Zed Amadeo's Blog, page 4
October 28, 2015
How to Edit: 2 Fantastic Guides on Polishing Your Work
Ah, editing – because no first draft can ever be perfect. Despite the challenges involved in this stage of the writing process, editing can be an enjoyable part of the writing process. After all, this is when you get the chance polish your rough draft into a form that approaches your original vision for your work. Elizabeth Lyon’s Manuscript Makeover and James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-Editing provide helpful strategies on how to edit and improve your story.
A little over two years ago, I came up with the idea for a short fantasy story. I figured I would be done with the manuscript after writing about 40 pages of the story. But even after I wrote what I assumed would be the last word, I kept finding renewed inspiration to continue the experiences of my characters. Before I knew it, I was well into writing the first few stories of my Kindred series. I wrote rough drafts of all of the individual stories one right after another. By the end of that year and a half long period I had spent writing Kindred, I had a massive manuscript that I was proud of but that I knew would need a lot of editing before I was ready to publish the series. Although I had done some editing before, I found myself in need of new guides with advice on how to edit and tackle the challenge of smoothing out a rough manuscript.
Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon
Image from Amazon.com
After you finish writing the rough draft of your story, it can be easy to get lost or overwhelmed when trying to edit your work. Elizabeth Lyon’s Manuscript Makeover is a helpful guide to navigating the editing process. Divided up into sections that tackle different aspects of your story, Lyon includes beneficial tips to help make your work the best it can be, with lots of advice on improving structure and flow, characterization, and also some advice on marketing, complete with samples and exercises. I read this guide shortly before I finished my rough draft of the Kindred series and found it invaluable throughout the editing process.
Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
From Goodreads
I discovered this guide after reading a post on Nat Russo’s post on revising your first draft and requested it from my library immediately afterward. Similar to Manuscript Makeover, Revising and Self-Editing is divided into different sections depending on which aspect of your writing you’re ready to tackle. I found Bell’s book most helpful for creating a solid story structure out of the pieces of my first draft. After reading this guide, I realized that sometimes when I felt that something was off about my story, it was because of issues with how the plot was structured. This guide helped reinforce methods to improve the plot and the flow of my story. Plus this guide has a handy-dandy outline at the end that summarizes each of the sections, useful for reference while in the process of editing.
What I learned about the editing process:
Write a (heavily flawed) first draft:
I have learned to accept that parts of the rough draft aren’t going to make it into the final version of the story that I end up publishing. Parts of my first draft are going to meander away from my original intent for the story. And that’s okay. For me, the point of my first draft is to lay down the bare bones of the story I want to tell. Perfectionism at this stage only serves to paralyze my writing progress. I have to remind myself that even though the draft isn’t great, I’ve probably at least got the skeleton of the story I wanted to tell buried somewhere within. Editing is the process of unearthing that story.
Outlining:
As I go through a quick run-through of my rough draft, I create an outline of the story as it stands. This helps me to identify inconsistencies that I might not have noticed while writing the draft. I then make large changes to the outline, such as switching scenes around or adding new scenes entirely. After the outline is structured properly, I then edit the draft according to the changes I made in the outline.
Stages:
When I first started editing Resurrection, I found myself struggling with making lots of edits on every page, going through each sentence with a fine-toothed comb. Similar to perfectionism, this led to lots of paralysis and editing small items that wouldn’t make it into the final cut of the story (who cares about the grammar of badly written dialogue when you end up cutting that line from the story anyway?). I now do my self-editing in stages: first I do a quick read through, followed by major changes in overall plot structure, and lastly adding particular nuances to character, plot, or theme to enhance the tale.
The great part about self-editing is that you learn mistakes to look out for in your writing style. Even now, I have often found myself incorporating what I learned from these self-editing guides when writing the first draft of other works. This not only helps me preemptively save editing work later on, but improves my writing skills overall.
What strategies or resources have helped you learn how to edit your work?
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October 19, 2015
Top Ten Tuesday: Wishes from the Book Genie
Welcome again to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week, we’re counting down my top ten book-related wishes a book genie would grant me.
From The Disney Wiki
1. Stop time when I read
Although my TBR list is becoming infinitely long, I always want more time to read. I don’t like reading in between doing other things – I’d much rather have a solid chunk of time when I can get comfortable and enjoy the book at hand. The book genie could either make it so that I can choose to slow down or stop time when I read or give me the ability to read extremely quickly without losing comprehension or enjoyment, just so I can find a way to cram more books into my life.
