Jackson Pearce's Blog, page 19

MATH

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Snow! REAL SNOW!

And last Thursday's video, which I forgot to embed! Remember– if you subscribe to me on YouTube, you'll get a handy little email telling you when I upload new videos instead of banking on me remembering to post them. Cause sometimes I don't because I'm both forgetful and a little lazy, every now and then…

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Santa!

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It's P4A time!

Tails from the Hart's main page:

http://www.tailsfromthehart.com/

Donate money and/or goods:

http://www.tailsfromthehart.com/help-out/donate

How to become a wildlife rehabber:

http://www.tailsfromthehart.com/help-out/become-a-rehabilitator

Baby raccoons NEED YOU.

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Have an good childhood

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In case of Zombies, STEAL AN AIRSTREAM

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Getting editorial feedback

I get a lot of process questions, and I'm always hesitant to answer them because what works for one writer won't necessarily work for another. But since I'm procrastinating in the middle of revising PURITY, I thought this would be as good a time as any to explain how I approach getting editorial feedback.

Again though– this is just what works for me!

Step One:

I read through the revision letter from my agent/critique partner/editor. Then I walk away for a little bit. A day or two, a week maybe, but I don't make any changes right away.

Step Two:

I print out the revision letter. Then I go through and black out anything that isn't directly related to the revision. I usually kill the intro paragraph, the "we know you can do this!" paragraph, the "here are some brainstormed ideas!" section, that kind of thing. I leave the "we loved this part" stuff and anything suggesting a change. And when I say "I black out stuff" I mean I actually physically black it out. See?

This way, I can clearly look at what the editor/critique partner/agent is asking me to do, without all the other stuff cluttering it up.

Step Three:

I then summarize the non-blacked out sections into one sentence, bite-sized instructions. To do this, I usually create three categories: Add, Explore, and Remove. Under the appropriate category I write stuff the reader wants me to add– things like more scenes. Then the stuff the reader wants me to explore/expand– concepts that need more clarification, but not necessarily more scenes. And finally, things that the reader wants removed.



Now that my multi-page scary editorial letter is summed up into 10-12 sentences, I move on to…



Step Four:

I take one of those sentences and skim the entire book, flagging each part where I think I could add/expand/remove as requested. I won't necessarily add/expand/remove at ALL of those flags, the flags just give me an idea of where it could happen. I usually use a different colored flag/Post-it for each major change (for example, in this case the green flags are scenes where I can expand the father character, and the pink flags are scenes where I can expand the mother character).





Step Five:

Sometimes I go through a hard copy of the book and make notes, other times I move straight to the computer to make the changes! How long does it take to finish? There is no average. SISTERS RED was quick to revise. SWEETLY took a zillion years. PURITY is going rather quickly and the damn historical novel is going to take two zillion years. In the immortal words of roadtripping-fathers everywhere: You'll get there when you get there.

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The Worst Writing Purchases I've Made

On Tuesday I posted about the Best Writing Purchases I've ever made– today I'm posting about the worst! I tried to limit this only to purchases I have personal experience with; there are way more bad purchases out there, I'd wager. But with that in mind…

Worst Writing Purchases I've Made:

-Fancy paper. When I was querying agents, I bought the fancy linen paper to send my queries in on. Naturally, I couldn't send in linen paper and then regular envelopes. But the linen envelopes only came in a pack of 500. So…I bought 500 linen envelopes. I probably spent around $100 on the whole shebang. In the end, my agent never even saw the fancy paper– she accepted me via an e-query. And yes, I still have linen envelopes left. I'm down to about 100 I think…

-Publishing industry books. There are a few craft books out there I like– Bird by Bird and On Writing, to be specific. But the rest? I'll pass, thanks. I spent close to $200 on books about how to get published, how to write a pitch, how to approach an agent, who to query…and they were pointless. Some because they contained flatly bad advice ("Don't write fantasy until you've mastered contemporary" and "Don't try to write until you're at least 30″ "Call the agency and see if the agent you're after is open to a phone conversation"), other because they were out of date– keep in mind that it takes about two years for a book to make it to the shelf. In an industry where sales trends can come and go in a month, using two year old information isn't wise.

-All the Post-Its money can buy. Look, the materials don't make the writer. I don't want to think about how much I spent on pens and Post-Its and paperclips when the Post-Its from the back of my desk drawer would have worked just fine. Yeah, you need office supplies– but don't convince yourself that you just CAN'T work without seventeen trips to Staples.

-Online clubs/groups. I say this very, very carefully– some online groups are worth their weight in gold. But there are a lot of upstarts recently that seem to charge quite a bit for very little. Make sure you're getting out of a group what you're paying in.

The thing I've learned in the past few years is really, it is all about the writing. It's not about the stuff or the tours or the website. Those things are great, really– and they're important, and worth the money if you have it to spare. But the backbone of your career isn't your website or your fancy paper, it's your writing.

Anyone else made some bad writing purchases? Leave them in the comments!

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Fairytales

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The Best Writing Purchases I've Made

I know writing seems like a cheap endeavor– after all, you basically just need paper and pencil and/or a computer. But then every year when I'm doing my taxes, I'm AMAZED at the amount of money writing costs. And then I'm AMAZED at the amount I have to pay the government. But that's a story for another day.

All that got me thinking back to when I first starting writing, and the various things I bought to "get ahead." Some turned out to be excellent purchases, some, not so much. Today I'm going to list my best purchases, and on Friday I'll list my worst.

Best Writing Purchases I've Made (in quasi-order):

-A laser printer. I didn't do a whole video on this for nothing. I bought a laser printer off Craigslist from a guy that met me in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel. I've had two or three since I started since printing out manuscripts is hell on a printer, and each one has been worth it's weight in gold. For starters– super fast printing. PLUS clear and easy-to-read letters.

-A subscription to Publisher's Marketplace. There's no better place to stay on top of what's selling, to whom, and by which agent. If you want to be on the business side of writing, this is information you need to be on top of.

-Scrivener. Until recently I always used Word– Carrie Ryan showed me Scrivener though, and I decided to give it a go. Now I love it. It's perfect for organizing your revision, ideas, and research. Everything can be color coded and labeled and it makes finding scenes easy. I've heard the PC version has some problems (it's new), but the Mac version is PERFECT, if you ask me.

-A split keyboard. Yes, it takes a day or two to learn how to type on one. But it's totally worth it for the ergonomic factor.

-A Mac Air. I wanted a travel laptop, not a computer replacement laptop. I bought an iMac, and liked it so much that a month later I bought a Mac Air. Mac vs. PC aside, the weight and slim profile make it an excellent choice.

-Luggage. In the past two years I've done a lot of traveling– I'm glad I spent the money on nice luggage. With spinner wheels. Always get the spinner wheels.

-A condo with a separate office space. Ok, so I don't know if this counts as a "writing purchase," BUT I became a faster, more efficient and less stressed writer when I got the computer out of my bedroom and away from the television. The bedroom is for sleeping. The couch and television are for relaxing. And the desk/office is for writing.

Keep in mind, of course, that none of these potential purchases are going to do the writing for you. The actual words-on-paper part is your job. Still, if you're going to spend money on writing, these are my suggestions. Check back Friday for Part Two– Worst Writing Purchases!

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