No Pain No Gain: Revision Hurts

Growing up, we’ve watched Joan Rivers evolve, or perhaps not evolve, thanks to the time and money she spends on cosmetic procedures. We’ve all seen some miraculous works by cosmetic surgeons, though I have to admit, I’m afraid of a knife.

At least with surgery we’re offered an anesthesia, but when we have to make cuts in writing, there’s no pain medication to relieve the affliction. To revise or not can be a difficult choice to make, but my new motto is “no pain, no gain.”

Earlier this month I received my first MAJOR revision request. It was for a novel I recently wrote for young adults. In the past, my adult editor has requested small chunks removed, scenes added, and minor rewrites, but this was something altogether new to me. I’m talking about the kind of revision that’s bone-deep, plot and character reconstructive surgery. And boy does it hurt to imagine! At first, I could only put the email away and refuse to think about it.

When I eventually shared my pain with my husband, my critique partners, and my betas, they were like, “Are you crazy? Let’s do it!” And they’re right. For one reason, a respected industry professional suggested the revisions, and for another, after investing all the hours that went into a 60,000 page work—not to mention the time my peeps spent reading my efforts—my little story deserved the extra effort.

So, I’ve been on a quest to find the best advice on revision. Here’s what I’ve found:

1. First, after you’ve finished your original draft, set aside your story before you submit it. After a few weeks have passed, re-read it with fresh eyes for needed changes.

2. Let a beta reader (or several) read the entire manuscript, and ask them for a critique. Be open-minded to their thoughts and suggestions. This is as close to a real reader as you’ll get before publication.

3. Use a revision checklist, such as the one Nathan Bransford, an author and former literary agent, posted on his blog.

4. If you choose to make changes to the original (and I do suggest you make more than one draft of your story), there are several steps to revising. According to author Natalie Whipple’s great blog (BetweenFactAndFiction), there are three stages of revision: plot revisions, character revisions, and prose revisions. I highly recommend reading her excellent analysis of these stages and trying her strategies yourself.

4.  Another blogger I love is Holly Lisle. She offers great advice for self-revision here.

5. Go big or go home. Agent Mary Cole also offers some excellent posts on requested revisions on her blog. She says, don’t be “the kid pushing peas around on your plate.” If you’re lucky enough to receive some good advice, spend time on it. “Unless you make big changes, a revision isn’t worth doing. If you go out on a submission round and get roundly rejected, you’re not going to solve your problem by going back to the page to tweak a few words here and there. I’ve said this before, but look at the word revision…it means ‘to see again.’ To see your story in a whole new light.”

As for me, I’m going to the revision cave with an axe, a saw, and something to numb the pain.

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Wish for the Moon by Sandra Jones is available now from The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Matthias, a heroic knight, is accused of a horrible crime he doesn’t remember. Believing his guilt, he flees his home in shame, but in the flight he stumbles across an ancient portal taking him far away to the future. In modern day Wales & far from his troubles, Matthias  guards the mystery on his ancestral property as closely as he guards his own heart—until Carrie Greer, a modern-day herbalist, accidentally discovers his secret and drags him back to the hell he’d left behind in the 13th century. Thrust into close confines with Carrie, Matthias forms a tenuous bond with her that soon ignites a burning passion. Carrie’s faith becomes his inspiration as he fights inner demons that could shatter the bond of trust growing between them. Together they face enemies of the flesh and time as Matthias attempts to win Carrie’s love before his dark secret chases her away.

Getting ready to rock and roll!

One of the items on my bucket list is to visit the great state of Alaska. And I’m not talking about flying in and renting a car or paying for a tour bus. I’m talking about a motor home trip from Arkansas to Fairbanks and more. The trip will be around 8000 miles when it’s all said and done. We’ve purchased a motor home and plan to live in it for about five weeks as we travel through the west and up into Canada, traversing the ALCAN highway.

