E is for Editing from Big to Small #atozchallenge

I'll be doing two posts today to catch up! Yesterday I ended up working a 14 hour day and not getting home until after 8, then crashing, so I think I get a pass......

Today's tip is about editing, which is a huge topic! I couldn't possibly teach a whole course on editing in one post (which is why I'm doing a series on it, which will resume in May), but I do have a tip to share today.

Don't sweat the small stuff until you've fixed the big things!

One editing course I took likened this to doing plastic surgery on a patient while they're still gushing blood from the harpoon in their chest. When you edit, start by looking at the broad issues, like:

• Does your plot work?


• Do you have enough characters? Too many? Do they have a character arc that is resolved? Do all of your characters have a unique and important purpose in the story that can't be fulfilled by anyone else?


• Have you fulfilled all of the promises you made at the beginning? Have you resolved all your sub plots?


• Does your story build in tension slowly to a climax towards the end or is the pacing disjointed?

There are many other Big Things that you should look at, and you can probably easily add to this list. When you're starting to edit a novel, don't get bogged down in fixing sentence structure if the entire scene needs to be chucked out. You'll waste a lot of time, and probably not even notice the big overall problems if you're focused on the minutia. It's missing the forest for the trees.

My experience is that editing involves multiple passes through the novel, looking at broader issues first and then working my way down to the nitty gritty. It might seem like a lot of work, but don't worry about that! The novel will be far, far better by the time you're finished, and isn't that worth it?

Your first draft is nothing more than the scaffolding on which you hang the magic. Don't let the fact that it takes some work for the magic to happen seduce you into trying to publish scaffolding.

...I'm not sure if that metaphor worked, but there you go.

F is for Finding Resources #atozchallenge

I won't say I'm an expert on this by any means, but if you want to be a writer, there are going to be times when you have to do some research. Whether you're writing historical fantasy novels where you have to delve deeply into some real-life historical time period, or writing science fiction set in some far-flung galaxy, there will be moments when you run up against some factual tidbit that you don't know.

Do you guess and bullshit your way through it, or do in-depth research? Usually the best option is somewhere in the middle, depending on what it is. Sometimes the only way around is in-depth research - if it's something key to your story, you don't want to get it wrong. If it's a minor detail, you might not want to spend hours sussing it out, but you also don't want to mess it up.

Because I guarantee you, someone will know.

Here are a couple of tips for finding those niggling facts:

1. Google and Wikipedia. Not the best option for the key facts, but it's generally my go-to start point. Resources you come up with on the internet can be wrong, but that doesn't mean they always are. If you're looking for a little easy fact, like when the zipper was invented or what the name of a particular star is, you can probably get the answer quickly and easily using the internet. For bigger things, you can get a general overview of your topic and learn how to find more detailed resources by starting with a quick search.

2. The Library. You might be amazed, but there are actually still libraries out there and there are people in those libraries who can help you to find the information you need, quickly, cheaply, and easily. If you have a university near you, take advantage of it. But even if you don't, there are interlibrary loans and other options to get you the books you need for those most important facts. Through the university you may also be able to get into contact with a real live expert on the subject, as well.

3. Bookstores. If all else fails, you can purchase textbooks on your subject online or at your local bookstore. If you are dedicating many years of your life to some series of novels set in a particular time period, it might be worth it to you to invest in a small library of books on that time period, to use as quick reference about a variety of important details.

4. Read other fiction books about your topic. This is a double-edged sword. If there is an author who you feel has done his or her research and it's likely to be accurate, you can probably pick up on a lot of information just by reading their novels. But be careful! They could be bullshitters who have guessed their way through. Most movies set in the past are horribly inaccurate. It's important to do your own research as well, to be sure that what you're using is accurate. But for real-life flavour, a good novelist can help a great deal.

5. Read books written by actual people in that time period, or culture, that you want to research. If you can pull this off, do it. Of course, if you're writing a book set in the future or in the very far past, there won't be books written by a native. But when it comes to little details like grooming, social mores, etc., it can often be hard to find textbooks that give you the real flavour of what it was like to actually live in that time period or culture. It's one thing to know that zippers weren't invented yet. It's another to read a book written by someone who lived without zippers, and pick up on the tiny ways in which that affected their lives, by living that life through their own eyes.