WIFYR Class Summary: Notes on editing

By Lacey Gunter

I attended the Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers (WIFYR) 2016 conference last week. Probably the biggest appeal for writing conferences is networking, with agents, editors and other writers. This is the main reason I choose to go to conferences. But that take away is not something you can share with readers of a blog. What I can share with you, it the other main reason to got to writing conferences, motivation and instruction on improving your craft.

One of the classes I chose to attend at the conference last week was about revising and editing your manuscript, taught by Trent Reedy, author of Words in the Dust. I first have to say that Trent was a very entertaining teacher. He clearly knew how to engage an audience. Here are some of the nuggets I gleaned from his class.

The first thing that Trent emphasized was that the biggest process in creating a book is the editing.  But you can't edit something that has not been written, so the first crucial step is always to write. Get something down, even if it stinks. Don't let you internal editor slow you down and interrupt the process, just go with the flow and get the story down on paper.

Once you have completed you manuscript, the next step is to take a little time away from the manuscript. Take a vacation, pick up something new to work on or catch up on all the chores you put off while writing, whatever. That time away will help you gain a fresh perspective on the process.

Once you are ready to dive in, always work on the highest priority task first. He related this to his time serving in Afghanistan with the National Guard.  When opening up a new area in Afghanistan for operations, you don't go building the mess hall first. First you set up a security perimeter so that all you soldiers don't die trying to get started on every other task that has to happen. It is the same with editing a book, take care of the big picture issues first or you'll probably just end up wasting your time doing a bunch of small task that get deleted or written over later.

The highest priority in revision and editing is taking care of the action plot.  Does the story line follow a reasonable story arc? Try to map out the action that happens in your book. Does it have a clear beginning that sets up the conflict? Does the middle section build intensity based on the problems or obstacles the main character has to overcome? Is there a clear climax and a satisfying resolution? All of these should be clearly established and worked out before moving on.

The next priority should be emotional plot. How is the main character reacting and growing based on the action taking place in the plot? What is happening on the inside of the character? Is the character being stretched to grow? Will the result be satisfying to the reader?


At this point you can work on development of the minor characters and making sure you tie up loose ends. Book mapping may help with this. Trent suggested every author should work out a system that works best for him or her. The writing blog Fable and Fancy does a good job discussing how to book map here.

Finally, after you've worked out all the big plot issues and all the little subplot and character issues, it's time to look at sentence structure, flow of the writing and grammar.  How does the structure of your writing accentuate what is going on in the book. For example, if you are doing an action scene, don't write long sentence after long draw out sentence. Make them short and choppy and quickly moving to the next one. Reading your manuscript out loud can help with this. Trent also suggested Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft by Brooks Landon for help. For help with grammar he suggested Warriner's English and Grammar Composition by John E. Warriner.


In all of these steps of the process, it helps to get feedback from an outside reviewer, preferably many reviewers who are experienced in writing and editing books.

Well hopefully that gives a little guidance in revising and editing your next manuscript. Good luck my friends and write on!

Common Spelling Mistakes

by Katy White

Like so many writers, I'm a grammarian at heart (and a staunch one, at that), with an editor who is rather more outer than inner. So here are a few common mistakes to avoid when writing:

A lot vs. Alot

This is a common mistake, but also an easy one to remember. Alot isn't a word. Think about it this way: there's no such thing as afew. (Allot, on the other hand, is a word and means something completely different.)

Affect vs. Effect

Affect is a verb meaning to influence or to impact. Effect is nearly always used as a noun meaning a result or consequence. When using effect as a verb, use it when you mean "to bring to pass."

All right vs. Alright

This is another easy one. Although spellcheck won't tell you this because it's been beaten into submission, alright isn't a word. After all, alwrong isn't a word, either.

Anyway vs. Anyways

The right word here is anyway (anyways is considered informal dialect). Save yourself the time typing that extra letter.

Blond vs. Blonde

The difference here comes from the french words for a male and female with yellow hair. Blond refers to men. Blonde refers to women.

E.g. vs. I.e.

E.g. is short for "exe mpli gratia," a latin term meaning "for example." I.e., on the other hand, means "id est," which is short for, "that is to say." Use them accordingly.

Lay vs. Lie

In present tense, lie means to be in a resting/horizontal position. Lay means to put something down in that same state. So you lie down or you lay your head down. The past and past participle are where it gets tricky. So follow this chart:

These are just a few words and tricks to remember. What common mistakes do you see in writing?

The Supreme Dictator Speaks

- a post by Jeanna Mason Stay

When I was young and foolish, I declared that when I grew up I wanted to be the Supreme Dictator of All Things Grammatical. Now that I am older and wiser, I realize my goal was far too limited. I should definitely be the Supreme Dictator of All Things Grammatical and Linguistical.”*

But let’s set aside the linguistical today and just stick with grammatical. Here’s a general rule:

Do not use a period where you should use a comma.

Now, I recognize that there are times when, for artistic effect, it is perfectly reasonable to break this rule. There are times when the greater pause creates greater emphasis. I’m not spitting on you if you don’t always follow this rule, but I will say that there is a limit to how often you can use this technique before it becomes tedious. Burdensome. Just plain ugly.**

Though I joke about being a dictator, I really don’t get annoyed or bothered by a smattering of random mistakes in most published texts.*** Even the very best editors miss things and make mistakes; it is the nature of being human. In small quantities it rarely takes away from the overall product. But when every page contains the same unusual usage in places where it doesn’t contribute to the emotion or pacing or strength of the writing, I must assume that someone just doesn’t know the rule, and that can be distracting. So here’s the specific comma/period rule I want to mention today:

If the phrase after the punctuation expresses a complete thought, use a period. If not, use a comma.

