The many joys of revising

Tip of the Day: want an interesting quick read? Check out this list of things from a 1911 The Ladies’ Home Journal on what they think life would be like in 100 years.

Revising is never fun, and it seems to be an ongoing learning process on discovering the best way for me to revise a current work-in-progress.

Currently, I'm working on revising based on feedback on the book, so I’m going about stuff a bit differently.

Here's what I've done:

• Printed out the feedback and made a bulleted list of the main items that need work to keep by me as I read through the book.
• Read through a printed-out version of the manuscript and made notes throughout. I rarely print out my manuscripts, but I wanted to be able to quickly go back and forth between chapters to make notes on things once an idea came to me. To make this even easier I printed out two pages per sheet and single spaced. Not only did it save paper and the small text made me read more carefully, but it made it super easy to find chapters I wanted to mark-up after the fact.
• Kept a notebook beside me as a read through the manuscript to jot down larger items that I came up with to change. Some people use post it notes, but considering my desk at work is cluttered with about 20 post it notes at a time, I was trying to organize that clutter into one paper list to make it easier on me.
• Then I’ve just been going through page-by-page to make edits and change things that need work.
• As I'm editing on the page, I keep open multiple versions of the manuscript, so it's easier for me to move things around. I recently purchased a new computer and got two monitors with it that makes this super easy!

And of course lots of chocolate and long hot baths have been in order before or after revising.
Any tricks on revision you’d like to share?

Do you think you revise different for every book? Or is that just me?

Happy Editing everyone.

Emily, Miss Revise-a-maniac

Slushy, Slushy Reading

Tip of the Day: Avoid the temptation to slump on the couch with your laptop, and find a comfortable spot that will support your spine and posture.

I've been reading some submissions for Rhemalda Publishing, assisting the acquisitions editor. If the manuscript and synopsis is really good, I recommend that the acquisitions editor read the full. We don't get a lot of strange, off-the-wall submissions because we ask for 30% of the manuscript and a synopsis. So the writer actually has to have written a novel to submit, not just have a multimillion dollar idea.

What I find is that don't really have a preference for genre. If anything, I'm probably pickier about the manuscripts in the genres I know well because I've read so much in them. If the story is good and I like the characters, I'll enjoy just about any genre, though.

But I have not recommended very many manuscripts. I haven't figured out my percentage, but I've only handed up three manuscripts, and I had slight reservations about each of them. Nobody's perfect, and no manuscript is either, I guess. The manuscripts I recommended had strong voices, likable characters, and something different that made them stand out.

Manuscripts I didn't like? The characters were hard to tell apart, the characters didn't have redeeming characteristics, I wasn't sure why I should root for the supposed main characters, there wasn't enough research done for me to believe the characters were who they were supposed to be. Even in a very plot-focused genre, I have to relate to your characters in some way. They have to be "real people."

And yes, I've also seen the "this is written YA but it should be MG" problem. That deserves a whole post of its own.

Anyway, check out Rhemalda--it's a great operation. They care about their books and care about promoting them. Plus, I'd love to read your manuscript.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

No Goal? That's Okay Too

Tip of the Day: Think you can't make money at epublishing? Look at this post by Joe Konrath.

I love how everyone is talking about the goals they've set for 2012, even though I don't set goals and I don't make resolutions. Thinking about where you want your career to go is is important. For many people, when they translate those ideas into a specific plan, a goal is formed. I used to makes goals when I was younger, but I gave that up about ten years ago. Don't mistake that for flightiness.

In 2012 I will release at least two more novels. The first is Afterlife, which I am writing right now. This is the sequel to Sleepers. After Afterlife I'll write the third book in The Swarm Trilogy. No specific goal for that either. I know Afterlife will be out by summer. The third novel in the series will be out by winter. I'll have more details as I get closer to release.

I have no daily word count goals. I don't force myself to write every day. Those kind of binding rules don't work for me. I tend to break them more than follow them. Then I get disappointed in myself and my writing. I lived that way for years. Not anymore.

Now I write some words most days. That 'some' could be 500 words, it could be 7,500 (I once wrote 7,500 words in two hours - I may have sprained a thumb). As for 'most,' well, I try to write Monday through Friday. Occasionally on the weekends. Sometimes at night. I fit it in where I need to.

To my odd little brain, goals are too limiting. I know I will have two books out this year. I don't have to set a goal to do it because I already believe I will. I also have a partially-written middle grade fantasy sitting in the wings, begging for attention. Then there's that contemporary YA that's about 25% written. When the time is right, I'll attack those with the same fervor I'm spending on The Swarm Trilogy. Plus, I have a third fantasy trilogy planned.

I don't think I'm bad to the bone, or a ruler breaker, or anything like that because I don't set writing goals. I also don't think being goal-free makes me a poor businesswoman. 2011 proves that I can handle the business side of epublishing too. I've spent the last seven years modifying my day-to-day writing techniques. I'm a well-oiled machine now. I've learned to trust my process and trust myself.

In the past, when I set goals, I was always trying to reach them. Now, I just do. Cheesy as it is, the clip below from Star Wars illustrates my exact approach to life and writing.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Stuff I Want to Do in 2012

Tip of the Day: Want a chance to win a signed copy of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS? Follow me on my personal blog and comment to let me know that you're following.

I suck at making goals. I faithfully wrote New Year's resolutions in my journal up until 2011 when I said screw it. Each New Year's Eve I'd look back at the previous year's goals and see that I never completed the majority of them. It just made me mad so I decided no more.

