Back to editing... such fun lol

 

 In writing for publication, the reader has to be taken into account-- whether it's a blog, story, or book. The author desires to write their story and that's the most powerful part of the initial draft-- at least in my case. I try to get the grammar right at the same time, but not at the point of losing my flow. 

Then, comes editing... Although writers could send their manuscripts off to a professional editor right away, most go through many edits before doing that. After all, they are the main ones to know the theme they are trying to portray. 

When editing, it's not just about possible typos or misspelled words, missing commas, etc., but also what readers will find disrupting to their experience with their own flow of reading.

Here's where trouble starts with words we typically misuse when speaking; but when written down, they become more obnoxious to a future reader-- especially readers of the anal sort, who know all about the English language as it should be. Catching those things before that reader does might avoid a review that says-- needs more editing. Well, for the writer, those who read reviews (many choose not to do so), the question has to be what did they find that annoyed them? Maybe a split infinitive that we might often have in our speaking but woe unto the book where it's found by those distracted by that exact detail.

There are words that I often will try to find a different word to avoid because I don't want to have to look up and figure out which version is right for that sentence. There are words that I pretty much always know the correct version, but know very well that when I am talking to a friend, I might use the word wrong. They don't care and neither do I as it's not written down.

The program Grammarly is useful for some of this but with books not so much. It can only go over so much text, certainly not a book where the writer intends it to go to say 100,000 words. That requires breaking writing into sections, which is disruptive for me in terms of creative flow.

The English language is full of words that can be taken two ways but spelled the same. Working a crossword puzzle is a good reminder of that. 

So, I thought I'd mention one word that often makes me stop and think when I am using it--- and feel I must use it. Lie or Lay, present tense, and all their past tense and .future/past perfect tenses. That's where lie and lay get more complicated for which version to use. 

Add to it that lie has another meaning-- to not tell the truth. That though is easier to make into past/perfect tenses and past tense. He lied to me. I have lied. I will have lied if I go on with  this. You are lying to me. Adding an -ing makes it past simple. Confused yet? No wonder a writer sometimes chooses a different word.

In the previous paragraph I purposely used a split infinitive-- to not tell the truth... To satisfy a purist, that should be not to tell the truth. I personally don't see a difference in understandability, but I am no purist. I did also look split infinitives up, and it's not the rigid rule for grammar that some believe. That doesn't mean writers do not need to watch out for what might ruin another reader's enjoyment or even for them to lose the theme, which matters to the writer. Sometimes, to avoid that is not a minor change, and it would work against the writer's intent, but when it is minor, why not change it?

Now, let's get to the other meaning of lie and lay-- to recline or to put something down. Here is where how we talk often goes against how we need to write. I could easily say, "I am going to lay down, but would that be correct? I came across this in Thesaurus.

"Lay means “to place or put” (Lay that here). The word lay is also the past tense form of the sense of lie that means “to recline,” as in I lay in bed yesterday. Lay down can mean “to place down” (Lay down your bags), but it can also be the past tense of lie down, as in I lay down for a few hours. A nonstandard but common use of lay is to mean the same thing as the present tense of lie, as in I just want to lay in bed for a few more minutes or I laid down for a few hours. It’s best to avoid this use (and the confusion it can cause) in formal contexts." quote from Lay vs. Lie How to use correctly.

For anyone wanting more about correct usage of these words, go to that link. I've had enough going through it to last until the next time I face the issue *s*.

The app for Grammarly can be a big help, when used in editing-- not so much the first draft, in my opinion. It can really break a flow. It is also only free for the simplest version. To catch more errors of all kinds, it costs but not that much for the help it offers.

 

one aspect of editing

 

For more than four months, I've been working on re-editing my Arizona historical romances. Because we needed to pull some, in order to have title changes, we decided to pull all eight in that series, re-edit and add onto them, as well as give them all new titles. Amazon said we must then bring them back as new books... 

To avoid reader confusion, I was not comfortable with that, but it's currently the only way when you know your titles are not working for the books. Amazon is following ISBN requirements. It makes sense but just a surprise-- if you don't read your emails.

