Alin Walker's Blog, page 2

On #OwnVoices and the Importance of Sensitivity Readers

This article was written in collaboration with over a dozen writers and editors, all of whom identify as #OwnVoices or allies. We have reclaimed the word “queer,” and we use it here to lovingly refer to anyone and everyone under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, but reclamation is messy. To read a version of this post that strictly uses “LGBTQIA+” instead, select here.

If you’re writing LGBTQIA+ characters or stories about trans or queer identity, please ensure you aren’t doing so purely because you believe it’ll make your submission more likely to be accepted. The #OwnVoices movement was intended to give marginalized people space to tell their tales and should not be treated as a genre fad writers can leverage for professional gain.

Representation matters. We don’t want to discourage anyone from writing stories that feature a diverse cast of characters, but there is a world of difference between stories with diverse characters and stories where, for example, a queer character is a shallow prop, a depthless token inserted without realistic qualities or concerns in an otherwise all-straight cast, or worse, has their otherness fetishized. It is admirable to want to include more than your own personal experiences and to acknowledge the existence of people different from yourself (after all, that is what fiction is all about!), but it is the responsibility of a conscientious writer to consider the consequences of their words and how they may be interpreted, internalized, and turned into real-life values in the minds of others.

Your words have impact. Your portrayal of a queer character could be someone’s first exposure to the LGBTQIA+ community and shape their interactions with queer people they meet—for better or worse.

Just as you would research anything you write about in your fiction—which flowers grow best in deserts, or which explosives might be available to a young thief on a mission in the 1700s—please, take at least that much time to research the cultures and struggles of the people you’re bringing to life on the page.

To clarify: we aren’t asking for #OwnVoices writers to self-identify. We are, however, asking writers to take care and to take seriously their responsibility to the real-life individuals, issues, and communities they write about. 

Consider participating in writing communities with active LGBTQIA+ members who might be willing to read your work and share their perspectives. We recently added a “sensitivityhelp” channel to our own Discord server, and have created a way for sensitivity readers to identify themselves with badges. 

If you are the kind of writer who scoffs at the idea of sensitivity readers or content/trigger warnings, you’re exactly who we’re addressing here. Stop taking offense and start listening. Being inclusive can be hard. It takes real work, and none of it is easy. If you don’t want to do the work, ask yourself if you’re really doing anyone (including yourself) any favors by writing about people and issues you’re intentionally ignorant about.

TL;DR: We ask writers who submit works featuring LGBTQIA+ characters to use sensitivity readers to ensure they are not misrepresenting or doing harm to a marginalized population. We’re here to help you improve your writing and get published—this is one small step that goes a long way toward helping all of us achieve those goals.

We love to see diversity and inclusivity in fiction, but it can be difficult to write about people unlike yourself. If you’d like to learn more, we have created an extensive resource you can see here. However, if you only have time to check one, please visit (and bookmark) Writing the Other.

How to Collaborate with Editors

A great editor can accelerate your growth as a writer if you’re open to collaboration and receptive to constructive critique. In this article, we’ll share five tips for collaborating with editors so you can maximize the value and education you receive from the production process.

1.) Consider your final draft your first real draft.

Even the most polished final drafts often need a fair amount of editorial work. Take the story as far as you can, but consider that work the first leg of a much longer relay race. When you hand off the document to your editor, they begin the second leg.

2.) Acknowledge your deficits.

Editors do not expect writers to have a deep understanding of grammar, punctuation, mechanics, or style. We study that stuff so you don’t have to! Draw on your editor’s experience and education. Let them know in advance which skills you’d like help with, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

3.) See your editor as a valuable partner, not an adversary.

As editors, we want nothing more than to help you produce a publishable, memorable story. Like you, we take pride in our work and strive to ensure the result of our collaboration will be something you’re extremely proud of. We’re here to support you and help you succeed. If you aren’t happy with a suggested change, work with your editor to reach a compromise.

4.) Communicate often and honestly.

Editors understand that writing can be an intensely personal endeavor. We know that our feedback and suggested changes can feel like an insult—or worse, an assault—on your art. If you are feeling uncomfortable or upset at any point in the process, speak up! Editors do not set out to upset paying clients, nor do they want writers bottling their frustrations.

Don’t be afraid to ask your editor to explain their reasoning behind their editorial decisions and suggestions. (We cannot speak for others, but we love geeking out about words, grammar, punctuation, style, structure, and all things writing-related. Give us an excuse to geek out with you and put your mind at ease. We’ll jump at the opportunity.)

5.) Embrace the markup.

Consider markup a sign that your editor has been thorough. After all, our job is to give you the information and feedback you need to do your job more efficiently and to make your work more profitable. The editor on the other side of the document is likely hoping you’ll appreciate their effort. Neglecting to mention observations and failing to suggest corrections is an abdication of our duties.

We hope you found these tips helpful! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. To retain our services, please fill in a consultation form on our contact page. You can also reach us via email at contact@quasarediting.com.

How to Review Tracked Edits in MS Word

NOTE: There’s more than one way to review edits. We’ve provided our recommendations here because this system works for us and the vast majority of writers we serve, but we encourage you to experiment with different methods until you determine which best suits your preferences.

First, duplicate the file. Leave a copy of the edited manuscript untouched, in case you want to revisit it. Be sure to label the file appropriately (ex. Manuscript_Title_EDITS). We send two copies of the same file already labeled (with Read-Only permissions on the backup copy), so you can skip this step if you hired us.

Open the file, then navigate to the “Review” tab. Here, you’ll find all the tools you need to review the document. You’ll be using the “Tracking” and “Changes” features.

My Review Ribbon, minus the clutter.

