Tag Archives: Writing

Five Debut Women Authors Discuss Their Books

December 21, 2017 10:42 am ,

Five Debut Women Authors Discuss Their BooksI love, love, love listening to authors talk about their babies books, and debut authors perhaps have just an extra smidgen of excitement that I find simply contagious.

How did they do it, what was their inspiration, what drew them to their subject? As a fiction writer myself, I’m drawn to hearing about their journey.

Debut Authors on Podcast

I’m also become a big fan of podcasts and listen to them at home and in the car. I’ve written before about Penguin Random House’s The Life of a Book on their podcast series, Beaks and Geeks, and I’m delighted that Beaks and Geeks is ending the year with fascinating interviews with a variety of debut authors, who share insights into their work and give us a look into their lives, both inside and outside of writing.

I’ve listened to all of these, and my interest has certainly been piqued. Definitely adding all of these to my To Be Read list, and I am happy to share them with you today.

Enjoy listening, and Happy Holidays!

Francesca Hornak, Seven Days of Us

Hornak discusses her witty and charming novel about a deadly disease, complicated family, and a forced Christmastime quarantine. The interview covers such things as creaky family estates, awkward moments, and gruesome diseases. 

Brit Bennett, The Mothers

Bennett’s 2016 debut novel, now out in paperback, is about motherhood, friendship, and life choices. In this interview, she talks about the power of gossip, politics of her novel, what her readers have told her about her book. AND … her book is being adapted into a movie, and she is writing the screenplay and executive producing. Congrats, Brit!

 

Diksha Basu, The Windfall

Author and actor Basu shares her insights about class, culture, wealth, and love in modern India—topics central to her debut novel.

Chiara Barzini, Things That Happened Before the Earthquake

Barzini moved from Italy to California as a teenager, and shares how this influenced her debut novel, a coming of age story set in Los Angeles in the nineties during the race riot and earthquake.

Camille Bordas, How to Behave in a Crowd

Bordas’ debut English novel is told through the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy, the youngest of six siblings, who struggles to fit in with his quirky family of academics. Bordas talks about the loneliness of academia, her characters, and her writing process.

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Happy National Authors Day

November 1, 2017 11:01 am ,

Happy National Authors DayWe love our authors, and today because it is National Authors Day they get an extra shout out. Are there authors who have changed your life through their beautiful words? There are for me, too many to count.

“A writer is a world trapped in a person.” — Author Unknown

Is it a coincidence that National Authors Day is the same day as the start of NaNoWriMo, the writing competition that spans the month of November? For all of those participating in that mad dash to 50,000 words, good luck! I did it three years ago and finished the first very rough draft of my novel.

But alas, an author — at least, a novelist — I am not. Not yet, anyway. Novels are approximately 80,000-100,00 words and undergo revision after revision after revision. I’ve been through two major revisions already and am not done yet.

“A word after a word after a word is power.” — Margaret Atwood

Authors should be recognized. As an aspiring one, I know how incredibly difficult it is, and producing a well-written tome is something to be very proud of.

Here is some interesting info from Scribd, the reading subscription service, offering access to the books, audiobooks, news and magazine articles, documents and more.

Scribd has analyzed its user data to come up with the most popular author in each state.

Here are a few of the key data findings:

  • Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck) is the most popular author in America, claiming the top spot in 7 states. (I reviewed this book.)
  • Pop culture is King – Stephen King (It, The Tommyknockers) is the most popular author in 4 states and Ernest Cline (Ready Player One) is the most popular in 3 states.
  • The Northeast wants to know What Happened, with New York, Maine, and Massachusetts each reading Hillary Clinton more than any other author.
  • Most Popular Genres – Personal Growth and Mysteries, Thrillers & Crime are indisputably the most popular genres across America right now.

Happy National Authors Day

“The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new.” — William Makepeace Thackeray

Thank you, authors, for delighting us, inspiring us, drawing us in to worlds we never knew existed. Keep writing, keep creating, keep sharing! And perhaps we should all heed this suggestion:

“When you read a piece of writing that you admire, send a note of thanks to the author.” — Sherman Alexie

 

 

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Writing a Book Made Simpler in 1-2-3

June 13, 2016 12:36 pm ,

This book writing stuff. It’s really hard.

My novel has been a work in progress for a good year and a half, and I wish I could say it was almost done. I realized, however, during three days of writing workshops at the Philadelphia Writers Conference that I have much to do before calling it a day.

