Eet Ees Done

Well, folks, though I had my doubts about a week and a half ago that I'd be able to complete this task, I have the pleasure to report that it is done.

What did I learn from the experience? Well, I have a lot to learn about writing a novel. My biggest weakness: Keeping track of characters' names. I've got one character who changes names no fewer than three times in the 80,000 words of "Considering How to Run," and to me that seems a bit much.

So my plan for the future is this: Keep a running list of characters' names, basic characteristics and such on hand so I can refer to it as I refer back to my characters in further novels. I'm sure this is an elementary step in planning a novel, but I'm also certain it is something I had to learn on my own rather than reading it in a writers' checklist or other some such writers aid.

And when I say done -- if I can now revert to the first paragraph of this post -- I mean the editing is done. The re-write is yet to begin. But I've got a good road map, once I finish writing an outline of everything I need to do continuity-wise to make the book better. Thankfully, it's a shorter list than a longer list, but I've still got my work cut out for me.

I'm not scared of the work. I'm actually looking forward to it. So here's the next goal:

Novel re-written by March 31. That'll give me three months to get it done. I think that's as doable as getting the thing edited by the end of the calendar year.

I'll couple the re-write with two other major tasks:

• Researching agents so I can find a dozen at least to whom I can send the completed manuscript.
• Writing the next book.

The latter seems most essential.

Editing Continues Apace

One of my hopes for Christmas vacation, as you may recall, is that I'd be able to do a thorough edit of "Considering How to Run." I'm now three-fourths of the way through the manuscript, and I recognize more and more that as much as I like the story, I've got a lot of work to do before I've got a draft that's ready to send to an editor.

But, as I am prone to saying, that's okay.

Found some interesting flaws today, most brought on by the method I used to write the thing: Since I wrote it in bits and tried to sew them together into a whole, sometimes I've popped a seam or left out part of the overall pattern. The name of the protagonist's youngest, most favorite sister, has changed from one part of the manuscript to another, changing to a name that I used for a different character altogether about two-thirds of the way into the book. So that's a major error that this first run-through has caught.

Then there are the constellation of other errors, where I state one thing will happen, for example, and then it really doesn't happen, or at least happens too subtly that it's not evident that it's happening. I know some subtlety is a good thing in a novel, so I've either got to bump up the occurrences or get rid of the more blatant hints. And I can't make a blanket pronouncement on either getting rid of one or the other, either, because in some places one method works, while the other method stinks.

And I also noticed that at the point I decided to end the first novel and start the second, but then reconsidered and added the rest of the stuff I'd written to the first book that there's some re-exposition that I need to re-examine in order to decide if it adds to the story or if it makes the pace suddenly slow down. Not that the pace is break-neck, but still I have to ask myself: Does it need to be there?

What's important, though, is that I still like the story, and that's happened after it's been set side for three or four months before I began reading it and editing it. I can tell, however, that it's got flaws in language.

So what's the next step from here?

• Finish the edit.
• Begin rewriting. Sofar, most of my edits have been to point out where the book needs fixing, and I have only done some preliminary patching as of yet.
• Read it aloud. Once it's rewritten, I'll read it aloud to see how it sounds. If it sounds klunky in parts -- which I'm sure it will -- I'll have to fix it. But reading it aloud is critical because as I read books in my head, I can tell if the writer got too writerly in writing. If a book sounds written, in my opinion, you're in trouble. I call it the "Human Tooth Yellow" problem, a title I take from an old radio interview in which the reviewer obsessed about the writer obsessing about finding the exact yellowish color to describe something. Who cares, I have to say. My readers won't. So I can't include those writerly tells.

The character graph I started has been invaluable, too, as it's helped me note the changing name of the youngest sister, and to see what names I've used for what characters in what situations so I can track them for future inclusion. And as I mark the characters in this way, I can tell that I need to work to make them more human, less cardboard. Some will remain as cardboard characters, of course, but those to whom the story is central, they've got to have character in their characters. Then again, i think part of my voice as a writer is not to reveal too much about characters, and not to concentrate too much on the relationships between characters (though I know I've got one relationship I've got to seriously re-investigate in order to increase the tension the two characters feel between themselves as the story progresses).

Hm. All this writerly talk is beginning to upset my stomachs. Centurions! Come to attention!