For example, this is wrong:

Wrong: I sat on my bed. Reading a delightful book.

Right: I sat on my bed, reading a delightful book.

Another:

Wrong: Then I turned the page. Finding another oddly placed period.

Right: Then I turned the page, finding another oddly placed period.

Now, lest I seem unfair, here’s a place where I think you could reasonably break the rule for effect:

I kept turning pages, discovering more mistakes. Wondering how many there would be. Confused at their frequency.

That’s all, folks. That’s the lesson for today. I know commas are a torment to many a wonderful author. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just make sure that if you are publishing, you have an editor who can fix them up. Plus, now you know this rule at least, so maybe your editor won’t have to charge you as much.

This message brought to you by the Supreme Dictator. Don’t even bother to argue. She’s always right.

* When you’re the supreme dictator, you get to make up words. (Except that sadly I just discovered that the internet thinks this is a word, so I didn't make it up after all. Sigh.)

** See what I did there?

*** And though my friends are sometimes paranoid, I never pay attention to mistakes in personal emails. That’s just crazy.

Writing PSA: Ellipses

by Katy White

One of the perks of being a writer is belonging to the writing community. One of the perks of belonging to the writing community is having incredible critique partners who pick your stuff apart and for whom you do the same. It's always neat to see the different personalities and preferences of your critique partners and beta readers based on their feedback. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm a particular kind of CP... *cough* anal *cough*

You see, I love grammar the way Canadians love donuts. That isn't to say that I don't break writing rules or that I don't think it should be done. Because I do. Like that. See? Sentence fragments. Bam. (I love sentence fragments.)

Playing around with words and sentence structure and crazy punctuation to make a point can be a joy. Cormac McCarthy, one of my favorite authors, doesn't even use basic punctuation or grammar rules in his writing. And it's absolutely masterful.

But unless you're him, there are some rules you just can't break. One such rule surrounds the ellipsis, or dot-dot-dot.

That's right, three dots*. Not four. Not eleven to show you're feeling REALLY dramatic about this pause. Three dots. Three.** 

Now, even when writing ellipses (the plural of ellipsis), there are some differences of opinions. Most style guides will tell you that the dots should have a "thin space" between them. MS Word includes this automatically, so that rather than looking like "..." it actually looks like ". . .". It's subtle, I know. But no one is really going to get mad at you for missing the thin space (or for claiming that you're adhering to the style guide that omits the space), and, honestly, if an editor cares, she'll likely just fix it. So, don't stress about the spacing. But, please, for the love of the children, do stress about the number of dots. Three.

But wait! you cry. Sometimes there are four dots! Okay, you got me. But those dots you see don't all belong to the ellipsis, because an ellipsis, by definition, is three dots. Thus, when you see four dots, one of those is actually a period to indicate that the omitted material ended a sentence...which, again, doesn't belong much to fiction/everyday writing. We use ellipses in fiction to trail off a thought or to show a pause or hesitation or to heighten the drama about to be revealed when you finally finish the sentence. 


Let me show you a couple of examples of what an ellipsis looks like in fiction writing:

"I didn't know how else to explain him.  He just...was." (Ellipsis indicates a pause.)

"I never meant to..." (Ellipsis indicates a trailed off thought or that the speaker lacks the words.)


And in less common, more non-fictiony writing:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said . . . I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know. . . . he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

You see what happened there? In the first ellipsis, because I was only removing a section within the same sentence, I wrote a standard ellipsis. But the second time around, because I was omitting more material (ellipsis) and there was a sentence break in what I omitted (period), four dots were required. Make sense?

Keep in mind that if you remember nothing else from today's public service announcement, the surefire way to annoy Katy is to have more than three dots in an ellipsis. :)  


*Although the ellipsis is technically comprised of periods, "dot" is also acceptable. So if you were thinking of getting snarky...frankly, I appreciate the instinct.  ;)

**Before I get too far into this rant, keep in mind that I'm not talking about academic or non-fiction writing where the ellipsis indicates that a word/line/paragraph is being omitted.

Saturday So What: Comma-Kaze

So I got the first round of edits back for Finished being Fat. It has confirmed what I have long suspected -- I don't have any clue how to use commas. And judging the contest entries, I don't think I'm not the only one.


Some people use commas like sprinkles, liberally dotting them around like decoration. Others have the opposite problem, the dreaded run on.  When you read through your own work, it's not really that big a deal. You know your own voicing, you know where you meant to pause. But when you read other people's work, you need those phrasing road signs.

I still have a long way to go, but here are some comma guidelines I have picked up.
*  Use a comma when starting with an introductory action. Example: Jumping of the cliff, Jaime prayed for a miracle.

*  Use a comma to separate to short but independent thoughts with a conjuction. Example: The man was gorgeous, but he was a little tall for my tastes.

*  Use a comma to separate 3 + items or actions in a series. Example: She ran, walked, and limped her way across the finish line.

*  Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements, parts of the sentence that aren't strictly necessary and could be removed. (see what I just did there?) Here's another example: Your mom, the oldest and grumpiest lady I have ever seen, slammed the door in the girl scout's face.

*  Use a comma between complimentary descriptions.  I like the rule that if you can put an and in between them, you could probably use a comma. Example:  He was tall, dark, and mysterious.  As opposed to the She was a little old lady. Notice you don't use a comma in the second example.

*  Use a comma for a break in thought, or to add contrast and set a piece apart. A lot of people think this is the old, put a comma in wherever you pause when reading. Not so, there is an actual reason for it. Example: I didn't like what he had done, though not my problem anymore.

There are many more uses and misuses of the comma. But these are the ones I find myself abusing the most. 

What about you? Are you a comma-kaze? Or a grammar nazi that has total comma control?