Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "mistakes"
So You Want to Get me in Trouble?
So you all want to get me in trouble? Ok, let's go for it...Let’s talk about the E word. Yes, I mean editors. Can’t live with them, can’t shoot them. Whoops, I just ended that sentence with a pronoun, didn’t I? Here’s the issue: editing is vitally important, and that means that editors are vital to our craft. My biggest issue with editors is when they major in the minors and miss the essentials.
A friend of mine gave me a finished draft of her novel to read, which was quite good and will be released soon. However, I was appalled to see things that the editor missed. And no, I do NOT mean nitpicking about commas or worrying about a split infinitive in the third paragraph of the second page. You get my drift.
Her editor missed things that can make an author look really stupid.
For example, my friend used a phrase that wasn’t actually in circulation until about 100 years after the time period in which the novel was set. There was also a major discrepancy concerning the length of time it would have taken someone in that region in that century to travel to. She had a person taking a “day trip” that would’ve actually taken about a week during that century in that location. (We all remember that impossible "day trip" to Asheville in Crawdads, right?) There was also one scene in my friend's book where a minor character’s eye color miraculously changed.
Well, these mistakes happen for a lot of reasons. Sometimes a writer changes a character’s looks, but overlooks one sentence where the change wasn’t made correctly. Other times, certain scenes are cut, but the author forgets to cut a scene that REFERS to the scene that was cut, thus creating confusion. This is why editors are supposed to catch those mistakes, and you’re probably wondering why they don’t.
My personal opinion, and it may not be popular, is that they fail to see these things because they are so fixated on little things that don’t matter, such as whether or not a sentence ended in a preposition, if there are “smiling words,” if the author started a scene with weather, and of course, the highly debated Oxford comma. Bottom line is, readers don't care about those things.
Editors, however, become obsessed with them.
The sad part is, they become so fixated on those little bits of nonsense that they miss the major things like the ones I mentioned in my friend’s novel. She didn’t need to feel bad...I caught a lot of those things in my own book while my editor fussed about commas. All authors probably do.
I truly wish that the old-time editors would come back on the scene. The ones who caught true mistakes like plot holes, confusing dialogue, century discrepancies, etc. In other words, stuff that actually matters. Where are those editors? I bet there’s a lot of writers hiring right now.
A friend of mine gave me a finished draft of her novel to read, which was quite good and will be released soon. However, I was appalled to see things that the editor missed. And no, I do NOT mean nitpicking about commas or worrying about a split infinitive in the third paragraph of the second page. You get my drift.
Her editor missed things that can make an author look really stupid.
For example, my friend used a phrase that wasn’t actually in circulation until about 100 years after the time period in which the novel was set. There was also a major discrepancy concerning the length of time it would have taken someone in that region in that century to travel to. She had a person taking a “day trip” that would’ve actually taken about a week during that century in that location. (We all remember that impossible "day trip" to Asheville in Crawdads, right?) There was also one scene in my friend's book where a minor character’s eye color miraculously changed.
Well, these mistakes happen for a lot of reasons. Sometimes a writer changes a character’s looks, but overlooks one sentence where the change wasn’t made correctly. Other times, certain scenes are cut, but the author forgets to cut a scene that REFERS to the scene that was cut, thus creating confusion. This is why editors are supposed to catch those mistakes, and you’re probably wondering why they don’t.
My personal opinion, and it may not be popular, is that they fail to see these things because they are so fixated on little things that don’t matter, such as whether or not a sentence ended in a preposition, if there are “smiling words,” if the author started a scene with weather, and of course, the highly debated Oxford comma. Bottom line is, readers don't care about those things.
Editors, however, become obsessed with them.
The sad part is, they become so fixated on those little bits of nonsense that they miss the major things like the ones I mentioned in my friend’s novel. She didn’t need to feel bad...I caught a lot of those things in my own book while my editor fussed about commas. All authors probably do.
I truly wish that the old-time editors would come back on the scene. The ones who caught true mistakes like plot holes, confusing dialogue, century discrepancies, etc. In other words, stuff that actually matters. Where are those editors? I bet there’s a lot of writers hiring right now.
This is NOT How it’s Done
The best advice I can give any aspiring novelist is to, through trial and error, learn how to sift through all the “rules” and figure out which ones are breakable. Yes, some are made to be broken. The fine line is… which ones? I’ve seen new writers make horrible mistakes because they broke some of the rules, and I've seen new writers make horrible mistakes because they FOLLOWED some of the rules.
Yes, it is difficult to know the difference sometimes, but not ALL rules apply to every novel. Creative writing courses will tell you that EVERYTHING is a formula, and the formula must always be followed. For example, “the subplot should be introduced in chapter four.” Always? Really?