Optional: We recommend removing unnecessary tools from the Review tab ribbon before you begin. For instance, if you don’t need or use the “Accessibility,” “Speech,” or “Language” features, you can hide them. Right-click anywhere in the ribbon, then select “Customize the Ribbon.” A menu will appear. On the left side, you’ll see the items that aren’t on the ribbon, and on the right, you’ll see the items that are. To remove items, select them in the list on the right side, then click the “Remove” button found between the lists. If you want to add them in the future, you can do so by selecting them from the left list and clicking the “Add” button.

Read the document with No Markup by selecting “No Markup” from the top dropdown menu found to the right of the Track Changes icon. This is the “Display for Review” dropdown, which allows you to choose how you’d like to see changes in the document. There are four options.

“Simple Markup” displays the document with the editor’s changes incorporated. You’ll see a discreet red line running vertically along the left side of the page to indicate where changes were made, but you won’t see the changes.

A clean draft, aside from the vertical red line on the left side.

“All Markup” displays every single one of the editor’s tracked changes.

All changes are visible. Yikes. What a mess.

“Original” displays your original document. No edits or indicators will be visible.

The original text, no visible edits or indicators.

“No Markup” displays an entirely clean version of the edited document, with the editor’s changes incorporated. No indicators will be visible.

A clean draft with the edits incorporated and no visible indicators.

For some writers, markup indicators can be distracting and create unnecessary anxiety, so we recommend reading the clean draft first.

If the editor left any queries, suggestions, notes, or feedback for you, comments will appear to the right of the document. Read the comments as you reach them. You can delete a comment after you resolve it by right-clicking the comment and selecting “Delete Comment.”

If you’re happy with the document when you’re done reading and resolving comments, accept the edits by hitting Ctrl + A to select all of the text, then click the “Accept” icon on the ribbon (the icon of a document with a green checkmark).

Congrats! You’re done. There’s no need for you to individually review each pixel of red text hidden in the “All Markup” view if you’re satisfied with the clean draft of the story. If you’d like to analyze the changes to learn how you might avoid making certain errors in the future, open up the untouched backup when you’re feeling focused and motivated.

If you’d rather review each edit individually, select “All Markup” from the dropdown. Brace yourself, and don’t get discouraged or distracted by an abundance of red text.

Place your cursor on the first edit. If you accept the changes, click the “Accept” button. If you’d prefer not to accept the proposed change, do not reject it. Instead, highlight the proposed change and explain why you object to it in a comment.

Please note: by default, Word will automatically scroll to the next tracked edit. You can prevent it from doing that by opening the dropdown under “Accept” or “Reject” and selecting the second option (“Accept This Change” or “Reject This Change”). This will complete the desired operation without scrolling to the next tracked edit.

Continue this process until you reach the end of the document.

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments! We hope you found this brief overview informative. Should you require editing or translation services, please don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation.

Review: A ReMarkable Paper Alternative

ReMarkable did not solicit this review. They don’t even know I exist. I am a daily user, and I love this product, so I recommend it to other writers and editors often. The reMarkable 2 has revolutionized how I write, edit, and plan. Here, you’ll learn what the reMarkable 2 is and how it has completely changed my daily life.

-Tina

Product Overview

The reMarkable is a lightweight paper alternative. Essentially, it’s a pressure-sensitive e-ink display with a variety of built-in templates you can use to create “notebooks.” Your work syncs wirelessly to the reMarkable application (which is available for desktop and mobile devices). Notebooks and documents can be organized into folders.

The battery life on the reMarkable is pretty insane. I can go an entire week without recharging, and I use it several times a day, sometimes for long stretches at a time. For more detailed information, you can find a link to their specs page at the end of this article.

Daily UsePlanning

I have five children, and I home educate the three oldest. I need a planning system. The reMarkable 2 comes with an undated weekly planner template that has replaced my huge, three-pound MAMBI tome.

The reMarkable template—a weekly dashboard—is the same layout I used in my MAMBI planner, but if you prefer a different kind of layout, you can create it yourself using one of the bullet journal templates provided. You can choose from the various sized grid and dot layouts. There are even half-page layouts, where the top or bottom half contain grids, lines, or dots, and the other half is blank.

Writing

I prefer handwriting to typing, so I journal and write every day on my reMarkable 2. You can choose from several different pens, pencils, brushes, and markers, all of which are pressure-sensitive and available in different thicknesses. Switching between them on the interface is simple.

Writing with the reMarkable pen itself feels almost exactly like writing on paper. The display has a subtle, paper-like texture, so writing on it isn’t anything like writing with a stylus on Gorilla Glass. You’ll feel the resistance and hear the scratching sound that occurs when you write on paper, too!

I also enjoy practicing calligraphy, so I absolutely love the fact that reMarkable provides calligraphy worksheet templates.

Editing

The first step in my editing process is to read a piece in its entirety—in my bed, under a soft blanket. Before purchasing the reMarkable 2, I had to print each document, which wasted a ton of paper. Plus, all those pages were a pain to manage. Now, I transfer the PDF to my reMarkable, do my first read—highlighting passages, scribbling queries in the margins—and once finished, I can email the file to the client straight from the device. Amazing.

Reading

Confession: I play journaling RPGs, all of which I download in PDF format from itch.io. The reMarkable 2 allows me to put the game rules into the same folder as the notebook I’m playing in, which makes switching back and forth between them so easy. I love not having to shuffle through printed copies or burn through notebooks!

Do I recommend the reMarkable 2?

Yes. A thousand times yes. Why are you even still here? Go buy one!

If you’d like to know more about the reMarkable 2, you can check out the specifications here or drop a question in the comments. After nearly six months of daily use, I cannot say enough good things about this device and consider it a worthwhile investment for writers, editors, journalers, pen and paper gamers, and devoted planners.