So far, I have done four and am just finishing the fifth. I have actually enjoyed it since I hadn't read them in a long time-- and I feel I am a better writer today. In writing, you always improve-- if you keep writing. I also came up with some ways to add to their stories without losing the basic plots but instead elements to make them feel more complete and that there is something new.

We are in no hurry to put them back, as we attempt learn more about what launching a book should have meant when we originally brought them out beginning in 2013. There is so much I still do not know about the marketing end of books, but turns out there are a few things on writing that I also have had to look at.

For instance, using the word just too many times is a no no. I use it a lot in my ordinary life-- i.e. just in time, etc. etc. But writing is not so much about fitting what is 'ordinary' but instead what is readable to others. Yikes. I could see where I'd used it, and it wasn't needed. Other places it was better than writing a whole lot more words when one would do. I think I have cut out half.

I am going to ignore a few other rules that are claimed to be important-- like not using adverbs. I am not sure why a word that modifies a verb is bad but a word that modifies a noun is okay. I am going to keep my adverbs, as often to get rid of them would lose meaning or require too many other words. I also believe too many adjectives for a noun can seem overdone, but I was never fond of heavy usage of either. It can become humorous.

Another word the editing gods don't like is very. Often a different word will do but sometimes it doesn't fit the action. Other times, it's a word less people would know when romances are not supposed to be written with a lot of big words, words that often are perfect, but less known. Romance readers don't want to read their books with a dictionary in hand. 

Maybe I should say most as I've read their writing should be aimed at an eighth grade level for readability. At one time, eighth grade was pretty advanced in knowledge (I've seen what once an eight grade education meant-- good luck with passing such tests today). Now, who knows what even a college degree means for vocabulary. If it's dialogue, of course, then it depends on the background of the character.

For a while, I am going to be writing, in this blog, about the whole process of putting together books. The next one will involve a question that is of interest to me. I will though get more into the issues of editing-- as I know it.

dreams and Uranus

by Rain Trueax

central Arizona photo

Astrologers say the planet Uranus went retrograde (whatever that means), and from between the 11^th and 12^th   of August until January 2020 it will be a time of intensity (like the world needs more of that...) and a time to look for omens and synchronicities. 

So dreams fit under that category, right? The night of the 12^th, I had two dreams that were kind of linked and kind of not. That I remembered both when I woke up is a little unusual for me. I generally just hold onto one, the last one. 

renovating

It's late summer, and of course, the irrigation pump had to break down. That took a lot of work, getting a new motor, having that repaired in town, and finally-- irrigation back up.

Many years ago, we bought one of those worn-out, claw-foot tubs that we saw for sale on a lawn in a nearby city. It came home with us and went into where we store winter wood. We even bought plumbing for it from a renovation store in Portland. It all set there (for years), with us never certain what we'd do with it-- I just liked those old tubs.

You know, I am one of those people who buys books I am not ready to read but want them on hand for when I will be. I live a lot of life that way with finding something but not always knowing when I can use it-- usually, eventually, I find the reason I wanted it.

Using a Mistake

by Rain Trueax 

You have written all morning putting together a blog. It's gone along well. The words flowed from the original idea. You hit a key, and suddenly all you see is a blank page with the letters lk. You panic and think-- hit the reload current page symbol at the top of the page, hoping that will mean the one you had before the apocalypse happened. lk stares you in the face. You just made your second mistake. 

That was the fate of the originally planned Saturday's blog.

When something like that happens, I always wonder if what I had planned was a mistake. I considered that but decided it had been a good idea. Maybe though there was a better way to proceed.

I took my idea to Word, where autosave doesn't happen. Before beginning, I was curious. Might 'lk' have meaning? It turns out to be an internet shortcut for like. Was my computer having fun with me? Are they often having fun with us and sometimes maliciously? 

One of the movies we watched last week, due to our grandson being here, was inspired by a Stephen King story, where the machines turn on humans due to a comet having passed. Could it be sometimes our computer/internet does the same-- without needing help from a comet (although, a comet did pass pretty close at that time)? 

