The “Black Box” Approach to Editing

by benmweilertNo Comments
A piece of editing advice often given to writers is "Kill your darlings." The feedback we receive from readers is important to identify these sections that don't work. Even if we think it's the greatest bit of prose we've ever written, these "darlings" have to go. If you're lucky, these portions of your story added nothing to the overarching plot and can be easy to write around. However, what happens when the darlings you just killed leave tremendous gaps in your story? Chances are, you've probably written the entire story before you gave it to someone to critique (at least, that's how you should do it). You've likely spent a bit of time figuring out the logic of the plot, ensuring that actions result in your intended consequences. But if a key event in your plot isn't landing correctly and you need to cut it, how do you stitch together what you have? How do you make it so you don't...
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Why self-publishing isn’t “free”

by benmweilertNo Comments
I have always said that one of the main benefits of self-publishing is that there is no financial barrier to entry. Anyone can write a book and have it published without paying a cent to anyone. Granted, this is also the reason why many people look down on self-publishing. With the costs of self-publishing being non-existent, there are no quality checks to ensure the content being published is good enough for readers to spend their money to buy it. Sometimes, this can result in backlash with angry readers leaving negative reviews. Often, not investing in a written work doesn't produce the sales an author would like to make (and is the main reason I don't make a living with my writing). Over the years, I've learned that self-publishing isn't just writing a book. Instead, self-publishing is editing, formatting, cover design, marketing, and any number of other tasks that combine to create a polished product. Depending on an author's skill level, some...
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Why you shouldn’t ignore creative burnout

Why you shouldn’t ignore creative burnout

by benmweilertNo Comments
Working on creative projects takes a lot of effort. When things are running smoothly, it’s easy to ignore how many tasks need to be done, especially if you’re trying to accomplish this project alone (as I’ve written about before). But when does it become too much? When can a creative endeavor cross over from pleasure to work? Part of the problem of accumulating creative projects is the desire to work on all of them at once. For some, it’s how they pay the bills. For me, my creative pursuits are meant to be enjoyable hobbies. I understand that some aspects of these hobbies (like editing) aren’t the most enjoyable, but they still need to happen if I want to produce a product I’m proud of. There are plenty of ideas I want to see come to life, but I don’t have the time to work on them all simultaneously. Sometimes projects overlap. I’ve recently recovered from a bout of creative burnout. I pushed...
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Why “spell check” is not enough

by benmweilertNo Comments
English is hard. Certain words may be spelled the same but have completely different meanings. Other words may sound the same, but have different spellings (and thus, different meanings). There are even words that may change meaning with the addition or subtraction of a single letter. This is why context is a huge part of the English language. Depending on the words around it, the correct word can be implied, but an incorrect word will still jar the reader enough to pull them from the story. They’ll likely re-read the sentence, trying to make sure they understood the author correctly. When they realize the writer made a mistake, they’ll continue reading, but they’ll have a seed of mistrust planted in their minds. From that point onward, they’ll question every word the writer uses, just to make sure they aren’t mistaken again. This increases scrutiny on the part of the reader, and can often distract from the author’s intent: conveying a...
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The 4 types of edits, and why you need to do them all.

by benmweilertNo Comments
It is a rare feat to be able to write a perfect story. It’s even rarer to do so with the first draft. Hubris blinds the writer who considers the first draft of their writing to be perfect. Some writers might fall into the trap of crafting every single word of their first draft, thereby almost ensuring that the first draft will never be complete. On the other end of the spectrum from the “perfect first draft,” we have writers who will continue to polish a story forever, never settling for “good enough.” While no story can be “perfect,” editing will help to get it close enough for publication. In my experience, editing takes up the majority of the writing process, and for good reason. While some authors may continually iterate the editing process, I have found that there are four types of edits every writer should use when revising their work. These four types range from simple spot checks to...
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What it takes to do it all

by benmweilertNo Comments
There are days I see the benefits of going with the traditional publishing route. When you are signed on with a publisher, they provide some of the hard work it takes to make a manuscript into a polished and publishable product. From editors to formatters to cover artists to distribution, these publishers have the resources to help an author be successful. But what about the self-published author? One of the common misconceptions about being an author (especially a self-published one) is that we only have to write. In reality, a self-published author needs to perform the entirety of the publishing process by themselves. Now, you may be asking yourself, “OK, you have to do it all, but what does that even mean?” Let’s start at the beginning of the process, and I’ll walk you through it. If you want to self-publish, you have many jobs to do. Many of the most famous authors have a research department (or person). These are the people...
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Which Hunter

by benmweilertNo Comments
Being concise is one of the standards of superior writing. Unfortunately, when you're writing the first draft of your novel in a month, your mind might insert a lot of "filler" words. I've had this problem for years, but recently have come across a simple solution to help my manuscripts "cut the fluff" during the editing phase. For some background, one of my beta readers for The Third Degree noticed the word "that" popping up more often than it should. My solution at the time was to replace most of the "that" with "which." I had always heard the advice "don't use that," so instead of eliminating the word from my writing, I merely shifted it to a different word. Now that I've received notes back on The Constellation Tournament it appears I've been found out. A completely different beta reader was distracted by the enormous amount of times I used "which." Recognizing the problem, I set about trying to find a...
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