Snow! Fud! Editing!

[erastes]

I’ve got snow falling on my icon, and I’ve got snow falling on my website (although you’d have to study the header picture to notice) but is there anyone who knows how to make it snow on Livejournal?

The snow here is a lot worse here at Dad’s than it is at home, the weather in Norfolk is terribly localised, so it can be sunny here – like now, but with six inches of snow on the ground, and blizzarding on the coast where I am. The roads were pretty horrible coming over, so if there’s any more constant snow I’ll go early, because otherwise I’ll get stuck—I have the AA, but they are going to be stretched, I would imagine.And my phone is out of juice – argh!! (eta: got home safe, obviously)

Fish pie today,(sadly no, I am a cheat when it comes to pastry) and i have a chicken stew on for tomorrow. Get me, the domestic goddess. Next I’ll be watching Nigella. No. Seriously. No. Shoot me if that ever happens. (I have Mrs Bridges in my head right now going “A Stew Boiled is a Stew Spoiled, my girl…” as i let the stew boil. oops)

I’ve been doing a bit of second-eye-ing for a couple of writers recently—I don’t flatter myself to call it “editing” or even “beta-ing” because I am not qualified to be either—and I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t done it for others. One of the reasons I do it is because it’s a habit formed in fandom, that everyone scratches each others’ back, and that you never put a story (even a drabble) out there without someone having looked it over. But I do it for another very good reason—and that’s because I learn so much. 

I’ve complained before about not having serious authory subjects to blog about—and the reason I feel that is because I don’t know enough to do so. I write, and that’s about it. When I started writing—as anyone who’s read Standish can tell—I didn’t know there were any rules or guidelines with writing. I didn’t know head hopping was “wrong” for example.  It took the editor to teach me that—and subsequently I rewrote many scenes in Transgressions which were headhoppy. The editor however for Transgressions was SO thorough that she really makes me think every time I write anything.

So while I doubt that anyone will learn anything from what I say, I have certainly learned a lot from working through their manuscripts. The things I knew were wrong – such as entering another’s thoughts while in pov, or even having the pov slide into omniscient, I can SEE why they look wrong—some of the time. I don’t think actually that passive is evil and omniscient should never appear, but there’s a time and place. similarly speech tags, I used to use them all the time – ALL THE TIME – because I thought “said” was boooorrrring, and coming from fandom, many people wrote like that. “He sighed,” “he whispered” “He choked” “He murmured” but it wasn’t until I saw it done in original fic that I realised why it was –not WRONG, exactly, but inadvisable.  If you do it every single time someone speaks, it becomes like a hammily acted play—because people DON’T put expressions and emotions into every sentence, perhaps unless they are already in a loony-bin, because that’s somewhere where it would work, especially against the bland “saids” of a psychiatrist asking the person questions. It’s part of the show don’t tell. Don’t tell me that he hissed, make the sentence spiteful and stuff with sibilants and I’ll know that he did.

So, yeah. Very instructive for me. If you don’t already do it for someone – do it. it will teach you more than you pass back to the other person. Bread upon the waters, guys.

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Comments

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Tom Swifties... "Good morning," he polevaulted, or "I've cleared the drain," Tom said succinctly.

Fanfic can be a wonderful workshop for learning to write characterization (or it could be, before the thin-skinned primadonnas labeled all concrit as 'flaming,') but it really does take more than search-replace to turn it into pro fic. Fanfic just has to punch the right buttons--pro fic takes more. Backstory, describing characters because your readers have not watched every minute of a show dozens of times, making sure you keep the buttons but building a structure where they can exist...

I've tried watching Nigella and there's something about the woman I just cannot like. If you ever get "Good Eats" over there, you might enjoy it. Alton Brown is a great teacher and actually got me interested in cooking, which I had always hated.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No ta - the day I take an interest in more than just making nice meals is the day I shoot myself. I can cook --I don't, in general, for myself - but I'll never be interested in planning and shopping and making food fun! :)

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Oh, it'll never be a recreational activity, but since I have to do it anyway I may as well enjoy it enough to make something I want to nom. We've found very few eatieries here where the food is a) vegetarian and b) interesting.