2. The perfect reading spot
From Buzzfeed
I sometimes have a hard time getting comfy when I’m preparing to read for an extended period of time. If I lay on my bed, I have to prop up the book or e-reader just right. If I’m sitting in a chair, chances are my neck will start cramping up from looking downward for too long. But with the perfect reading spot, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. All I would have to do is sit down and I would instantly get comfortable enough to enjoy my book.
3. VIP Access to the perfect library
From Goodreads
This library wouldn’t necessarily be full of every book that ever existed, but all of the books that fit my reading tastes. Since it’s exclusive access, I know that they would always have copies of the book that I am looking for. No more waiting for my holds to come in or someone requesting the book after I’ve checked it out. The librarian would always know the exact book to recommend me next, so I would never have to go searching through my TBR list again. Plus, this library would include the World’s Most Comfortable Reading spot somewhere inside.
4. A New e-Reader
From Amazon
Though I do love my current Kindle, it would be great to get a hold of one of the newer models so that I could read in bed with a backlit screen. Using a book light on a Kindle is kind of awkward.
5. A Halloween Party with Poe and Lovecraft
Pets by Heri-Shinato on DeviantArt
Who better to celebrate Halloween with than two of my favorite dark fiction writers? They could unite for one last hurrah at a spooky Halloween bash. Even if they weren’t lively partygoer-type people, I’d get to chat with them about horror!
6. Another book like House of Leaves
From Goodreads
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is one of my favorite books ever. After I read it I went on a desperate search for something that would leave a similar impact on me, but have not yet found it. I’m still searching.
7. A videogame version of Annihilation
From Goodreads
I think the Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer could make an awesome survival game. You could choose what kind of researcher you want to be, go through training, and explore Area X in search of answers. Or perhaps you could be a researcher back at Southern Reach HQ when your studies of Area X suddenly go horrifically wrong. It could be a combination of S.T.A.L.K.E.R and SCP Containment Breach. I would play that game for days on end.
8. Receive my Hogwarts acceptance letter
One of my childhood wishes finally fulfilled. Turns out they’ve been trying to deliver my letter for years, but the owls kept getting lost or something.
9. A day to talk with Neil Gaiman
From Buzzfeed
I’ve repeatedly said that Gaiman is one of the authors whose talent I envy the most. I’d love to spend a day chatting with him about his writing process and his work over the years.
10. Find me a new favorite book
From BookFessions
I love that excitement of being midway through a book and already knowing that it’s going to end up on my list of favorites. It’s been some time since a book I’ve read has made it back onto that list. The book genie could help me fix that.
What are your bookish wishes?
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October 17, 2015
The Russian Sleep Experiment by Holly Ice
Love creepypasta? Check out The Russian Sleep Experiment by Holly Ice, a well-developed version of the classic creepypasta tale expanded into novella form.
Book cover from Goodreads
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’re a fan of creepypasta, horror tales that you can find floating around the Internet, you’ve probably read The Russian Sleep Experiment. I went through a phase a couple of years ago when I plowed through the Creepypasta wiki in search of horror reads I could check out in a short period of time. I ended up finding some real gems that way, such as Candle Cove. When I stumbled upon an announcement on Dread Central that this tale was becoming a full-length story, it instantly went on my TBR list.
The basic premise of this particular Creepypasta is that a small group of Russian prisoners are promised to have their sentences lifted if they take part in the eponymous experiment. This task consists of placing the prisoners in a sealed room with a gas that is meant to keep them from sleeping for a full thirty days. But as you can imagine, things go horrifically wrong…
Holly Ice’s novella, published by Almond Press, succeeds in developing this premise and expanding short story into a better tale. The story provides characterization for both the prisoners and the authorities running the experiment, providing more emotional weight for the reader when the experiment does go awfully awry with increasingly horrific consequences. Plus the novella contains a few mood appropriate illustrations sprinkled throughout. For a taste of the artwork in this novella, just take a look at the companion website. It’s been awhile since I read the original story, but from what I can remember this novella tweaks and expands the horror that this experiment unleashed.
