Edits…A Cornish Stranger

Well, I had a lovely month off in November. I worked on a new project during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), A Cornish Affair won the Festival of Romance's Reader Award for Best Romantic Read (still smiling) and I read lots….

A Cornish Affair with it's award

Now comes December…A Cornish Stranger time. I haven't looked at the story since I pressed send at the end of October which is a good thing. I needed distance. My edits arrived and any hope I had that I had done better crashed to the floor. As I read through the pages, yes pages, my heart sank lower. Had I learned nothing? And as I wanted to scream NO a quiet little voice at the back of my brain said…she's right you know. My editor is brilliant and she really 'gets' my writing even when I don't. I know that sounds weird but I become lost in the story and can't see 'the whole' and she can, which means she sees the holes…holes big enough to drive a truck through.

So I read the edits through and sort of cried…yup big wuss. I felt I had failed. Then I read them through again and tried to sleep…tossed and turned all night. Then woke and spent the day watching rugby and the Dubai 7s and let my mind do it's own thing and did that the next day too. On Sunday morning I had another sneaky read then continued to do other things.

Woke Monday and took out my highlighters...

And then began to go through the pages of notes and begin to jot down the things my mind had been working out while I enjoyed the rugby (and as you can see by the pics below I enjoyed the rugby!)….

The 7s fans are brilliant!

DS1 and Liz Fenwick

What i really enjoy about the rugby - shallow I know!

And one of things I saw clearly was that I my heroine wasn't developed as she should be because so many of the things my editor pointed out…shouldn't have been queried. I hadn't done my job.

So all through Monday I kept rereading the notes realising that there were only really three HUGE problems…so not sooooooo bad after all (still a lot of work ahead on me but somewhat manageable I hope)

So Tuesday morning I emailed my editor with some of my thoughts and we bounced ideas back and forth (I love this bit because somehow she makes my brain spark and I get ideas left right and centre. I also love how she never tells me how to do or fix anything…just just tells when things don't work.) After those emails I made more notes and only then did I print off the first chapter and begin to revise/edit

And so it goes….each  morning I read read all the notes, especially the first pages which highlight the big issue that I need to keep at the forefront of my brain as I work through the problems big and small. And it gives me a huge thrilled to but a tick next to the items I've dealt with….

And I have to say I am so grateful that I have an editor who puts this much thought and work into my books. 

So many people have asked me about the editorial process and does it change my books? Well, yes and  it's still my book but I hope and pray and much better book. 

PS…Tere a few days left to enter a Goodreads Giveaway for A Cornish Affair (even if you already have the book it might make a good Christmas present! Goodreads Giveaway

Editing and Morning Light

I'm making reasonable progress on A Cornish Stranger but the morning light is so distracting 

A Time of Change

I think the cover designers got the cover just right in  A Cornish Affair

Again I have been a terrible blogger but having a stunningly perfect summer kept me away from the computer and of course writing A Cornish Stranger took priority. I did post loads of photos on my Facebook Page here. It was the most glorious summer, in fact just like the summer I wrote about in A Cornish Affair. When I was editing A Cornish Affair last summer I had wondered if I had dreamt it all up (wrote the first draft of ACA in the fall of 2006 & winter of 2007 and the summer of 2006 was wonderful so it can happen!).

So now it's September...DS2 is about to go to university (he did incredibly well in his exams). Tomorrow he and I take the train to Leuchars (nearest station to St Andrews). And I will then have two at university! How life changes...

And I have begun to edit A Cornish Stranger (which is due to my editor on the 31st of October and due out in May 2014) and this is a big change too. I haven't quite finished the rough draft. I know the ending, it's all in my head but the book has changed so much that I need to 'live' it before I can make the ending as strong as it can be.

This book has given me nightmares. It began from a saying I found in my research for A Cornish Affair...save a stranger from the sea, he'll turn your enemy. I began writing the story for NaNoWriMo in 2012 just to exercise my writing muscle and had 10,000 words. My editor like the idea so that was chosen as book three. So we brain stormed the idea and she saw potholes before they happened...and I had a rough outline. This was totally new. In the past I began with a vague idea, a title, and a character and wrote until the end - plot holes and all.