That doesn't mean there isn't stuff I want to do. Like sell another YA book. And finish writing the middle grade I'm working on right now. And then sell that too. That's not too much in a year right? I also want to finish writing this YA that I love, love, love. It's heavily outlined and several chapters are done so I can jump back into it any time. And I started outlining this awesome YA idea. Oh my gosh, it's such a good idea, I'm sure it would make a great book. So I wouldn't mind getting that written too this year. Oh, and I wrote synopsis for the first three books in a middle grade series. So how many books does that bring me to now...6 or 7? Easy peasy! Not. See? This is how I set myself up to fail. There's so much I want to do but I don't know what I'll have the time to accomplish. But I guess it's better to have a lot of projects in queue rather than be struggling to come up with something right?

Ok, so in 2012, my plans are to get a lot of stuff written. I hope you write a lot of stuff too!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Goal Control (or I Got To Write a Lot*)

*with apologies to Janet Jackson

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Follow me at @bmlkidsteens for tweets from my librarian persona!

I love the idea of coming up with a key word for the year and using that to focus my goals.

My life word is BREATHE. I sometimes think I forget to use 50% of my lungs. I work out a lot, but am doing more yoga and will continue to do so throughout 2012. Breathing helps to center, calm, and heal and I need to consciously do more of it at a lung-filling level. And release the air sloooowly.

My writing word is PRIORITIZE. As you will see in my month-by-month breakdown below, I want to finish 50 pages of one YA novel (a companion to my ms on agent sub), and a complete first draft of another YA novel (a humorous ghostly idea). I haven't written more than 1 book a year in....years. So if I'm going to do it in '12, I need to prioritize writing over other things, like a) reading, and b) futzing around on the internet. It will be hard bc I really enjoy both of those activities -- and now I have my addicting Nook! -- but I know I can do it if I focus on the satisfaction I'll feel with the end product.

And now, a look ahead:

January-February: Complete 50 pages of YA #1.
March: Get YA #1 to critiquers. Write rough outline for YA #2.
April: Revise YA #1 (50 pages). Start writing first draft of YA #2.
May-December: Complete first draft of YA #2 (about 200 pages).

I will also keep submitting and revising my current YA as requested by agents and/or editors, which may cut into the schedule above, but for now this is what I feel I can forsee/control in the next 12 months.

Thanks for keeping me honest as the year goes on (!!! Please???)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

My horescope told me it's going to be a good year

Tip of the Day: interested in ePubbing this year? There's some great free eBooks on Amazon to help you!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm very excited for this year. Because I feel there are big things in front of me. And not just because I’m imagining it or wishing it to happen, but my most recent fortunes on my Fortune Cookie App and my horoscope confirm it :) And as we all know horoscopes are never wrong. Merely because they are generally so broad and present both sides that they have to be right. Here are some gems it told me about 2012.

"…this is a year that might start out slow but within weeks it is going to explode into a flurry of activity.” And “they will experience the most of everything during the upcoming year of 2012. Libras will benefit from a very successful year 2012 in terms of finances and goodwill...”

Success, flurry of activity, and experiencing the most of everything. I'll take it!

I'll of course choose to overlook this other comment in one of the same horoscopes: “however, they should not fail to prepare themselves on dealing with a few discouragements and frustrations that may come their way…”

Anyway, I think the year of 2012 is going to be great in terms of my writing career. Merely because I’m choosing to make it great.

At the end of last year, I decided to indie-publish one of my old novels as an eBook under a pen name. After dusting it off and working on revisions, it is almost ready to go.

With that included, my concrete goals for the year include:

• ePub one of my Young Adult books
• Continue to submit one of my Middle Grade novels to agents
• Continue working on another YA novel I started several years ago
• Start working on an adult holiday novel

Looks like it might be a busy year. But all of that will have to be put on the back burner. Because late last night via email I received a wonderful revision request for my Middle Grade mystery book/potential series that I've been submitting to agents.

Now I've been around the Agent Revision block more than once. So I’m remaining cautiously optimistic. But I have a very good feeling about this. If for no other reason than my horoscope says January is going to be a good month for me :)

--Emily, Miss Cautiously Optomistic

Big plans, amazing plans, for 2012

Tip of the day: Think literature needs more cats? Check out this hilarious Kitty Lit article at AbeBooks.

Last week, we talked about our writing life in 2011. This week, we're talking about 2012--the Apocalypse! The apocalypse of laziness and being unfocused, I mean. And the apocalypse of negativity. Welcome to a new world of positive productivity!

Normally, I pick a word to be my theme word of the year, and my 2012 word is POSITIVE. Positive thoughts, positive actions. But in addition, I also wrote out goals for the year, something I rarely do. But I wanted to do it this year as part of my positive thoughts, positive actions mantra. With thanks to Margie Lawson's Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors, I have divided my goals list into sections:

Writing the Books--first priority
Networking
Career Planning
Self-Promotion
Self-Image
Growth
Business
Wild Card (stuff that would just be fun)

So, my number one goal is to finish the novel I'm working on by Valentine's Day. I'm finding success in this by working on my own writing first--putting it at the very top of the day's to-do list.

I'm also writing a to-do list! Seriously, I've been telling myself to do that for months. I'm also writing down how long I think it will take me to accomplish a task as part of the list. This should stop me from trying to cram 12 hours of work into a 6 hour day. Also, before I worry too much about the to-do list, I try to think of positive things. For example, my 13-year-old daughter has actually been waking up herself in the morning instead of me putting the cat on her head while her alarm goes off. Now I can put the cat on her head at a more normal hour.

So, what are your planning strategies for 2012? What do you want to accomplish just in case the world ends?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages