Welcome to "THE SLEEPING ONE" Blog Tour! @KarlJMorgan #4WillsPub #RRBC
Get an Editor!
I have used three editors over the years. When one retired, I even went for a time without one. Yikes! What a mistake!
You might wonder if the editor is your best friend or worst enemy. The answer is yes. I have been writing my whole life. Most of the time, I have been writing management reports for corporate higher-ups. When you write a few page report or even a fifty-page business analysis, the amount of text to be edited is small. Fifty may seem like a lot of pages, but the words are always spaced out by graphs, tables, and analytics.
Writing a book is a totally different animal. I write fiction, primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Recently, my books are in the 75,000 to 90,000-word range. I don���t set the length. The stories and characters do that for me. That is a lot of words. To make matters worse, I am a pantser, which means I write by the seat of my pants. No outlines. No storyboard. The only thing I do is a lot of rereading. Still, it is not easy to recall all the details as you go back through so many words.
Rereading has its own issues. The main problem is that you wrote the story. You know what is going to happen next. When you reread, your mind can be so wrapped up in the story that you pass over obvious mistakes. A non-writer friend passed along a good tidbit of advice. Read the story backward. Not word by word, but at least page by page. That helps to separate your brain from the plot. The book becomes a page with words on it. I always do that for the last read before I sent to my editor.
Your editor brings some awesome tools to the table. I have my own copy of the Chicago Manual of Style but do not ask if I have read or understood it. Your editor knows that stuff hands-down. Another great tool is they have never read your story. If you are lucky, you have friends or family members who will read your story and give their thoughts. If they are truly friends or family, the odds are rare that they will say something like, ���Dad, your story sucks!��� or ���Karl, do you even own a dictionary?���
Your editor is paid to tell you the truth. They may love or hate your story. It���s great if they like it, but more importantly, they will point out your mistakes. As it turns out, I make at least my share of them. Trust me, a good edit beats a lousy review like the comments above. I have had a few of those and it hurt a lot. When you realize you deserved it (well maybe not the nastiness), you get over it and learn. The other good part about an editor is they find the mistakes before your readers do.
Recently, I have seen quite a few comments online from authors stating that grammatical accuracy is not that relevant anymore. Most readers do not care if there are some mistakes. I fully accept that a handful of mistakes can get through my editor and me. We are all just people after all. When I read a book by other authors, I generally find a very small number of errors. I do believe that readers will accept that. They are not perfect either. It is important to offer the best quality product we have. In my opinion, editing is critical.
Now for an alternative view. A few years ago, I watched a commentator on television talk about reading a novel that was a bestseller. He noted that grammar and writing were terrible. Still, that book earned the author millions of dollars. The book and its sequels became movies, making the author even more millions. The book was in the erotica genre. That may have helped sales and lessened the critical nature of reviews. Or, it could mean those other authors are correct about the reduced focus on grammar by modern readers.
For me, it does not matter. I still believe my product should be the best I can make. Keep on writing!
Karl Morgan Bio
With a long career in finance and as an author of almost twenty books, I like to say that words and numbers are my life.
I have had a lifelong fascination with stories in the science fiction and fantasy genres, whether it was the Tom Swift novels by Victor Appleton I read as a young boy, or television like Lost in Space and Star Trek. More recently, I have devoured film series like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. That fascination is combined with a keen interest in cosmology, astrophysics, quantum physics, and spirituality.
That quirky combination along with the fantasy genre allows me to craft stories that reinforce the importance of family, friendship, and love. The protagonists must overcome incredible danger and challenges to survive their journeys, but eventually, end up on top. It goes without saying that as a finance guy, my life has been less action-packed than my characters (thank goodness).
With Carl Prescott and The Sleeping One, I ventured back to the comfortable territory. Many of my stories reinforce our direct connection to the Divine. While that is an element of this story, the sequels feature that relationship to a much greater extent. That element in my stories is an homage to what I believe really matters in this life.
I am the son of an Air Force pilot and as such, I have lived in many places, never for more than four years at a time. Thankfully, as an adult, I have lived in Chula Vista, CA for the past thirty-seven years. I met and married Aida, the love of my life, thirty years ago. Our grown children have made us grandparents four times over. It is a blessing to be around such wonderful parents and children.
My new goal in life is my stories. I hope you can follow me on this new adventure.
Karl Morgan Social Media and Contact Links:
Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L7HHNB3
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karlmorganauthor
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Karl-Morgan/e/B00A57RWPO
Website/Blog: http://www.karljmorgan.com
Twitter handle: @karljmorgan
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