Book writing isn’t just the writing.

A key part is the planning, the structuring. There are mechanics to novel writing that can not be ignored. Each character, for example, must have a story arc comprised of the situation, the spark and the conclusion. A character must have a goal and obstacles that must be overcome to reach that goal. And once that is established, the character’s arc must intersect with the other characters’ arcs.

Dialogue needs a context and a subtext. Dialogue must be authentic but not mundane. It can be reported or condensed, and it needs to propel the action.

I could have done this differently.

There is another way, a better way, that writer and editor Stuart Horwitz presents in his new book, Finish Your Book in Three Drafts: How to Write a Book, Revise a Book, and Complete a Book While You Still Love it, the third book in his Book Architecture Trilogy.

Writing: Finish Your Book in Three Drafts

Horwitz is the founder and principal of Book Architecture, a firm of independent editors based in Providence, RI (www.bookarchitecture.com) whose clients have reached the bestseller list in both fiction and nonfiction.

I was fortunate to meet Horwitz at last year’s Philadelphia Writers Conference, and his keynote was one of the highlights for me, so much so that I approached him after his presentation to tell him how much I enjoyed it. Not only is Horwitz a smart guy, he is down to earth and has a great sense of humor. As a writer, he totally gets the frustrations we writers experience with endless revisions. He’s been there himself.

Finish Your Book in Three Drafts gives writers, fiction and non-fiction alike, a practical way to get through the revision process with minimal consternation. Horwitz proposes that a book can be completed in three drafts:

  • The messy draft: which is all about getting it down.
  • The method draft: which is all about making sense.
  • The polished draft: which is all about making it good.

“I think about the people who don’t publish their books, and too often it’s not because they lack the writing skills. It’s because they got lost along the way. One draft isn’t going to cut it, but neither is twenty,” Horwitz says. “All you need is three drafts, and the tools to know where you are in the process.”

What’s more, Finish Your Book in Three Drafts is interactive. The book is nicknamed “3D” because it contains nine stop-motion videos that bring the concepts to life through the use of action figures, and nine PDFs for when you want more detailed information and instructions about topics such as “How to Find Your Theme,” “The Five Definitions of Scene,” and “How to Construct Your Book Proposal.”

Finish Your Book in Three Drafts is available in both print and digital editions from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.

I’m taking a look at my novel through a different lens now, and it is so worth the extra time.

 

I received a copy of Finish Your Book in Three Drafts for an honest review,
which is the only kind of review I write.

 

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Get Me Rewrite! Starting the Third Draft

March 7, 2016 9:27 am ,

Get Me Rewrite! Starting the Third Draft

I am writing a novel.

These five words have become my mantra, something I repeat silently to convince myself it is real. Not a dream, not a figment of my imagination. Not something I began and never finished.

This time I am getting ‘er done.

By putting it out there I am also making myself accountable. When “How is the book coming along?” is asked I don’t have to flounder around for a lame excuse.

It’s coming. I’m getting there. It’s moving forward.

“So after the second draft,” a friend asked me the other day, “your book is pretty much done, right?”

If only. But not by a long shot.

Get me rewrite.

Last fall I attended BinderCon, a writing conference for women. Among the many valuable sessions was a panel of four freelance editors, each of whom had worked in publishing for years. I was impressed with their knowledge and approach to helping writers make their book the best it can be. So after the conference I contacted one of them and I am working with her now.

I submitted my second draft to her and waited anxiously for feedback. Would she love it? Hate it? Biting fingernails, chewing the inside of my mouth, binge snacking: I engaged in every nervous habit I could think of.

Well, we had a phone call last week to discuss the book. There was good news and bad news.

Good news: she liked the story, thought the characters were well drawn, enjoyed the historical setting of the novel, and thought it would ultimately fare well with readers.

Bad news: a major rewrite is necessary.

Good news again: The rewrite is going to make it SO much better.

Before this feedback, I was having trouble seeing the forest for the trees. I was too close to the content. It was impossible for me to be objective.