This time has been very different and I'm of course doubting myself and the story (which my dear friend Biddy tells me is part of my process and I do it every time!). So fingers crossed the magic will happen in the editing and A Cornish Stranger will shine...

Happy moment- A Cornish Affair at number 2 & The Cornish House at number 5

Oh, I forgot to mention opera...yes, there's a huge opera thread in the story which has been a wonderful excuse to listen and learn more about opera and its world but terrifying as I have to put together a Cornish opera (not the music) but the score of one so that parts of it can be in the book! i certainly don't make things easy for myself!!!

What's your favourite opera?

PS there are a few days left to enter a Goodreads give-away ... 3 copies of A Cornish Affair to win here.

Editing is Hard Work - How Do You Know Your Work Is Good Enough

Sarah Duncan has been running a great series of posts on editing. The latest one is here. The big thing is that editing is hard work. I can hear my inner student SIGH. I hate hard work or at least I did. I have learned to love it. Back when I mentioned I was on the 27th draft of August Rock people were amazed so I outlined my process (here). It's long and there are no short cuts. But in the past I would try and find them...The result was that I short changed myself and didn't get the result I wanted (an agent, a publishing deal and an audience for my stories).

Look at it this way...if you want muscles you need do strength training (unless you are still growing when it appears that food and sleep are the only requirement - casts glance at sleeping teens). If you want to be a concert pianist then you practice. If you want a publishable book you have to write, rewrite and edit. I know there may well be a few cases out there where the first draft was flawless but they are rare. So if publication is your goal embrace the work.

For make no mistake it's work and at times I rebel against this. I am lazy at heart. I don't want to read the damn thing 300 hundred times. I don't what to check my verbs, adverbs, adjectives....I don't want to look at each chapter, scene, paragraph and sentence. But I must if I want readers to love the story and not feel the writing. I make sure that each word, each sentence and so on is there for a reason - and just because I like isn't good enough. As Donald Maass reminds again and again in his books...tension is the key to page turning quality...this of course is another matter altogether but while you are examining your writing so closely that should be in the back of your mind....more on this later.

So coming back to that issue...how do you know your work is good enough? Does every word in your story carry its weight and move your story forward? Each sentence? Paragraph? Scene? Chapter?

Now be honest...have you looked that closely? If not check out Sarah's posts because they are a good starting point.

Edits and Cornish Research

On Friday evening I pressed the send button on the edits! I know I will have more to come, but for now they have gone. YAY!!!!

While I was doing them I did manage to do a bit of research...one piece for THE CORNISH HOUSE and the other for AUGUST ROCK and we did it on the first of August which is appropriate for AUGUST ROCK....

On the first August with the spring tides it was perfect for exploring coves along the Helford River that are rarely accessible and one of these coves is used in a new scene in THC. The first draft of the scene I had written from memory but I need to verify my facts....

As you can see from the photos the tide was way out - a spring tide. It is during tides like this that August Rock becomes visible above the water of Falmouth Bay. Normally the reef is hidden and only the green buoy alerts the mariner of the peril at hand. 

I have several scenes in AR, in the water around the reef. Therefore I had to know what it was like. So I volunteered DS1 who is an experienced scuba diver to jump overboard, snorkel around it for me and take pictures. The day wasn't ideal for photography because it was overcast and the conditions were not those I was writing about, but it was better then no idea at all.

To say that we were all a little bit uncomfortable about anchoring our boat so close and chucking DS1 out of the boat was an understatement. It was a good exercise in 'how would my character feel' - dry mouth, heart racing, sweaty palms and excitement. I experienced them all while I watched him fight the current and paddle about.

Coming Up For Air...in Cornwall

I have been to Italy to celebrate my twentieth wedding anniversary...fabulous.

I am now happily ensconced at home in Cornwall. In order to keep the troops happy I am waking a five and working straight through until eleven or twelve when they wake up...(the joy of being a carefree teenager) and doing it with no internet (withdrawal is painful).

