Lessons Learned During the Edit of a Novel
Paws on the Ground Update:
Many have asked about the status of my first novel, Paws on the Ground.
Thank you. I really appreciate your interest.
The novel is currently with my agent being prepared for submission. Fiction is very hard to sell right now. The book has to be perfect in order to achieve my goal of commercial publication.
I have a terrific literary agent in a well-respected Literary Agency. I’m letting them do their part by preparing the novel for submission to publishing houses while I focus on writing. Don’t worry though……..I’m being kept very well informed.
You all will be the first to hear any news!
So back to my writing journey………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
A little while ago I took a break from my journey to becoming a published author in order to debate with the delightful Barbara Longley about the merit of critique groups and why an editor is better. (Still my position)
Then we went a second round on that debate because neither of seemed to want to back down. Barbara is a feisty one and I believed some great points and perspective were shared both by us and by commenters.
Of course I had to tell you about the fantastic James River Writer’s Conference (Where I finally realized I belonged with a group of writers).
Then I pondered “When Do you Become a Professional Writer?” after my wife’s friend told her my writing was just a hobby. Yes, that still annoys me, but I am over it.
Really I am.
I swear!
So, let me see where that all led me? O yes, in “Tough Love and Top Level Editors,” my new and shiny editor, John Paine, destroyed my hopes of a quick edit. (You may remember by this time I had submitted a full or partial manuscript to over ten agents at their request. I was subsequently rejected by those ten agents.)
I detailed in that post what John directed me to work on.
I expected us to cut the first half of the book, tweak the pacing, maybe slap a prologue in there and be done with it. Boy, was I wrong. He didn’t want me to include anything before the main characters got to Afghanistan. Here is the short of what he told me:
1. Lose the back story.
2. Sammy (a dog) needs to be a true character.
3. Stop skimming the surface of scenes.
4. Stop shuffling so quickly among plot lines.
So I went through the manuscript line by line and added descriptors and character’s reactions to actions. I studied every scene, every line, and began inserting the richness that the book was missing.
You see, every action in your life has a reaction. What happens if you stub your toe? Do you scream out in agony, dance around on one leg holding your foot?
What does your wife or son do when they hear you screaming out in pain? (My wife would laugh at me!)
If you want your reader to be in the head of your characters, then characters need a reaction to actions in your novel. The reader needs to feel that action, smell that action and relate to that action. This part of the revision took me more hours than I want to think about. (Secretly I reveled in the task.)
Next up: Sammy. Originally I used Sammy (a dog)’s italicized storyline for a break for the reader. These insertions ranged from a paragraph to a few pages. The use of italics was something I had seen used in various books. Sometimes an author will use italics for a villain point of view, a memory, etc.
John felt it prevented Sammy from being a real character. John actually wrote a nice post in his blog about this topic. But his main point was that if you make the reader shift from one character to another, it better be worth it for the reader to change gears. I pulled out all of my Sammy snippets and placed them into one document, then combined, tweaked and revised his part, and placed it back into appropriate sections of the book.
This leads me to my final focus on this revision—plot-line shuffling. Here is a direct quote from the editorial report John wrote:
“Although combining a number of scenes within a single chapter can be an effective storytelling technique, at times it also became a vehicle for inserting little micro scenes that didn’t really advance the character’s plot line.”
Advancing the characters plot line. Now that is awesome guidance and caused me to look at my writing through a new lens.
So I went back into every chapter (except the pre-Afghanistan ones) and committed chapters to one main character. Now many of my chapters switch from Caleb (hero) to Megan (heroine) or Caleb to Sammy but very rarely shift more than once. I essentially eliminated all micro scenes in my novel.
One more issue I resolved was inserting a character earlier who become a significant character later in the book. He initially enters the novel in cameos, but introducing him fully allows the reader to understand who he is and what he is about. The readers are already familiar and interested in him when he becomes a major player in the book.
The last issue I handled was simple. My ending was too drawn out. Here is exactly what John said, “Once the climax of the book is reached, the reader is just waiting for you to let him out of the book.”
So I hacked the heck out of the ending and sent it back to John for review. By now it was the end of January 2011 and we were 30 days behind the time I thought we could get the book back in the hands of the agents.
Lesson learned here—you can’t put a timeline on creativity. It will get there when it is ready.
John went back through the book as I waited anxiously for him to tell me we were ready to send it back out to the agents.
