The Editing Iceberg
- At November 23, 2015
- By Niel
- In Advice, Writing
2
If you’ve ever written a story you’ll know how important editing is to the process. Without it (unless you’re some sort of alien genius) your story will be flabby or under-developed or just not as good as it could be. Editing is the only way I know to make a story better.
The first draft is your chance to get all those ideas out, to throw stuff at your story wall and see what works and what doesn’t. But the real work happens in the edit, this is when you really get to know what your story is about. You can play with themes and structure, you can develop characters – hell, you can even delete characters! If you follow my YouTube series Writing & Stuff you’ll have seen me talk about merging two characters into one: each character serves a purpose in your story. Sometimes you might find you’ve got two characters who serve the same purpose, but you only really discover this in the edit. The edit is where you make sense of your amazing stream-of-conciousness first draft. (Jason Arnopp calls it Draft Zero, Stephen King talks about writing with the door closed.)
“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.” – Stephen King, On Writing
Editing is what makes authors look good. But don’t get me wrong, I detest editing! I’d love it if everything just worked on the first draft. Sometimes it goes really well, the ideas come quickly, the solutions to the narrative problems are clear…
But usually problem-solving just means thinking over the plot for hours at a time. A lot of editing is done away from the keyboard when you’re busy doing other things. Your subconscious is still trying to fix the problems with your story. You can usually tell a writer who is editing by their far-away distracted expression.
My first book, Sorrowline, went to seven drafts before it was ready to be published. Editing is hard, hard work (not like being a nurse or a policeman or a child minder, but hard work, relatively speaking). Certainly, it’s the hardest part of the writing process, and will take the longest time to get right. In fact it’s like an iceberg, with far more lurking below the surface that you can see above the water. But, to push the metaphor down your throat, you really have to take a big breath and dive down deep into those icy waters to make sure your story is working as well as it could be.
It helps if you take some time between completing your first draft and editing. Take a week or two away from it, go outside, see people, have a life, so when you return to your story you can read it like a stranger and see what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve just finished the fourth draft on my latest work-in-progress, and I think I know what it’s about now. Each time it gets a bit tighter, a bit more polished, but it never gets easier. Each edit ends with the tired triumph of a job completed, even though you know it’s never done, it’ll never ever be done until it’s published.
Previous posts on writing advice:
Writing & Stuff #02
The second edition of Writing & Stuff is now live on YouTube for your pleasure, affection and scorn. This time I talk about character and how sometimes you need to take a step back from your work and figure out what purpose that character serves within your story. Also I visit the Game On exibition in Newcastle and review IDW’s Miracleman Artifact Edition collection. Please do subscribe, hit the like button or leave a comment. Thanks.
MWAHAHAHAH! Ten Sure-Fire Tips to get your book published!
- At June 12, 2013
- By Niel
- In Advice, Writing
- 2
So now I’m a published author I must have all the answers, right? Right! I’ve been given the secret code to the secret door to the Super Dooper Secret Club Of Super-Evil Published Authors, or SDSCOSEPA for short, but as no one could agree how to pronounce SDSCOSEPA everyone calls it MWAHAHAHAH!
When you’re initiated into MWAHAHAHAH! you must swear never – NEVER! – to reveal its secrets. The initiation ceremony is long, painful, and involves sticks, jelly and branding. Oh, it’s cruel, designed to make sure that no one ever tells the outside world how to get IN. It’s up to the jobbing writer to find out the hard way, by years of trial and error. Well, that’s all about to change! It’s time you common folk knew how to get on in publishing, and I’m going to tell you!
Don’t worry about the consequences to me – I’ve had my children’s book published – I have my private jet and my island in the Caribbean. This is my gift back to you! To hell with it all! Here are the secret rules of MWAHAHAHAH! Ten Sure-Fire Tips to get your book published!
- Read books. Lots of them. This comes as a surprise to some members of MWAHAHAHAH! If only they’d known it sooner.
- Write – every day if you can. Make it part of your routine. Enjoy it, nourish your creative urges. Discover what you like to write. It’s supposed to be fun – that’s why we did it as kids, when no one made us!
- Write for yourself, no one else! Don’t write to order, don’t follow trends. Just write and enjoy what you write. Some members cry at the liberation this gives them, after years of second-guessing the publisher’s needs.
- Experience life. This one confuses a lot of new members of MWAHAHAHAH! Basically it’s an extension of point number 1. By reading books you live a bit of someone else’s life, but you must never forget to live your own as well. Travel, see films, meet friends, spy on strangers on trains – carefully! Watch documentaries, game-shows, soaps, anything that makes you think. Oh, and here’s another shocker – this one is meant to be fun as well.