But this is not normally how I work and at times I've thought my brain would explode from trying to think things through without the usual breaks - cleaning (the house is a tip but don't tell anyone), shopping (beans on toast again), and the internet (so no posts, not much twitter or Facebook).

My editor has asked for some pretty substantial changes in the first half of the book. Remember my post over at The Heroine Addicts on Knitting...Well remaking the pattern with the right tension and pacing has to be honest been brutal. I used my notes on the wonderful Julie Cohen's session on the Pacing Is Not Just Something You Do In Jimmy Choos. She did this at the RNA Conference in 2008 (my report is here but her blog has a wealth of information on pacing - just type pacing into the research box and you hit the jackpot).

The first half is done...not perfect yet...fine tuning is yet to come. But I can now look at the book as a whole unit again and see that it works. In the process I have written about 20,000 new words and deleted even more. Somehow I have 'lost' five chapters...and some of my favourite scenes but it does seem to be holding together and I hope better for all the work. For the moment I will continue to weave the changes through the rest of the book then listen to the whole thing....It's good that the house is so quiet at 5 am.

This is what my afternoons and evenings have been made up of...

Knitting and Editing

I've blogged about these two diverse things over at the The Heroine Addicts. All this thinking about knitting has me absolutely itching to kni,t but must stay focused on the editing then I can knit! On twitter @katkalina suggested I knit a sweater for each book...they might be on to something...

What I'm Doing Now... A Leap of Faith

I have been posting a lot but then I have been doing such fun things I wanted to share them. However I haven't done any writing posts in a while...

So while on my walk this morning which was glorious...I was thinking about where I am with my writing at the moment. Well I'm about to start revising again...this time Penderown. I recently have learned a few things about how I work. I need to write that first draft in a rush and get the story on the page not worrying about whether it makes sense or not. I need that first draft to be free of concerns...it doesn't have to make sense and it can if it wants defy the laws of gravity so to speak. It is more an exploration of an idea and characters.

This riotous first draft leaves most of the work to follow. I have this mound of words (anywhere from 70,000 to 90,000 - I under write) which I need to craft a gripping story.

Back last spring I pulled Penderown up on the screen and begin to work with it...boy did I struggle. I spent ages writing 20,000 words which I then cut. They weren't wasted words though because I needed to write them in order to know one of the main characters better. So for my RNA New Writers' submission I sent in the first 80 pages and had great and useful feedback.

Now I have just finished a major rework of A Cornish House and  I have learned a great deal from this. In this last rewrite, I cut the best scene I'd ever written. Ouch, but I could see finally that the story didn't need it. I needed to trust my own writing enough to let go of something I felt was better - if that makes sense. As new writers we frequently hear the words - Trust Your Reader and this I'm sure is true. But at this point I only a few readers and what I really needed to do was trust myself as a writer. This is a huge leap of faith because underneath whether we admit it or not we are insecure. So the lesson I learnt on this last rework of ACH was trust myself as a writer...I don't have to hold onto a scene because it's the best I've written if the story no longer needs it...

So as I embark on Penderown I need to keep that in my mind...trust myself as a writer. Or as Anita Burgh continually reminds....listen to your Inner Voice.

Now thanks to Sarah Duncan here and here  Ive printed off the script single spaced (much more manageable and saves paper - I don't know about you but I can find a stack of 400 plus pages daunting) and I'm doing index cards for each scene. I need to see where this books is or isn't going and make sure I follow through and trust myself as writer... Do you?

The year of the Rabbit

Found the description below in an email today and as two in house are rabbits...


1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.


This rabbit has her head down editing...and it may well be down for a while. However must leave you with a few links... 


The first from Sarah Duncan here. This has helped me on so many levels but the biggest is being overwhelmed by finding things in a 440 page pile (you know when you need to go a check your facts and debate moving a scene...you either have to scroll endlessly or flip through pages and pages...Sarah suggests printing out the script single spaced and voilà half the size and less intimidating) There is much more in the post and the comments are helpful too. 


