I’m starting to get the hang of WordPress. #RoaUMP
Run time: 8:13
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Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
September 12, 2016
September 8, 2016
Making It Better: How I Edit
Not too long ago I was asked what my editing process is, and my first thought was that I had probably shared that at some time in the past on this blog. In the next instant I realized that whatever post from 3-7 years ago that might exist was likely obsolete. As I have worked through making podcasts of three novels, and incorporating what I have learned to improve my craft, I have developed a new process for editing my works.
Obviously the first step is writing the initial draft. After that I usually like to let it sit and "age" for a month or three before I start any edits. I do this to get my head out of the book a bit, and to reduce that tendency to think I remember all of the twists and plot points. For the third Ness Relevant book it had been over three years since I wrote it, as I had taken a break from writing to finish by college education. Needless to say the story was far from fresh in my mind.
Given the long hiatus I did something that I plan to adopt for all future edits: I read through the novel first. I didn't worry about misspellings or basic copywriting edits, I just let the story unfold. I did keep a sharp eye out for plot holes, insufficient motivations, and sections of story that either need work or were missing. I created a short to-do list of these items so they could be addressed later. I did this by exporting the book from Scrivener into an ebook and read it on my Kindle app, using the Notes feature to accumulate my to-do list. Once I was done I transferred that list to a document within the Scrivener project for the book.
In the past I would first do a "silent" edit, and then do another pass read aloud. I had added the spoken version because even after several editing passes on earlier works I would always find things to fix during audio recording. Typically these would be repeated words and awkward phrasings that just don't stand out until I hear them.
This time I decided it made the most sense to do the first pass aloud. So not only was I fixing the normal copy problems, but I was also fixing those things that the verbal reading highlighted. I also kept an eye towards the to-do list I accumulated from my initial read-through earlier. When I reached the correct point if I determined that the changes were relatively minor, I would handle it then. Once I reached the end of the story, then it was time to address the larger to-do items.
Then it was back to the beginning for another read-through, this time silent. The main point for this pass was to ensure that the story was flowing, that there were no major continuity issues, and that nothing important had been left out. For example, in the third Ness installment I determined at this point I needed to add a bit more diversity, so I switched the race of some characters. I also worked to "punch up" my descriptions in this pass. This might entail invoking the senses, varying and reducing my use of dialogue tags, or finding an interesting way to add an additional dimension to a scene through creative word choice.
At this point I felt I was "done" with it, which really just means it's ready for the real edits done my by wife, the Pianoeditor. Using her (virtual) red pen of doom she will catch anything I miss, which will be legion. Then I will incorporate her changes and notes into the final manuscript. After that will come another read-through to ensure it's ready to go. Then I can start working on distribution by ebook, and perhaps audio, depending on the title.
This was my first book edited in the novel writing software, Scrivener. It was useful in a number of ways. I kept my to-do list in a separate document in my project, and as I completed items I changed the font to do a strikeover. it was handy having all of that together in the same project. Any scenes that needed to be re-ordered or split off into their own chapters were easily moved, one of the main features of novel-writing software. The spell check was very helpful, and while it may not be as strong as Word's it worked very well. I do wish there was an integrated thesaurus as well, as I found the automatic link to Thesaurus.com to be limiting.
I am planning on applying the wife's edits out of the Word document back into Scrivener. Yes, this will be tedious, but I want Scrivener to be the central repository for the story. If this gets to be too unwieldy in the future I may have to re-assess, but for now that is my plan.
So that's my process going forward. See anything that doesn't make sense? Think I've missed a step? Have a different editing process of your own? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!
Obviously the first step is writing the initial draft. After that I usually like to let it sit and "age" for a month or three before I start any edits. I do this to get my head out of the book a bit, and to reduce that tendency to think I remember all of the twists and plot points. For the third Ness Relevant book it had been over three years since I wrote it, as I had taken a break from writing to finish by college education. Needless to say the story was far from fresh in my mind.
Given the long hiatus I did something that I plan to adopt for all future edits: I read through the novel first. I didn't worry about misspellings or basic copywriting edits, I just let the story unfold. I did keep a sharp eye out for plot holes, insufficient motivations, and sections of story that either need work or were missing. I created a short to-do list of these items so they could be addressed later. I did this by exporting the book from Scrivener into an ebook and read it on my Kindle app, using the Notes feature to accumulate my to-do list. Once I was done I transferred that list to a document within the Scrivener project for the book.
In the past I would first do a "silent" edit, and then do another pass read aloud. I had added the spoken version because even after several editing passes on earlier works I would always find things to fix during audio recording. Typically these would be repeated words and awkward phrasings that just don't stand out until I hear them.
This time I decided it made the most sense to do the first pass aloud. So not only was I fixing the normal copy problems, but I was also fixing those things that the verbal reading highlighted. I also kept an eye towards the to-do list I accumulated from my initial read-through earlier. When I reached the correct point if I determined that the changes were relatively minor, I would handle it then. Once I reached the end of the story, then it was time to address the larger to-do items.
Then it was back to the beginning for another read-through, this time silent. The main point for this pass was to ensure that the story was flowing, that there were no major continuity issues, and that nothing important had been left out. For example, in the third Ness installment I determined at this point I needed to add a bit more diversity, so I switched the race of some characters. I also worked to "punch up" my descriptions in this pass. This might entail invoking the senses, varying and reducing my use of dialogue tags, or finding an interesting way to add an additional dimension to a scene through creative word choice.