We’re still in the planning stage, but it won’t be long before I’m posting pictures of my trip on Facebook and tales of our adventures. Am I excited? Yes! Am I feverishly writing the four books I have left to complete for Harlequin by end of year? Will I be writing from the road? Yes! Yes! Wish us luck. This is a picture of the type of home we’ll be living in for five weeks. And below is a picture of the map that will get us there. I admit, it’s a bit daunting. But I’m ready! Lets rock and roll!

Fast Drafting Anyone?

This will be short. I am taking Candy Haven’s Fast Draft class which is basically writing your book in two weeks with no re-reading, no editing. Just basically vomiting the story out, then going back to flesh out the scenes, edits, etc after the entire story is there.

I confess…I’m not sure this is going to work for me. I like to tweak and edit as I go, which makes me write vvveeerrrryyyy sssssllllloooowwwwlllyyy!

With fast draft, Candy writes 20 pages a day. She doesn’t use word counts (i.e. a per day word count) because she thinks it easier, and therefore more encouraging, to count number of pages done.

So, if you’re a writer, do you count pages or words?

What’s the most you have ever written in one day?

Ok, back to the writing cave.

Head down. Fingers on keys.

Go!

Exhausting Edits

I don’t know why I find edits so draining. Writing is invigorating. I can go a full day of feverish typing and never feel tired, but when editing time comes, just an hour of work and it’s like someone siphoned off all my strength.

Seriously. Shoot me now.

This is the reason I edit as I go. Other people can turn off their internal editors and cram in a thousand words an hour, I’ll do half that and polish as I write. I know that when I’m done, there will be editing, and if I leave myself too much work then, I’ll lose the will to live and the only thing that will bring me back is copious amounts of chocolate. Or mancandy. Chocolate is easier to bash over the head and drag home.

There is one thing I love about editing, though. When I get to the edits I know I’m almost done. Just a few more weeks and some input from my trusted crit partners, and that story is ready to ship out.

The feeling of being done is about the best thing ever. Because then I get to pull a new story idea out of my list and get back to the part of this writer gig where I get to make stuff up again.

Even with the loathesome editing, being a writer is the best thing ever. Even better than chocolate. And mancandy.

Spring Retreat – Into The Mountains

What could be more fun than retreating from the responsibilities of everyday life to an incredible lodge in the Ozark Mountains with twelve friends, who just happen to be multi-talented, brilliant, comical women that all share a passion for writing?

Humph? Well, I could think of a couple of things. I’ll keep them to myself. No blushing on this post.

Midday Friday, twelve DSRA members converged on the Cedar Crest Lodge in Ponca, AR from our respective corners of the state. Our number one goal for the weekend – WRITE. Our second goal for the weekend – LAUGH. I must say we did a heck of a job with both. The most glorious sound this weekend, besides laughter, was that of tapping keys. Oh, what music!

The chapter would like to thank President, Brenda Berry for scouting the perfect location, bringing the dream to fruition and being the hostess with the mostess. Treasurer, Cynthia D’Alba also deserves a round of applause, and possibly a badge of courage,  for owning the job of taskmaster. She kept us all on schedule, assuring our productivity with three two-hour writing sessions on Friday and four on Saturday.

We all returned home today with fond memories, an expanded lexicon (Thank you Cynthia and Margaret!), and thousands of added words to our works in progress.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from our weekend away!

–
Megan Mitcham, Writer

Website  Blog  Twitter

DSRA April Meeting Presentation Recap

Authors Moonlighting as Graphic Artists

I take my car to the local lube shop to get my oil and filter changed. I buy my meat at the grocer already cut and processed. I don’t sew my own clothes. Although that last one would be scary amazing to do myself, there are so many services in today’s world. As an author, you will need graphics work. You have the choice of paying a graphic artist to do pieces you need like website banners, badges,   etc, or you can take creative control and see if you like doing it yourself. The benefit to doing it yourself is that you have that vision in your head of exactly what you want and like.  The downside is that you may spend too much time learning and still not create what you want. Only you will be able to determine the worth of contracting for graphics work or trying a DIY project.

