The Little Things

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Well, darn. We didn't have any entrants in the contest.

That's okay. We'll do another one this summer. 

A few changes. As you can see, I made it a little less impersonal layout for the blog. Second, I opened comments.

Now, on to the fun stuff! Oh, all right, that was a bit facetious, but editing can be fun. No, really. But this time, I'm going to talk about breaking "the rules." And make this a pirate-y gif-fy fun blog to boot.

As writers, especially newbie ones, the rules are thrown at us from all sides. And in the beginning, it helps to keep us in line, learn about the craft. But eventually, a little bug bites us, and we need to *gasp* cheat. Break the "rules." Or the entire story doesn't work.

Bear with me here. My favorite line in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is when Kyra Knightly's character, Elizabeth Swann, yells, "They're more like guidelines anyway!" This line applies to writing. 

No, really, they are only guidelines. Rules are meant to be broken. And guidelines are meant to be ignored. If done correctly.

One of my favorite self published authors, Jade Hart, breaks the rules regularly. So does Laura Eno. And dozens of others I don't have the time to name (They'll appear regularly - so keep checking!). 

The reason it works? They are careful how they go about it. They are willing to go the extra mile needed to ensure writing out of the box is smooth, comfortable and only noticeable if you look closely. These authors are the pirates of the writing community. And worthy of using as great examples.

In Jade's Ocean Kills, she breaks a big rule. The book is in first POV. For more than one character. That's right. You don't read just the MC, but the love interest's as well. She keeps it one POV per chapter, but transitions the reader smoothly with subtlety. At the top of every chapter is a graphic which tells the reader who is on deck. She ends the chapter with a cliffhanger, and that also tells the reader to prep to switch into the another headspace. Brilliant.

Laura Eno breaks another rule. She writes in more than one genre. From YA to Romance, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural, Historical .. this great lady does it all. And her fans love her for it. She doesn't box herself into just one, allows the story to be what it is. Despite the industry telling us to stick to one genre, she's proving it isn't required. She allows her writing to sell itself, not pigeon hole her imagination. Fantastic!

Both of these authors are willing to go out on a limb, but listen when ideas are thrown their way to help make it easier. And because of that, they break the rules in great ways.

You can do it too. It's scary, especially the first time out. And as an editor, it's my job to help authors break those rules, in outstanding ways. Do it. Be careful, watch how it's done successfully by others, then go out and turn the publishing world on its ear. 

Now for some shameless self promotion: Check out our latest addition to services offered. While we do full comprehensive edits of your MS, if you just want to check and ensure your MS is ready, or to get that extra hand, we do partials for only $50 for your first 50 pages. It includes a comprehensive edit by either Robin or myself, an email of our thoughts and suggestions and one Q & A session via email.

Contest time!

As I mentioned in my last post, we are having a contest. And it's time for rules! Stop groaning, they aren't bad, promise.

What you need to do:

Write two paragraphs of the worst writing possible. Be funny. The contest is open until May 31st. Don't edit, leave every mistake possible.  Email your entry to cliffhangerediting [at] gmail [dot] com. Subject: Worst Writing Contest

Rules:

You can enter up to three times.
All entries are to be Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing.
Do not be cruel to/about others. We want funny,but nothing cruel. Auto delete.

What's going to happen:

Robin and I will sort through until we find the ten we love the most. On June 3rd we'll post those ten, and I'll open comments to the general public. Voting, by the public, will begin for the top five.

Winners will be chosen by the amount of votes.

The prizes are as follows:

First Prize - comprehensive edit by Robin and me, including a detailed email. Approximate value: $600
Second Prize - two partial comprehensive edits of your first 50 pages, including detailed email from Robin and me. Approximate value: $50 each
Third prize - two partial beta reads with detailed email from Robin and me. Approximate value: $20 each.

And that's it! So get to writing! Can't wait to see what pops up in our inbox!

Howdy! And Some Editing Tips & A Contest

Robin and I have been busy, trying to organize a bit more, and get the word out about Cliffhanger. And at the end of this blog, you'll find Cliffhanger Editing is having a contest. So if nothing else, scroll to learn more!

Luckily for us, we have some wonderful authors more than willing to blog and give us some shouts on Twitter. We are humbled. And filled with lots of jumpy lurves.

Jade Hart, a fantastic author, has allowed us to help with edits of her self published novels, and works with us over at Curiosity Quills. One, you need to check out her books, and two, just need to get to know her. She blogged about Cliffhanger, and we did a little dance once we saw it.

Now on to the fun stuff.  You know, editing tips. Those scary, mind boggling, what do I do now, the Fort isn't big enough for all of my writer-ly friends, editing pit falls.

First and foremost - congratulations on finishing! Statistically, very few are able to push their way through to the end. It's tough, mind boggling, reduces gray matter to mush, exhausting, exhilarating, fall in love, imaginative, wonderful experience. And look at you! Accomplished, made a goal, completed an idea to fruition! Do a dance, go out, celebrate. B R A G! Then take a nice long nap to rejuvenate. Find your brain, try to remold it into something resembling intelligence so that when you talk to outsiders, you don't sound as if you'd just slipped out of the self-huggy jacket in jewel tones.