With a few brushstrokes of her vision, she gave me clarity that I was unable to find on my own.  As I rewrite the second draft, I will:

  • Take a swipe at the number of characters. There were too many. “Beyond four or five major characters,” the editor told me, “people start getting confused. And it is really hard to make their voices unique.”
  • Narrow the time frame. The expanse was too wide, too Belva Plain. Instead of 50 or so years, now it will be five. And that’s enough.
  • Focus on the motivations of the characters. This has to be credible.
  • Intensify the drama. Make the precipice higher. This will make the reader want to keep turning the pages.
  • Be careful with the historical events. This is not a history lesson. Make the events part of the narrative but only in the context of their impact on the characters.
  • In each chapter, define where we are in time, what is going on with the family, and what significant event takes place that propels the story forward

These simple suggestions will eliminate many of the problems I had with the plot line and the development of the main characters. Instead of feeling angst, I feel a huge sense of relief – and excitement.

I will be deleting a huge chunk of my work, maybe even 50%. Perhaps some of it will return in another novel another time. A sequel, perhaps. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Onward.

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The Second Draft: A Debut Novelist’s Journey

February 15, 2016 12:06 pm ,

The Second Draft: A Debut Novelist's Journey

When we last heard from our hapless heroine, she was tied to the railroad tracks, screaming for help as the black locomotive chug chugged toward her. Where is that damn hero on the white horse, she despairs.

Whoops, wrong story.

Or is it?

My real life scenario isn’t quite as dramatic, but there are certain similarities. Restrained sitting in front of my computer screen, I scream (silently) to my creative Muse, Inspire me! Rescue me from the agony of an unfinished manuscript!

The hero on a white horse? My imagination jumping into the saddle.

Whoever said writing a novel was easy … wait. No one said writing a novel was easy.

To recap,

  • I waited until age 60 to get serious about writing a novel.
  • I wrote 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo in November 2014.
  • I submitted a first draft to a developmental editor in March 2015.
  • Working off the editor’s notes, I revised and edited, revised and edited.
  • I submitted a second draft (75,000 words) to my editor last week.

Hallelujah! The second draft is out the door. What have I learned?

Just to be clear, this is how the process is going for me. Every writer has his or her own style so I can’t speak for everyone, obviously.

A second draft is better than a first draft, but it’s not as good as a third draft.

My manuscript still needs work. If I had done more prep, perhaps it would be further along.  I would venture a guess that most writers start out with an outline. It makes sense to have a road map and a reasonably good understanding of your plot, your characters, and all the other elements in a novel.

But I am not an outliner. Never have been. So my process evolved differently. I had a basic premise of a story in my head and just sat down and wrote.  Without an outline, that road map was about as effective as my car’s faulty GPS. There were unexpected twists and turns, roadblocks and potholes. There were also dark tunnels that led me into the light.

Also, I heard voices.

You’ve heard writers say their characters speak to them?

They do. Mine did. They told me about their likes and dislikes, the way they walked, their desires. I let them take the lead and show me the way. So what I came up with was not exactly what I thought I would.

Experts tell you to not edit and write simultaneously. For the first draft, you should let your words flow unchecked. You finish the draft and let it marinate for a while. Then you come back to it with fresh eyes, better able to critique it.

As I soldiered on through my second draft, the things I focused on the most were:

Making sure each character had a distinct, unique voice. Was the point of view clear? Did the dialogue ring true?

Showing, not telling. SO important.

Justifying why each sentence should be there and trimming the excess.

Eliminating cliches and metaphors, of which there are way too many in this blog post.

So, what comes next?

Hopefully, hopefully the mistakes in the second draft will be fixed and the next draft can focus on fine tuning. When it’s in its final form I will share it with several beta readers for feedback. Revise and edit, revise and edit.

And I’ll be a little bit closer to freeing myself from the ropes on the train tracks.

 

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Eight Things NaNoWriMo Writers Should Do Now

November 30, 2015 9:02 am ,

Eight Things NaNoWriMo Writers Should Do Now

It is November 30. And that  means …

Congratulations, NaNoWriMo participants!

You made it!

Before I go any further, let me set the record straight for anyone not familiar with the term NaNoWriMo.

Here is what it is not.

It is not the ghost of Robin Williams invoking Mork from Ork language.

It is not baby talk for I Don’t Want To.

It is not a term of endearment for a grandmother.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, in which thousands of determined writers attempt to bang out 50,000 words in 30 days during the month of November.

To all my writer friends partaking in the challenge this year, I hope you found it to be rewarding. It is no easy task to write that much in one month.

I know from whence I speak since I was a NaNoWriMo participant last year and hit my 50,000 words. It took a lot of time … and a lot of discipline.

But in the process, I realized that you don’t have to hit 50,000 words to be successful. Even 1,000 should count as a success.