 More likely, it was just typing too fast and hitting the dreaded, short-cut keys-- two of them though??? Anyway, onward and upward as a friend of mine used to say.

Working through failed atempt after atempt to make the painting meaningful to me

Resolution of  "Ritner Creek with Larkspur" oil on canvas, 25" square. 

an early version

Too many subjects all fighting to dominate were the log in the background, the water, the sunlit willow leaves and the roots upended. The painting didn't give me a sense of  wholeness and well being. Adding knock out willow leaves covering a larger area should be a happy change but it wasn't making my heart warmer.  At times I thought I was pursuing the impossible resolution. Then in the foreground I wanted a joyful larkspur to contrast with the dead wood suggesting renewal.  The violet of the added larkspur didn't show. I enlarged root in complementary colors but that did not pop the violet gray. I made the violet bigger and thicker. The root didn't move me.  I kept working scraping away root color  until I carved out the enlarged roots regaining the underlying layer tint of thalo blue.

 Here are some of the steps in the process of  making improvements:

 While I like the movement early on,  I love getting the feeling of spring's renewal and life into this painting.

 
 


 

Taking chances of spoiling what I liked about the painting, I made fearless changes that could make a difference in my eye and heart. Again I am trained to keep working - a painting lesson that I can apply to life.

After elation came critical changes until I found new meanings and a new title

Four times I made changes.  After each I was elated; I thought the painting resolved, but that didn't last. This morning I did the most painting changes.  Now not only does the blooming bush look more natural, the whole concept of the painting is resolved with my brushes framed by the window. Also symbolic is connecting visually the blooming bush to my painting brushes.

I painted intuitively and less from memory and copying what I see. I hope this painting is an epiphany gateway to working more intuitively outdoors. I  changed the title from "Controlled Accidents"  to “Happy Accidents Spark Intuitive Responses”.

When is a painting finished?

A painting is never complete. I never set aside a painting  until I can look at it for a long time without it telling me it needs changes.  I never stop painting until it resonates emotionally with the mood of the beholder. Also for story illustrative paintings, they are never satisfying me until they communicate to others.

A neighbor brought back a painting I had originally finished eleven years ago and I had given the neighbors as a wedding gift about ten years ago.  It had darkened hills as though a rain storm was coming. The image of it on their wedding announcement had lighter hills. Apparently I had darkened them to make the yellows stand out  as happy perky survivors. After all this time I could see my last minute changes gave the painting an overall feeling of foreboding.

This is how the painting looks after taking a few minutes to paint over the the mountains and green up the valley. Now the neighbor says the painting is after the rain instead of before the rain.

 

 

The original of the Greenwell beach cabin that I thought was finished in Hawaii seemed incomplete when I looked at it hanging at home.

 

With white lines suggesting back lighting, I popped out the plumeria tree, added definition to child gate on porch,  added some fallen flowers.

The white on the plumeria's branches did not help so I removed most of the white lining and now it is like the original with very small changes.

 

 

 

Of all the on location paintings I did in Hawaii in February the wedding painting was by far the most painted over and over. I had no fear of overworking it. At first I had an uneasy feeling about the wedding but as time went by my feeling was for weddings in general so the painting took on the dreamy atmosphere of hope.

When the  wedding painting was almost complete, but I was not sure, I shared it with the Tuesday Critic Group at the Old World Delhi  in Corvallis.

 I like to hear critics of my new story paintings to make sure people see my story. I received good feed back. The log and sand was ambiguous. The painting had a hole in back of the log - a difficult problem for painters.  To my fellow artists the log looks like ground.  So at home I made the sand lighter to define where the log ended.

 

Before critic

After

 

 Another painting hanging up on trial is of fan coral. I thought it was finished in January, but it is still in question hanging up in our kitchen/ dining area. Living with it for awhile, I may decide but another way to decide is to put it in a closet for a few months until I can look with a fresh critical eye.
 

 This is how the painting looks now.

This painting was started years ago of an entirely different subject.  North Albany Autumn has become a poetic interpretation of Belize fan coral and fish.

 

My belief is never be afraid to overwork a painting. Working on an exercise is nonsense and an easy excuse for abandoning the work that could transform itself many times.  Paintings are not suppose to be perfect. Paintings do not need to be finished; they are part of an ongoing learning experience.

when it goes well

It might seem after the misery of June in editing the paranormals with the mistakes that were so upsetting that I'd let editing go for awhile and concentrate instead on having a good time in July-- or even begin writing Book 4 of the Hemstreet Witches. 

What was on my mind instead were the contemporary romances that I'd first brought out in December 2011 and into 2012, books I had written when I was writing for myself and not trying to get my books published. I didn't try to get them out there until Amazon made being an indie writerpossible

My debate today regards these contemporaries, which have fallen into Amazon's black hole thanks to not many sales and Amazon's algorithms. I believe in those stories. Should I should pull them (there are ten) from wider distribution and get them into Kindle Unlimited, where they can be borrowed, not necessarily just bought? Some say Amazon's algorithms are kinder to books in KU. I have no idea as this will be m first time there with the paranormal contemporary romances. 

the 'nots'

by Rain Trueax

When I put out a book, I am convinced it is without errors and written to the best of my capabilities (at that time). I believe the story is solid and has a reason for being, that the characters are exciting with depth, and that what happens in the plot makes sense for those protagonists. 

Before the word publish is clicked, I will have written a rough draft, done two or three word-for-word edits, not to mention scanning over multiple times for context. Two or three beta readers will have sent me notes on errors they found, which I have corrected. My editor will have also done one or two word-for-word edits. When he gets the final version, he will look again before hitting publish.

From experience, I know that won't have caught everything. It's the unfortunate nature of writing, where it isn't all done the same day and where typing is often done, while thinking ahead of the keys. There will be typos. There will be commas missed because of wanting to get down the action. There will be misused words, even when I know well the correct ones-- i.e. hear and here. Argh!

What there should not be are secondary characters' names changing during the book. There should not be dialogue that makes no sense. There should not be timing confusion. There should not be saying the same thing three paragraphs after it had just been said. 

Why you should be a writer-- or not

Be a writer because it takes you from the current outside world into an internal one. If you write nonfiction, you do research and that includes if you are writing a memoir. If it's self-help, you will need to look for answers to people's problems. And if it's fiction, you create a world and characters to live in it. You give them problems that feel real; but at the same time, there are answers-- real life doesn't always operate that way.

 This has been one of the most difficult times I remember to stick to editing the second Barrio Viejo book due out in August. I am distracted by outside events where it comes to cultural and political issues. 

The United States has just ended its convention season and now has two candidates to run the country-- sort of-- for the next four years. I have mentioned I don't watch conventions at all. I read the words said as I find it easier to avoid getting caught up in emotion-- which is what both conventions were intended to stir up. 

So Republicans brought up the concerns over stagnant economy, globalization as a threat to business in America, immigration that must be regulated, violence that must be stopped, and the risk of terrorism from Islamic jihadists. Less government is a solution (except when we want it to do our will like ban abortion or end gay marriage). Strengthen individualism.

Democrats painted a picture of a country doing well but where it could do better and will-- if they get more globalization, minimum wage increases, and keep Republicans out of power. Their candidate would take out ISIS but little was said about Islamic jihadists. More government is a solution (but to pay for it, we will only tax the other guy). We can do more together.

Darkness or light? Whatever these two candidates promise for their issues, the question that will dog each will be their personal ethics. This is going to go on for three more months-- Yeehaw... not!

And then, there is inside my home with four cats, and the adjustment to two strays entering into a house that had two house cats. I am delighted when the four get along and smile when the little black one plays, which might be for the first time in her life as strays don't get a lot of time for playing. She has totally adapted to being in the house-- even if still easily frightened by anything moving too fast.  The orange one is in and out with some freedom we could not give the little one. He is not adjusting to the other cats except for being close without hissing.

