Just how difficult is it to write a book?

This was posed to me last night, and a totally legit question. I know that many non writers often wonder, because maybe  they'd like to try their hand at it because they have an idea that's been nagging at their brain for some time. If they have that much, that's good because of course a book has to start with an idea.

An idea can come from anywhere. They have come to me from big events in my life and fleeting moments, newspaper articles and simple phrases. Sometimes the ideas are big and sometimes all I have is an opening line, a character or a title and I have to work from there.

Once you have your idea, you can either outline it or just start writing. I tend to do the latter. I just write until I can't write anymore. I"m called a "panster" because I write by the seat of my pants. This is the first draft of my novel.

By this point, many people who start writing a book have already given up. You have to be determined, motivated, and diligent to stick with writing a book from beginning to end. It's not easy. Things will get in your way -- job, kids, time, life in general. If you really want it, and really think you have a story to tell, stick with it.

In the second draft I deal with the sticky parts. Usually the sticky parts for me are the details, developing characters and places, figuring out the storyline in what us writers call the "murky middle" and well, *cough* the plot. I have to make sure I actually have one. I've had to at this point add characters into the book, cut thousands of words and add 10s of thousands of words.

Then there are usually a couple more drafts.

For me, editing comes next. I have a couple friends who I think are great editors. their work (editors can be wrong too you know, plus, they're all proper and shit and sometimes you don't want to be proper and shit).

Much better than me (though I see they don't know their lay, lie, lying, laying either). So I have them go through the manuscript and find my mistakes.  I am doing all my corrections hard copy now. I've proven to myself that if I just have them track changes on Word, I get lazy and don't really check them. Having them correct on a hard copy actually makes me read the entire manuscript again and even check

Next step is to get Beta Readers. These are a group of people to read your manuscript and give feedback. I like to choose a variety of people. My editor friends give me feedback as well, so they kind of count. I gather up a couple writer friends who can usually give me an idea about the plot, storyline and character development. Then I grab a couple people who are strictly readers who give me a blanket idea of how the book worked. Did they like the story? The characters? Were there any problems? If so, what were they? Were there any questions left unanswered?

I do another rewrite based on the information I've gathered from my Betas. Now, keep in mind, your Betas are giving you opinion and you may not agree. Change what you feel needs changing and toss the rest away. However, if they're all saying the same thing, you should probably listen. When I had Betas read my last book, Dissected, none of them liked my protagonist. So in my rewrite I had to make her more sympathetic and likeable.

After the rewrite I'll give it back to at least one editor for copy editing again. With all those new words in there, there are bound to be grammatical and punctuation errors.

I may give it a couple more reads for good measure, just to make sure it's as publishable as can be. The voila! You have a book with which you can either start querying agents or indie publish.

This is just the basics. You should also brush up on writing tips, like don't use too many adverbs, exclamation points or ellipses...crap like that. There are a ton of great books on writing out there and of course, the almighty Google.

What is your process? Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to leave them. I try to respond to every one.

Stuff that makes me feel stupid when I write

Similes and Metaphors 

I never remember the difference. I suppose this doesn't make me feel stupid when I'm writing, but it does when I'm talking about writing.  So, here is the difference between a simile and a metaphor:

Simile: a likening of one thing to another or a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, the comparison being made explicit typically by the use of the introductory 'like' or 'as'.

Here are some well known similes:

My love is like a red, red rose ... Robert Burns

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Shakespeare

Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a term is transferred from the object it ordinarily designates to an object it may designate only by implicit comparison or analogy.

Here are examples of  metaphors:

I shall never get you put together entirely
Pieced, glued, and properly jointed.    Plath

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.  Shakespeare

Lay and Lie

I'm going to keep it simple...

To lay, to put or place something down. Present tense lay(s), past tense laid, past participle laid, present participle laying.

To lie, to rest or recline. Present tense lie(s), past tense lay, past participle lain, present participle lying.

Farther and Further


Use farther for measurable distances. Use further for abstract lengths you can't always measure.

Affect and Effect

Think of it this way, an affect is almost always a verb that means to produce a change in something, the effect is what is produced by that affect.

For instance, Video games affect kid's minds. The effect of video games on kid's mind is bad. (This is not something I necessarily believe just an example)

However, effect may sometimes be used as a transitive verb, which means to bring about or make happen, for example, I will effect the changes to my blog on Monday. 

And affect can sometimes be used as a noun, such as, The killer showed no affect when showed photos of his victim.

Of course those last two examples just totally confuses everything, so just say no and don't do it.

Then and Than
 
Use then when discussing time, use than in comparisons. (sometimes I still get confused with this because sometimes it's not always about time or comparisons, or at least doesn't seem to be)

I don't misuse these words, but you may want to look them up:

Literally
Ironic

And watch your punctuation or you might turn into a zombie.

There are more of these errors I run into, and forget and use incorrectly, but this blog is long enough already (or is it all ready? ;). Maybe I'll write on the subject again next week.

