Fay Thompson, Author/Artist
@faythompsonauthor.bsky.social
I write Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror that is slightly bent, a bit fun and certain to be an adventure. I also art. I encourage writers of all levels with writing. Nevada! NO AI here. DMs closed!
My adventure for tomorrow is to pack out for my holiday. That means laundry is first and while that is running I will box up my books for the post office. Then a trip to the store and voila, I will be within 24 hours of my train. I'm already mentally ready...
My doctor is holding me hostage - my refills demand an office visit. They don't warn me just let my refills run out. It's a bastard scam. I've been on these drugs most of my life (no opiods or addictive meds) They just want more money in their coffers.
My friends came by today for several hours. We had fun. One is driving me to Amtrak on Monday. Tomorrow is my pack out day. I will be shipping BETA, ARC books Monday morning so if you have been waiting, that's when! :) #writingcommunity #booksky
Editing aligns your story with the reader's version. You will discover later at some 'reading' event that your readers have a completely different perspective on what your novel is about. This may freak you out. You aren't really there when the reader reads. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing
What is important to you about your novel, is not important to the reader. You are telling a different story than you think you are. This is because your perspective is unique toward this exact content. You are responding to nudges from deep inside yourself. #writingcommunity #booksky #writing
Clean prose is a good objective. This simply means that all of your sentences have 'good' construction. It doesn't mean you are done but it cleans up some of the worse crap in your rough draft. What are your bad writing habits? Do you know? #writingcommunity #booksky #goodwriting #prose
Overuse of verbs is a pass. Overuse of 'to be' verb is a pass. Removal of passive voice is a pass. Circular or doubled descriptions, another pass. Excessive use of words... Adverbs and adjectives.... Exposition... Flashbacks... Just... Suddenly... #writingcommunity #booksky #editorialpasses
The writer gives the reader just so much but not too much. They need the reader to be fully engaged in fleshing out the imaginary world of the character. The more the reader co-creates, the deeper the reader is invested in the story. This is a hard lesson. #writingcommunity #booksky #editingpass
Readers are 100% capable of solving for the character's problems as they read. They flesh them out in their mind, yell at them for being stupid and root for them when they make the right moves. The reader imagines the world using their own references. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing #writing
The reader takes a leap when they open your novel. They plunge into a story whole. They co-create your novel. This means there is room for the reader to apply their inner puzzle solver to the problem you are posing in your first few sentences. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing #editor #incite
As a self-editor it may take you years to recognize a weak beginning and gain the confidence to search out the real inciting incident. An inciting incident is an action. That action will key into the ending of the novel. The incident should thrust the raw reader into the story. #writingcommunity
Your beginning and ending should be of whole cloth and relate to each other such that the reader experiences satisfaction. This means the editor is checking in on their rollercoaster ride plot arc thingies. Is the writer moving from crisis to crisis in the story? #writingcommunity #booksky #editor
The pro editor recognizes throat clearing and ruthlessly lops it off. This trimming process is shocking to a new writer. Their hard-written words are precious. How dare this pro editor chop the chop? The editor also reflects on the ending. Did the writer nail it? #writingcommunity #booksky #edits
When new writers start a novel they tend to grope around for the inciting incident. In this groping they tend to wax on about things the reader doesn't need. These can be all kinds of descriptions of weather, what people are wearing, flowery back story etc... #writingcommunity #booksky #editorial
A pro editor would read your rough and ruminate. Then they would take their beastly red ink pen and draw a line through up to 5 chapters at the beginning of your draft. Throat clearing. They would start your novel at your real inciting incident. #writingcommunity #booksky #editorialpasses
Improving your grammar will accidentally improve your whole manuscript. So, you do grammar edits while you are developing and refining your editorial eye. If you worked with a pro editor your first editorial pass would likely be developmental and plot. #writingcommunity #booksky #editingpasses
Your gramma may be questionable so it is a good idea to do the simple sentence structure edits. Know that a real edit would be lopping off your weak crap right now but you may not realize your weak crap is weak crap yet. So, fix up your sentences first. #writingcommunity #booksky #weakgrammar
Don't try to fix your beginning yet. Just do your first careful read of your manuscript and shift into editing mode where you are looking for common grammar problems, sloppy writing, circular writing, excess flowery crap and all the usual suspects, plus typos. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing
As the writer you likely think your opening for your novel is fine. It is about 50% likely to not be so hot. But, writers often start novels with some scene that lures them in. They mistake this lure for working on readers. This is a mistake. #writingcommunity #booksky #editorialpasses #editing
After your rough draft rests then you start your editing process by reading the draft slowly. You may tell yourself this is a typo pass. In truth, every editorial pass is a typo pass too. So, this isn't a total lie. It is just a way to start to edit. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing #typos
While you have one novel in your 'edit' pile, write a new novel. This will help you become less defensive of what might be wrong with your novel in edits. You will likely be fussing over the new novel by then. Let your rough draft rest first, for a few months. #writingcommunity #booksky #editing
Editing is about gaining visibility to the problems in your rough draft. Often this insight takes a maturing eye. This eye takes time to develop and become active. Try to give yourself about 2 years after your rough is done to gain insight and courage. #writingcommunity #booksky #insight #editing
Let's talk about specialized editing passes. If you are a newer writer and your pockets are thin then you are likely to try to self-edit your novel. This is not impossible but usually you need to set aside your aggressive time-line for publication. #writingcommunity #booksky #selfediting #timeline
Good Morning Saturday Writers... Saturdays are for writing. Hopefully, your neck of the woods are having low stress weather today and you can relax and get busy. We are running at 100 degrees which is hot and dry with afternoon high winds. How about you? #writingcommunity #booksky #writinglife
I am finishing up some formatting work today and I will be boxing up some books heading out to new homes. Should be a fun day. I'm still trying to finish stuff before my holiday. I'm hurrying! #writingcommunity #booksky #holidays
Donating a copy of your book is not free but it is likely affordable as part of your book marketing schemes. You should be able to order copies of your titles at cost. You should have copies on hand all the time. You want people talking about your novel local. #writingcommunity #booksky #raffles
You can likely donate your new books to local raffles for almost any event or non-profit local to you. Usually these books are autographed. Your name and the title are often announced from the podium. The person who wins is somewhat likely to read your book later. #writingcommunity #booksky #read
Make decisions from a longer viewpoint. You are not just marketing your current novel. You must think that you are likely to write novel 2. This means your marketing won't stop. Your spending on your novels won't stop. Be a novelist and think like one. #writingcommunity #booksky #novelists