And I am in the part of writing that is not fun-- editing, which is especially true if the edits are too close together. I have felt the second book needs to get out there to encourage sales for the first; but I'd much rather be starting the third in the Barrio Viejo series. If I ever make 'real' money on the books, I'd be very happy to hire a top-rate editor. Currently, I have to do it myself-- with the aid of beta readers. I'd much rather be starting the third in this series. 

The next book will involve reincarnation, the spirit world, redemption, love, and politics. My hero will have the toughest road to walk of any I've written as he won't understand from where his negative impulses come, since he's not a believer in the spirit world or the soul as an entity. This book will also have a marriage of convenience which will be revealed fairly early in the book. From that point, it'll get into the crooked world that so much of politics has evolved into being-- in this case complicated by the intervention of the spirit world. I am anticipating this to be an interesting book to write-- but then I always anticipate that. 

Between cat adjustments and our own economics, our plans have been changing. We had been planning to spend the winter in our Tucson home. 

Because of changes to the agency with which we advertise the house, we decided we better rent it at least one more season before our contract with them runs out. That means we spend the winter up here, which is okay as we might get down there in the late spring when the cactus bloom and a few wildflowers are left. 

Notice the word might because plans haven't worked out very well lately. So maybe... 

  

fresh eyes

For the last week, we've had our 15, 12, and 8 year old grandsons (off and on) at the farm. They've been helping build fence, laying irrigation pipe, watching movies, playing their games, and generally enjoying the experience of working hard enough to have sore muscles (maybe not exactly enjoy).

The week has had its chaotic aspects with trying to figure out what we will be doing with our two stray cats. The orange one is wanting to come in off and on but not stay. We haven't been able to keep him in the yard because he's very good at climbing. The black one was caught in the live trap and has been in (unwillingly) for a couple of days. She is antsy, growls at anything that moves fast, and meows a lot. So, in the cat world, chaos reigns.

My second book in the Barrio Viejo series (changed title for it) is off to the beta readers, and I'm making changes as they come back with issues they see. So far it's been minor things, and a suggestion to tighten up one of the chapters. That's the neat thing about beta readers-- that they see the work through fresh eyes.

When I was working on the trailer, my middle grandson took an interest in the images I'd put together. He said, "But, you just told the whole story."

Hmmmm, that's not what a trailer is supposed to do. So I reworked the images to do more suggesting the risks and introducing the dangers (some of them) the hero and heroine face. It improved the video-- again the advantage of having someone else see the work through fresh eyes. 

My youngest grandson really got into the idea of monsters; so we looked through the possible images I could add, which fascinated him and is always fun for me. I don't use the really horrible monster images because I don't want something ghoulish on my books. There are no zombies, and demons can look however they want (in my stories). 

So writing a blurb, finishing the edits as suggestions come in, and then this book will be ready to go out. I am having a hard time understanding why these books haven't caught the interest of those who've read my other books; but what someone enjoys in a book is so subjective. There isn't a right or wrong. It's what piques interest and add to someone's life either through knowledge or enjoyment.

Here's the trailer for the book due out early August as I am thinking of doing a pre-release for it-- which means 10 days that it can be ordered but not purchased. Summer doesn't seem a good time for book sales for many of the authors. Still, I can't wait for fall for this one as it will be ready way ahead of that with another to write.

      

giving up control-- or not

With my first, word-for-word edit done and the book off to beta readers, I have grandsons visiting but that's mainly for ranch work with their grandpa-- building fence and changing irrigation pipes. For the book, I have things I need to do like creating the trailer and writing the blurbs, but there likely will be a bit of an hiatus before I start the third book.

 probable cover for Book 2

One thing we opted to do was change the series title (causing minor problems since only one book was already out). I liked the original, but when a book tanks, you look at what might be a turnoff. The new one will relate to the place it's set-- Barrio Viejo. Because I am unsure, with four books to go, if that name will stick, covers won't have the series name on them-- for now.

I've wondered if opening the first book with a murder has intimidated some readers but that can't change. The book is after all romantic suspense with a paranormal element. The whole message of Enchantress' Secret is how a search for power can not only corrupt but get us to trusting the wrong people. Very apropos right now with the world having major challenges to governmental power. Who can you trust? Why do you give away your own power? Those are questions not only for my books but life.

