Editing and a random list...for fun! :D
Note: I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because time spent proofreading could be time spent writing.
Going through edits can be brutal sometimes. I’m looking over Nina/Girl and that was written before I finally found my style as a writer. I’m reading and looking through the edits and part of me just wants to hide under the covers and groan with embarrassment. This was definitely a novel that never should’ve gotten published without proper editing. LOL It’s crazy. There’s even a part where my characters start talking and my editor posted a comment asking ‘Where is this conversation taking place?’
In the air? I guess. Because I have no idea.
LOL
And trust me, even now that I ‘know better’ this stuff still happens to me sometimes. Why? Because it’s all happening inside my head and I can see it clear as day when I close my eyes. And I’m just there. I can see the chair their sitting on, I know the texture of the fabric, the color, the temperature in the room...everything. But it’s hard to know exactly what to write because I’m a pantser. I just go with the flow and write everything as soon as it comes to me. That’s a good thing when it comes to getting things on paper. Not so good when you want things to actually make sense, you know what I mean?
Just for fun here’s a clip from my favorite ‘Liz’. Because this is how I feel when my editor asks me to add more to my story.
Another thing that does affect my writing and my style is language. Yes, I’ve lived in the U.S. for fourteen years but there are still moments where my sentences get a little jumbled.
So here is a pros and cons list I made:
Pros
1. Creativity/Imagination. I always, ALWAYS have an idea for a story.
2. Inspiration. Anything can trigger an idea for a novel.
3. I can write anywhere on anything.
4. Determination (aka being a persistent pain in the ass). I’ll finish my story even if it sucks. Even if it doesn’t make any sense to me as I’m writing it, I’m going to do my best to finish it. It’ll take a while…but it’ll get done. Why? Because I’m as stubborn as a mule…that’s why.
5. I write fast. I’m in a rush to get it all out of my head before I forget it.
6. Even if I set aside a story it’s easy for me to pick up right where I left off as if it had been a few days since I last worked on it. And not, months or years.
7. Research. I am good about reading books about topics I’m not familiar with and putting that information in my books. I’m now reading books on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully I’ll never ever have to put any of that info into practice.
Cons
1. Grammar rules. I get my past and present tense mixed up sometimes. Which is why I hire a freelance editor before I submit my work anywhere. Because I know this is a problem for me sometimes.
2. Language. Sometimes I think up sentences in Spanish and they don’t always translate well…meaning I’ll sometimes have a hot mess of a sentence where I’ll get comments from my editor asking me ‘WTF?’ But I did spend the first 17 years of my life on a tropical island where everything was in Spanish. For me it’s adjetivo, pronombre, adverbio, etc.
The red pencil. in Spanish is El lapiz rojo. <-- adjective goes in the end in a Spanish sentence sometimes. Weird!
See? Still learning! Which I love. I love learning about writing. I spend so much time in the B & N reference section and I love buying books on grammar rules and the best way to write a sentence. I hope I never EVER EVER stop learning.
3. Poetry. Sometimes it’s good to mix in a little poetry into your work but in my case this makes for short fragmented sentences. Which is my style as a writer but some people just don’t like it.
4. School (lack of it). I did go to community college when I first came to the US. I even took a technical writing class…but I was asked to drop out of it because I was doing so poorly. I didn’t even know how to use the tab key. Seriously. I wish I were joking.
5. I write fast. Which can be good when you’re doing NANOWRIMO and need to add word count, but not so good when you want your story to…you know…make sense and other fun stuff like that.
Going through edits can be brutal sometimes. I’m looking over Nina/Girl and that was written before I finally found my style as a writer. I’m reading and looking through the edits and part of me just wants to hide under the covers and groan with embarrassment. This was definitely a novel that never should’ve gotten published without proper editing. LOL It’s crazy. There’s even a part where my characters start talking and my editor posted a comment asking ‘Where is this conversation taking place?’
In the air? I guess. Because I have no idea.
LOL
And trust me, even now that I ‘know better’ this stuff still happens to me sometimes. Why? Because it’s all happening inside my head and I can see it clear as day when I close my eyes. And I’m just there. I can see the chair their sitting on, I know the texture of the fabric, the color, the temperature in the room...everything. But it’s hard to know exactly what to write because I’m a pantser. I just go with the flow and write everything as soon as it comes to me. That’s a good thing when it comes to getting things on paper. Not so good when you want things to actually make sense, you know what I mean?
Just for fun here’s a clip from my favorite ‘Liz’. Because this is how I feel when my editor asks me to add more to my story.
Another thing that does affect my writing and my style is language. Yes, I’ve lived in the U.S. for fourteen years but there are still moments where my sentences get a little jumbled.
So here is a pros and cons list I made:
Pros
1. Creativity/Imagination. I always, ALWAYS have an idea for a story.
2. Inspiration. Anything can trigger an idea for a novel.
3. I can write anywhere on anything.
4. Determination (aka being a persistent pain in the ass). I’ll finish my story even if it sucks. Even if it doesn’t make any sense to me as I’m writing it, I’m going to do my best to finish it. It’ll take a while…but it’ll get done. Why? Because I’m as stubborn as a mule…that’s why.
5. I write fast. I’m in a rush to get it all out of my head before I forget it.
6. Even if I set aside a story it’s easy for me to pick up right where I left off as if it had been a few days since I last worked on it. And not, months or years.
7. Research. I am good about reading books about topics I’m not familiar with and putting that information in my books. I’m now reading books on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully I’ll never ever have to put any of that info into practice.
Cons
1. Grammar rules. I get my past and present tense mixed up sometimes. Which is why I hire a freelance editor before I submit my work anywhere. Because I know this is a problem for me sometimes.
2. Language. Sometimes I think up sentences in Spanish and they don’t always translate well…meaning I’ll sometimes have a hot mess of a sentence where I’ll get comments from my editor asking me ‘WTF?’ But I did spend the first 17 years of my life on a tropical island where everything was in Spanish. For me it’s adjetivo, pronombre, adverbio, etc.
The red pencil. in Spanish is El lapiz rojo. <-- adjective goes in the end in a Spanish sentence sometimes. Weird!
See? Still learning! Which I love. I love learning about writing. I spend so much time in the B & N reference section and I love buying books on grammar rules and the best way to write a sentence. I hope I never EVER EVER stop learning.
3. Poetry. Sometimes it’s good to mix in a little poetry into your work but in my case this makes for short fragmented sentences. Which is my style as a writer but some people just don’t like it.
4. School (lack of it). I did go to community college when I first came to the US. I even took a technical writing class…but I was asked to drop out of it because I was doing so poorly. I didn’t even know how to use the tab key. Seriously. I wish I were joking.
5. I write fast. Which can be good when you’re doing NANOWRIMO and need to add word count, but not so good when you want your story to…you know…make sense and other fun stuff like that.
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