harry Potter. The article was interesting as far as it went. I was amazed but not surprised that HP had a continuity editor.
Anyway, I went in search of her website to see if she had any thoughts on writing continuities. Natasha Oakley had just made my head ache with how she figured out her characters' ages. It read a bit like a logic puzzle.
Klein does not have any articles on continuity but she does have several interesting articles on the theory of line editing as well as a letter to a would be editor. The line editing article is worth downloading and reading. Some things are different in the series book world -- for example the amount of time an author has to do revisions, but most of the things she says are pertinent. I know I have done some of the things like -- apologising for my copy editing mistakes.
But if you are interested in knowing how an editor works, and why and what they want, this article should be a must read.
In her letter to a would be editor, she describes how her boss Arthur Levine acquired his own imprint in Scholastic. Basically he discovered -- Redwall, The Golden Compass and Harry Potter...thus leading TPTB to suspect that he possessed a certain amount of skill.
So if you wish to demystify the editorial process or get an editor's take on where she is coming from...I suggest taking a look at Cheryl's site.

And now I have to do the creative thing and actually write my Governess story. Right now, my editors can't wait to read my next story.

The 99 percent perspiration of writing

Writing is 1% inspiration but 99% perspiration.
I am in the editing the part now and that statement rings true in many ways. It is the working through of things that are not quite right and the trying to up the emotion and keep the focus on the romance. It is the going through and looking at each sentence and trying to see if there is a better way to say it. Is the POV strong enough or can it be sharpened? Am I happy with the word choice? Can I decipher my gesture of the book -- always different and always repeated far too often.

I know I will do it all again at the revision stage but in many ways there is a certain amount of satisfaction in polishing. It is about making the book better. I do love the phase but also it is a short phase for me.

Some people get stuck at this stage and never submit. They use it as a kind of hurdle. But generally I have other characters calling me and I want to get on to the next story. There comes a point when I think -- okay, I have done my best and now the story needs the independent eyes of my editor. I bravely send it off and about five minutes later, I suffer attacks of the crows and why didn't I do things another way thoughts. It is part of the process of letting go.

Anyway, I am in the second phase of editing -- the going through at random to tighten POV and heighten tension phase.It is quite satisfying in a way, but at the end I always feel that I have had enough.
What is ironic is that in revisions, I will look at the same work and see how I can really bleed on the page...

It is bank holiday weekend here and memorial day weekend in the US. Memorial Day came about after the US Civil War so that people could have time to go to the battlefields and tend the memorials to the fallen . Gettysburg for instance is covered in memorials. It was orignally to honour the fallen of the Civil War but was changed after WWI to honour all the fallen from all the wars. It was at least this point that many Southern states began celebrating the day as they used to remember Confederate dead on a different date. Much as the British do on Rembrance Day, it was a day for wearing red poppies and the VFW still has this program I believe.
It is supposed to be a day of remembering, but because going to tend memorials often meant a picnic, it has turned into a day of barbecues etc. This came about particularly after 1971 when it was made into a three day weekend, rather than simply being 30 May. And in some ways that is good as the soldiers fought to preserve American freedoms. But it is sad that the real meaning has been forgotten.

Fireplace pictures

This is a picture of the new fireplace. You can see the Alphonse Mucha Nocturne slumber ladies most clearly in the top photo. Mucha was a Czech and created wonderful posters, prints and paintings during the Art Nouveau period. Unfortunately, when the Germans invaded Czechoslovkia, he was one of the first people arrested and questioned by the Gestapo. He died shortly after that on 14 July 1939. I think he created lovely posters and really captured the essence of the French Art nouveau.

The bottom photo shows the whole of the fireplace. It is a cast iron surround. Apparently wd 40 is very good for cleaning cast iron. You can use linseed oil as well. Because it is an integral mantel and surround, it looks better in the space available. If we had gone for the more conventional cast iron with a wood surround, the portions would not have been right for the chimney breast and wall space.

As inquiring minds might want to know the wooden frog hanging from the door was bought for my eldest when we went to Italy, way back when he was 2. The poster above the fireplace is my Character poster from Hans Kornell champagne that I bought the summer before I went to England the first time. And the other poster is from the 1999 Cambridge Folk festival.

I am contning to work on my editing the Viking but suspect that I am too close. It is not exactly wrong, just not quite how I want it yet...

Contest winners and refinements

The winners for the December newsletter contests are:

KimW -- Taken by the Viking hardback

Sherry H -- signed paperback of her choice

and
Kathleen G -- critique

I have notified them all by email.

My editor decided that she wanted a few more things doing to QI. she calls them refinements and I go agree with her -- I think her suggestions will make the book far stronger. Okay, she is really a genius and has an unerring eye but we won't go into that. It is simply a matter of working through. The important thing is that the reader gets the best read possible.

It has been moved up the schedule which means the next one has as well. So my Christmas is really spelt DEADLINE.
Luckily all I have to do is wrap presents. But I have this TBR pile that keeps growing as well.

