December 2010

3rd Draft . . . Last draft?

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Dear Editor…

Now I’m ready to work on the third draft of my YA novel. I’ve never been here before. How do I do this? Should I start over for the 3rd time or just edit parts of it that need work? Is this still the cutting down on characters/bettering the plot time? How do you know when you’re done?

Sincerely,

Melody

Dear Melody…

Alas, “done” isn’t an empirical pronouncement. It’s “best guess” city. Here are five questions to help you decide if big character or plot changes are still needed: If you take the protagonist as he is in the final scene and drop him back into the first scene of the book, will he behave so differently that you wouldn’t even have a story? Did you force your protagonist out of his comfort zone at crucial moments? Has each obstacle pushed the plot and characters forward? Are the consequences of failure dire enough at each stage of the plot? Does each scene in each chapter contribute to its chapter’s overall goal, and does every chapter contribute to the character’s achievement of his story goal?

If you’re confident answering yes to all, you may indeed be at word-tweaking stage and perhaps last draft. Don’t force it. Louis Sachar wrote five drafts of Holes before he sent it to his editor—and that book went on to win the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Lie, Lay, and Other Grammar Issues in Dialogue

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Dear Editor…

I (now) know the difference between lie and lay, but I was wondering if this grammar rule had to be followed in dialogue? I would like my character to talk about “laying out” and tanning but trying to say it grammatically correct seems too stilted and wrong. What’s the verdict?

Sincerely,

Rachel

Dear Rachel…

You know those two pairs of hash marks that surround the dialogue in your manuscript? Some people call them double quotation marks. I call them shields. Why? Because they deflect the rules of grammar as surely as shields deflect photon torpedoes away from the Starship Enterprise. When characters speak in a piece of fiction, the only real rules are clarity and believability. If your character would mix up lay and lie when she speaks in her fictional world, you are right to record her grammar gaffe in your manuscript. It’ll be most believable to readers if she’s frequently casual with her grammar, but that’s not required. Plenty of people in real life get lie and lay mixed up.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Happy Holidays

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Dear Readers…

With Christmas just days away, I am officially doffing my editor’s hat in favor of a warm, red Mrs. Santa cap. I will switch hats again on Monday and field a new writing question. Until then, my best wishes for a happy holiday full of family, fun, and stockings bulging with writing supplies.

The Editor

“There are three stages of a (wo)man’s life: (S)He believes in Santa Claus, (s)he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, (s)he is Santa Claus.”
– Author Unknown, irreverent gender editing by The Editor

Submitting a Memior that “Doesn’t Conform”

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Dear Editor…

I’ve finished my manuscript. It’s about all the drunks, nuts, and abnormal individuals I worked with during thirty years at the Postal Service. Since it doesn’t conform to traditional topics of manuscripts, who do I submit it to?

Sincerely,

Lenny

Dear Lenny…

Well that’s certainly a hook. Here’s what you do: Identify other off-center memoirs and see who publishes them, then search those publishers’ online catalogs to see if your non-conformer would fit in. Knee-jerk comparative titles: I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max or Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater by Frank Bruni. But even more specifically you put me in mind of the UK bestseller Tunnel Visions: Journeys of an Underground Philosopher by Christopher Ross, who wrote this fascinating Underground/coworker/human nature expose after working in the London Underground for sixteen months. You might say that book was about “all the drunks, nuts, and abnormal individuals” who work in and ride the Underground. You’ll find leads on similar books by looking for these titles on store or library shelves and then examining the titles surrounding them, and also by typing these titles into Amazon and scrolling down to the “Customers Who Bought This Also Bought” feature. One title will lead you to another, to another, to another…. Soon you’ll have a list of publishers to submit to.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Word Counts for Published Novels

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Dear Editor…

How do you find out how many words are in a published novel? You mentioned that Bud, Not Buddy was 52,000 words. Did you estimate from the number of pages in the book or is there somewhere we can find out that information?