The next is also a useful editing tool if you've done it in the first place, which unfortunately I haven't but I will in the future...time lines. Sue Moorcroft's post is excellent on the use of them and it has pictures :-) here

Clean Up

I finished the big rewrite of A CORNISH HOUSE and at the moment I'm still pretty happy with it - this of course will morph into it is total rubbish soon, but I will enjoy the 'it's okay' sensation while it lasts. When doing the sort of rewrite I have just completed, the focus was totally into the emotion and motivation and the plot ...so I didn't look at the small stuff, the niggly stuff which leaves me with a whole lot of cleaning to do....especially as I added nearly 15,000 words to the story.

So I have been cleaning and I thought I'd share with you what that has meant thus far. When I did the last rewrite I did an index card for each scene. On it I list the basics:

chapter
scene number (this is continuous through the book 1-115 in ACH's case)
page numbers
POV
Location or locations
Who is in the scene
Basic point of the scene

These cards have been handy for referring back to - for example I wanted to know when I introduced a character or another thread of the story.

Now in my cleaning up process (aside from crossing the Ts and dotting the Is) I am adding two more things to the cards:

First line of scene
Last line of scene

This is so I make sure that they all don't open with my heroine sitting drinking coffee or something etc (thank you Anita Burgh for this suggestion)

I am looking very closely at dialogue and dialogue tags...thank you to Nicola Morgan for her timely post on the subject here.

Also, now that the story is truly in place I reread a post by Cath Bore reporting on a workshop she attended with Joe Finder entitled A Sense of Suspense which is helping me makes sure that I keep the mystery going....

I am keeping a time line to make sure that it is chronological (as it is important to the story) and as I have chopped and changed things along the way I have found some real humdingers on the time front...

Finally I'm looking hard at each scene again and asking if it really needs to be there...now that the story is totally in place I feel I can be even harder on those scenes I quite liked but....

The last stage will be listening to the story again...my ears are better at spotting awkward phrases and missing words than my eyes will ever be...What do you do when you 'clean up' a manuscript?

To Prologue or Not to Prologue

Personally I like a prologue as it jumps starts me into the story, but I gather the general feeling is no. The reason I raise this is because for my submissions (yes, I did do as I said I would and subbed) I ditched mine. Why you ask? Was it badly written? No, in fact it contained some of the tightest prose in the novel. Was it needed? Now there is the question. What was contained in the two pages of the prologue is central to the main conflict for the heroine so it is definately needed. But is it needed on page one? I thought long and hard about this. I thought about the comments by from the crits. What type of story was I writing? What type of market am I aiming for? My MWS reader asked me to put myself along side another writer in my chosen genre to help an agent place me. She gave me a few suggestions, but I hadn't read most of them or not in many years anyway. Needless to said their books are now on my tbr. I don't yet know where to place myself as my writing is changing and evolving. This is a problem, I know.

So where am I going with this? Well, while in Cape Town I thought about ACH. I thought about where it had come from and how on this last rewrite I turned the book around and balanced it out. It became Maddie's story and not Serena's. In order to do this the stakes rose dramatically. The issues became heavier. It was no longer a book of team angst and light romance. It had pain on the type of pain alot of people don't want to look at or talk about. I stopped and thought about where I found this as I am a glass half full person. Life is good even when it stinks because that's life. Yet the words of one of my first readers spoke to me - 'I was disappointed because I wanted to see you deal with more because it's in you.' (This was about August Rock) So I did with ACH. ACH is a book about letting love and forgiveness back in your life when you can't forgive yourself. It's about hating what you've done so much that you shut down part of what you are. It's about faith and it's about redemption. So I had a choice. Do I do another rewrite and make it lighter? Just focus on the relationship between the two women with a romance thrown in or do I let the book stand as I want it? Do I want to get published or let this sit in the drawer?

I want to find a publisher, but in my heart I knew that ACH must stay pretty much as it stands which more than likely means in these depressed times it will be rejected again and again, but you know what that's okay. Odd to say that, but ACH's message is important and one day it will find a way out.

