This post is part of 'WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS', a series of writings about Prunella (Ella) Smith, author, editor & reviewer, and the many worlds she inhabits: her physical reality; her online world where disgruntled author Dita stalks; the worlds of the books she edits; her dream world, and the world beneath the veil of her ordinary reality. Click here for the previous offerings in reverse order, or here for links to them in order. The Publisher's Brush-off Downward Dog is a strange name for an arrangement of the body. Bum up, head down, arms and legs straight. Imagine someone lifting up your hips ….Ssttrreeeettcchh. Ahhhh. It feels goood. I bring myself upright, stretch my spine up and arch backwards. Three times and I’m done. Pain is a great discipliner. If I don’t do my daily exercises, my back soon reminds me. So I do what the physio told me to, I strengthen my core muscles in a regime I attend to more religiously than my meditation. I walk from my studio—polished … [Read more...]
Watch out for over-editing.
I've read a couple of books that I thought were over-edited. One had the feel of something the publisher might have asked for 10,000 words cut out of to suit the usual less than 100,000 words. It had big gaps in the plot & character growth as if chunks of the story had been taken out. Another one had the blandness of something worked over with every rule in the book in mind. There was nothing 'wrong' with the writing if you looked at it technically, but it had no pizzazz. I remember feeling that perhaps it lost its individuality in the push for perfection. In our efforts to make our writing the best it can be, we run the risk of losing the rawness or freshness of our original vision. After years of working on something, it's easy to lose that spark under a pile of prunings. I know, because I think that's what's happened with Lethal Inheritance. To fill you in. I got an agent for my YA fantasy novel Lethal Inheritance back in 2010. She asked for some changes and the removal of … [Read more...]
The best beta readers are the most critical.
When you ask someone to read your work, I suggest that you take the attitude that their criticisms will help you to make your book better. You should look forward to their criticism and understand that the harsher they seem, the better your book will be when you have fixed the problems. It’s better to have the criticism before it’s published than afterwards when it’s too late to fix it. This is why the best beta readers are the most critical and I always tell mine to be very critical and not to feel that they will hurt my feelings. Here are my suggestions for the kind of things you can ask them to look at. If you lose interest, please stop reading & I’ll send you a revised edition later. Tell me where I lost you. In general, does the story/plot work? Is there anywhere where it wanders or seems unclear or irrelevant? Is the beginning engaging? Does it make you want to read on? If not, why? Do you have any suggestions for improvement? Were any of the sections too slow? Were you … [Read more...]
Wanna read a positive rejection – sob, sigh!
My agent just got the following response from Allen & Unwin I read the sample chapter over lunch. It's clear that Tahlia has a good handle on action and pace, and I'm tempted to ask for the whole manuscript. But as we've got a number of similar titles in the pipeline, I think it's best at this stage for me to decline, as I don't feel confident, in such a crowded fantasy market, that we could successfully publish this novel in addition to the others. I'm sorry! I'm sure you will find a good home for it and wish you and Tahlia well. That's the nicest rejection I've ever had. What do you think? … [Read more...]
On dealing positively with feedback
I discussed some of the issues my writer friend, Laurie, raised about my manuscript in my last post. Here’s the process I used to work with and apply the rest of his feedback. I hope that sharing this will help others to work positively with any feedback they get. Oh and by the way, I didn’t have that nervous little heart flutter before I looked at Laurie’s feedback. Does that mean that ego has finally taken a back seat to the quest for excellence? Laurie said… ‘Its a really good yarn ... I got quite caught up in it. It’s inventive and new! The plot is great – always something new and exciting. The work you have done to embody meditation principles is brilliant. The characters are generally good ... and interesting. ‘I found myself very comfortable with the way Walnut explains things but had a little more difficulty with Maya’s voice. At times she becomes something of a caricature of an old wise woman. I would run against stereotype here and make her … [Read more...]
Evaluating feedback & balancing the romantic element
Both my critique reader/writers have sent back their feedback, but like all feedback it requires evaluation before acting on it. We need to evaluate it objectively, in terms of what is best for our book, and that means loosening our attachment to our work as it stands. This process of evaluation has shown me that a writer’s perception of what they’ve written may not be the same as what they actually have written, and the only way you’ll learn that is through someone else’s eyes. Here’s a couple of examples. The issues are things that any YA author with a romantic element in their work could check in their ms. Among other things, Laurie said… ‘The one thing I’m having difficulty with is the Nick-Ariel relationship ... I think its overwritten ... the prose sometimes borders on Mills and Boon ... And the many repetitions of their eyes meeting for a moment and then the energy that passes between them that wore me down. Maybe it just ignites too soon and goes on too long. Partly … [Read more...]
What REALLY helps writers? Truth?
There is clearly a lot of support for writers within the writing community on the web, but if all we give each other is support, without real help, then not only are we not helping, we could also be hindering them as well. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be encouraging and supportive, no, no, no. These things are the very basis of our helping each other. What I’m saying is that support isn’t enough and that without real feedback on our work it could lead a writer to think that they are ready to publish when they’re not. I have been to blogsites where a writer has something up for you to look at. I read it and find flaws, but I don’t feel I can say so because all the other comments are glowing. I want to support the writer. I can see some good ideas there, but… in its present state it needs work, so I don’t comment. I don’t bookmark the site either. I’m guilty of not really helping. But if I was honest, how would it be read by others? If I was the only one to point out the spelling … [Read more...]
Rejection isn’t rare, but feedback with it is.
One of the things that annoy some writers is that rejections don’t come with any feedback on the story or novel being submitted. The reason given is that agents, editors (in the case of magazines) and publishers just don’t have time. I understand that completely, because to give responsible feedback takes a lot of thought as well as the time to write it properly. So when feedback does come, it’s greatly appreciated and very heart warming. It shows that someone has taken the time to nurture your writing. It’s only happened to me once, in this recent response from Aurealis Magazine (an Australian and New Zealand Sci fi/fantasy magazine). On the 4th May, I submitted a 6000 word story called ‘Butterfly’. The first 500 words of it are at the end of this post. (I won’t put it all up yet, because I’m still hoping to find a Magazine to publish it.) In italics below is the email I received from the editor. My comments are in ordinary type. 'Dear Tahlia, Thank you for submitting your story … [Read more...]