Of course not.
I couldn’t do that in my novel. For one thing, mine really didn’t have chapters per se, it had sections. It was more or less up to the reader to decide when to stop and start reading. I did that to avoid readers missing what’s most important: it’s my humble opinion that one of the worst things that happens when you’re reading a book is when you start to get fatigued and you say “okay, well, let me just get to the end of this chapter.” You’re actually too fatigued to keep going and should stop right there. But we’re programmed to think we have to finish the chapter we’re on and I didn’t want people skimming because you miss too much in my book if you skim. So that was one rule that sure didn’t work for me.
Other rules are a bit more important. Like understanding how to make a book flow. You can know how to write wonderful sentences and terrific paragraphs, but still not know how to write a book. Writing a novel is an art form, and you have to understand how to keep it flowing and keep your readers engaged. Otherwise even the best plot will just go flat.
Ultimately however, it’s actually up to the writer to decide which rules to break and which ones to follow. The type of story you’ve come up with may not fit the typical “formulas” that every editor thinks a book must have. It’s knowing when to stick with the tried-and-true methods and knowing when to go out on a limb, and unfortunately, no one else can tell you that. But don’t be afraid to rattle some cages and break a few rules, because as the old saying goes, “nothing ventured nothing gained.” Write on!
Yes, it is difficult to know the difference sometimes, but not ALL rules apply to every novel. Creative writing courses will tell you that EVERYTHING is a formula, and the formula must always be followed. For example, “the subplot should be introduced in chapter four.” Always? Really?
Of course not.
I couldn’t do that in my novel. For one thing, mine really didn’t have chapters per se, it had sections. It was more or less up to the reader to decide when to stop and start reading. I did that to avoid readers missing what’s most important: it’s my humble opinion that one of the worst things that happens when you’re reading a book is when you start to get fatigued and you say “okay, well, let me just get to the end of this chapter.” You’re actually too fatigued to keep going and should stop right there. But we’re programmed to think we have to finish the chapter we’re on and I didn’t want people skimming because you miss too much in my book if you skim. So that was one rule that sure didn’t work for me.
Other rules are a bit more important. Like understanding how to make a book flow. You can know how to write wonderful sentences and terrific paragraphs, but still not know how to write a book. Writing a novel is an art form, and you have to understand how to keep it flowing and keep your readers engaged. Otherwise even the best plot will just go flat.
Ultimately however, it’s actually up to the writer to decide which rules to break and which ones to follow. The type of story you’ve come up with may not fit the typical “formulas” that every editor thinks a book must have. It’s knowing when to stick with the tried-and-true methods and knowing when to go out on a limb, and unfortunately, no one else can tell you that. But don’t be afraid to rattle some cages and break a few rules, because as the old saying goes, “nothing ventured nothing gained.” Write on!
Wanting to VS. Knowing How
Writing and education are topics I rarely address because they can erupt so quickly into heated arguments. I've met many people who want to write for a living. They may have a novel in mind or their goal may be to work for a newspaper, magazine, or other publication. Naturally, I agree it's a wonderful ambition. However, wanting to do it and knowing how to do it are two different things.
I met a young lady one time who showed me a poem she wrote and the raw creative talent literally jumped off the pages. Unfortunately, she had "there," "they're" and "their" mixed up. Enough said. Sadly, instead of taking my advice, which I rarely give, she reacted with a bit of a chip-on the-shoulder attitude and informed me that you can't "teach someone to have talent," and therefore further schooling was unnecessary.
Actually, she's right and she's wrong. You absolutely can't teach someone to be gifted. You can't teach a person to have talent if no natural talent is there, and you can't teach creativity. Nevertheless, you CAN teach someone how to take their skills, gifts, and talents and use them to their best advantage. With writing, this can't be done without an education. You can have all the raw talent in the world, but the minute the editor sees the "there," "they're" and "their" issue, he or she won't bother to read another word. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.
THAT'S the difference between wanting to do something and knowing HOW. Some people have an outstanding aptitude for math, but unless someone shows them the steps and the formulas, the numbers don't mean anything and the raw talent will go forever unrealized. Some people would make exceptional athletes, but without someone showing them how to do the jumps and the twirls and the spins, they're probably only going to end up with a broken ankle when they hit the uneven bars.
