http://writers-unite.site-ym.com/members/blog_view.asp?id=758312&post=137343
Please check out this link to a "guest" blog post I wrote. They have an informative and interesting blog for writers. I was thrilled to be able to participate.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Guest Blog on Writer's Unite
http://writers-unite.site-ym.com/members/blog_view.asp?id=758312&post=137343
Please check out this link to a "guest" blog post I wrote. They have an informative and interesting blog for writers. I was thrilled to be able to participate.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Going Pro
Are you thinking you don’t need a professional editor to
look at your manuscript? I would ask you to think again. The benefits of a good
editor can surprise you, as I found out recently when I hired a “Pro” to go
over my manuscript. I didn’t realize I
would learn so much about how I write by having a professional copy editor
go over my work. Now I wonder why I resisted this lesson for so long. Yes, the
classes I took and the books I read helped me get started, but the editor’s
handling of my work helped me understand my
structure, style, and voice in a hands-on and very personal way that books and
classes didn’t. For the first time ever I understand that I actually have a “style”,
a “voice” and that they aren’t so bad.
Another benefit is that nowadays many sites that accept “self
published” or (as I prefer) “indy published” novels or non-fiction ask if it has
been professionally edited, because they won’t accept the work if it hasn’t
been and with good reason, in my opinion. In today’s world anyone can “self
publish” whatever they want. Self publishing is good, and is also a pain.
Reason: there is no industry standard and a lot of what is out there is not all
that interesting to read. Sorry if this upsets you to hear, but it’s the truth.
Just take a look.
Think about your
readers and look through their eyes. When you search for something to read it’s
like shopping anywhere else. You go to a store (or more than one), normally for
its reputation and/or ease of shopping. You take time to investigate whether
the towels you want are worth what the store is asking for them. You look at a
lot of different styles and colors, at quality and price to make sure you get
what you want. Why should a book be any different? It isn’t, so it’s up to you
to make sure that what you put out for sale is the best it can be, that when
your prospective reader (or maybe an editor for a major publishing house) picks
it up or reads a review about your novel/non-fiction, that they get what they
want/expect. Investing in your writing this way can also help other writers to better their work by
raising the standards.
If you are considering submitting your work to an
agent/publishing house or indy publishing, please seriously investigate using a
professional editor first. I thought I didn’t need one and couldn’t afford one
when I submitted my novel. I’d had at least six different people, and not all of
them “friends”, read the manuscript before I submitted it. Sending it out was
good and their comments helped dramatically to upgrade my work, but now, after
having had a pro go over it (a copy
editor not a proofreader) I am amazed at how much more I learned about my own
writing and how much smoother my novel now reads. Next on my list is a search for a proofreader
who will find the typos and misspelling (if any, ha ha) and correct them.
“My” professional editor has enabled me to traverse an
amazing learning curve. I feel more confident that what I submit the next
time (or indy publish) will be the best I can make it. You can bet I will use my
professional editor again because I know the money will be well spent on someone
who truly knows how to make me a better writer. Don’t deny yourself the opportunity
to learn just how good, and professional, your writing can be.
Check out these articles for more information on types of
editing.
Photo from:
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Eating Our Way Through a French Christmas
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| Buche de Noel |
I have spent four days trying to catch up to myself on line.
I think I’ve been fairly successful. I have more to do (always) but finally
feel ready to get back to my revisions on two works in progress. Our trip to
France for the holidays was much more than a “vacation” for both my husband and
I. For him it was a journey to reconnect with his other life there, the one
that came before me. For me I discovered just how much his “other life” there has
become mine as well. I fell in love with France all over again and not just
because of the food! Which, of course,
is amazing. I’ve posted little on this blog about the trip but only because I
needed time to settle in enough to write beyond a sentence. I didn’t write at all while I was there. I thought
I would have the time and space to write but obviously I was meant to have a
different experience. Instead I went on to spend time with my daughter whom I haven’t
seen in almost nine months, develop an even closer bond with my “other”
mother-in-law (belle mere in French meaning pretty mother) than I already had,
and enjoy the chance to eat with at least 70 to 85 people over the entire three
weeks. That is a lot of folks to break bread with.
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| Cheeses and Saucisson |
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| 12 dozen oysters! |
The fun part about eating in France, especially during a
holiday season like this one, my first Christmas ever in France by the way, is
the company one has while ingesting. Meals just wouldn’t be the same without the people.
You always hear about how long the French take to eat. The French (most anyway)
like to talk when making their way through their meal. They talk and listen to catch
up on whatever there is to catch up on. And usually with us, since we’re only
there once a year (if we’re lucky and get to go even that much), there is much
to discuss, to laugh over and of course we have to sing along with my husband and
his guitar to all the oldie French songs no one hears on the radio anymore.
 |
| I love Fois Gras period. |
This Christmas, everywhere we went, I looked around me at
all the wonderful people I call friends or family. I took in each one and what
they meant individually to me. I listened to the stories of their lives, their
cares and woes or successes and happiness’s. I didn’t find it difficult to be
truthful when I shared how much it meant to me to be with them. I felt almost
as if I were in a dream intended to show me the essence of what friends and
family are. Mostly I felt so damn lucky to be there; to experience the
individual characteristics, accents, perfections and imperfections that make up
each one of these people that shared this time with me, and, to have the
feeling reciprocated was part of the magic. Yes. People are what life is about.
Now I am back to writing, to spending all day alone with my
computer and I find I’m not unhappy about that like I thought I would be after
such a rousing and emotional time amongst the living and breathing. I find myself exploring with new people online
and hoping we will in some way help each other in this new year to be the
successful happy people we all want to be.
I can’t make this journey as a writer completely alone. I see that now. I need not only the living and breathing in my
space, hugging me, loving me and talking to me, I also need my “virtual”
friends to help me remember I’m not alone in the adventure called being a
writer. So here’s a toast to all my loved ones no matter which continent you live
on. Here is another to the new “Virtual’ friends coming into my life; may you continue
to do what we love to do so much, making stories into novels or articles or
whatever it is that you do with your words, and, make money doing it! Happy New
Year all!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
A Sense of Fiction: Meet Historical Fiction Author Lisa Buie-Collard
Thursday, January 05, 2012
For the Beginning of 2012
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| Les Pyrenees |
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| Part of my wonderful family, Colt, Isa, Cecile, Damien and Marjorie |
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