Thanks,

Becky

Dear Becky…

Aw, that’s easy-peasy. You just count the number of words on an average text-only page from the book in question, multiply that by the number of pages in the book, then subtract from that the number of non-text pages in the book and multiply the result by pi and then divide that by your age on your last acknowledged birthday and…. Oh, heck, you’re a writer and I’m an editor, let’s skip the math and just use this shortcut: go to renlearn.com and click on their “Quiz Store” tab. Type in the book title, press GO, then click on the title in the search results and viola! Word count.

FYI, I’m not affiliated with Renaissance Learning. This lovely feature has been known and referenced by curious writers for years.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Is My MG Manuscript Too Wordy?

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Dear Editor…

Is a 50,000-word MG novel too long? If I send a query to an agent with the word-count, will they be likely to dismiss it based on the word count?

Thanks!

Heather

Dear Heather…

That’s not an alarming word count. Middle grade fiction typically falls between 25,000 – 45,000 words, leaning toward the smaller end of the spectrum more often than not. But there are no set numbers. Consider this: Karen Cushman’s The Midwife’s Apprentice is a slim one at 22,000 words (about 122 printed pages, depending on the edition in your hand). Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy, comes in at about 52,000 words (245 book pages, again depending on how your edition has been designed). There you have it, two Newbery Medal books that show the word count spectrum can be stretched either way for great stories.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Happy writing!

The Editor

UPDATE: Podcast Interview with The Editor Now Posted

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Dear Readers…

As promised, here’s the podcast link to hear The Editor field phoned-in questions about publishing…

Dear Readers…

Last month I answered phoned-in questions about publishing children’s books on author Katie Davis‘s podcast  “Brain Burps About Books.” The podcast is now up, click here to hear it. If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in a follow-up podcast, call Katie’s toll free line at 888-522-1929 and leave a message.

And now back to my inbox, where I’ve got some great emailed-in questions awaiting….

Happy writing!

The Editor

But Aren’t Proposals for NON-Fiction?

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Dear Editor…

Please settle a point for me: Don’t proposals only apply to non-fiction? Thanks.

Sincerely,

Robyn

Dear Robyn…

There’s a time and place for everything—even proposals for fiction submissions. Two such scenarios: 1) You’re previously published, proving you’ve got the stick-to-itiveness to finish what you start and the skills to realize what you promise; it helps if you come with confidence-inspiring credentials like significant awards, a solid platform, and strong sales. 2) Your proposal offers something irresistible enough to make the editors take a chance on something that’s not yet written, such as with a celebrity connection or a hot, timely topic. Generally, though, fiction editors require query letters instead of proposals, and they expect to buy completed manuscripts.

Happy writing!

The Editor

Scenes, Chapters . . . What’s the Difference?

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Dear Editor…

I give up. My writing group keeps telling me that my chapters are really just scenes. I don’t get it. What’s the difference?

Sincerely,

Randalf

Dear Randalf…

I chose your letter today for two reasons: 1) I have an answer, and 2) Darcy Pattison’s  “Fiction Notes” just finished an entire month of blogging about nothing but scenes and can drive home what I’m about to tell you. I know because I contributed to that blog series with a post about the important stuff hiding in the white space between scenes. My shameless plug accomplished, here’s how you wrap your brain around scenes and chapters: Scenes are the stepping stones and the chapter is the river, with the opposing shores being two different phases of your plot.

Breaking that down: Each chapter has a plot goal that moves your protagonist one step closer to the resolution of the story’s overall conflict. That means when you string your chapters together, you’ve got your full plot, start to finish. A scene is a single event with its own conflict that, when combined with other scenes, contributes to the overall goal of its chapter. Something will happen to your character in the scene that worsens the situation but doesn’t quite push the character over the edge. Example: The male lead in your story decides today is the day to finally leave his wife. That’s your chapter goal. To attain that goal, the man has three small but escalating conflicts with his wife, across three scenes, that finally push him to his Big Decision. Voila! The river, the stepping stones, and the successful crossing from one shore to the other.

Happy writing!

The Editor