The links for the presentation from April’s meeting can be found at http://www.delicious.com/brin145 . This was a hands-on presentation. On the page of presentation links, pay particular attention to the last link on the page which is sumopaint.com. This is the free graphics editing software we used to create a banner. You can work in it online and there is no need to download. If you create an account, you can store your work there or you may download to your computer if you wish.  Most graphics software use similar toolbars and menus. Although some at the meeting were familiar with using Gimp software, Sumopaint was an easy transition because of the similarities.

I displayed my own website banner and discussed the method of creating a new one. You will need a graphics editing program (like Sumopaint) and stock or personal photos.  I purchase my photos from bigstockphoto.com at $2.99 each.  The resolution of this smallest image size  is perfect for most website work. If you are doing something for print, you will want to go up to the next size (and price level) for purchasing images. You can also just use photos that you’ve taken if you are handy with a camera.

When working in any graphics program, it helps to understand layers. The beauty of working in layers is that you can place individual elements on each layer. When you want to change one element, then you only change the work on that layer. For instance, if my image is on one layer by itself (such as a book cover), I can go in a year later and replace that layer with one displaying my new book cover.  I don’t have to change the entire banner unless I want to do so.  Layers are also “stacked” so always be aware of the level of the layer. A background color or image would be on the bottom. If you accidentally moved that layer to the top of your work, it would be like taking a sheet of paper to the top of stack of photos. The other items would be hidden beneath.

I mentioned during the meeting that I was doing a graphics series on my friend Gloria Richard’s blog.  I am going to direct you to these lessons as they are so similar to what we discussed in the April meeting. Click here to watch my video I created from the most recent lesson on her blog. There are also screenshots, videos, and discussions that might be helpful if you are interested in learning to do simple graphics. In these posts, I used Pixlr‘s online free software.  Pixlr and SumoPaint are both great, free, and similar. Hope you have fun learning to create your own graphics. It will save you money and give you a product you envisaged.

Graphics 101 or Graphics Step #1

Graphics 102 or Are You Kidding Me? I’m Not a Photographer or Graphic Artist

Graphics 103 or Finding My Artistic Mojo

DSRA Releases

Spring Chickens

You don’t have to be a spring chicken to fall in love.

The residents of Heartsfield, Arkansas think Lynne Prescott has it all. The wealthy suburban divorcee captures everyone’s attention when she blows into town to dispose of the family farm. But her nosy new neighbors don’t know she ran away from home.

Bram Hatchett’s interest in buying the land adjoining his farm is yesterday’s news, but the handsome widower’s inability to contain his attraction to the land’s beautiful owner quickly becomes fodder for the local gossip mill.

A rickety old porch and a disturbing decrease in the poultry population bring them together—but with wagging tongues and grown children against them, Lynne’s inclination toward flight comes smack against Bram’s aversion to fight. Can they whittle away the secrets of the past in order to scratch out a future together?

April 27, 2012 – The Wild Rose Press

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HOT DEMON NIGHTS
by Elle James

Rookie cop Katya Danske didn’t ask to become a member of Manhattan’s Paranormal Investigative Team or to be partnered with a sexy-as-hell demon. Then a zombie literally drops into her lap and she’s recruited to help Blaise Michaels battle an impending zombie outbreak.

Blaise is as exasperating as he is arousing, but while Katya’s head tells her she should keep her distance, her body wants something else entirely. Forced to work closely together, their investigation takes them into the darkest shadows of the Manhattan underworld and makes their attraction impossible to deny. But with the zombie threat rising, their hot nights together may be their last…

eHarlequin

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Go back to where it all began…when Olivia Montgomery met Mitch Landry and their lives changed forever.

Texas Two Step:The Prequel is a short story. It serves as an introduction to Olivia Montgomery and Mitch Landry, the primary characters in the novel, Texas Two Step. The Prequel covers their college dating years up to their break-up. Texas Two Step, the novel, continues the story six years later.

Texas Two Step: The Prequel is available exclusively from Amazon Bookstore.

