Writing Frustrations

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

I am curious to know if any other author looks at his/her work and wonders, "What is this mess? Who wrote it?" I am having difficulties looking back at my own work--a novel I wrote last year, to be specific--and asking myself if I am ever going to make it and find a publisher with the mess I have created. The writing seems okay, but that is it. Nothing special. I like the characters, mainly the protagonist. The subplot is interesting as is the interaction with the other players. But I am really concerned with the writing.

I look and read books by my favorite authors and question how many drafts they had to write, if any, and how many set of eyes looked at it and corrected each sentence, paragraph, and page of their manuscript to make it readable, better. I think my qualms and jitters stem from having read my novel several times over and am having trouble locating errors, which I know exist on each page. I find it challenging living in a small town with few options for network. I am frustrated to no end. Any advice? Is anyone else experiencing the same dilemma?

[I. J. Parker]

I revise multiple times, page by page, chapter by chapter, and the whole manuscript. In addition I have two readers (there used to be more but I've dropped out of my writers group), who react to the book chapter by chapter and I make changes based on their comments. All of this happens before the ms. leaves me.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Thanks for the advice, I.J. By the way, I enjoyed The Dragon Scroll. I downloaded it to my Kindle. Very well done. Well-drawn characters and good storytelling.

[Donna Carrick]

I.J., yes, I agree. All of my work is subject to repeated "re-works", first by me, then by my writer-editor husband, then by me, then my my writer's group, then my me. Then I sit on it and read it "cold" and edit it again. And I'm always surprised that I STILL catch something I wouldn't want seen!

We don't get into this "WRITING THING" for an easy mark, that's for sure! It takes a lot of dedication and a sincere willingness to constantly improve. A desire to seek out personal roadblocks and overcome them. In my case, being born to Maritimers, I fight against my own little irritating "turns of phrase" all the time. (Example: I looked all day for my mittens, and there they were -- GONE! haha)

[Kris Neri]

Only every other day. But on the off days, I look at what I wrote and am surprised that it's good. The same material that I regarded as crap the day before. The roller coaster is normal for me.

Other people certainly can give you an objective perspective, and can point out aspects that are not clear, or gaps that you missed. However, they can also lead you astray, taking your book to a place that isn't right for your vision. You gotta watch whose advise you take, and know when a suggestion or solution isn't right for you book. For me, writing is more solitary and that's how I like it.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Nice to meet you. Thanks for the advice.

[Donna Carrick]

Kris, I couldn't agree more -- outside evaluation is priceless, but only if the writer is selective in how to use it. Never lose sight of your original vision. And never lose or doubt your own voice.

The one thing most readers can't tolerate is a weak voice. Right or wrong, they like their characters to be "definitive".

Many, Many drafts....Many Many edits. However, easy on the self-doubt -- it really damages the creative fire.

[Morgan St. James]

I'll preface this long post by saying that a set of two of my novels will be released next year. They took fourteen years to make the journey from my first words on paper to the coveted contract for publication.

In the meantime, I wrote several published short stories, and my sister and I started the award-winning comical Silver Sisters Mystery series. The important comment is that during that period of time, I really learned how to write fiction. Periodically I would open the manuscript of what is now A DREAM LOST and THE DEVIL'S DUE and give it another shot. Until last year, it was one massive book, and would probably never have gotten published.

Going for the seventh, or maybe it was the eighth round--I've lost count--the lightning bolt suddenly hit. This was two books under one cover. So, I rewrote again. A year later, I submitted them to my publisher who loved them. Then I decided to publish them under the pen name Arliss Adams because these books are romantic suspense, and are not at all like the zany Silver Sisters madcap mysteries.

My advice is keep at it. Some manuscripts will finally tell you they just aren't going to make it. But don't be afraid to rewrite a few times or even several times, as I did, until you either nail it or scrap it. Do have friends or other writers read your manuscript and give comments, but only those who you know like the type of story it is. You wouldn't give a science fiction thriller to someone who only reads about warm, fuzzy romance, for instance, because that won't be the right type of critique. Ask for honest feedback.

Here's something you can look out for. I recently gave a talk at one of the writers groups I belong to, Henderson Writer's Group in Las Vegas, about drawing pictures with words. When you read your work over (and over..and over...and over!) ask yourself if you have created a scene where the reader can actually imagine what it's like being there. Is it dimensional or flat?

Here's an example of what I mean. A protagonist is going back to the home of their childhood, only to discover that it's in a state of total disreapair. The author could write a flat description like: "There was the same white house with its green shutters, although one of them had come unhinged at the top. The grass was dying." There are places where you can make your novel sing and, in doing so, make the reader a voyeur who can sense what it's like to be there. But, like any good thing, use with discretion. Reserve these broad graphic descriptions for the places where "word pictures" count.

In the above example, maybe the writer could have tried something like:

Approaching the familiar house at the top of the hill, I could almost feel the flakes of dingy white paint peeling off the clapboard, then drifting to the ground like a light snow. The once-vibrant green shutters still flanked the windows on either side of the front door, but now one hung at a crooked angle, flapping in the light breeze. It was as though the house dared strangers to come closer. The crunch of dead grass trailing onto the broken concrete walk, made snapping noises beneath my hiking boots. It felt foreign--not at all like the scent of fresh-mown grass I'd remembered. But then I'd been a seven-year old kid, rolling down my parents' hill.

Keep at it.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com

[B.R.Stateham]

Find trusted readers. Not necessarily friends who are going to say you're the greatest writer sice Aesop. But someone who'll be genuinely critical when its necessary. For yourself--read backwards. Take a page and read it word for word from right to left. Grammatical errors will leap out at you. Another idea (thanks Mark Henderson, for this one!) blow up the page to about 150%. Again, errors just leap out at you.

Nuts and bolts editing, to be sure. Plot problems are going to be found easier by someone else. That's why you need to find an honest critic.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Thanks, B.R. I've never tried reading the manuscript backwards or blow it up to 150%. I will give it a try.

[Donna Carrick]

Oh -- this is good stuff, B.R. I will definitely try blowing up the pages and also reading backwards. Thanks for the public service! Best regards, D

[Dan Coleman]

Find someone( or a few people) you don't know who loves to read in the genre in which you're written something and ask him/her to review it and be brutally honest only about what ISN'T liked, and why. If at least one-third of those(assuming you get that many) are in agreement, and take the time to help you, you've got a legitimate criticism and probably need a change of some kind. If not, you're probably better off not making a change based on the critique. Somewhere you have to draw the line on advice or risk that your story looks like a literary Mr. Potato Head created by a committee. Generally, with a subtle change of vocabulary(better words) here and there, some good line editing, and a story/plot line that's easy to follow, it'll likely be the best effort you'll make on it.

But most important of all, you've got to quit comparing your work with that of others or you'll never be unique or interest readers or editors. No advice or education in the world can make you exceed your innate ability to write, which, by the way, is not the same as the will to write. You either have it, or you don't. You can be taught to be a better non-fiction writer, a reporter, for instance, but not a better novelist, except maybe a formula fiction writer. It's why most of us never make it, along with a few other reasons not nearly as important.

[Thomas Grant Bruso]

Thanks for the sound advice. I do believe in myself and my writing. However, like a lot of creative people, I think I am too hard on myself at times, but I only want the work to be the best it can be. You're right, of course, I shouldn't compare my work with that of others. Thanks again. I appreciate it.