Round Robin Blog Fest May 2020

We have a new logo!! Thanks to Connie Vines for her hard work.

Wow, it's been a long couple of months BUT at least I had more time to be part of this blog tour than if I'd been busy at my work office full time instead of working from home! One great thing about all the changes and upheavals we've all faced, it that the arts and entertainment sector is getting a real boost as far as keeping us all occupied. I've even been able to publish a new book in the midst of things. Release date is June 1st for Drop Dead Cowboy!


Today's question to the authors is:  All books go through multiple edits. What have you learned are your problems, and what irks you about editing?

I've learned I am passive, repetitive, and wordy. LOL!

Okay, that was the short answer. In truth, like all writers I've come a long way from using mistakes like having hands reaching for objects instead of the character reaching for things. My characters don't roll their eyes in every third paragraph anymore. I've also cut back on my usage of "that" and about a zillion "-ly" words. Yup, those were bad habits. So was my severe overuse of exclamation marks!!!

That's not to say I never use any of those things. When I'm writing in the heat of the moment, all bets are off. Then I put the book aside for a while and when I dig into edits....



Lots of red ink!!

Sometimes those chicken scratches help to clean up the manuscript and tighten up the story.

Sometimes I write copious new sentences only to cross them all out later.

Always editing!





One of the things that helped to shape my writing style, is reading Robert B. Parker. He uses concise language, as well as leaving most of the finicky details to the reader's imagination while weaving a great story.

Repetition is another nemesis. I tend to repeat phrases or words several times on the same page. Sometimes even in the same paragraph. While writing the draft, I tend to write first and think about the grammar later, trying not to edit as I go. Word program usually catches spelling typos, but not always, especially if they're real words or the right word but wrong spelling.

Making sure names and titles are consistent through the entire manuscript is another thing that can cause issues. I've been editing my novel and discovered at one point Jack was called Jake. Hm, forgot to change that a couple times. That's when the Replace features come in handy. I did kick myself though considering this was a second edit. Oh well!

One of the best memories of when I first started writing was of my editor at the time who used to nag me about my use of exclamation marks. Where a single exclamation mark used sparingly in a novel has much more impact and looks far more professional, my first novel was riddled with them. To the point my editor would send me emails that looked like this:

Please!! Stop using so many exclamation marks!!!!! I am sending this back!! Fix it!! I don't want to see another exclamation mark in this or any other copy!!!

I got the hint. I can't even write an email without hearing her voice in the back of my head.

I can't wait to see what editing issues our other authors have dealt with!

And now off to see what my fellow bloggers have to say about humor in their writing...

Skye Taylor Beverley Bateman 
Dr. Bob Rich 
Connie Vines 
Anne Stenhouse  
Margaret Fieland 
A.J. Maguire  
Victoria Chatham 
Judith Copek 
Rhobin L Courtright