The Juggler

My friend, Julie, is a juggler. By that I mean, she can actually toss multiple items into the air, catch, and release them in rapid succession. Last spring, she handed over her precious hacky sacks and tried to teach me to juggle too. The lesson didn’t last long. Julie has a lot of patience. Margaret does not.

My fear of clowns and weak stomach for stinky things are not the only factors standing between me and a career with the circus. Even if I found a clown-less, animal-free troupe, my fear of heights would rule out high wire and trapeze acts, as well as diving into one of those tiny buckets of water. I’m better off here on the ground, away from the clowns and elephant poop. And, let’s face it, I’m much better at throwing hacky sacks at people than I am at juggling them.

I may not have hand-eye coordination, but I have excellent aim. Usually. Lately, I’ve been suffering the worst case of ennui. I’m not quite sure why. All I know is I just can’t work up the energy to put the words on the page.

Frankly, I’m tired. I’m awake for seventeen out of twenty-four hours. I dedicate approximately ten hours to the day job, including commute. Of the remaining hours, I would say I dedicate about two hours to ‘Me’ time – which is code for showering, primping, exercise and preparing for bed. I’m married with children, so that means I’m contractually obligated to deliver another two or three hours of ‘Us’ time per twenty-four hour period. I count dinner, laundry, and other household chores as us time. Hey, there are only so many waking hours in the day. A woman does what she has to do.

If you’re doing the math (totally not my strong suit), this leaves a balance of about two to three hours of free time. For the past few weeks, those precious hours have been spent doing most anything but writing.

I’ve become a master procrastinator. I have ideas popping out of my ears and characters chattering away while I drive, eat, and try to drift off to sleep, but I can’t seem to open my document.

That’s why I’m making a concerted effort to juggle writing into my busy day.

Here’s the plan:

Each day for the month of May, I will write a minimum of 1,000 words.

If I want a day off, I have to bank the words in the days before – there will be no playing catch up.

I’ve enlisted the help of my friend Juggling Julie as my personal whip cracker, and I’ll meet you all back here in June to let you know how I did with keeping all the balls in the air.

Deal? Deal.

How about you? Do you ever have trouble juggling? What tricks do you use to keep your hacky sacks flying?

Kindle or book? I will always need both. Will you?

I’ve always been an avid reader. I was never without a book and would read whenever I could. I even have a library of books on CD for long car trips. I loved the smell of a book store and the feel of the paper on my fingers as I turned each page. Then I got my kindle and my book shelves got dusty and I had no reason to stop  at our local bookstores, or so I thought.

E-readers are amazing. They hold hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers. They fit in your purse and you can buy a new book with just one click. So what’s the downfall?  I can’t think of any, can you?  With today’s technology you can turn anything into an e-reader. Your PC, Smartphone, iPod and so on, so what keeps the bookstores thriving?

I know you’re saying to yourself, not everyone has an e-reader. Not everyone likes today’s technology, and you’re right. But there is another very important reason why the book stores will remain open for me…water.

My two favorite things to do cannot be done together unless I have a paperback, and sometimes that can be a disaster. I love to go to the beach and take long hot baths and my kindle does not like sand or a hot steamy bathroom. So I will always need a book I can hold on to. How about you? What is your reason to keep your library growing?

Blurb for, Rescued from the Dark. A romantic suspense to be published through Black Opal Books. Release date not yet set.

What if you woke up from a nightmare, trapped in a world of darkness, with no memory of how you got there?  Rescued from the Dark is a passionate, gripping story about an FBI agent confronting his duty to his country, and struggling with his deep feelings for a woman with no memory of  their love.

Jason Michaels infiltrates the terrorist cell and risks everything, even his life, to save the FBI intern who stole his heart, then walked away. Once Mercy wakes from her coma Jason struggles with the fact that she does not remember what happened, but anguishes with the idea that she believes their unborn child belongs to her ex. Jason soon realizes the terrorists vow to get her back to claim their secrets locked in her memory, no matter what the cost. In a race against time, Jason and Mercy struggle to fight their attraction, and put their differences aside, as they launch a manhunt to save their country and each other