Polishing Stone, Sanding Wood

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One of the endless tasks of writing is editing. I actually think that when we start writing, we have no clue just how many times we'll read the same sentences. We get tired of the process long before we finish. One of my very sweet, attentive beta readers was talking to me about the process she's seen my story go through. She's read the entire manuscript twice in the last couple of months. As she made her way through it the second time, she noticed the smoothing and shaping I had done since the first time.

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She mentioned to me that it was almost like I was polishing a surface. Since she's my sister, Thea, she has observed and participated in the same process I have while our family of talented carpenters has shaped and sanded many a linear feet of wood. You start with coarse grit sandpaper and proceed to finer and finer grit as the wood smooths out. A finely sanded piece of wood feels like satin. 

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The same process applies to polishing stones--and stories. We start with a rough pass that looks at story and character arcs. Later, we spend our editing on connecting the pieces smoothly. Then, we proceed to the finest of word choice, sentence patterns, and the final polish on our stories. It takes patience, persistence, and an open heart to change for the better. 

Zan Marie Steadham

My main WIP is nearing its final polishing. It's ready for a class on revision that I'm starting this Friday, August 14, with Barbara Rogan, a wonderful writer, former agent, and editor. Be sure to check out her Next Level Workshops if you feel you need a bit of expert, outside help. 

Zan Marie Steadham

So how do you polish your writing? Do you have any suggestions to share? 

Next Week: Mini Book Reviews! 

I've Got Links and the Self Lovin' Bloghop

As you know, I'm chin-deep in revision/re-imagining/rewriting/re-everything with FRIENDLY FIRE, so here's some inspirational links to keep us going.

There's a lovely checklist on this one and suggestions for polishing it off. Check out the links at the end, too.
How Do You Know When Your Manuscript Is Ready?

I love this one! There's so many words to weed on this list, it should keep us busy for a while.
Plague Words and Phrases

I particularly like Ame Dyckman's "Door Test" and Lisha Cauthen's list of when to let it go.
How Do Authors Know When Their Manuscripts Are Ready?

And for you OUTLANDER fans:

Outlander Starz Instagram 

STARZ Outlander 

DianaGabaldon
 
And if you aren't a fan...What are you waiting for?  

And now the Self Lovin' Blog Hop from Tara Watson. She wants us to do something radical. She wants us to tell something positive about ourselves. I didn't have to go far to find something. Look at the rest of this blogpost. I'm want to encourage others with helpful links. That's right, I'm a natural-born encourager. If you know me from the Goals posts at Book and Writers Forum or from the WFWA Write-A-Thin, you've gotten a taste of my love of making others feel good about themselves. That's the goal of Tara's Bloghop! So, go on board and make some positive noise!!!

I'm Back....

...Well at least to a degree. Last Friday marked two weeks since my surgery and my foot is now completely unpacked and I can wear my shoe again. Even better, I can take a bath in the shower, not the sink. ; ) That said, I still have to take it slow to manage the swelling.

While I was laid up, I have been rereading FRIENDLY FIRE as it stands now. Unfortunately I've fallen into two holes caused by an earlier version of the story. I'm happy to report that I've been brainstorming "earth-moving" ideas to fill these holes. And, even better, I've finally crossed over into areas of the manuscript that I've read and worked on earlier this year. That means the road has smoothed out to just bumpy.

FRIENDLY FIRE started out as MOTHER'S DAY and centered tightly on Laura Grace's journey from childlessness to motherhood, but the story was much bigger than that narrow focus. As it branched out and widened in emphasis, it became a story about how widespread abuse is. As this theme was revealed, the front of the story no longer fits. That's what I've got to address. Some really good scenes will have to be ditched, but that's the story of most books as they make their journey from idea to finished (or at least final) draft.

How do you handle old scenes that no longer fit?
Do you struggle with cutting them or do you try to "renovate" them to fit?

And there's something really great to look forward to!
Rachael Harrie and Cally Jackson are planning the Fifth Writers Platform Champaign for September!!!