Monkey Madness Monday: Typos, typos, typos!

I'm going crazy. Seriously. I've read this book over and over again. I've had an editor read it. I know that there are people out there who self publish who don't have an editor read their work and this is one of the reason self publishing gets a bad rap. So much self published work it put out unedited.  It's put out with typos and grammar and punctuation problems and turns people off from indie publishing as a whole.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom having missed so much on the first five or six passes. I'm going to get another proof copy after this one. I'm going to make sure the cover is okay then I'm going to have someone else read it for typos in case I missed any. Again. I know that there are traditionally published books out there with typos in them. It's one of the reasons I refuse to read Never Eighteen since its debut. I don't want to find any mistakes. But for my first indie project, I want it to be as flawless as possible. I don't want anyone to say things like, "well, that's what you can expect after all it IS self published" or things of a similar nature.

I admit, when it comes to editing, I'm lazy, but this? The mistakes that are in there? UGH!!! Some of

them are just plain stupid mistakes.

I'm sure every writer in the world will understand when I say, I'm so tired of this book. :)
The next couple days I'm busting these typos out and getting them back to Lori so she can get it formatted again and I can get a proof from Createspace and Lightning source and make sure we're ok again.

Man, this process can be a real bitch. At least I'm learning and hopefully things will go smoother for the next book, which I'm starting to think I should be starting this process for now.

Happy Monday all.

Tuesday Writing Tips: Homonyms

 On the Tsunami Scribble Society retreat, I learned that one of the most common mistakes and editor finds is writer's using the wrong homonym.  I've found a list of the most commonly misused.

Accept vs except:
Accept is to receive.
Except is to leave out.
(guilty) 

Advice vs advise (to me confusing, so I'll use examples):
Advice is a recommendation for action (noun): My advice is to buy Pepsi over Coke
Advise is to recommendation a course of action (verb): The school counselor advises students on what classes to take.

Affect vs effect:
Affect is to change.
Effect is a result.

All together vs altogether:
All together is everyone in the same place.
Altogether means entirely.

Already  vs all ready:
Already means previously.
All ready means all prepared.

Capital vs capitol:
Capital is a city, the location of a government; main; important.
Capitol is the center of government

Clothes vs cloths:
Clothes is wearing apparel.
Cloths are pieces of cloth.

Course vs coarse:
Course is a path; a plan of action; series of studies.
Coarse is rough, crude, large.

Complement vs compliment:
Complement is something that completes.
Compliment is to praise someone; praise from someone.

Council vs counsel:
Council is a group of people who meet to discuss issues.
Counsel to advise or to give advice.

Desert vs Dessert:
Desert a dry barren sandy area; desert to abandon; to leave without permission.
Dessert is the final course in a meal (usually sweet)

Formally vs formerly:
Formally is with dignity; following rules or procedures.
Formerly is previously; at an earlier time.


Loose vs Lose:
Loose is to unfasten.
Lose is to suffer loss.

Passed vs past:
Passed is to go by.
Past is the tense of pass; that which has gone by.

Plain vs plane
Plain is simple, common; a flat area of land.
Plane is a flat surface; a tool; an airplane.


Principal vs principle (guilty):
Principal is the head of a school; also means chief, main.
Principle is a rule of conduct.

Stationary vs stationery:
Stationary is in a fixed position.
Stationery is writing paper, envelopes etc.




Than vs then:
Than a conjunction used in comparisons.
Then at that time.


To vs too vs two:
To is a preposition.
Too is also.
Two a number.


Weather vs whether:
Weather is the condition of the air; the atmosphere.
Whether is a conjunction expressing doubt.

Contractions:

Who's vs whose:
Who's  a contraction of who is or who has.
Whose is possessive form of who.



It's vs its:
It's: a contraction of it is or it has.
Its is a personal pronoun showing possession.

You're vs your (guilty, but always just a typo):
You're is a contraction you are.
Your is showing posession

They're vs there vs their:
They're is a contraction of they are.
There is in or at that place.
Their is a form of possession.

Capice?

41, 4.0

Another goal of mine is to improve my craft. Writing is a never ending learning process. There is always room for improvement.

So far, I've been learning from friends and those who have generously offered to read my work. But I have books. I have Stephen King's book, On Writing. I have books on grammar and punctuation, books on how to develop characters and make your story better.

I want to be the best that I can be. With that comes dedication, hard work, sacrifice, being open to criticism, surrounding yourself with people who inspire and motivate you, and understanding that you will never reach perfection.

Thanks for reading.

Kisses,

:*

Megan

EDITED TO SAY: My friend Jeff pointed this out. "Great writing takes a combination of talent and skill. Talent comes from practice; skill comes from knowledge. You can be a good writer with either/or, but you can't be a great writer without both."

He's so right, and I forgot to point out that while I want to learn more to perfect my craft, it also takes practice, which goes back to one of my other goals which is to write more. :)