Tag: editing

Hello feedback my old friend. How I cherish thee.

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Hello

After posting a short story I’ve been working on for a bit in my last post I received plenty of feedback. This was all quite helpful and very much needed. After going back over the story with the feedback in mind I could see where the story needed to be improved. Thank you to all those who commented on it. I’ll be reviewing and editing said story soon and I’ll probably post it back up for more comments.

I haven’t had any of my stories critiqued in a while so this was all very refreshing. I received some good comments about the story as a whole. Lori Fetters Lopez gave some very valued feedback indeed. Thank you Lori. I also received some good, honest and straight to the point comments about my grammar and use of commas from a few editors that frequent the Facebook writing groups I’m part of. David Neely, Sean Cleary and Roy C. Booth thank you for time and words.

If I could give any advice about being a writer it would be to embrace all kinds of feedback and take all the good parts from it. If you find yourself on the receiving end of someone’s rant about your story just so they can use a whole host of long and not needed words then just laugh at it and pick out the bits you can actually use.

Right, I’m going to get back to it. And if there are any grammatical errors in this post, either let me know or leave me to find them later.

Cheers

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One finishes and another begins.

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Hello

After my lovely trip to Krakow and a few days more off work, which included a daft amount of drinks followed by a revolting hangover, I knew I had to get back into the swing of things.

Before going on holiday I was drawing ever closer to the end of the story I started whilst taking part in NaNoWriMo. I realised as I started to write again that the story was even closer than I thought to being finished. And then, as if by magic, it had finished. I suddenly realised that I was at the end of my story. It’s like it crept up on me whilst I was writing.

I had many ideas about how to end the story but all of them didn’t seem to work as I got to the last few lines of the book. I considered having it carry on after the hero’s had won the day but I ended up just finishing it with one line. After weeks of wondering how I was going to actually end my story, I settled on just one line of dialogue. If I can give out any advice about writing, and if anyone would listen, it would be this.

Trust your instincts.

After doing so and finishing my third full story since I started to write any kind of stories, I decided to edit one of the others I completed. It was a story about a small, self-sufficient town that lived in the shadow of a dense and dark forest. This forest was populated by monstrous bugbears that could attack them at any time. To stop this from happening, five hunters have been given the task to hunt and protect to town. It was a story born out of frustration as another story I had intended to be small had grown and needed more work. I just wanted to finish a story so I could go back to it and edit the thing later and iron out the creases. My very first blog post has as its subject this very story entitled ‘The Town of the Mountain.’

Anyway, the first draft has been done and I’ve started to edit it. Its looks like it will take a long time as after only the first chapter I’ve removed one big paragraph and trimmed down a lot of the others. Though I have to say I do enjoy it.

This leads me onto my question for this post….

How do you go about the editing process for any of your stories?

Cheers

That short short story of mine

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Hello

So I’m well on my way to finishing my entry for the writing magazine’s short short story competition. Having only 750 words to work with is hard. But exceedingly good.

I’m settled on my story but making sure use all the words are used correctly and none are wasted is as good as it is bad.

Its bad because I find myself overthinking what words to use. But I suppose any writer does. Should I use the word ‘explain’ or ‘define’? Should I say ‘he wounld’nt have it.’ or ‘he would’nt listen.’ The story is set in my head but the words that link it up just keep on changing. This is bad because the deadline is 13/4/13 and with editing comes one or two corrections each time. I shall keep going though. I’ve come this far.

Its good because I get to see an idea I’ve had for years grow. I get to see an idea which I’ve sat on for ages come to fruitition. I have to say I find it…how do I put this…well awesome! Even if the story doesnt get me anywhere in that competition, I’ll have it written. I’ll have it to re-jig. I’LL HAVE IT.

Anyway, i’m gonna back to it. That thing won’t edit itself. So I’ll leave you with a question…

Have you got an idea you’ve been sitting on?