Check out these posts and get ready to rumble. ; )

Rach Writes    and   Cally Jackson Writes

Mission Accomplished!

No, I'm not being political. No at all.

And no, I don't have a completed rough draft to announce....

But I am proud to have a fully renovated kitchen. It took over six weeks, but every microwaved and crockpot meal was worth it twenty time over. (I'm not sure all the delayed writing was though. I'll have to get back to you on that...that is if I get started back to writing my WIP.)

(Just joking...I think. ; )

We replaced the old vinyl floor with porcelain tile and the old counter tops with new tops that look wonderful. Added a new microwave/hood over the stove, under cabinet lighting, a tile back splash, and more outlets. All in all, an amazing up grade. Just like WIP drafts, though, not everything needs to be changed to improve. The old cabinets got a lemon oil restorative treatment and we didn't change the layout at all.

Writing is no different. We draft a story and then go back with revisions and renovations that made add new characters and subplots, but the basic story remains the same. Or we just add small details to a scene to make it shine. 

I've spent a lot of time figuring out the place for everything and then putting everything in its place over the last few weeks. Writing is the same. Sometimes we move a scene from the front of the story to the back, or lop off the front altogether to create a new beginning further into the story.  We pull out things that don't work like old worn out phrases and repetitive words. Or we repaint by adding imagery or setting details. And we restructure by rearranging the order of the plot or change a POV.

 

The large pass through opening used to be an outside window. Now it's open and admits a lot of light into the kitchen. And hopefully my rewrites will do the same by allowing a bright view of real life. So, when the revising, rewriting, remodeling headaches come in my writing, I want to remember that the outcome will be grand with a place for every character to live and a scene in every place the plot needs one.



What about you? Do you have a way to keep your head up during renovation of your WIP. If so, please share it with us all. ; )

(Copyright of all photos is Zan Marie Steadham 2013)

Musical Chairs

First, it was moving the living room and study furniture into the spare bedroom, dining room, solarium, and back bathroom so the new carpet could be laid. Once that was done, we moved some furniture back in its rightful places and rehung the doors. Then we moved the dining room chairs from the back bathroom and into the spare bedroom where the doors had been stacked. That makes getting to the toilet a bit easier. ; ) Now, we've moved the dining room furniture into the study so that floor can be tiled.

Someday, we'll be done with this wave of renovation, but don't hold your breath. It's going to take awhile yet.

Until then, the analogies of house renovation to writing will just be too easy to ignore.

Think about our musical chairs game with the furniture. It's a lot like rewriting.We shift scenes around to make the story flow and juggle sentences to make a paragraph smooth out. And even continue on down to word and comma level. Getting finished takes a lot of shifting, fitting, cutting, and moving. Then we still worry that we are not done. At least until that glorious day when we decide there's nothing else we can do and we send our 'babies' into the world for others to read.

Come to think about it, it's kind of like hosting an open house to show off a new renovation, isn't it?

When It's All Said And Done...

No, I'm not done with a rough draft, but the study is nearly back together and I'm back at the computer. And it struck me how like writing house renovation is.

We have the first big project completed--new sub flooring, new carpet, and the trim painted--but we aren't done.There's still a door or two to paint, nicks to be touched up, and putting all the clothes and furniture back in place. But you can tell what we aimed to do this go around is done. Not to mention the fact that we want to continue with new flooring in the dining room. Ultimately we want to paint the bedrooms and gut the kitchen.

Writing is a lot like that. Once we have a rough draft completed, we aren't completely done. There's reading for holes in the story, word choice, consistency, and grammar. Then there's the query, synopsis, and more editing to do.

And even then, when we get a contract, there will be even more edits as our agents and editors speak up.

So, I'm celebrating a partial completion today. The study is usable again and that means I'll be able to get back to writing....At least until my hubby calls on me to hold a door, go get a tool, buy supplies, etc., etc., etc.  ; )

What about you? What interim points do you like to celebrate on this journey of writing?

And now a comic that says the same thing--only better.
Check out Writer Unboxed

U-Turns

• Have you neared the end of your manuscript and wanted to chunk the entire thing?
• Reread the rough draft for editing and wondered why you spent so much time on that?
• Get a few agent rejections and cease trying to send the WIP out?