All in all, The Russian Sleep Experiment is a quick and enjoyable read for fans of horror, dark fiction, and creepypasta. You can pick up a copy of Ice’s novella on Amazon in paperback and ebook format, or on the iBooks or Kobo stores.
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October 13, 2015
Get Organized: 4 Free Tools to Save You Precious Time
Let’s face it: you’ve probably got a ton of tasks to get done, but there’s only so many hours in a day. Here are my favorite tools to help me get organized and save time.
Do you ever feel like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland? I sometimes find myself struggling to stay afloat when balancing different priorities:
Should I add this plugin to my blog?
Maybe I should try out this idea for a story.
I NEED to check out this book on marketing.
It can be easy to get overwhelmed when tackling new information, making decisions about what to do next, and keeping yourself on track when your to-do list is already long enough. These four tools help me get organized, store useful information away for later, and save my time for the decisions that really matter.
1. Organize your thoughts with Evernote
I used to use the default “Notes” app in my phone to record ideas I got for stories or blog posts while on the go. Though this worked fine for awhile, as my writing aspirations grew I needed something that would allow for even greater organization. I use Evernote not only to take notes, but also to create checklists of what I need to get done, clip useful articles from the Internet and save them for later, and collect all of these into notebooks organized by topic: one for ideas for book promotion, another for my blog topics, and yet another for creative writing ideas. I use Evernote on both my phone and tablet, and log onto Evernote on my laptop whenever I need to transfer something to my computer. I even used Evernote to outline this blog post!
2. Find content in your favorite areas with Feedly
I discovered Feedly in Avoid Social Media Time Suck by Frances Caballo (which I previously reviewed), a helpful guide for creating a social media strategy in a time efficient manner. Feedly is a handy RSS reader that provides you with updates on your favorite sites and is a great tool for finding content to discuss and share with your audience. Using Feedly, you can organize related websites into collections reflecting your interests: I’ve got a collection for writing, one for horror, and another for books. After you set up an account, you simply plug in the RSS feed of your favorite site or search for sites that post about your interests. From there, you can log into Feedly online or fire up the app to see what new content has been posted. Simple as that.
3. Declutter social media with Hootsuite
If managing your social media accounts is taking up too much of your time, Hootsuite can provide a solution. With a free account you can manage up to three social media profiles by scheduling posts in advance, setting up searches for keywords or hashtags, and keeping track of any posts you were tagged in. Plus if you grab the browser extension, you can easily share content you discovered while browsing the web on social media.
4. Schedule and track tasks with Trello
Trello is the newest tool on this list for me, but I’m already finding it incredibly helpful in making sense of my my multiple to-do lists. While I previously kept track of my writing and website goals in a giant word document, I now use Trello to organize my multiple to do lists and to keep track of the individual steps each goal requires. After adding due dates to the items on your list, Trello allows you to create a calendar of what you have coming up, giving you an easy way to stay on track and monitor your progress.
What tools help you get organized and save time?
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October 5, 2015
Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Things to Quit
Aaaand it’s time again for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week I’m ranting about bookish things I need to quit. Onto the rant!
1. Kindle freebie greed
via GIPHY – My brain devouring free Kindle books
This is a relatively new habit considering I got my Kindle last year, and I’ve had time to get better at it in the interim. But I really need to stop hitting the “Buy Now with 1-Click” button on Amazon and downloading every book from Bookbub and SweetFreeBooks that even remotely interests me. I keep ending up with a Kindle full of books that I’ll never have time to finish!
2. Assuming the book will be better than the movie
From Snappin Studio
I’ve seen a good number of films where the book was better or at least comparable to its movie adaptation. But I’ve also seen movies that far surpassed the source material, so I should probably stop having such high hopes when I compare the two.
3. Book Infidelity
I can get so indecisive which book I want to read that I sometimes end up reading small bits of multiple books, switching between all of them because I’m not sure that I want to commit to just one. I kind of alleviated this in high school by creating a system for myself: I had one book I read during breaks in school, another for when I was at home, and a third to read with meals. I’m thinking maybe it’s time to bring this system back so that I can put more focus on each book I’m reading.
4. Late night library requesting
When I was in college I had this somewhat bizarre tendency to stroll through the library catalog shortly before I fell asleep. The problem was that I was so tired when I did this that I would sometimes end up requesting books and then forgetting about them. While I did find some interesting reads this way, more often than not I’d end up with a pile of books that sounded interesting when I requested them but that I never actually ended up reading.
