Evening all,
Great night at The Writers Group. My treat, away from my own work, to appreciate the work of other, very talented, writers.
I have been working flat out editing this week. Does anybody else get up at five thirty and think 'on to chapter twelve?' And for why? I shall enlighten you.
I give this as a warning;- For the FIRST TIME I printed the whole novel, and I read it in hard copy!!!
I know, first time - I can hear your gasps of disbelief from here!!!
Usually I edit on screen and end up bug-eyed. However, after sending the finished (ha!) mss to my editor I decided to print it and read it at a leisurely pace - Whaaaa!
For some reason - and don't ask me what happened because I don't know, I found, somewhere in the middle, half a chapter that didn't live in the midst of the story. It should have been bimbling around in the first third! I also saw other things my eye might have missed onscreen. The work looks so different on the page, I think.Bearing in mind I had read this story a centrillion times on screen when all seemed fine.
So, I set to fixing it - after e-mailing my editor to beg she didn't read it yet! She told me she was working on something else but she wanted it next week - No probs, I said. Anne if you read this I meant it!!!
(I know there are a lot of exclamation marks - but they're important here!!!!
Now, for the purpose of this blog I will (unaccustomed as I am) pass on a piece of advice, and if I never advise anybody ever again, take heed -
Print your work and (hold on to your hats here come another gasp of exclamation marks) read it OUT LOUD!!! It works. It is necessary. And it's what makes us writers!
TTFN ;-)
Speaking of reading out loud, I have a sort of plan for when I do finally get published. At writer's conferences or panels I know you have to read some of your work aloud. However, I know from experience that whenever I try this "on the fly" I speak haltingly and slowly because it's been so long since I wrote it that I can't remember what happens next.
ReplyDeleteSo when I do get published I'm going to pick a few scenes from the novel and practice reading them over and over again, so that way when I do have to read to a group hopefully it should flow smoothly and I'll sound like a real story-teller.
You are a real story-teller, Paul, and a good one at that!
DeleteIf you read a finished piece of writing out loud, it will come to you more naturally. I have found reading out loud gives my writing rhythm and I am inclined to hear where something needs fixing.
Great comment though, thanks for that.
Sheila :-)
Hey Paul - it's great to hear (well, see) you use a phrase like "when I do get published" - that shows a really positive attitude. Well done
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