We are still trying to convince the two outside cats to become inside. One will come in, but he escapes out of the yard as fast as he can-- even as he also will return. The other cat simply would not enter the house.

She does not yet have a name but has a lopped ear which means she was regarded as feral and has been spayed. We finally got her into the house by the live trap. She is currently, unhappily residing in the solarium with food, water and a litter box (we have no idea if she is box trained). We think she's 6 months old or so.

 this one is Eddie, we think... cat names are flexible right now.

I don't like having inside/outside cats as I worry about them at night-- the time predators roam and cats get in trouble. Until they are willing to give up their control to us, it's how it will be. If they simply cannot tolerate being house cats, then we will have another problem. We'll face it when we do. 

With a Republican convention this week, I am watching almost no television. I won't be with the Democratic one either. I have never been much on watching speeches. I prefer to read issue statements and am not that impressed by speakers who can excite others as it makes me suspicious they are using that instead of issues.

One totally crazy thing to me is the open carry in Ohio at the GOP convention. Seriously, this seems insane in a time like ours. If I walked into a store, restaurant, convention center, etc. with someone slinging a rifle over their shoulder, I'd walk right out. I am not afraid of guns. I own quite a few of them and have a concealed weapon permit. I am afraid of those who have them and use them carelessly or to hurt others. It's one place I am not willing to give up control, I guess-- to be where AR-15s are in open display with someone I don't know in control of them.

editing is never fun

 but some things make it even harder!

With my seventh Arizona historical romance, Bound for the Hills, I learned a painful lesson regarding editing or should I say failed editing. This is a warning for writers who may find the same thing happening to them-- if they hadn't already smartened up.

On the week-end, I decided I'd had enough distance from the rough draft to go for a proofread as well as copy edit. This kind of editing is tedious, word for word, looking for mistakes, but also plot inconsistencies. 

For anyone who has yet to write a book, even writing one in a little over a month leaves times between scenes where a person can forget they just covered something and then repeat it. Also plot ideas change as the characters become more entrenched in the writer's mind. What seemed a good idea in the beginning can end up not so impressive when more deeply into their personalities and story. Copy editing, in particular, is hard work and mostly cannot be done by anyone but the writer or someone who has worked with them over many years and knows their mindset. A really good editor, coming in cold, can offer many things but not read the mind of the author.
 
The week-end work had gone well, I thought. I opened up the document on Monday morning and nothing looked right. I quickly realized all the edits that I'd done Sunday afternoon and evening, were gone, I was more than a little frustrated. 

First, I looked to see if it was actually saved somewhere in a wrong folder or under a wrong name. I've had the misfortune of accidentally saving my last work in a different place due to the computer moving a different folder to the fore. Nope. I went through some of the older versions to see if they had accidentally received the most recent edits. They had not. Since this had not been its only edit (Ranch Boss did one last week), I couldn't afford to jump into just any manuscript as I might've lost more important changes.

Finally, I gave up and brought up the document with a new title using the day's date and went to where I saw the last good edits had been made. I resigned myself to finding all the changes from the week-end. Having been a writer a lot of years, I am not unfamiliar with losses like that. As I worked though, I kept trying to think how the heck this had happened.

Because of past blue screens or other catastrophic computer failures, I save frequently to jump drives, sometimes several of them. I've lost too much work to trust to working all day without many, many saves both on the hard drive and small jump drives. What I now believe went wrong has two aspects.

With this manuscript, I had begun to save my work as a docx, as that's what it has to be in the end. A docx evidently takes longer for saves. Add to it, that this is a long book at 110,000 words, I wasn't waiting long enough for the saves to be complete before trying to save to the other drive. Lack of patience is not a new problem for me where it comes to the computer.

My hope is that by switching back to saving as I work, as a simple doc, there won't be more editing snafus. If this was not the problem, if my computer is playing games with me, I will cut one more notch against Windows 10-- there are others...

Photos are mine and from the region of Arizona 

where most of this book takes place.