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Post by veryblessedmom on Mar 27, 2009 19:46:53 GMT -5
I know, in a perfect world, the two would always go together, but we live in a fallen world.
As I've taken on the challenge of learning how to write my stories, I've started paying more attention to the books I read. My conclusion - there are best selling authors who tell their stories and unpublished authors who show their's.
I ask because by nature my creativity overshadows my skill. That is no excuse not to work hard and do my best to learn. For example, I am not very organized, but I can't give up and live in chaos, but at the same time, I know I will never be Type A.
If my stories are interesting and engaging and I really work hard, but am never a perfectly clean writer, is there hope for me?
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Post by duchessashley on Mar 27, 2009 20:45:39 GMT -5
Oh, I hope so! Because I'm right there with you!  I think if you have a solid entertaining story, then there is hope. Isn't that part of what editors do? To guide, direct, and help polish? I've also learned that while there is a standard set of "rules" to follow, a lot of them are subjective. Be encouraged and don't give up. Trust me, I would never have called myself a "writer," but I have recently dedicated myself to learning the craft and I have noticed a difference after applying just a few things I have learned. Am I "there?" No. Will I ever get "there?" I've heard seasoned authors say that they still have things to learn, so I doubt it. But it sure is a blast! Once writing is in your blood, it's hard to shake it. But I am finding that I don't want to. And I think you will, too. ;D |
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Post by kouter on Mar 27, 2009 23:32:43 GMT -5
I definately say don't give up hope. I've been working on my first novel for 4 years and in that time I can compare my first draft to what I have now and it is like night and day when it comes to the writing. What remained the same was the story and that was well received from even the first draft. So what I can say is that story is probably more important than writing, but the writing will come with time and training. I've had my MS professionally edited by 3 editors now and I have learned a great deal from each.
What its really helped with is my current WIP where I now know the writing rules and the first draft should be much cleaner and tighter. My main worry with second wip is the story--can i replicate the level of story telling I achieved my first time around. I hope so, but I think story telling is the one thing that is harder or maybe even impossible to learn. Its more a talent then a skill. Although like anything I'm sure it can be honed.
What do other people think?
~Kirk
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Post by torainfor on Mar 28, 2009 11:32:23 GMT -5
Alas, from what I've heard, editors don't actually have time to edit. The good thing is, you can hire an editor before you send it off. Jeff does that, in fact.
As for perfection, bagh! Take POV, for instance. Since I started learning about the rigid rules of keeping each section in one POV, I have had the hardest time finding published, successful books that actually do that.
But don't worry about that. You're doing the first draft. Grammar's for the second. Or maybe story-tightening is the second, and grammar's the third? Anyway, you're not supposed to be worrying about it yet.
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Post by mongoose on Mar 28, 2009 13:09:22 GMT -5
Speaking of published authors slipping out of POV within a section, Ted Dekker, in the first chapter of "Bone Man's Daughters" begins in third person omniscient, and then slips a couple paragraphs later into 3rd person . . . what's the other one? He's just from the perspective of the POV character, at that point. Ted Dekker! Like, next to Tolkien, Shakespear, Jules Verne and Paul, IMHO, the greatest writer I've ever read! Even better, I think, than Anne Rice or Tom Glancy, and possibly better than Grisham. And he violates the rules!
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Post by torainfor on Mar 28, 2009 20:24:13 GMT -5
You're pirates. Hang the code, and hang the rules. They're more like guidelines anyway.
Elizabeth, Pirates of the Caribbean
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Post by veryblessedmom on Mar 29, 2009 13:33:59 GMT -5
I've heard that editors don't work with writers anymore and most writers hire their own editor. I did pay a couple of people to help clean up my first chapter before entering a contest. That 1 chapter was all I could afford. I bought the self-editing book. The thing is, I majored in Journalism and always had to have my papers edited by my sister-in-law. I never could pick that stuff up. That and math are just too logical for my brain.
I remember reading a story by Woody Allen in college where his character gets stuck in a math book for eternity. Just the thought of that makes me cringe.
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Post by Christian Soldier on Mar 29, 2009 17:14:53 GMT -5
I think that having a good support base helps here, too. There are people ready, willing, and able to assist you, for free, with your work, if only to find them. Like me, for instance. Anyhoo, I agree with every: first f=draft is for story. True, being the perfectionist that I am, I tend to edit some while I write, but it also depends on how into the story I am at that moment.
Editors do work with writers, but only to a certain degree. The editor has to keep in mind that he or she cannot spend more man hours on any ms than the ms will sell for. In other words: if it won't make a profit, he or she will not edit it. It sucks for us, but there you go. That's where agent's come in handy. An agent can help you get your work up to snuff without having to pay anything as long as it meets the same requirement as it does for the editor: profitability.
We write because we love. They edit/print because it makes money. Simple as that
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