If you wrote more in November than you have in any other month, give yourself a pat on the back. Congratulations!

Last year, the day after I completed NaNoWriMo, I shared 10 NaNoWriMo Tips for Writers based on my experience. But as the days unfolded into weeks, I felt a little lost now that the structure of the writing challenge had ended and I was once again on my own.

With NaNoWriMo now over, what’s the next step? When I was in your place last year, I asked for advice. Of course, you will decide what works best for you. But here are some tips that were shared with me.

And whether or not you participated in NaNoWriMo, these are good tips for all writers.

NaNoWriMo is over. Walk away.

Put your manuscript to bed for a bit of hibernation. You’ve written a lot and you’ve been consumed for a month. You can’t be objective about it right now. Walk away and let it marinate for a couple of weeks or even longer. In the meantime …

Work on a different project.

Don’t let your writing chops languish while your manuscript does. Keep the energy going with something else.

Start to craft an elevator speech.

This will be important down the road as you pitch your book to agents and publishers. The value of doing it now is it helps you evaluate the components of your story. Is the plot strong enough? Are the characters multi-faceted? Does their motivation make sense?

Work on a second draft but understand this won’t be your last draft.

The cognoscenti advise NaNoWriMo-ers to write, not edit, and hopefully this is what you have done. The idea is to let the 50,000 words flow without worrying about how good they are. I was fairly appalled at how bad my first draft was and I think many NaNoWriMo’ers feel the same. That’s OK. Your second draft will be better, but not as good as the third.

Broaden your characters.

You may have done character development before you even started to write. That is what is recommended. I did not do that. My characters threw some curve balls my way and that helped me better define their personalities. I think even if you have planned out the wazoo, your characters will still evolve over the course of writing.

Think as a reader.

As you go through the editing process, try to think as a reader, not a writer. Do your chapters end with a cliffhanger or at least an incentive for you to continue reading? Is there enough action, pathos, drama or mystery? Is there extraneous jibber jabber that can go away?

Keep writing.

Don’t stop now! You won the race but the marathon is not over yet. The speed at which you progress is up to you, but don’t give up. A year later, my manuscript is now at 70,000 words. I am still on the second draft.

Talk about your work.

I haven’t shared my manuscript with anyone except for an editor yet, but I do talk about it if people ask. I can gauge the general interest in my story with their response. It also keeps me accountable.

So writers, carry on. You should be proud of your effort and commitment. Good luck with the next phase of your writing!

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When Your Work in Progress is Not Making Progress

September 29, 2015 11:12 am ,

I got used to the incessant drone of crickets around here.

Not the ones chirping outside our bedroom window. Those I like.

No, it’s the crickets inside my head that bedeviled me. The crickets that invaded the space where my writing inspiration should be.

When Your Work in Progress Is Not Making Progress

Writing a novel has been a lifelong dream, one that has eluded me thus far. Ten months ago I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and banged out 50,000 words of my novel. It was actually a stress-free, even pleasant experience. I let my creativity flow and I sat back and watched what happened.

The outcome surprised me. My characters, with flaws and desires I hadn’t predicted, made choices I hadn’t foreseen. Major characters switched places with minor characters. My setting evolved from blurry to crystal clear, vivid and colorful, the way Oz looked when Dorothy’s house plunked down in it.

I felt like I was on the sidelines observing the action in a lively football game.

I kept at it, several hours a day. In the end, I proudly tacked the NaNoWriMo certificate of completion on my office wall. I did it! It would be smooth sailing now.

On a roll of self-confidence, I didn’t let the momentum subside. I continued to work on the draft, writing more chapters, editing, and finally in March, submitting the work in progress to a developmental editor. I wanted a professional to take an overview of what I had done so far.

Nervous to hear her say I would never be a writer get her feedback, I was relieved to get thoughtful, helpful notes of ways to improve my story.  She pointed out where the holes were, alerted me to inconsistencies in the timeline and, since I am writing historical fiction, suggested ways to give the reader a fuller context of the time period.

Charged with energy, I dove into the second draft, certain that 2015 would be my year. The year I finally finished the novel.

That’s what I thought.

Welp. It’s not happening.

Why? Well, life kind of got in the way. My son got married. My daughter got engaged. My dog got sick.

Maybe I should not have let these interruptions derail me, but I did. I was distracted. I couldn’t get back into my novel.

Chagrined, I started to feel like a failure. Would this novel never get completed? I had come so far, done so much work. Invested so much love in this project.