[beckyblack]

I've found it so useful doing beta work for other people. And having them do it for me of course, because others can see the things I can't. Of course the alst few months that's gone up a level with pro-editing and that's been such an eyeopener. Done the line edits the last few days and oh boy were my eyes watering after that! It was like being sand-papered. :D

The content edits were hard work, and in a way more emotional, since they involve dealing with the characters and the story that's so dear to my heart. But the line edits were more painful as they expose weaknesses in a different way. But anyway, they're done now! And I've learned so much from that phase I'll take into all my future work and make it stronger.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Exactly! It's very rewarding, from both angles.

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

I'll bite. What makes you say you're not qualified to beta?

When I look for a beta reader, I just want someone who is a passable fit for the reader demographic I'm aiming at, and will actually read the thing and give me impressions. They don't need to be a skilled writer, just a dedicated and somewhat critical reader.

A particular background might also make me look at someone as a beta. I'd love to find someone who had lived on the Navajo reservation to beta read my novel with the Navajo main character, for example.

The other thing I'd look for in a beta reader is being new to my work. I have a complex fantasy setting I write in, and I really need fresh eyes to look at it and make sure I haven't left out important details which none of my regular crit group caught, because we all know how the world works.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

well, i wouldn't say I'm a good beta in the matter of grammar rules and punctatuation - I don't know the rules (where I know people who know what a past participle is and an irregular verb or plu present doo dads) but I can spot (I think) pacing, and other matters. I wouldn't get a job as a proof editor, that's for sure. But yes, I qualify under your definition! :)

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

I've learnt a huge amount from beta reading for others - and from their comments on my work. I have two fabulous readers, one who is absolutely merciless about any hint of a cliche or poorly constructed sentence, and the other who lives in the US and can point out whenever I'm being too confusingly British. They're both brilliant at spotting any inconsistencies with storyline and characters.

I try to return the favour by beta-ing their work, but I'm never sure if I'm able to do as good a job. I'm definitely improving, though.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Fud>>> Fishy pie is for tomorrow. No pastry though just tatties. Not that I'll be eating it. Actually, I might turn it into lasagne as I'd have to venture out for spuds. I've never made that before. I like experimenting on Dave.

Snow>>> It's snowing AND thawing here. I want more thunder and lightening. That was fabby as it sounded really weird...like dull sounding with all the snow on the ground. Lightening was a totally lit-up sky. :)

Said>>> Still borrrring but I'm working on it. *tries to motivate self* But I AM in a loony bin. Home and work are virtually the same place lol.

Puss>>> Poor lovie. He's not been well and we thought it was all 'bowels'. Vet said gingivitis. I'm not brave enough to look in his mouth in case he bites me but upper jaw on right was ulcerated. :( Depomedrone injection costing £45 yesterday seems to have made him even more tuna-mad. He even drank milk this morning! He's never done that in his life. Always turns his nose up. I think maybe it's cooling the gums.

Birdies>>> I saw a wagtail, ONE starling and a pigeon at the shops yesterday when taking my Ebay. I was thinking in bed about this early and now I want to write The Adventure of Waggy Wagtail, Percy Pigeon and Sid the Starling. It was so funny...they were hanging around together, chasing bits of pastry (we were near Greggs) and generally being friends. I have enough to write I know but these ideas still have a habit of invading my braincell.

Snowily yours
Me
xxx

[erastes.livejournal.com]

more book please!

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Really? I thought it would have nightmares by now, haha. OK. I'm going through 6-8 again before I send. *rolls up sleeves* Oooh...that's cold! *yelp*

Going to post a pic of my snow this afternoon too.

...once Seance on a Wet Afternoon is finished. ;p