Unfortunately that was not the news he gave me in a detailed email and follow up conversation.
I had more work to do!
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25 comments on “Lessons Learned During the Edit of a Novel”
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Kevin,
It sounds like you are getting excellent advice, and are doing excellent work. Many first time authors fail to grasp the editing process completely, until (of course) they go through it. Kudos to you for accepting critique and working through it. The goal is to make your book the best it can be. Editors, good editors, will make sure that is what happens.
And don’t take that comment by your wife’s friend to heart. The people who say things like that aren’t writers. Writers understand writers. You have a dream, and what sounds like a very viable story, and I wish you the very best of luck with it. I’m a writer. And I know what that means. Don’t give up, because I want to read your book! (I recently read Suspect, by Robert Crais. I enjoyed it, but didn’t think it was stellar. A 4 out of 5, which isn’t bad at all.)
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Kevin Hanrahan says:
Thanks Rebecca. You are certainly right about a common goal of making the novel the very best it can be…… I had to consistently remind myself of this though when John beat me down.
The thing about me is though that I can take criticism very well (At least I think I do). I realize I haven’t been doing this very long…..I’d be an idiot if I didn’t listen to folks who have been doing this….. or just way too egotistical.
In the end I just want my novel to be the very best it can. I want people to put it down, say wow and then go looking for something else I’ve written.
I heard about Suspect and put it on my list to read. I have to smile though about the thought of a retired MWD coming back into action….. there is a reason we retire these dogs.
Jani Muhlestein says: It sounds like your wife’s friend doesn’t quite understand reality. You’re caught in a Catch-22. If you’re not independently wealthy, and have to maintain a day job for some reason–like duty, honor, keeping food on the table, something like that–you can’t write full time. However, the only way you’re ever going to get published is to write as much as you can. So you do what you can when you can. Make Sammy or Stella come and snuggle with you at 4:00 in the morning, then hit work all too early, work all day, come home, be a husband, father, friend, doggy daddy, etc. And get up at 4:00 in the morning to do it all over again.
It takes time. And maybe it sounds like you’re just playing at this, to people who have no clue. Becoming a writer doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to just jump into it and go whole hog. Besides, even writers who are successful have to work sometimes. One of my friends in England has a steady, if not full-time, job with the BBC, in order to keep the 400 year old farmhouse and the donkeys going. (He also has the world’s cutest dog, Fergus. Who is his donkey trainer.)
But Phil has probably close to 20 books published. He’s a great success. And still has to “Phil the Shelf” once a week.
Writing isn’t like any other job. It’s hard. And it takes a long time. And life happens in spite of it.
You’re doing fine.
One note, while it sounds like you have found a fabulous editor, remember that if it doesn’t feel right, in the end, it’s still your book. Don’t let him/her change it into something it isn’t. If you agree wholeheartedly, then go for it. If you don’t, however, stick to your guns. This is your work, not theirs.
And, in the end, keep breathing. It seems to help for some reason…
-
Hi Jani. Things like that make me work even harder. I thrive on people telling/ or thinking I can’t do something. Ask my mom….. Yes I know she is my mom but….. she will tell you that I have never not done something I said I was going to do.
Hell I completed Ironman Arizona with a torn hamstring. I’ve only failed once in my life and that was my first marriage which was only partly in my control.
OK, see…I am getting all riled up!What some folks don’t understand is that I am building something here. That takes work. A ton of work.
I heard things like that about editors…they will change this or that…they will turn it into a plot driven book instead of a character driven one, your books will no longer be yours, etc, etc.
I would never work with someone like that. John took what I had and brought out the very best in the novel.
-
You were one of those kids, weren’t you? The kind that said, “If I want to, I want to.” And if you wanted to, you would. And it’s a good thing you were a good kid, because otherwise you’d be dead.
Completing the Ironman with a torn hamstring? Good example of the above. I knew you were insane. You have that glint in your eye. Now I just have proof.
Marriages aren’t quite the same thing. Sorry. One person all the way in isn’t enough. It takes two. I’m so sorry you had to go through hell.
But, going through hell makes you a better writer. And being bonkers helps too. You’re going to make a mint.
And heaven came after hell in the form of Meg and Brady. Which is proof that being nuts can work for some people. I totally feel your Mom’s pain, though. Raising you must have been fun.
-
Going through a divorce has made me a better leader. I can relate to my soldiers. the divorce rate in the military is crazy!