I'm also wondering about the shadowy enemy. It's a cliche, of course, to have a shadowy enemy, but in part I'm using the shadowy enemy as a red herring, so maybe that's okay. But I still need to keep an eye on the Weird Shit-O-Meter to make sure I'm not going overboard with the real enemy of sorts.

So in other words, I'm still having fun as a writer. I love that part.

Halfway Done

Well, with about a week or so to go before the end of the year, I’m halfway through editing the text to my first complete novel, “Considering How to Run.”

I’ve seen both good and bad. Good story, I think, with some good characters. But I’ve seen a lot that needs improvement. A lot I can see that led from my gonzo style of writing this novel – no outline to begin with at all – to some plot holes and chameleon characters that are going to have to be fixed and reconciled before I can call this novel complete. But, oh, the joy of editing a complete thing of my own creation! To know that I’m not reading this for someone else, but reading it in order to make something I made that much better. That pleases me a great deal.

I know it’s not perfect. I’ve got some major things to fix. But at least I’ve got a something, not just a vague notion, down on paper, in one complete form. The first draft. That’s a huge milestone. Editing it has been and will continue to be a pleasure because, despite its faults, I can see that I’m trying. I’m not just going through the motions, not at best simply sewing together forty or so blog posts into something that’s supposed to be whole. Oh, I’ve got some spots where the seams show, where the cloth is threadbare, but I’ve got it all here, ready and waiting to be fixed.

And I can do this.

As for the other part of the goal – the query letter: I know that’s not going to happen before the year ends. I’ve got to find potential agents, research them, then and only then craft that letter, based on advice issued by Nathan Bransford, a former literary agent himself, on his blog. That blog’s a treasure-trove for wannabee writers like me.

So, how am I approaching the editing? Here’s a breakdown:

• A higher level of edit. While I am catching the occasional typo, what I’m focusing on mainly is a more than mechanical level of edit. I’m looking for the way things flow, the way things work together, and the ways they don’t. I’m asking myself a lot of questions in the margin, asking myself “What do I mean by that,” “This is contradictory to something you wrote earlier, right?” “This character seems uncharacteristically mean. Where are the hints of kindness?” Just lots of things to get me thinking.
• A character map. I’m also writing out a bar graph to show who my main and ancillary characters are, how they relate to one another and different parts of the story, and who they are. I’m doing this to make sure I’m using the characters as I intended, and not at cross purposes.
• Repeats. I noticed today that in this book, I use a situation that I repeat in the second book. I’ll have to study why I put it in the first because it works better in the second, or if I can repeat the situation for better effect in the second book, echoing the first, just to show the interrelation of the characters and situations. I’m sure other authors do this, but until you’re actually writing your own, you don’t realize how important it is to get everything just exactly right.

I’ve got to say that having put this novel away for a few months, I can come back to it with fresh eyes and while I’m seeing its warts, I’m also seeing still the potential that initially got me started down this road nearly a year ago.

Ah-ah. Found it. Started this book, or at least put up its first post, on Feb. 19, 2010. So I feel plenty good that I’m now editing an 80,000-word first draft that came from this initial 885-word post. Though it does seem weird to think that the first post contains just over one percent of the completed first draft.

So, How's the Goal Going?

Here I sit on the 12th of December, giving me 19 days in which to finish editing the first draft of my novel, "Considering How to Run," as well as having a query letter ready to go to potential agents. So how am I doing?

Not well.

Digging the manuscript out of the pile of detritus on my desk reveals that, thusfar, I've managed to lightly edit 24 of the novel's 180 pages. The query letter is a distant bit of fiction. My only consolation is that I've written nearly 7,000 words -- that sounds like a lot until you realize it's not -- of the second book in the series.

I've got a lot of ground to cover in the next nineteen days.

So, how am I going to make it up?

Well, I'll bring the manuscript with me to work. I've got an hour and a half on the bus each way each day, so I ought to be able to do some editing then. I'll be realistic, though: Probably not going to happen on the way out. I get on the bus shortly after 5 am, and am usually asleep before we hit the next stop. And on the way home I'll have to compete with "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," movies I've just uploaded onto my iPod Touch. Then there's that query letter.

I think I can still do it, however. Nineteen days doesn't sound like a lot, but it sounds like a whole lot better if I get my mojo going now rather than waiting another week or so.

Editing this thing is also going to be an essential part of writing more on the story -- it'll remind me of characters and situations and such that maybe need fleshing out or further explanation. I keep reminding myself of that as I try to put the editing off in favor of other activities.