At this point I felt I was "done" with it, which really just means it's ready for the real edits done my by wife, the Pianoeditor. Using her (virtual) red pen of doom she will catch anything I miss, which will be legion. Then I will incorporate her changes and notes into the final manuscript. After that will come another read-through to ensure it's ready to go. Then I can start working on distribution by ebook, and perhaps audio, depending on the title.
This was my first book edited in the novel writing software, Scrivener. It was useful in a number of ways. I kept my to-do list in a separate document in my project, and as I completed items I changed the font to do a strikeover. it was handy having all of that together in the same project. Any scenes that needed to be re-ordered or split off into their own chapters were easily moved, one of the main features of novel-writing software. The spell check was very helpful, and while it may not be as strong as Word's it worked very well. I do wish there was an integrated thesaurus as well, as I found the automatic link to Thesaurus.com to be limiting.
I am planning on applying the wife's edits out of the Word document back into Scrivener. Yes, this will be tedious, but I want Scrivener to be the central repository for the story. If this gets to be too unwieldy in the future I may have to re-assess, but for now that is my plan.
So that's my process going forward. See anything that doesn't make sense? Think I've missed a step? Have a different editing process of your own? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!
March 1, 2016
Ramblings Episode 439: Ready to Upgrade
Some time spent updating the blog convinced me to take it up a notch. #RoaUMP
Run time: 13:07
Press Play on the player above or download the episode here by right clicking and selecting "Save target as..."
Run time: 13:07
Press Play on the player above or download the episode here by right clicking and selecting "Save target as..."
December 2, 2014
Ramblings Episode 71 – Questionable Sources
I talk about looking at the source of many inflammatory political posts on Facebook. #RoaUMP
Run time: 14:37
Press Play on the player above or download the episode here by right clicking and selecting "Save target as..."
Run time: 14:37
Press Play on the player above or download the episode here by right clicking and selecting "Save target as..."
March 7, 2011
A Mind-Blowing Thought...
I had a mind-blowing thought last week: why not use the Penslinger blog as... wait for it... a blog! I know, radical idea, right? Anyway I'm going to try to post here about once a week with my progress on Stolen Time, thoughts about writing, or whatever else tickles my fancy. I'll still be releasing occasional episodes of The Time Out! Podcast, but I hope to be more frequent with these posts.
Two other things happened last week and they are somewhat related: I finished my second read-through of Stolen Time, and I bought a Kindle. The relationship was that I was not allowing myself to buy my Kindle until I had the read-though done. I'm a carrot-on-a-stick kinda guy, and there is no bigger carrot for me than a new gadget! I will write more about the Kindle in a separate post, but suffice it to say that I love it!
So back to ST. I read through it in January without making any notes. This was just to remind myself of the story. After all, I hadn't been in that world since I finished writing it in November 2009. In February I went back through it doing some initial edits, and also made notes on rewrites and changes needed in order to make it chock full of awesome.
Alas, this week I won't be starting on incorporating those changes. I have something to write for the Podioracket Glimpses anthology, and I'm hoping to get that cranked out this week.
That's all for today, so until next time... be seeing you!
Two other things happened last week and they are somewhat related: I finished my second read-through of Stolen Time, and I bought a Kindle. The relationship was that I was not allowing myself to buy my Kindle until I had the read-though done. I'm a carrot-on-a-stick kinda guy, and there is no bigger carrot for me than a new gadget! I will write more about the Kindle in a separate post, but suffice it to say that I love it!
So back to ST. I read through it in January without making any notes. This was just to remind myself of the story. After all, I hadn't been in that world since I finished writing it in November 2009. In February I went back through it doing some initial edits, and also made notes on rewrites and changes needed in order to make it chock full of awesome.
Alas, this week I won't be starting on incorporating those changes. I have something to write for the Podioracket Glimpses anthology, and I'm hoping to get that cranked out this week.
That's all for today, so until next time... be seeing you!
February 23, 2010
Borrowed Time Blogged!
I recently received an e-mail from Felbrigg Herriot that he reviewed Borrowed Time on his Free Audio Review blog! As you can see below he enjoyed the story and recommends it to others:
Many thanks to Felbrigg for listening to my podiobook and for the awesome review.
Do you have a blog? Have you listened to Borrowed Time? Do you have an opinion about it? Then I encourage you to blog about the story so that others can learn of the exciting adventures of Ness Relevant. And be sure to let me know so that I can shower you in thanks!
The plot emerges through a series of exciting near-non-stop scenes where the protagonist is always on the run and flitting across time. It's a compelling listen and great fun. I really enjoyed it... Well worth downloading.Be sure to check out his other reviews to see what else out there in the podiosphere is worth a listen. And if his review led you to check out Borrowed Time, please leave him a comment and let him know.
Many thanks to Felbrigg for listening to my podiobook and for the awesome review.
Do you have a blog? Have you listened to Borrowed Time? Do you have an opinion about it? Then I encourage you to blog about the story so that others can learn of the exciting adventures of Ness Relevant. And be sure to let me know so that I can shower you in thanks!
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