If so, you are not alone.

THE ARTIST'S WAY explains this phenomenon.

• "An artistic U-turn arrives on a sudden wave of indifference."
• "Creativity is scary, and in all careers there are U-turns."
• "Typically, when we take a creative U-turn we are doubly shamed: first by our fear and second by our reaction to it. Again, let me say it helps to remember that all careers have them."
• "A successful creative career is always built on successful creative failures. The trick is to survive them."
• "Creative U-turns are always born from fear--fear of success or fear of failure.

I know these U-turns all too well. Nearly two decades ago, I stopped writing altogether. My SF WIP --THE DAWN AND THE LION--was deepening. I needed mountains of research to pull it off. My ability to describe the many fantastic settings was not good enough. The plot seemed to be stagnating. Even though my history students (who knew math and physics far better than I ever will) were enchanted with the story and had helped me create a simple time dilation equation, I  stopped. Even with a rapidly filling four-inch binder. Writing felt too much like work.

I had no clue then that a rough draft isn't the same as finished. All of them take revision and revision and some more revision. I didn't have a clue what craft skills I needed, but I knew I couldn't do the story justice. At that time, I had no clue where to go to find out about craft skills.

That was then and this is now. Besides having two published devotionals, I have not only the SF trilogy on the back burner, but a rapidly growing comtemporary trilogy that I'm calling women's fiction for the moment. That's subject to change. But far more importantly, I know that this isn't a quick job, and I know where to find instruction on craft--both in books and on line.

My U-turn is over...for now. ; ) I know I'll see a more down the road, but I won't stop this time--not now, not ever.

What have your creative U-turns been?
How did you get back on the road?

Opening Scene Remodel

~~Last week, I talked about the difference in repainting and remodeling when we're revising. I thought you'd like to see what I mean by remodeling. Here's the opening as of March 18, 2011. And now, the latest version. I still try to open a window into my MC, Laura Grace, without her sounding whiny. The other big change is that the child who will so change her life, Samantha, is now front and center.

~~Tell me what you think. Did my remodel help or hurt? Don't pull any punches--remember I asked for it. ; )

#

I wasn’t a mother, but I knew the look of a child whose parents were MIA. The girl at the end of the table had all the signs.

Her face was closed, contained as she watched the crowd of foster children at the party. What was her story? I might not want to know. In my thirty years of teaching teens, I’d seen the result of every possible abuse, neglect, and abandonment up close and personal.

Another cloud of sweet baby power drifted over me as one of the teens led a toddler toward the serving tables. So many little foster children made my heart ache. Most of this bunch was elementary age or younger. All of them placed with foster parents and not with their mothers on this Mother’s Day weekend. The noise of little children at play ricocheted of the block walls of the fellowship hall.

I didn’t have the stamina to do more than bake cookies any longer, but that I could do. My Tom, God rest his soul, would have been sitting cross-legged on the floor playing games with the kiddies. After all, we’d borrowed other people’s children for over thirty years in our classrooms. Church was just another chance to practice a bit of the love we had for children. Only he wasn’t here to share it with me.

“Isn’t it great, Laura Grace?” A grin crinkled my friend Jen’s eyes as she looked around the room and turned to me. “I didn’t expect so many foster kids, but we have enough goodies for an army. And it wouldn’t be a party without your tea cakes.”

I rearranged my cookies so they were closer to the edge of the tray. Now the little ones could reach them better. Turning toward Jen, I smiled. “Glad they’re a hit.”
She laughed. “Your teacakes will be gone before we’re halfway through the party.”
Rosemary joined us at the serving tables. She didn’t have to say a thing. All she had to do was look at me with that concerned gaze—the one she assessed me with every day since Tom’s death.

I raised my voice over the chatter. “Well, of course kids love cookies, but all of the rest of you have so much more experience with this age group.”

Rosemary snorted. “Of course Laura Grace should know by now what we want her to bake. She’s been baking for church parties for over thirty years.”