Adversity can break you or make you stronger….it is your own call to make which path you take.
My Mom and I have a much closer relationship now that I’m an adult.
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My Mother told me once that we rarely get to choose the events that define us. But we get to choose how they will define us. And that can be enough.
Like I said, all you needed was a woman who understood that some men are worth waiting for.
I agree that all work needs editing, and good authors are relentless about it, but have you shown your stuff to people in your target audience to see what they might think? After all, aren’t they the ones you’re hoping will eventually buy this book, not an editor?
An edit one person suggests might have merit. An edit multiple people suggest should be heeded.
-
Hi Russ. We have sort of talked about this before on this blog and on yours…some very spirited debates on the use of critique groups vs editors…
At that time I didn’t even know what a beta reader was. So I set out to find someone with vast experience and connections in the industry. Two things I lacked.
Though for my second novel I will definitely going to utilize beta readers. Then I will send it to my editor. I think several layers of scrutiny are good.
That’s interesting because I do the same thing…but with one more step. The first writing creates the bare bones…when I read it a second time it will often feel like people are moving around in an all-white box/room without enough to ground them. The second writing is when I paint in all the fine details that give it character. On the third edit, however, I remove the detail that bogs the reader down because I find I get too excited with it during the second edit. Thanks for the insight into your method!
-
Hi Cara. Thanks for sharing your process! I love how you broke it down!
I am doing something quite similar with my second novel. I just finished the first draft and was so worried that it would stink.
Right now I am in the reading and taking note phase. I’m happy to report that the draft is much better than I originally thought.
Lynda says: Excellent news they picked it up!!. Having read some of Charlene Harris books, Writer behind HBO’s True Blood (I don’t think she had an editor with all of the mistakes in those books), sounds like you have a good one. Can’t wait to see it in print. Nothing is worse then a book full of typo’s. I’ll be at Barnes and Nobles waiting.:-) Good luck, I know you won’t need it.
Kevin Hanrahan says: Hi Lynda. Thank you! I guess Ms Harris did something right though huh!
I noticed a typo in a big time authors book this past fall. It stood out in a major way!
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So…details! Dates? Number in first run? Events? *tapping foot here*
-
My novel hasn’t been picked up yet Jani…still with my agent.
-
Damn it. I want it at Barnes and Noble this weekend. Fix it!
-
-
Adriana Jonson says: Kevin,
Your blogs are inspiring. I, personally will be thrilled to have a signed book in my hand. I have walked along with your other followers with you. The blog personalizes and your story helps me with my own struggles. Never GIVE UP. I am currently under a immense amount of pressure and trying to keep my head above water. I am learning to relax in it. Thank you for sharing your struggles, triumphs your persosnal story of your story lol:). You are a thumbs up person and WRITER your are a writer period. Rock on with your honorable self.
Regards,
Adriana Johnson out in Zonie land (slang for someone from Arizona:))
-
Sorry but I just saw this comment Adriana!
Don’t worry, I won’t give up. I talked with my agent a bunch this week and there are a few threads she is fixing up right now.
I am getting closer to getting my 1st novel in the hands of the publishers !
Deanie Humphrys-Dunne says: It sounds like you’re making great progress on your book. Good job! I know your hard work will be rewarded.
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Thanks Deanie!
Editing has got to be one of the most frustrating parts of writing. Just when you think you’re done and it reads great, your publisher or editor comes along and dissects it all to heck, and you’re left picking up the pieces and…you want to just move on to another project. I admire your perseverance. That’s what it takes to get a book finished — and by finished, I mean readable and marketable. I had to break my children’s book into three independent books. Problem was, the middle book was missing. So I wrote it from scratch, as a fill-in, bridging parts one and two. It was hellish, but it became, arguably the strongest book of the three. Looking back, as these books now go on sale 4/30, I’m very proud to have stuck it out. Hang in there! I feel your pain.
-
Hi JZ.
Holy crap….you are so right!
My agent just poked like six holes in my book yesterday! But I’m even more determined than ever to tell this story of American Soldiers and their dogs in Afghanistan. It needs to be told!
Wow, breaking your book up like that and then realizing you were missing a whole part must have driven you nuts at first. I would have freaked out.
Congrats on your book being published soon! I hope to be in your company some day!
Kevin, it sounds as if you’ve found an excellent editor. His points are good ones. I’m looking forward to Paws on the Ground, so I hope all goes well and it’s soon sold. Best of luck with it. I’m rooting for you.
