Rock Your Revisions

I recently finished my 2nd First Draft of Book #1, Series #1, and Cathy Yardley just released Rock Your Revisions. When I discovered Rock Your Revisions was available, I hopped out of my desk chair and did the happy-happy-joy-joy dance (not a pretty sight, but what I lack in coordination and rhythm, I make up in enthusiasm).

The Amazon book description of Rock Your Revisions is as follows:

Do you feel overwhelmed trying to revise your novel?

Faced with a hot mess of rough draft, maybe you feel confused, unsure of what to fix -- or rather, what to fix first!

Editing fiction takes a slightly different mindset than writing the first rough pass of a novel. There are a lot of moving parts in a work of fiction. The trick is to not try and tackle everything at once.

ROCK YOUR REVISIONS: A Simple System for Revising Your Novel will show you a clear, easy-to-follow process for editing a novel. It will help you:

- Test for story structure on a macro level, providing detailed checklists for character and plot arcs.

- Test for story structure at the scene level, making sure each serves a purpose in the novel (and hopefully more than one!)

- Gain insight on the mechanics of the novel -- checking POV choice, dialogue, exposition vs. detail (showing versus telling), and more, with a systematic scene-by-scene approach.

This book goes straight to the point, putting theory in plain language, adding illustrative examples, and finishing each section with exercises designed to help you see how to not only edit a novel, but improve your reader's enjoyment of your book.
___________________

Rock Your Plot has been and continues to be extremely helpful. Thank you, Cathy Yardley, for sharing your expertise. Today, I read and study. Tomorrow, I rock my revision.

Confusion, Curiosity, Determination and Learning

Layering Editing is unfamiliar to me. Not having researched or even heard about this editing technique, I have to admit I'm more than a little confused about what to do and how to proceed with the edit.

I am awaiting examples of part of the process, so hopefully when I see a real-life sample of my own work partially edited in this way I'll get a gist of how the Layering Editing process works.

For now, I am confused.

However, since I'm naturally curious, I will research this specific editing method. (So far, I haven't come across much relevant information, but since I'm determined to learn, I'll be reading as much as possible about potential editing options.)

Isn't that the natural process of things: Confusion > Curiosity > Determination > Learning?

If so, I've got the first step nailed.

Drama Belongs on the Page

Drama belongs on the page. Or the stage. Or in the movies. Not in my house or in my life. When I see others confuse and enmesh conflict and struggle with excitement and thrills, my standard response, just before excusing myself from the situation, is: "That's way too much drama for me."

As if drama were a moist, triple-chocolate cake with chocolate icing, some scarf drama down by shoveling it in with both hands, with each bite heaped on the last before the previous one can be swallowed.

Drama is draining. Drama is distraction. When reality hits, there's nothing exciting or thrilling about it, yet I see so many people feed on their and others on-going drama like pigs at a trough.

While the books I write contain fictional drama and conflict galore, I have no desire to slog through drama slop in real life.

I fully understand that experiencing some drama in life is unavoidable. Accidents happen. Others set things in motion that we have no control over. Oftentimes, like Harry Potter, we encounter a She or He Who Will Not Be Named in our lives (future blog post in the making) that for some reason targets us to intentionally cause harm and hurt in our lives.

For the most part, I do everything in my power to experience, create, and share positive excitement and thrills in my life, while avoiding the majority of unnecessary and unwanted drama served. Please know that I do care what goes on in the lives of those around me; however, for the sake of my own emotional balance and due to my desire to achieve personal goals in my life, I choose to respectfully bow out of participating in or listening to drama, drama, drama.

The Red Cabbage Lady - Specifics in Revision

In my first draft, a former marine nicknames a woman the Vegetable Lady.

Sometimes single words or short descriptions themselves elicit emotions.

The word tree, replaced by the words oak or red maple, elicits a specific visual impression of the kind of tree, the type of leaf, bark, trunk/root growth near the ground, color, etc., and might even bring forth a reader's memory of picnicking beneath an oak or tossing snowballs beneath the snow clustered boughs of a maple.

The description bad guy might become jerk, creep, terrorist or predator. Each specific word elicits individual emotions, dependent on the reader's personal past experience.

To gain specificness for the Vegetable Lady nickname, I considered her sourness and bitterness and invasiveness. I wanted a name that said who she was.

The Vegetable Lady won all kinds of awards for her vegetables at the local fair, but at home she used a little boy to work her garden, sometimes late into the night, and she shut the boy away in the cellar when he got too tired or rebellious.

"You know, the Red Cabbage Lady from up on Carpenter's Ridge who sells at the farmer's market. Her cherry tomatoes are always the sweetest and tastiest. Best summer squash I ever ate. But it's the giant heads of red cabbage that got folk's attention."

“The skill to do comes from the doing.”

“The skill to do comes from the doing.” The saying is attributed to both Cicero and Emerson.

Whoever said it and whether it's baking, writing, wildlife tracking, or any other learned skill, for me doing is key.

Lectures, presentations, reading, etc., give me a starting point, but until I particapate in a hands-on experience, generally I don't "get it."

Give me a recipe and in the process of mixing ingredients according to the recipe insructions, I will learn to bake.

With the assistance of Rock Your Plot, I am learning to plot novels.

Workshops, courses, and how-to books may have jump-started the learning, but the skill comes from the action of doing.

By writing books, I am gaining the skill to write books.

I must have lots to learn and much more skill to gain because I have much, much more writing ahead. Back to doing!

Scheduling Other Stuff, Fun Stuff and Rewards

Other Stuff, Fun Stuff and Rewards must be included on the calendar page and within my writing schedule, otherwise, no matter how much they need to be done or how much I enjoy them, they fall to the wayside along with most good intentions.