Having said the above ACH won't get any where if I don't send it out. Which I confess I had thought of doing. I debated leaving it for another year to see if my writing or the world had changed. But then I thought no. I really like the book and my characters and lets put them to the test. So they are out in the big bad world as I write and in someways it is a freeing experience.

Now back to the prologue - so when looking at the script I realized that the prologue was there for me. It was there to keep me focused on what caused all the things that subsequently happened in the novel. I needed the reminder right in my face so that I couldn't back off from the issues, but the reader doesn't. So the two pages of prolugue will now appear 3/4's of the way through the book and I think it will be much stronger for the reader there. I hope it will be the point where the reader think okay, I see where she's coming from now.

I am also hoping that by pulling the prologue out I won't be confronting my reader on the first page. I want them drawn into the world of these to women. To laugh with them and to cry as them stumble and fall along their way to a happy ending because, of course, with me writing there will always be a happy ending - I just may have dragged the reader through hell to get there though.

Where do you stand on prologues? Have you written them? Have you kept them? The ones you've read did they add or detract from the story?

Catch Up

The boys have gone back to school and the laundry from Cape Town is done. Now to catch up on all that I didn't do in the past two and half weeks. I did write though so I will update the word counter shortly.

While in Cape Town it gave me time to think about the reports I have had back on ACH. At first, as always, I wanted to retreat even though they hadn't told me it was crap. In fact, if I look at both, it was much more positive than negative, but as with things I was too close. So clear air and blue seas gave me some much needed perspective. Today I slashed the synopsis from three pages to one. I hate doing this, but this time I found it really helped me to focus on what I needed to change and what I don't. It left me feeling that the story as it stands is the one I want to tell and it may take some more editing, but it will find its way.

So I will be subbing it at the end of this week to one of my open doors. If nothing else it will provide me with more feedback - good or bad. It might open dialogue which would be wonderful.

Now head down to catch up with edits, blogs and life...........

Done - well for now!

In the midst of chaos I finished with A Cornish House as far as I can go - for now. Tomorrow I print and send. Fortunately it is not going to agent or editor but to eyes who will accept that it's not perfect - yet. However it has grown well.

In the next three weeks I have to pack two boys for school (which includes sewing in labels), build seven flat pack Ikea boxes, paint a room, clean the house, ready two boats and kyak for storage, and have a family to stay :-)

When I get back to Dubai I will await the word on ACH and prepare....I have two open doors - one agent and one editor who said no to August Rock but wanted to see ACH.

I'm so ready to start the next book too! Where are you at the moment?

Past the Half Way Mark

Well, I have past the half way point of A Cornish House on this read through and quite edit. Thus far I am pleased to say it all hangs together - miracles never cease:-)

Of to enjoy the sun on the beach if manages to stay out!!!

Back to School

I'll will be the first to admit I am totally hopeless at grammar. As a dyslexic it made no sense to me and I didn't like Miss Brown who taught it. I have always relied on my reasonably good ear to make my way. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how I received a degree in English. Somewhere along the way I mastered what I called paper-ease English and lost the natural syntax in my head. This natural syntax came from my grandfather who lived with us while I was young. He was originally from Donegal. His speech was naturally poetic, well at least to my ears.

However as I graduated back in the dark ages, 1985, I have forgotten everything. This morning I have spend hours here trying to master my tenses and exactly what is passive voice. Yes, I know I should have done this years ago but well it just didn't interest me. Now as I am wading through A Cornish House I need to understand this and more. However I haven't much time before this bl**dy thing must be sent off to New Writers' Scheme and as much as I will slap a big sticker on it saying beware not polished I do have some pride - not much but some.

So I'm finding myself making my sentences too simple because at least that way I know they are correct. This, however, leads to boring reading if all the sentences are too simple. So here's a choice for you:

Scattered around her were easels and canvases, all the requirements of her life. Well they had been her life and must be again. Bending, she opened a box and the smell of turpentine hit her. Something must have leaked. She dug into the box and found a pile of cards. She dropped them quickly and groped for anything else as the tears welled up. Her hand came to rest on a cool bronze finish. This wasn't any good. Who had packed this box? Who put his cards and the bust she had made of him with the turpentine?

or

Scattered around her were easels and canvases, all the requirements of her life. Well they had been her life and must be again. She bent and opened a box the smell of turpentine hit her. Something must have leaked. She dug into the box and found a pile of cards. She dropped them quickly and groped for anything else as tears welled up. Her hand came to rest to rest on a cool bronze finish. This wasn't any good. Who had packed this box? Who had put his cards and the bust she had made of him with the turpentine?