No one likes to take the long road these days, but for some careers you absolutely MUST have a certain level of education, and writing is one of them. A friend of mine described a book once that was so horrible she didn't know what to say. Unfortunately it was written by a friend of HERS. I finally asked to look at it and after three tries I couldn't get past the midway point. It had fragmented sentences, punctuation problems, misspellings, and so many issues with the dialogue that some parts I had to read three times to figure out who was speaking. Now, ALL books have typos. Even the "greats." Primarily because editors now use software to catch all the mistakes, and software doesn't catch all mistakes. Enough said there. However, this wasn't a software problem, this was just simply someone who didn't know how to write.
Sadly, this writer has three books on Amazon and the last time I looked (just out of morbid curiosity) a customer had said in a review "I really wanted to love this book, but it was so full of sentence structure problems, juvenile dialogue, and punctuation issues that I couldn't get past the second chapter. Readers like me pay good money for books and we expect that at least the author would polish their craft before putting it out there for people to spend money on."
YIKES!
Yet the book was still there several months later. Honestly, after a review like that, the writer should have removed it and had someone edit it or waited until she could afford to hire someone to do so. I can only think maybe she had the same attitude as my poet friend I met all those years ago. In other words, thinking it's okay the way it is and it's just everyone else picking on her.
Sometimes those critiques need to be taken seriously. The bottom line is, I would never try to talk someone out of trying to become a writer, but no matter WHO you are, you DO need some type of formal training to make sure you know how to do it before you put yourself out there as an author. It's kind of like those crazy American Idol auditions. The people who couldn't sing will live on in infamy on YouTube forever and who wants to be known for making a fool out of themselves? I know that sounds harsh, but it's not nearly as harsh as the criticism you'll get if you try to do something that you clearly don't how to do. You also won't get anywhere in your career, which is the whole point of you wanting to write. There is no shortcut on this one. Sorry. Write on!
I met a young lady one time who showed me a poem she wrote and the raw creative talent literally jumped off the pages. Unfortunately, she had "there," "they're" and "their" mixed up. Enough said. Sadly, instead of taking my advice, which I rarely give, she reacted with a bit of a chip-on the-shoulder attitude and informed me that you can't "teach someone to have talent," and therefore further schooling was unnecessary.
Actually, she's right and she's wrong. You absolutely can't teach someone to be gifted. You can't teach a person to have talent if no natural talent is there, and you can't teach creativity. Nevertheless, you CAN teach someone how to take their skills, gifts, and talents and use them to their best advantage. With writing, this can't be done without an education. You can have all the raw talent in the world, but the minute the editor sees the "there," "they're" and "their" issue, he or she won't bother to read another word. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.
THAT'S the difference between wanting to do something and knowing HOW. Some people have an outstanding aptitude for math, but unless someone shows them the steps and the formulas, the numbers don't mean anything and the raw talent will go forever unrealized. Some people would make exceptional athletes, but without someone showing them how to do the jumps and the twirls and the spins, they're probably only going to end up with a broken ankle when they hit the uneven bars.
No one likes to take the long road these days, but for some careers you absolutely MUST have a certain level of education, and writing is one of them. A friend of mine described a book once that was so horrible she didn't know what to say. Unfortunately it was written by a friend of HERS. I finally asked to look at it and after three tries I couldn't get past the midway point. It had fragmented sentences, punctuation problems, misspellings, and so many issues with the dialogue that some parts I had to read three times to figure out who was speaking. Now, ALL books have typos. Even the "greats." Primarily because editors now use software to catch all the mistakes, and software doesn't catch all mistakes. Enough said there. However, this wasn't a software problem, this was just simply someone who didn't know how to write.
Sadly, this writer has three books on Amazon and the last time I looked (just out of morbid curiosity) a customer had said in a review "I really wanted to love this book, but it was so full of sentence structure problems, juvenile dialogue, and punctuation issues that I couldn't get past the second chapter. Readers like me pay good money for books and we expect that at least the author would polish their craft before putting it out there for people to spend money on."
YIKES!
Yet the book was still there several months later. Honestly, after a review like that, the writer should have removed it and had someone edit it or waited until she could afford to hire someone to do so. I can only think maybe she had the same attitude as my poet friend I met all those years ago. In other words, thinking it's okay the way it is and it's just everyone else picking on her.
Sometimes those critiques need to be taken seriously. The bottom line is, I would never try to talk someone out of trying to become a writer, but no matter WHO you are, you DO need some type of formal training to make sure you know how to do it before you put yourself out there as an author. It's kind of like those crazy American Idol auditions. The people who couldn't sing will live on in infamy on YouTube forever and who wants to be known for making a fool out of themselves? I know that sounds harsh, but it's not nearly as harsh as the criticism you'll get if you try to do something that you clearly don't how to do. You also won't get anywhere in your career, which is the whole point of you wanting to write. There is no shortcut on this one. Sorry. Write on!