5. Library hoarding
From Book Mania
Similar to the way that some people have to make a grocery list before they go to the store to keep themselves from purchasing extraneous items, if I don’t make a plan before I go to the library of exactly what I’m going to get I’ll end with a bagful of books that I’ll never get read before their due date.
6. Fear of YA
There was a time during my adolescence where I plowed through the YA section of the library and bookstore. Now, I’m almost afraid to peruse the YA section. I think I overstuffed myself with the genre in too short of a time and got tired of reading certain tropes in the genre over and over again, so I started avoiding YA almost entirely. I think enough time has passed by that it’s probably safe for me to wander back into the genre.
7. Big book intimidation
According to my Goodreads stats, I’ve read more books in 2015 than in any other year. However, my page count for this year doesn’t beat my past records. Even though I’ve been reading lots more books this year (mainly due to the ease of buying and borrowing books on my Kindle), most of these books are shorter than the works I would have read in the past. There’s some hefty books I’d really like to give a chance (such as Neal Stephenson!) but am too intimidated to actually pick up and read. I’m sure I could find some great works if I could get over this mental block.
What bookish habits are you trying to quit?
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October 4, 2015
Welcome to Apophis
Tired of the mundane? Add a spark of magic to your life. Come to Apophis, where you’re always welcome.
Had a long week? Looking for a classy place to kick back and relax with other magical folk like yourself? Come to Apophis bar and lounge, located in the bustling center of Springfield.
Mock-up from Freepik
Take a look at the tasty selections. Whether you want to sink into a book and relax or get pumped up for a night out with friends, Apophis has concoctions, both magical and mudane, to satisfy your mood:
Mockup from Free Goodies for Designers
If you ever need a place to call home, come to Apophis, open from 3 until Late every day. We’ll always leave a booth open for you.
Mockup from Graphic Burger
Want to visit Apophis? Explore this bar and other magical locales in Reunion, the second book in the Kindred dark urban fantasy series, available on Amazon.
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October 1, 2015
Handling Rejection: An Infographic
My previous post on handling rejection with grace, now in a handy infographic!
I previously wrote a post with four tips for handling rejection of a piece of your writing, which is distilled below into convenient infographic packaging:
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Handling Rejection: An Infograph
My previous post on handling rejection with grace, now in a handy infograph!
I previously wrote a post with four tips for handling rejection of a piece of your writing, which is distilled below into convenient infograph packaging:
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September 28, 2015
Top Ten Tuesday: Books To Read If You Like These Super Popular Books/Authors
Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week it’s my recommendations for people who liked certain famous books/authors. All book covers from Goodreads.
If you liked House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, check out…
Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott
John Dies at the End by David Wong
All three were recommended to me by Goodreads after reading and thoroughly enjoying House of Leaves.
If you liked Lovecraft, check out…
The Dark Eidolon by Clark Ashton Smith
Whom the Gods Would Destroy by Brian Hodge
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti
If You Liked The “Ologies” Series, check out…
The Museum of Unnatural History by Terence Bumbly
The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
A Perfect Vacuum by Stanislaw Lem
Do you have any recommendations for people who enjoyed these reads?
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September 24, 2015
Short Films from Daywalt Fear Factory
Love horror, but don’t always have time to watch a full-length move? Check out the Daywalt Fear Factory channel on YouTube! Drew Daywalt, a horror filmmaker and author, and his wife Marichelle Daywalt produce short horror, all available to stream for free. Curious, but not sure where to begin? Take a look at this sampler of exquisite horror shorts.
From Heroes and Hellions
Mockingbird is the first Daywalt short I saw and the one that got me hooked. Short but definitely sweet:
Not all of them are designed to scare. The Laundromat, for example, plays with your expectations with a dash of humor:
Thinking of surprising someone for your birthday? You might be the one that ends up surprised:
“The Many Doors of Albert Whale” is an intriguing short film. If you’re a little confused after you watch it, be sure to scroll through the comments on the video:
Daywalt Horror also has a series on YouTube, “Camera Obscura.” I’m still making my way through the series. Check out the first episode below:
Check out the Daywalt Fear Factory Channel!
Are there any other awesome indie shorts that I’m missing out on?
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