Confession - even as I read through the paragraph above I struggle to identify all the tenses I have used. I need to go back to school .

So are you a natural with grammar, a keen study, or do you flounder like me?

Thursday's Friday

The world is so much better since anonymous J taught me how to force the page to refresh. I am no longer stuck looking at yesterday or even last week's blog! Thank you again J.

This photo was of the sunset off the balcony of our hotel/apartment last night. I'm definitely becoming used to the rhythms of the day here now and no longer falling asleep at 8! However no doubt the dh will be as he will be 9 hours adrift after this last trip to Texas.

The editing has been rolling on this week well. I'm enjoying the story which bodes well - at least I hope it does. As I mentioned that this is just an edit for language not plot, not character...... I'm saving those delights once the script is readable! However I did go back to the He Wrote/She Wrote lesson about the conflict box here . I was pleased to see what I have set up works so at least the foundation is there for the next stage.

The lovely Flowerpot had tagged me with this great meme.

Total number of books? This is a good question as I haven't a clue as currently they are split between the container and Cornwall. Plus due to our transient life style I had to let go of beloved books along the way to make room for my children's and husband's book - the things I do for them!

Last Book read? The Bride's Seduction by Louise Allen and I finished this last night and I must say it was a great pleasure (more about this later) I also have on the go The end of the Affair by Graham Greene and Atonement by Ian McEwan

Last Book Bought? The End of the Affair

Five meaningful Books? This is a tough one... what does meaningful mean? Books that have stayed with me? Books that have altered my thoughts? Hmmmmmmm. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (can't remember how times I read this as a child), Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer (began my love affair with historical fiction), Leo the African by Amin Maalouf (showed me a different view on history), Any Human Heart by William Boyd (showed me how differently a man's mind works) and finally Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (for sheer joy)

Now I am supposed to tag five people so I tag:

Rebecca Burgess
Jan
Alyssa Goodnight
Lisa
Ray-Anne

Rather long post today but I thought I would mention that in the UK today there will a radio program on about Mills and Boon entitled Guilty Pleasures. I will try and listen through the net as I think there is much derision about Mill and Boon that I personally think is cr.p. There are several posts out there ( here and here)that say it better than I will but I think the snobbery is generated by people who haven't looked inside the cover of a Mills and Boon in at least twenty years. From my own reading experience, I have spent many wonderful hours of pleasure but not guilty pleasure - that I reserve for chocolate, with all different varieties of Mills and Boon books. The authors writing these stories are brilliant, skilled and hard working. Before you turn your nose up try picking up any of Julie Cohen's if you can handle heat or Fiona Harper's for a gentler approach.

The book I read last night was from their historical line. It was beautifully and compelling written. Yes, I knew it would work out in the end - hell that's why I read them. Sometimes I need an emotional lift and that's what Mills and Boon provide with beautifully crafted stories (yes the tried and tested formula of boy meet girl and they end up together!). However I will add there is one thing I hate about Mills and Boon and that is their bl--dy titles. It is for their titles alone I will not be seen in public reading them or for that matter in front of my eight year old, or thirteen or fifteen year old. (You try explaining why your reading Virgin bought and Paid For!) As a final thought Ray-Anne here has an interesting post on why the genre is still so successful today.

Rewrite Blues

You can see by the side bar that I am making some progress but it is slow - in fact, it is slow and painful. Why you ask, as I have been singing the praises of editing? Well, this edit is almost purely for language - ie sentence structure, unbelievable typos and just plain gobbledygook. These things have never been my strong point and never will be so right now the process is moving like treacle/molasses. I am hopeful that once I have cleaned the script up a bit it will make sense and I can have fun with it again......please