Other Stuff: Laundry, Household Tasks, Stretching/Breathing Exercises.  

Fun Stuff: Spending Time with Hubby, Playing with the puppy, Reading, Watching TV.

Rewards: Girl's Day, Going out to a movie or dinner.

Yesterday's schedule included the completion of the following:

• 3 Hours of First Drafting on Book #2, Series #1
• 3 Hours downloading and compiling notes & comments for editing of Book #1, Series #1
• 3 Hours First Drafting on Another Book
• Several loads of laundry
• 1 household task previously set-aside due to health issues
• Spending time with hubby and playing with the puppy

For my To Do List, what I don't accomplish from the day before, I line-through and bring to the next day. What I accomplish on the To Do List and on the time blocked off for the day, I check off with a metallic gel pen that makes the most awesome gold check marks (kind of like the gold star-theory back in grade school, I suppose).

With scheduling, for the most part, my days with be gold check mark days. This writer gal couldn't expect or ask for more.

A Writing Schedule? (What the Bleep!)

I write full-time, writing at home or wherever I can legitimately take my writing tool, NEO, thus my time is my own. So why would I, after finally reclaiming my days and after years of working excessive overtime and juggling multiple projects, suddenly feel the need to set up a writing schedule? (What the bleep!)

Book #2, Series #1 and Another Book's plots rock and the books need to be first drafted (with Another Book I'll be delving into a genre I've approached with hesitation. [Let's face it, not every author is meant to write romance.]) The Second First Draft of Book #1, Series #1, is ready for the editing phase.

Health-wise, in the last few weeks, I have thankfully improved and am pacing myself to increase my stamina and to complete household projects I had been forced to set aside. If I am to meet future self-imposed deadlines, setting a realistic writing schedule is a must.

Since I'm still struggling somewhat with focus (although my concentration is getting better), To Do lists and maintaining a written At-A-Glance Planner/Calendar for the day should keep me on track. This same Planner assisted me with the coordination of my day job, and I'm sure will prove highly beneficial in helping me to get a handle on my writing life.

The alternative would be, while I have the opportunity to write full-time, not having a writing schedule and not meeting self-imposed deadlines and goals, thus wasting and allowing the time I have to write to be squander away, forever lost, and never to be regained. Now, THAT's a what the bleep.

Wannabes & Negative Inspiration

According to another author's blog post, which has since been removed by said author from the author's blog, I am a Wannabe.

Wikipedia explains that a Wannabe (slang for "want to be") is a person with an ambition to be someone or something that s/he is not.

Who the author making the post is or is not doesn't matter. What matters is that this author seemed to have forgotten that not long before his/her self-publication as an Independent Author, this author was a "Wannabe" as well.

Wanting to learn as much as I possibly can about writing and publication: Guilty. Writing books: Guilty. Wanting to make a living writing books: Guilty, guilty, and guilty.

Inspiration comes from many sources and from many directions. When it comes to negative inspiration, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to this author, who's name-calling spurred me on and inspired me to be a true Wannabe in every sense of the word. Unnamed and Unknown Author (my one zinger, forgive me), thank you!

Hello, my name is Alexa, and I am a Wannabe.

Life Is Good (Gratitude and Appreciation)

Recently, I posted about Chocolate, Naps and the Good Life to address the impression about how easy writing full-time could be. While not an easy path, I am grateful that I am able to do what I've always wanted to do and love.

While self-motivation and deadlines are key to writing full-time, appreciation for the opportunity to be able to do so keeps me moving forward.

Every day, I am thankful for the long-time-in-coming opportunity to write full-time. Even when struggling with health issues, I embrace the time and space to write and the process of writing.

Over the last couple of years, Savvy Authors has played a phenomenal role in my growth as a writer. Authors Lori Wilde, Cathy Yardley, and Kat Duncan have contributed greatly in my learning journey. Authors and bloggers, J.A. Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rush, and Alexandra Sokoloff have provided positive examples and guidance.

I am grateful for those who have responded negatively to my desire to write, for in negativity you provide inspiration and motivation. (Future blog post in the making.)

Even when I've had to step back, regroup and begin again, I welcomed and appreciated the chance to do so.

Yes, life is good!

Second Chances & Second First Drafts

Years ago, the first book I attempted to write went though multiple drafts. Despite years of effort, the book never worked, and I never got a handle on the story that I wanted to tell. After a hundred and second chances, it was time to let go, and to move on to a more viable, workable story.

After a gracious, spot-on, and much-appreciated Developmental Edit, Book #1 of Series #1 wasn't in line for minor updates or revisions--the book needed a major overhaul. Instead of giving up, setting the book aside and working on another book idea, I set out on a journey to write another (the Second) First Draft.

How do you know and when do you know whether and if it's time to stop handing out chances?

For the earlier book, it was way past time to let go. After numerous attempts to do so, so many that I lost count, I had to admit to myself the book was not workable or salvageable. For the more current Book #1, Series #1, the First First Draft held the foundation of a strong book and a viable series concept. Book #1, Series #1 held not just the possibility, but the probability that the story and the book done right could work. Unsure that I was up to the task, I believed in the story and the series; therefore, I had to put forth the effort.

This Second First Draft tells the story I intended to to tell. It presents a tighter story with higher stakes than the previous draft. The current draft of Book #1 delivers, with a satisfying wrap-up, yet one that serves as a lead-in into Book #2.

After numerous second chances, there comes a time to let go and move on; yet, when a journey down Second Chance Avenue succeeds, with hard work and genuine forward effort, the trip is enjoyable, interesting, and worthwhile.