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Hi Ellis, thank you. It has been a long journey and I hope we are getting closer to getting this novel into the hands of the publishers. This process is very humbling.
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Kevin,
It sounds like you are getting excellent advice, and are doing excellent work. Many first time authors fail to grasp the editing process completely, until (of course) they go through it. Kudos to you for accepting critique and working through it. The goal is to make your book the best it can be. Editors, good editors, will make sure that is what happens.
And don’t take that comment by your wife’s friend to heart. The people who say things like that aren’t writers. Writers understand writers. You have a dream, and what sounds like a very viable story, and I wish you the very best of luck with it. I’m a writer. And I know what that means. Don’t give up, because I want to read your book! (I recently read Suspect, by Robert Crais. I enjoyed it, but didn’t think it was stellar. A 4 out of 5, which isn’t bad at all.)
Thanks Rebecca. You are certainly right about a common goal of making the novel the very best it can be…… I had to consistently remind myself of this though when John beat me down.
The thing about me is though that I can take criticism very well (At least I think I do). I realize I haven’t been doing this very long…..I’d be an idiot if I didn’t listen to folks who have been doing this….. or just way too egotistical.
In the end I just want my novel to be the very best it can. I want people to put it down, say wow and then go looking for something else I’ve written.
I heard about Suspect and put it on my list to read. I have to smile though about the thought of a retired MWD coming back into action….. there is a reason we retire these dogs.
It sounds like your wife’s friend doesn’t quite understand reality. You’re caught in a Catch-22. If you’re not independently wealthy, and have to maintain a day job for some reason–like duty, honor, keeping food on the table, something like that–you can’t write full time. However, the only way you’re ever going to get published is to write as much as you can. So you do what you can when you can. Make Sammy or Stella come and snuggle with you at 4:00 in the morning, then hit work all too early, work all day, come home, be a husband, father, friend, doggy daddy, etc. And get up at 4:00 in the morning to do it all over again.
It takes time. And maybe it sounds like you’re just playing at this, to people who have no clue. Becoming a writer doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to just jump into it and go whole hog. Besides, even writers who are successful have to work sometimes. One of my friends in England has a steady, if not full-time, job with the BBC, in order to keep the 400 year old farmhouse and the donkeys going. (He also has the world’s cutest dog, Fergus. Who is his donkey trainer.)
But Phil has probably close to 20 books published. He’s a great success. And still has to “Phil the Shelf” once a week.
Writing isn’t like any other job. It’s hard. And it takes a long time. And life happens in spite of it.
You’re doing fine.
One note, while it sounds like you have found a fabulous editor, remember that if it doesn’t feel right, in the end, it’s still your book. Don’t let him/her change it into something it isn’t. If you agree wholeheartedly, then go for it. If you don’t, however, stick to your guns. This is your work, not theirs.
And, in the end, keep breathing. It seems to help for some reason…
Hi Jani. Things like that make me work even harder. I thrive on people telling/ or thinking I can’t do something. Ask my mom….. Yes I know she is my mom but….. she will tell you that I have never not done something I said I was going to do.
Hell I completed Ironman Arizona with a torn hamstring. I’ve only failed once in my life and that was my first marriage which was only partly in my control.
OK, see…I am getting all riled up!
What some folks don’t understand is that I am building something here. That takes work. A ton of work.
I heard things like that about editors…they will change this or that…they will turn it into a plot driven book instead of a character driven one, your books will no longer be yours, etc, etc.
I would never work with someone like that. John took what I had and brought out the very best in the novel.
You were one of those kids, weren’t you? The kind that said, “If I want to, I want to.” And if you wanted to, you would. And it’s a good thing you were a good kid, because otherwise you’d be dead.
Completing the Ironman with a torn hamstring? Good example of the above. I knew you were insane. You have that glint in your eye. Now I just have proof.
Marriages aren’t quite the same thing. Sorry. One person all the way in isn’t enough. It takes two. I’m so sorry you had to go through hell.
But, going through hell makes you a better writer. And being bonkers helps too. You’re going to make a mint.
And heaven came after hell in the form of Meg and Brady. Which is proof that being nuts can work for some people. I totally feel your Mom’s pain, though. Raising you must have been fun.
Going through a divorce has made me a better leader. I can relate to my soldiers. the divorce rate in the military is crazy!
Adversity can break you or make you stronger….it is your own call to make which path you take.
