Top Five Stupid Author Mistakes: #5
Since self-effacing humour is the best medicine for stupidity, over the next five weeks, I'm going to share the dumbest mistakes I made pre- and post-publication of Simon Says.
#5: Writing the whole first draft and then talking with my editor
I love my editor. Why does she put up with me? I wrote all of Simon Says and then sent it to her, "Ta-da! What do you think?"
It had potential... if half of it was cut and the other half was rewritten. She was right and so we did. I then turned around and made exactly the same mistake with Skully. For some miraculous reason, she's still working with me. Skully promises to be an exciting addition to the Perdition Games series.
The issue with writing the entire draft without the guidance of an editor is that you love your darlings and the neat-o things they're doing. It all makes perfect sense to you. You’ve researched and made-up brilliant storylines that are expertly woven through your plot. Right?
Wrong, you’ve meandered down the avenue of didactic writing with cut-out characters and confusing POVs. You could have saved yourself a lot of pain and misery had you sent your premise, character sketches and outline to your editor first. A professional and objective evaluation of your ideas will save you months of rewriting.
Do I always do as I'm told? Nope, I can be a wee bit stubborn, often to my detriment. If you aren't keen on a part of Simon Says, it's because I didn't take the advice of my editor. The parts you love are because I did.
Next week - #4: Procrastinating about the author website!
#5: Writing the whole first draft and then talking with my editor
I love my editor. Why does she put up with me? I wrote all of Simon Says and then sent it to her, "Ta-da! What do you think?"
It had potential... if half of it was cut and the other half was rewritten. She was right and so we did. I then turned around and made exactly the same mistake with Skully. For some miraculous reason, she's still working with me. Skully promises to be an exciting addition to the Perdition Games series.
The issue with writing the entire draft without the guidance of an editor is that you love your darlings and the neat-o things they're doing. It all makes perfect sense to you. You’ve researched and made-up brilliant storylines that are expertly woven through your plot. Right?
Wrong, you’ve meandered down the avenue of didactic writing with cut-out characters and confusing POVs. You could have saved yourself a lot of pain and misery had you sent your premise, character sketches and outline to your editor first. A professional and objective evaluation of your ideas will save you months of rewriting.
Do I always do as I'm told? Nope, I can be a wee bit stubborn, often to my detriment. If you aren't keen on a part of Simon Says, it's because I didn't take the advice of my editor. The parts you love are because I did.
Next week - #4: Procrastinating about the author website!
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