After you have rested, prepare for the editing and revisions. For some authors, this is the part they love. For others, like me, I try to avoid it for as long as possible. Long naps, fear of reading what was written during the feverish clacking of keys. Most often, it's humorous, but the thought of going through more than sixty thousand words is daunting, to say the least. Then to have to polish it, and do it over ... and over ... and over. It's going to hurt.

Come back, I promise to be gentle. Really! I've blogged about some of the simple stuff on my personal blog, things every author - yes, Robin and me included - are guilty of and should edit out on the first pass. What do I mean first pass? Yes, that thought just scrolled across your forehead. Don't feel alone, it is in neon, capital letters scrolling repeatedly across my own. Robin is in denial, she says nothing like that scrolls across hers. I'm just happy to know I'm not the only one. Relax, calm down, and you'll find that if you do it in a smart manner, it isn't as bad.

We are going to get into some deeper editing tips to help every MS. Sit down, have a drink, a snack, a good cuddle with a furbaby ...

Second Pass Edits

1.) After you've taken care of basic grammar, punctuation, passive, etc, the next pass is to look deeper. 

When going into your second pass, I advise many to look for things like too many characters introduced. *Points finger at self in guilt*  For example, two characters are conversing and they drop seven or eight names. Be very, very careful. If too many names are given, the reader can be jerked out of your world. It's usually best to reference the characters in some way - time, place, job, etc - so the reader can connect the dots when the characters are "physically" introduced later.

The first chapter is not only a place to introduce the MC, or in one case of a well written book, the protagonist, it is also where hints and tips of the upcoming plot should be added. No, don't give away the entire plot line, but do give some insider, subtle hints. At the same time, don't be so subtle the reader doesn't pick up on it. *Points finger at self, again*

2.) Voice. How many times have we, as authors, heard this one? Voice is the feel and sound of the narrator,  whether 1st POV, 2nd POV, 3rd Omniscent, or 3rd Tight. I've seen voice that was beautiful, subtle but there in the background, forcing me to hold onto every word. Or mine, which is loud and in your face many times. Plus everything in-between. As a writer, you can show the voice in the first sentence, by actions of a character. When editing, keep the voice consistent. You'll instinctively know when it doesn't - there is a feeling of the words being off.

3.) Point of View. Joyce Alton, a wonderful person and author, blogged about POV. She did a great job explaining the four types and what they mean. Bookmark!

Another mistake I see often when editing, is the changing POV. From 1st to 2nd, sometimes switching up to 3rd and then back to 1st. Pick a POV - and stick to it. The MC in 1st POV isn't going to know explicitly why another character did something, their thoughts, feelings, etc. Unless they have a deep psychic connection. If they do - make sure you've spelled that out in the very beginning. 

If you are using 3rd Omniscent, watch your transitions. Don't head jump constantly, it can leave the audience dizzy and frustrated. I have seen wonderfully written books with almost ten character POVs in one chapter, but the transitions made it seamless and easy to follow. 

I'll leave it at three tips for now. Remember, breaking the "rules" is great! But do it for a reason. The "rules" are really guidelines anyway. 

I'll post more tips next week, to delve even deeper into edits and revisions. 

A Contest

On Saturday, May 18th, we are going to take entries into a contest. I'll give all official rules, etc, then. But here are the prizes:

One free comprehensive edit, to include an email regarding the work from both Robin and I. Worth approximately $600.

Two free comprehensive partials - the first 50 pages of an MS, and an email regarding the work from both of us. Worth $50 each.

What do you need to do? Well, first, you need to write two paragraphs of the worst writing you can think of - and be humorous. The funnier the better your chances. Find every writing rule and break it. Be creative, don't be cruel, and something you won't mind us posting. Be bad, be very very bad. 

And tweet, tweet, tweet! 

Welcome to Cliffhanger Editing!

As with all things, the first out of the gate anything is usually the most nerve wracking.

Same for us. Robin and I, T.J., would like to welcome you to our little world of helping authors achieve their dreams.

We know, it's enough to make you bald, bathe in chocolate, or become a regular at the liquor store looking for Hemingway.

Our goal for this blog is to share tips and tricks, making it easier for you, the writer. And, if possible, give you a few laughs and giggles. I'll share all of my faux pas. We are all human, we just have a need to share those alternate realities with the world.

Let's face it, the world thinks writing a book is easy, and publishing even easier. They don't see the bitten nails, squirrely hairdos, rumpled clothes, and fingers still itching to type more words. Most of the world doesn't understand the need to talk to characters, twist into rather compromising positions, or the constant worry it just isn't good enough.

We are there, too. I have a book in the query trenches, and I'm fairly sure Gmail is the one sending me emails in all caps, "STOP THE REFRESHING!" Robin is revising two books at once with another in the query trenches. I'm trying to finish the first novella in a series due to be self published this summer.

Yeah, we get it.

Don't be shy. Drop us an email. Ask questions. Offer up suggestions about blog posts you'd love to see. And we won't lie to you. If we don't have the answer, by golly, we'll find it for you.

Welcome to Cliffhanger Editing.