I sat myself down and did some soul searching. Some DIY psycho therapy. I resisted the inclination to slip into self-doubt. What could I do to get back on track if I couldn’t muster the energy to work on my draft?

I did three things.

  1. I gave myself a pep talk. Instead of my normal refrain — I can’t, I won’t, I’ll never — I told that inner voice to shut the hell up. I gave myself permission to extend my deadline. It’s my deadline, no one else’s.
  2. I continued to write, blogging at least once a week on topics of interest to me. This gave my writing muscles a regular workout.
  3. I kept reading. The hours that were not spent writing were devoted to the stack of books next to my bed. There’s nothing quite like reading brilliant writing to inspire your own.

The upshot?

I’m back. The juices are once again flowing, the wheels are turning. I’m happy to say that my work in progress is again progressing.

And I’ve kicked those crickets out of my head.

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Celebrate International Literacy Day

September 8, 2015 3:49 pm ,

My grandmother was a teenager when she came to America. Fleeing the hardship of shtetl life in Russia, she landed on Ellis Island with just the clothes on her back and a small valise. She had little money and no formal education; in fact, she did not know how to read or write.

She and my grandfather settled in Pennsylvania and raised four active sons without the help of modern conveniences. No dishwasher, no washer and dryer, no microwave for a quick and easy meal.

My grandmother worked hard to keep her family well tended, with food on the table and clean clothes to wear. She spent her days cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing.

She never got around to learning to read or write. But she was so proud of her sons who excelled in school, all of them becoming college graduates.

Literacy is a human right.

These days we tend to take our education for granted, so it is alarming to discover that there are 757 million adults in the world, age 15 and older, who can’t read or write a simple sentence. Even more shocking, 14% of the U.S. population is illiterate — and 19% of them are high school graduates.

Literacy is not only a basic human right; it is a human need, as basic as water and a daily dose of sunshine.

The good news? The goal to eradicate illiteracy is achievable.

Today, the day that many of our children return to school to start or continue their education, is International Literacy Day. This week Grammarly is working to raise awareness about the importance of literacy.

There are global problems that seem too massive to fix, causing us to throw up our hands in dismay or just give up. What can I do, we ask ourselves.

Illiteracy is not unfixable.

There is something we can do. For starters, and I’m sure you all do this, make reading in your home a part of the daily routine. Develop a love of reading in your kids as early as infancy by reading to them every day. As your children grow, encourage them to read and write for pleasure.

There’s more. You can donate books or money to local libraries and schools. You may even want to volunteer a few hours a week as a literacy coach. Check with your library for information.

The infographic below is being circulated on social media today to raise awareness of the issue of literacy.

Do you have ideas for breaking the illiteracy barrier?

Literacy Day

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Ten Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors

June 15, 2015 10:15 am ,

Timing is everything.

The Philadelphia Writers’ Conference (PWC2015) this past weekend could not have come at a more opportune time for this lapsed writer.

I needed a shot of inspiration badly.

To those of you I have bored kept abreast of my novel-writing journey, you may have noticed I’ve been a little quiet lately.

My novel-writing locomotive had screeched to a shuddering stop.

When we last saw our heroine (me), she was on that train headed for Destination Draft #2.

But all of a sudden, life got in the way and threw a roadblock on the tracks.

I’m not complaining. It was all good stuff: a couple of months of family celebrations that meant busy weekends and lots of company. With two of my children getting married in a matter of months, there was also wedding planning to be done during their visits home.

So that destination remained elusive. And the more time that passed, the less fired up our heroine was.

So she, or I, needed a shot in arm, and that I got in spades at this fabulous writers’ conference.

It's a new day!

It’s a new day!

Ten Writing Tips

Full of energy and ready to tackle that manuscript, I pause only to share some writing tips that I picked up at the conference and credit the presenters who provided them. I hope these will be as useful or informative for you as they were for me.

Don’t use adverbs.

This was a hard pill for me to swallow, because I love adverbs deeply. Admiringly. Hopelessly. But adverbs tell you how to feel instead of show you, and that’s not good writing. (Judi Fennell)

Use ellipses and m-dashes correctly.

An ellipsis is for trailing off thoughts. “His marriage proposal took me by surprise, and I wasn’t sure …”

M-dashes (long dashes) are used with truncated thoughts. For example, someone interrupts.

“A marriage proposal, so soon? I—“

“Surprised?” He reached over to touch my cheek. (Judi Fennell)

 Start your story where your life goes left.