I scanned the crowd just in time to side step two little boys who nearly ran into me to grab for a cookie. The older girl caught my eye again. “I’m going to check on the girl alone at the end of the table.”

“Good. She’s twelve and you’ll know what to say.” Twin lines of concern between her brows marred Jen’s smiling face as she looked at the girl.

I grabbed one of my teacakes and a brownie. Maybe some chips? Collecting a cup of punch from the beverage table as I went by, I approached the girl who had riveted my attention.

Her curls were exactly the color of Tom’s when we were in high school. Then I saw her deep blue eyes and my step faltered. They were just like my Tom’s. Swallowing a sudden lump, I moved toward her.

Her eyes narrowed just a bit as I placed the plate of goodies on the table beside her. “Hi, I’m Laura Grace. I’m glad you came to our party.”
She looked at me, but her face didn’t change. No hint of a smile or ghost of a reaction moved the still face.

In the presence of such control, I knew I wasn’t going to get any response. I smiled at her and put the punch by the plate. “I hope you enjoy these. See you around.”
One of Rosemary's perfect brows arched as I rejoined them at the serving table. "You didn't get much response."

I almost said none, but the girl' s eyes had been wells of sorrow. "I hadn't expected much." The child had a foster mom, but it was obvious she needed her real mom. Did the woman in question have the resources to pledge to be there no matter what? "Jen, what do you know about her?"

Jen's sigh sent a chill through my heart. "Her mom was beaten to death by her live-in boyfriend. Samantha saw it all."

My throat clenched on a sudden taste of bile. A foster mom was as good as it was going to get. So much pain. No wonder she was withdrawn.

"That's horrible, Jen!" Rosemary look back at the girl. "Wait a minute. How do you know that?"

Jen's lips narrowed into a tight line. "Bob was still a patrolman three years ago.

I looked across the room. Bob Thomas was giving a little boy a piggyback ride. At least four more children hopped around him like fleas waiting their turns. Maybe not the most dignified job for the chief of police, but it revealed a sincere heart.

"He told you too much." Rosemary's voice hardened.

Jen turned face to face with Rosemary and would have been nose to nose if I hadn't been between them. The heat rose as they towered over me. "He has to vent some time or the job will kill him." Her voice was as tight as Rosemary's. "It's the reason he got the men involved in helping with the kids today. He knows several of these children’s stories." She looked down at me. "Laura Grace, surely you and Tom talked about the horrors in order to survive teaching all those years."

"Yes, we did, but it went no further. I'm sure the case workers would be horrified to know what Bob's told you. Maybe we should just let it go." But as I talked, I watched Samantha. So deep a wound and wounds that deep didn't always heal.

#

Throughout the party, I kept vigil over the girl who became the symbol of the intense pain families could inflict on each other.

Her still face never cracked, never registered more than a closed façade until her foster mom returned to collect her children. Then Samantha glowed with concern as she corralled the three small boys. Her pale hands twined with the two smallest – one Hispanic and the other black. The mom, who was black, balanced two tiny twin girls on either hip. The oldest boy clasped the smallest boy’s other hand after Samantha called him to attention.

There was love there and I could only hope it was enough to reach Samantha's core. If I knew how to help, I'd move the mountains to do it. But I was not a mother. That was what Samantha needed because her wound was rooted in her mother's murder. No one was going to replace that woman's love. Certainly not me.

As they left the room, I began picking up abandoned paper plates and cups. When I reached where she’d sat, I stopped. Only the tea cake was gone from her plate. The brownies and chips were untouched. Tears prickled my eyes. At least I've added a bit of sweetness to her life.

Revision?

~~What I know about revising a manuscript wouldn't fill a thimble. Some would say what I know about writing a draft of a novel would only fill two thimbles, but I do know good advice when I see it. Check out Tracy Hahn-Burkett's post on Writer Unboxed--"Macro-Revision: Take It One Piece at a Time" and let me know what you think about revising a manuscript.

~~Do you have any advice or ideas about how to organize the revision of a manuscript?