Faber Session 25 – Editing

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

Now come on, you know the drill, lets get cake porn out of the way first…

Yesterday I had Lemon Cheesecake…mmmmmm 🙂

And in my search for a sweet kick I just happened to stumble into The Book Warehouse, where I picked up this large hardback for the bargain price of £4.99 🙂

So I was well chuffed, if not incredibly cold! It had been snowing here most of yesterday, and I decided to risk going to class*

So last night we talked about editing. Now, do you remember all my guests that talked about editing back in December and January? No? Well, click the tab above to check some of the great posts out. Basically, a lot of what we covered last night I already knew, but it doesn’t hurt to have a recap. If only I could actually do it lol.

Some of my notes:

Which part is the fun part? The first draft or the editing? My tutor prefers the editing (mad man! Lol)

Its hard to be both writer and editor, so don’t! Seek help.

All writers have a tick. A phrase or word we overuse. Be aware of yours. Mine is “in fact” lol

Wait until you’ve finished the first draft before revising or editing.

Keep telling yourself it’s a masterpiece! Ha ha ha!

Dont edit the charm and sparkle out of a piece.

Every book is imperfect and the author will always want to change it if he/she had the chance 5 years later.

So what am I missing? Why don’t I find editing/revising fun? Help me out guys? How do I put the “fun” into editing?

*did manage to make it home through the snow, thanks to The Hubster who spent most of his evening battling through snow, traffic, and stuck cars to pick me up. The drive home was pretty scary! Thanks honey 🙂

Best Sites for Editing Tips Online (english.answers.com)

Must Do’s 4th to 10th February

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

A quick reminder to those of you who enjoyed part 1 of Janet Govers Media Workshop. Part 2 went live yesterday 🙂

So how have I done this week? Not very well (be prepared for a really whiney IWSG post on Wednesday). I’ve discovered what my problem actually is, now I just need to work on overcoming it lol. So yesterday I printed off the whole of the WIP, and now, I just need to read it lol. It kinda feels like editing, but it’s not, I’m not actually gunna touch it. Just work out where I need to add things.

So last week the list looked like this:
1. Go through Mels Critique of TLWC. Done! Thank you honey 🙂
2. Keep up with 1000 words a day. Kept up, as such, but not on the WIP 😦
3. Catch up with e mails and blogs etc. Done! But I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle lol. It’s a bit like when you have kids and tidy up….5 minutes later it’s messy again lol
4. Prep for the weekend (Writing Retreat). Done! Although, I didn’t get as much writing done as I’d hoped.
5. Sort out Blog Awards and prep post. Half way there, still working on them lol.

This weeks looking like this:

Looking forward to Sunday and a trip to the seaside 😉

What are your writing plans for the week?

The Editing Process

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

To continue with the theme of editing this month I came across an excellent video on YouTube where writer David Farland gives a talk that describes his editing process.

Farland breaks his editing down into 6 separate processes/types of edit:

1. Triage
2. Voice Edit
3. Descriptive Edit
4. Shotgun
5. Syllabic
6. Line Edit

It’s a very interesting talk, and yes, it is long. So grab a coffee, your notebook and pen and enjoy. A lot of what he said made total sense to me, although the idea of editing my MS 6 times is a little daunting! Lol

I think I’m beginning to know where to start now. How about you?

Why I Use Kindle to Edit My Drafts (michaeljholley.com)
Learning to Love the Editing Process? (cultofajracewood.wordpress.com)

Want To Be A Productive Writer?

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Would you consider yourself a productive writer?

I know I’m not! 😦

A productive writer has to tip the scales towards being selfish. OUCH! That hurts doesn’t it. Selfish? Moi? No way! Yep, I’m afraid its the only way you’re gunna up your word count. You need to discover all those things that prevent you from writing and try to figure out how you can turn your writing enemies into your writing allies 🙂

Courtesy of kittisak/freedigitalphotos

In the first session of my Faber class we were asked to write down two lists. A list of our writing enemies (those things that stop us writing) and a list of our writing allies (those things that help us write). Here’s my list…

It was all going well until my pen hovered over the paper when I thought about my blog. I still can’t make up my mind what side of the list it should go on lol 😉

So now I have to figure out exactly how I get all those things removed from my enemies list and the only thing I can think of is to move into a hotel with no WiFi connection. Not really a practical solution is it? 😉

I guess identifying the problem areas is a start. Knowledge is power right?

But the question remains….what side does my blog go on? Who are your allies and enemies?

ps…..tomorrows blog post will be a little later than usual as I’ll be at Faber 🙂

What Sacrifices Do Writers Have To Make To Succeed?

You Know You’re A Writer When…..

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

The Romaniac’s posted a blog entry entitled You Know You’re A Writer When If you haven’t checked it out, do….it’s very amusing 🙂 Then Roger Colby did a similar post, Because You Are A Writer

So go have a peek, then come back here and tell me You Know You’re A Writer When…..?

Mine would be….

You know you’re a writer when it used to be that you wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without putting your make up on. Now, you wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without a notebook and pen, sod the makeup!

You know you’re a writer when hubby informs you that he’s run out of clean underpants!

So how do you know you’re a writer?