Another Post on Editing

Hey Awesome People Who Read My Blog!

I’ve missed you guys. What’ve you been up to?

*Hilary grabs a piece of cheese and stuffs it in her mouth while she pretends to care*

Just kidding, I care. No, really I do. I care so much, I’m going to post more editing advice.

*cheers erupt*

Let’s get down to business. Over the past couple of weeks, I slaughtered 15,000 words from my manuscript.

*audience gasps*

Yes, I know it’s a lot, but they were all unnecessary. What deems a word unnecessary, you ask?

Here is a list I found helpful from agent Rachelle Gardner’s site:
→ Adverbs, especially those with “ly” endings.
→ Adjectives. Often people use two or three when one or none is better.
→ Gerunds. Words that end in “ing.”
→ Passive voice: Over-use of words like “was,” "were" and "that" indicate your writing may be too passive. Reconstruct in active voice.
→ Passages that are overly descriptive.
→ Passages that describe characters' thoughts and feelings in too much detail (i.e. long sections of narrative or interior monologue).
→ Passages that tell the reader what they already know.
→ Unnecessary backstory.

Words to watch for. Carefully consider their necessity and effectiveness:
about, actually, almost, like, appears, approximately, basically, close to, even, eventually, exactly, finally, just, just then, kind of, nearly, practically, really, seems, simply, somehow, somewhat, sort of, suddenly, truly, utterly, were.

Also, I participated in a recent #askagent Twitter-fest and received the best advice ever from super-cool agent Colleen Lindsay. And here it is:

ColleenLindsay: @hilaryheskett It's all about 1.) Voice, 2.) Brevity and 3.) Authenticity

I hope this reiteration of stuff you already knew helps your book tightening efforts. Go team writers!

*awkward microphone screech*

At least it’s in one place if you ever need it?

*crickets chirping*

No?

All right. Have a great weekend.

A Matter of Trust

I finished reading a book a few days ago by bestselling author Rebecca Wells (don’t worry, the review is coming) and it dawned on me that I didn't scrutinize the words at all. My normal skepticism faded and I just enjoyed her work. I didn’t debate the use of passive verbs. There was no analysis of the repetitive concepts. Nothing.

Then it hit me – I trusted her.

I trusted Ms. Wells to create the right setting. I trusted her to choose the right words. Most of all, I trusted her to carry me through the entire story, letting me believe her characters were living, breathing people with real wants and needs. (How’s that for repetition?)

So, what makes us trust an author?

Is it status or education? What about sales figures – do they factor into our decision?

I would love to believe that if you’ve proven yourself to be a competent writer, readers will give themselves to the story without question. But, alas, that is not the way it is. I’ve read several books by people considered “great” and I still find myself nit-picking the technique. For example, why would they elect to use a “to be” verb when an active one would have been so much cleaner? Or what’s with all the stinkin’ adverbs?

It’s a conundrum really. Any thoughts out there in cyberspace?

Music and Writing

Hello, fellow wordsmiths!

I've been thinking about the process of writing. Everyone's approach is different. For me, I like to lock myself away and listen to music while creating or editing. Time and responsibilities fall away, leaving only me and the words to drift along in harmony.

How do you write? Does music help you?

Last week, my friend and I debated the influence of lyrics on prose. As much as I can tell, lyrics don't tend to bleed into my passages as much as they inspire a certain feeling or mood, but I can see how distracting words sung in succession might be. We both decided that listening to movie soundtracks was a good compromise. With that in mind, I've recently discovered a few inspirational soundtracks that have helped me with the Elementalist Series. They are:

Solaris

Revolutionary Road

The International

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Bram Stoker's Dracula

I'm always looking for more music suggestions. Please send some recommendations my way. :)

Look at me - I'm blogging.

So, here's the conundrum: do I blog regularly or use the time to keep tweaking my manuscript?

Granted, the first draft only took two months to complete, but I've spent almost the same amount of time revising it. Any thoughts?

Another question that has been plaguing me for some time now is: when do you walk away? My mother keeps referring to my novel as a painting. Too many strokes on the canvas and it's ruined. (She's an Art History graduate - so the metaphor works for her.)

I guess the mark of a great artist is knowing the exact time to sit back and say, "Finito!" ... or something like that. How does that happen? Do the words start to glow and rise up off of the page? Does the choir of angels begin to sing? Does your computer crash and the only draft left is buried in a random file on your external hard drive?

Hmm... (imagine me pondering like Rodin's "The Thinker")