My Mom and I have a much closer relationship now that I’m an adult.
My Mother told me once that we rarely get to choose the events that define us. But we get to choose how they will define us. And that can be enough.
Like I said, all you needed was a woman who understood that some men are worth waiting for.
I agree that all work needs editing, and good authors are relentless about it, but have you shown your stuff to people in your target audience to see what they might think? After all, aren’t they the ones you’re hoping will eventually buy this book, not an editor?
An edit one person suggests might have merit. An edit multiple people suggest should be heeded.
Hi Russ. We have sort of talked about this before on this blog and on yours…some very spirited debates on the use of critique groups vs editors…
At that time I didn’t even know what a beta reader was. So I set out to find someone with vast experience and connections in the industry. Two things I lacked.
Though for my second novel I will definitely going to utilize beta readers. Then I will send it to my editor. I think several layers of scrutiny are good.
That’s interesting because I do the same thing…but with one more step. The first writing creates the bare bones…when I read it a second time it will often feel like people are moving around in an all-white box/room without enough to ground them. The second writing is when I paint in all the fine details that give it character. On the third edit, however, I remove the detail that bogs the reader down because I find I get too excited with it during the second edit. Thanks for the insight into your method!
Hi Cara. Thanks for sharing your process! I love how you broke it down!
I am doing something quite similar with my second novel. I just finished the first draft and was so worried that it would stink.
Right now I am in the reading and taking note phase. I’m happy to report that the draft is much better than I originally thought.
Excellent news they picked it up!!. Having read some of Charlene Harris books, Writer behind HBO’s True Blood (I don’t think she had an editor with all of the mistakes in those books), sounds like you have a good one. Can’t wait to see it in print. Nothing is worse then a book full of typo’s. I’ll be at Barnes and Nobles waiting.:-) Good luck, I know you won’t need it.
Hi Lynda. Thank you! I guess Ms Harris did something right though huh!
I noticed a typo in a big time authors book this past fall. It stood out in a major way!
So…details! Dates? Number in first run? Events? *tapping foot here*
My novel hasn’t been picked up yet Jani…still with my agent.
Damn it. I want it at Barnes and Noble this weekend. Fix it!
Pingback: Finding, affording and choosing the right editor
Kevin,
Your blogs are inspiring. I, personally will be thrilled to have a signed book in my hand. I have walked along with your other followers with you. The blog personalizes and your story helps me with my own struggles. Never GIVE UP. I am currently under a immense amount of pressure and trying to keep my head above water. I am learning to relax in it. Thank you for sharing your struggles, triumphs your persosnal story of your story lol:). You are a thumbs up person and WRITER your are a writer period. Rock on with your honorable self.
Regards,
Adriana Johnson out in Zonie land (slang for someone from Arizona:))
Sorry but I just saw this comment Adriana!
Don’t worry, I won’t give up. I talked with my agent a bunch this week and there are a few threads she is fixing up right now.
I am getting closer to getting my 1st novel in the hands of the publishers !
It sounds like you’re making great progress on your book. Good job! I know your hard work will be rewarded.
Thanks Deanie!
Editing has got to be one of the most frustrating parts of writing. Just when you think you’re done and it reads great, your publisher or editor comes along and dissects it all to heck, and you’re left picking up the pieces and…you want to just move on to another project. I admire your perseverance. That’s what it takes to get a book finished — and by finished, I mean readable and marketable. I had to break my children’s book into three independent books. Problem was, the middle book was missing. So I wrote it from scratch, as a fill-in, bridging parts one and two. It was hellish, but it became, arguably the strongest book of the three. Looking back, as these books now go on sale 4/30, I’m very proud to have stuck it out. Hang in there! I feel your pain.
Hi JZ.
Holy crap….you are so right!
My agent just poked like six holes in my book yesterday! But I’m even more determined than ever to tell this story of American Soldiers and their dogs in Afghanistan. It needs to be told!
Wow, breaking your book up like that and then realizing you were missing a whole part must have driven you nuts at first. I would have freaked out.
Congrats on your book being published soon! I hope to be in your company some day!
Kevin, it sounds as if you’ve found an excellent editor. His points are good ones. I’m looking forward to Paws on the Ground, so I hope all goes well and it’s soon sold. Best of luck with it. I’m rooting for you.
Hi Ellis, thank you. It has been a long journey and I hope we are getting closer to getting this novel into the hands of the publishers. This process is very humbling.