Authors and Editors: Collaboration, not confrontation

Yesterday, my copy of the Society of Authors' magazine, The Author arrived in the post. It is often a curate's egg as the SOA is open to all genres of published authors from learned academics to sci-fi. From international best sellers to writers who sell only handful of copies.
The articles therefore cover a wide range of interests.
This month there is an article about working with editors and making the process less confrontational. Basically because of the scope, many of the tips and/or problems do not pertain to me or anyone published with Harlequin. One of the biggest flash points is when the author is a senior academic and objects to having their words -- dumbed down. Or if the project manager is perhaps inexperienced.
Two tips do pertain and I shall pass them on as they tally with my experience. Problems can really arise when authors are unused to the editorial process.
1. If you are new to being edited, ASK the editor to explain the process. Editors are quite willing to share what stages the manuscript will go through and when for example you can expect to see it back. Or when you might have to answer various questions. Once they buy your book, and it is put into the schedule, the timing is relatively set. Every book goes through certain stages. So if you don't know, don't suffer in silence. ASK.

2. And this is perhaps KEY. DO NOT refer back to your earlier copies when you are presented with a typeset document. Comparing and contrasting will result in more fights and much heart ache. Read through the clean copy and see IF it makes sense. Mark up things that don't sound right or jump out at you. What you are looking for is -- does the book flow? Does it make sense?
If it makes no sense or gives the wrong sense, then change it, or at the very least query why -- and suggest what you think is right. Editors will explain if something is House Style and their reasoning behind it.
Remember it is the Line Editor's job to decide whether or not to take the copy editor's suggestions. Part of an Editor's job is that make sure the script fits with the individual publishing house's style aand preference for punctuation, length of paragraph and preference for active or passive voice. If you ask, editors are quite happy to tell you which style manuals they use.

Only working from the latest clean copy also makes doing the final proof reading much easier.

I know some people who say that they want to learn from their mistakes, so that they won't make them again. Therefore, they have to compare and contrast. Nonsense! It is a recipe for disaster.
If you are truly serious about perfecting your stylistic skills, take a course in grammar or read a book on grammar. There are a number of them about. Some are more interesting than others. I prefer Strunk and White, and do occasionally look back at it as one falls into bad habits. I forget which one Harlequin Mills and Boon uses, but they do use a specific style book. Learn from that book, and use your knowledge to craft the next story.

After all, at that point, the book has been bought -- mistakes and all.

It is the STORY that editors buy, not perfect punctuation or spelling. Punctuation can be fixed and it does not require talent or imagination or creativity. These are all part of the WRITER's province.

I was pleased to see my view echoed. And it is a point I feel strongly about. And I do realise that other people feel differently. But for me at this point, it is all about delivering the best possible read for the ultimate reader.
Once a book has been accepted for publication, it is a collaboration between the editor and the writer as we both want the same thing. Quality editing is NEVER a threat to my integrity as a writer. It enhances it. And it is really all about Quality Editing. (We won't mention the other sort...)

Book delivered

I pressedthe send button this morning and my latest Viking has gone off to my editor. I will be much happier once I hear her thoughts on the book. there is always wild exhileration once I send it, quickly followed by the Crows of Doubt attack. But I do think it is agood story and has the potential to be a great one.

My next book is going to be a linked book to A Christmas Wedding Wager. My daughter is desperate for a secondary character to have her own story. The wonderful part for me is that it gets to take place in the North East. My lovely editor says that the character may prove a bit of a challenge for me but I am looking forward to it. Every woman is the heroine of her own story.

My next newsletter will go out on 1 April. It will have tips on using personality characteristics to fashion characters, a recipe, a bit on the background to Sold and Seduced and contests. There is a sign up form for it at the side of the blog.

My house is a tip, and one of the ducks has started nesting. SIGH I do not want more ducklings. I was out last night in my dressing gown, and hiking boots, trying to capture the duck who had decidedto hide under the car. Our best guess is that she was distrubed by a cat as my dh saw one strolling up the garden path as the duck quacked her head off. At least it was not at 3 am...

On editing

At the moment, my brain is a bit fried. I am in the final stages of editing VC. I do love editing as you can suddenly without warning see a way to make the book better and stronger. I am currently doing my Donald Maass tension exercise. This involves going through the manuscript at random and tightening one sentence. In theory at fer you have done this for each page, you will have a far tighter more pacy novel. I suspect I am now very superstitous about this approach as I do it every time snd have done since I first sold.

It can be a pain to do as you really do have to justify sentences. Sometimes whole paragraphs. It is a mirco rather than macro way of looking at a novel.

I have gone about Donald Maass before, but I do find his workbook --Writing the Break Out Novel to be very useful. However, there are other writer friends who have made bonfires with his and other writing books and scattered them to the four winds. It alll depends on your comfort level.

I suspect one of the reasons I want this particular book to be excellent is that it will be my seventh for HM&B. I am mindful of the maxim Maass said -- it takes seven books to become an overnight success, but you have to push the snowball from the first book. Janet Evanovich is on record as saying that it took at least six books to gain a following. I have no idea about the truth of that or not. I simply know that I want my books to get better.

Sometimes, I feel that I should know what I am doing, but each book throws up new challenges. Perhaps it is one of the reasons why I love writing so much. You can never fully master it.

One of my c.p.s says that I am too close and that VC is really strong. Personally I shall feel much happier when my editor has seen it and given her thoughts.