- Seek out advice. Members of MWAHAHAHAH! obviously don’t need (or want) advice, but until you get there you should ask others what they think of your work – when you’re ready find a few people whose opinions you trust, who will be constructive and not drain your enthusiasm. And remember: it’s no good being the greatest writer on this little planet if you never bother to send it to anyone. If you’re a perfectionist, guess what? It will NEVER be perfect. NEVER! You have to be critical of your own work, and don’t be precious! When you think it’s good enough send it out and move on to the next thing. But before you can move on…
- Finish it! Simple really. No one ever bought half a car.
- Expect failure. This is the only rule every member of MWAHAHAHAH! fully understood before they joined up (signature in blood and sweat.) When you fail try to learn from it, then forget the failure and move on. Don’t beat yourself up. There is always someone who gets there faster than you.
- Be tenacious. If you ever want the secret door to the Super Dooper Secret Club Of Super-Evil Published Authors to open you have to keep going, even on the days when you really don’t feel like it. Have your revenge on those people who turned you down by being a better writer. Eventually the door will open and, believe me, it’s worth it for the carpet alone.
- No one knows what Rule Number 9 is. When you hit the top spot of the Sunday Times Best-sellers list you’re summoned to a doubly-secret ceremony with ‘Kevin’, the elusive Grand Master of MWAHAHAHAH! where he tells you Rule Number 9. Some say it’s Never eat broccoli on a Tuesday, but that’s just a rumour started by JK Rowling. She hates broccoli.
- If all else fails and the first nine rules don’t get you published then this one will: buy a major publishing house.
And that’s it. Keep these rules safe – who knows how long it’ll be before this site is mysteriously deleted from the net. Treat them with respect and these rules will serve you well. Before long I look forward to meeting you on the annual MWAHAHAHAH! outing to the Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall. Good luck!
Just keep plodding on!
- At May 25, 2013
- By Niel
- In Opinion, Writing
- 4
I don’t like Taxi drivers talking to me. I prefer them to keep looking at the road and keep the conversation to its bare minimum. Why? Well, if we get talking they usually end up asking what I do for a living. When I say I’m an animator (I’ve not had the courage to say I’m a writer yet!) they often look confused and I have to resort to, “You know, cartoons,” which is nowhere near accurate but it gets us close to the right area. The driver usually smiles, asks a few more questions and says something like, “that must be a really interesting job!”
And it is! Working in the creative industries can be fun, but like any job it does have its down days. I think people who do ‘real’ jobs sometimes forget our jobs can be just as stressful and tiring as any other line of work – it just looks like more fun from the outside. After all, we don’t wear suits! But we still get dark days. Its on those days that you can find yourself wondering why you do it. Life would be easier doing one of those ‘normal’ jobs, wouldn’t it? Besides, the world is full of writers, artists, animators, musicians and poets. What’s so special about what I have to say? What’s so clever about my drawing that means I have to share it with the world? Well, in truth the answer is both nothing and EVERYTHING! The reason we do it is because we can – we WANT to do it. We want to do good work that’s appreciated. We want to add our mark to the creative landscape. And hopefully we can make a living doing it – if we’re very lucky!
But in spite of that creative drive we all have days where the hill is just too high. The summit is so far away it’s not even worth starting the climb! I’ve had a fair few of those days, and I finding myself stopping, wondering why I didn’t bring a map, why I’m wearing slippers and not hiking boots. Then I remember this is just a metaphor, and slippers are just fine. And the map? Well, we make up our own maps, don’t we?
When I was having one of those days recently I was moaning to friend and author, Dan Smith, and he gave me this perfect little gem of advice: “Just keep plodding on.”
It’s simple, but so true. Just keep plodding on, one step at a time, even on those mapless days. I saw this advice echoed to me again when I was re-watching Finding Nemo:
Just keep plodding on, just keep swimming, and eventually you’ll get somewhere, even if you’re not wearing the right shoes.
Dare to Page Jump!
I’ve never been an adrenaline junky. I like the ground under my feet and the sky above me.
Years ago, when I had the opportunity to do a bungee jump I considered it for about three seconds, then decided it wasn’t for me. The thought of two weeks of anxiety in the run up to doing the jump followed by sixty seconds of euphoric relief didn’t seem to add up. Why? Because I could imagine how what it might be like, hear the rush of wind through my ears, feel the uncomfortable build up of pressure behind my eyes.
Yes, the actual event wouldn’t be quite the same as I imagined it, but anyone who writes, or draws, or does something creative will have one thing in common – a fertile imagination. So I could also imagine my feet ripping from my ankle sockets, the rope snapping and my skull compressing into the soft matter that was once my brain as I hit the ground below me.
Too many variables, too much imagination. Or maybe you’d call it cowardice. Either way it means I’m not the sort who seeks out thrills, puts my body in harms way to get the blood pumping through it.
