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Post by newburydave on Jan 30, 2012 19:34:51 GMT -5
I think I agree with Yoda (hebrew for "knowing one" btw).
Our metrics should be "Productivity Measurements". Productive in terms of maximum finished output for time spent.
One principle I learned in 25 years of Quality Engineering, "Whatever you measure, improves."
Say, I guess you're right too Kessie. Since we are trying to improve our efficiency as writers of "finished" prose, measuring both "time spent" and "pages edited" would allow us to track "Absolute Output" [Pages Edited] and "Editing Efficiency" [Hours per Finished Page].
Does this sound reasonable?
SGD dave
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Post by almarquardt on Feb 5, 2012 19:04:40 GMT -5
Sounds reasonable to me.
Oh, I have to share something about how my attitude over criticism has changed -- evolved is probably a better word -- since I started writing.
Like most writers, I pour (or is it pore?) my soul on to the page. Allowing others to not only read it, but give their opinions is gun-wrenching. When unflattering comments come back, the first instinct is to lash out. I guiltily admit, I've done so on occasion. Horrible me.
I then red a short article in a writing magazine a few years back where an editor described critiques this way (paraphrased):
When we give our writing away -- our babies -- and it comes back with red ink splattered all over it, we think the editor had taken a knife and slashed our child to death. But that is so far from the truth. The editor is actually giving the baby a bath and dressing it up in nice, clean clothes.
I've taken that advice to heart since then. But my attitude took a surprising turn today. I asked an author if she'd be willing to endorse my as-yet unpublished novel, but only if she felt it was good enough. I also asked to let me know if she found any boo-boos.
She emailed me back today and said that although she is enjoying the book, she's found a consistent mistake that reduces the tension, but that it was a big enough problem it would take some work to fix it. My response was to email her back and nearly beg her to tell me. it's not mere curiosity, but a fidget-in-my-chair eagerness to know what that is.
I no longer tense in horror at the possibility of criticism, or even take the blows with quiet grace. Instead I'm banging at the proverbial door for it.
Does that make me a glutton for punishment, a slight case of masochism?
Or perhaps I want to see my first baby so clean, fresh-smelling and dressed, it can't be ignored once it reaches the public eye?
Soon (I hope) I will have yet another editing project to add to my list.
In the meantime (so I'm not checking my email every three minutes for the author's advice), I'm going to continue on with my Nanonovel.
And if you haven't read Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy, do! I just read all three books of the series in four days (It helped being stuck home with the flu since Thursday). Just so you know, it's not about vampires.
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Post by newburydave on Feb 5, 2012 21:17:52 GMT -5
Almq;
I don't know about the baby analogy but I think the attitude is right. I look at it as removing the problematic things I have, in my weakness, put in my manuscript that will keep the story and its message from reaching a wider audience.
One has to have good style and syntax as well as a good story line to get a hearing for our message. We need to be able to make our prose transparent to the reader so they will experience the story.
Keep at it, methinks you are on the right track.
Write on Sis
SGD dave
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 5, 2012 21:24:06 GMT -5
I like to think of the first draft as carving something out of wood, and editing as sanding it until I and my beta readers don't get any splinters and it's soft and smooth to the touch.
(and no, I'm not a sculptor by any means...)
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Post by almarquardt on Feb 5, 2012 21:57:20 GMT -5
Kind of ironic in that we have to scrutinize every word in order for them to disappear to the reader.
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Post by Kessie on Feb 5, 2012 23:49:28 GMT -5
I read somewhere that the easiest books to read were the hardest ones to write.
The baby analogy is a great way to look at it. The first crits are hard to take, but when I applied them and read over the result, the prose was so much better afterward. It made the story sparkle. I can't seem to make it sparkle without a real editor pointing out what I need to fix.
What was the mistake you kept making? My worst mistake I make over and over is starting with "As".
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 6, 2012 6:59:49 GMT -5
I'm a horrible speller. This has led to much hilarity for my beta readers.
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Post by almarquardt on Feb 6, 2012 17:31:24 GMT -5
Kessie,
As soon as I find out I'll let you know.
One of my annoying habits is using the same word over and over again. The word seems to vary from story to story, however. In my last novel, I used "chuckle" and "never" to the point my husband wanted to pull MY hair out.
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Post by Kessie on Feb 16, 2012 23:02:09 GMT -5
How's everybody's writing going? I'm thrashing out the climax of a story right now. It's rather like wrestling a crocodile, but I'll get the thing pinned eventually.
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 18, 2012 11:38:00 GMT -5
I finally finished the first draft I was working on. Boy is it rough...
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Post by almarquardt on Feb 19, 2012 13:02:32 GMT -5
Most first drafts are, but at least it's done. It's more than I can say right now I haven't written much except for a few blog entries ( www.almarquardt.com/blog if'n you don't mind a shameless plug). Right now I'm reading "How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query and Cover Letters" by John Wood. I'm also researching agents, and I'm happy to have found about a dozen prospects. Kessie: Watch out for those teeth!
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Post by Kessie on Feb 19, 2012 17:31:29 GMT -5
Somebody mentioned somewhere that there are editors who will critique your work in exchange for cover art and things like that. Where might I find a list of folks open for that? Along about June I hope to have a story ready for some hardcore vetting, and I need all the help I can get. (I can't pay in money, but gosh darn it, I'll work my fingers off to make a real nice artwork.)
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Post by newburydave on Feb 20, 2012 13:23:39 GMT -5
I submitted "Brothers Keeper" to C&C. Haven't heard anything back yet.
Got to finish "Island out of Time".
I bought the special offer on Randy I's novel "Oxygen" with the writers critique in the Appendicies. Wow! I highly recommend it for the writers insights alone (it's a good US space program thriller too).
Needless to say I had to go back and redo the opening to "Island" with the new insights.
Write on Sibs
SGD dave
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 20, 2012 14:56:29 GMT -5
I bought the writers edition of Oxegen too... haven't read it yet, but looking forward to it from the tips he gave in the article that said to buy it...
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rjj7
Full Member
Today I'm a drake
Posts: 202
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Post by rjj7 on Feb 22, 2012 16:16:04 GMT -5
Greetings Brethren,
After months of wasteful idleness followed by intense soul searching, I am once more among the aspiring authors. I shall from this day henceforth write something every day. Perhaps only 100 words or so, but it will be something. And when I say every day, I mean it. I have too many stories that need to be told to let them sit gathering dust. Too many characters longing to burst forth and take flight that I am slowly choking through neglect. Too many messages for ready ears that need to be sent ere their time of impact is long past. I shall stand once more amongst my comrades, shoulder to shoulder in the face of apathy, and I shall fight! The past is gone, and will never return. The future is out of our hands. But right now is with us, and it is ours to do with as we will. And what I will is to march forward with the stories and poor talents that God has seen fit to give me. May they speed forth across the world, lighting here and there where God wills, touching lives, if ever so briefly, in a way that will leave a mark that years hence may be used for the furtherance of the Kingdom.
For the glory of God, the everlasting, the almighty, the savior of us all.
Cheers all, and good luck.
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