You don’t have to start when you wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee, get dressed, etc. Start it when the real action starts. Like, you walk outside and witness a car accident, if that is pertinent to the story. (Judi Fennell)

Romance and women’s fiction are two separate genres.

Women’s fiction is about a woman’s journey. Romance novels always end either happily ever after or happily for now. (Judi Fennell)

Short stories have hooks, lines and sinkers.

The hook is the incident that happens in the very first paragraph. The lines that follow serve to up the stakes. The sinker is the conclusion and the last line must relate to what you said in the beginning. (Fran Wilde)

In novel writing, setting comes first.

You have to anchor the reader in a world. Characters are products of the landscape you create and expressions of the world they live in. (Solomon Jones)

You can be both a pantser and an outliner.

A pantser is someone who writes by the seat of his/her pants without first making an outline (me!) and an outliner obviously outlines. It is OK to be pantser for the first draft and an outliner between the first and second drafts. (Stuart Horwitz)

What is the optimal number of beta readers?

Between three and seven. (Stuart Horwitz)

Increase the pace in short stories.

Make sentences short. Do not data dump. Dialogue should consist of a few quick pieces. (Fran Wilde)

How can you generate material?

Count your words (set a goal)

Find a neutral audience (avoid critics and find the cheerleaders)

Don’t try to organize anything

Make the time

Listen

Have fun (the most important) (Stuart Horwitz)

Thank you to the amazing presenters who provided so many valuable takeaways, and I’ll see you at PWC2016.

And now, my train is leaving the station. All aboard!

Ten Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors

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A Checkup With a Developmental Editor

March 25, 2015 10:29 am ,

I once wrote a post comparing writing a novel to baking bread.

Now that my first draft is written, I can also compare it to giving birth after a verrrry long pregnancy.

And now, I realize that a round of editing by a developmental editor is much like a baby’s checkup at the pediatrician.

So, if you’ll bear with me through this metaphor, here is a summary of my baby’s first doctor visit:

Scrutinized by critical eyes, my baby was gently weighed and measured. A stethoscope was held to my baby’s heart. The pulse was strong. Eyes and ears were checked. Notes were written on a progress chart.

I breathed a sigh of relief when my baby was pronounced healthy and ready for the next phase of growth.

A Checkup With a Developmental Editor

Yessir, that’s my baby. My novel, that is.

My novel is a work in progress now, not merely a figment of my imagination. I kind of took a leap when I participated in NaNoWriMo last November to get the ball rolling.  I reached my goal of 50,000 words knowing that this was just the beginning.

Every writer has his or her own method, and I’m not the most organized person in the world, although I try hard to be. So in preparation for the month of intense writing, I did … nothing.

I didn’t outline. I didn’t develop my characters. I had an idea and started to write on November 1. My goal was to write about 2,000 words a day. And, to my surprise, the words came easily. I reached the 50,000 word goal line with several days to spare.

The upside to that was my story flowed in unanticipated new directions. The downside was that I got lost in a thicket of too many characters and plot lines that went nowhere and chronology that made no sense. I needed a road map. Hell, I needed a forest ranger who could lead me out of the brambles into the clearing.

I reached out to my writers’ circle and got hooked up with a very good developmental editor to whom I entrusted this wildly flailing bundle of not-yet joy.

What is a developmental editor?

A developmental editor will take an overview of your manuscript and assess the organization and big picture, and then suggest changes to make it work better. I knew I needed this help because I was too close to my work to be objective.

From the time I hit Submit til today, when I received her feedback, I tried not to think about it too much, because when I did I dissolved into a pile of insecurity. I guess I really must be a writer now, because that insecurity kicked in big time.

A Checkup With a Developmental Editor

I felt insecure about my story, about the caliber of my writing, my chutzpah in even thinking I could write a novel. I was open to criticism of the book. I just didn’t want to be criticized as a writer.

I didn’t want her to tell me to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And she didn’t.

Instead, she had examined my baby with extreme care and thoughtfulness. As I read her extensive notes, I nodded in affirmation. Yes, yes, yes. This is exactly right. With her checklist of suggestions to guide me, I feel confident heading into the next phase working on Draft #2.

My developmental editor will remain nameless, but someday her name will be front and center in the Acknowledgements section at the end of my novel. That visual makes me smile.

For now, thank you, thank you,  nameless developmental editor. And if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some writing to do.

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