Published August 30th 2022

THE VOICES

It was posted on August 30th, 2022.

Let the voices go

All right, with that said, we can unpack this bag right here and now. As a writer and a reader of fiction, you will hear people cut others down for the simplest mistake. One author was told her book was beautiful, except she missed a comma, and so they gave her a one-star review on her book. Let me say this right here and now. Hello, my name is his human being, and last I knew, I was far from perfect. When you see me in person, I do not sound grammatically correct. Writers already have our overly hyper-critical voices telling us we are making a mistake. Or no one is going to buy your book. That story has already been told. That song was already sung.

Many of us tell those nasty little voices to be quiet. Now, if one can come forward and give feedback without ripping our hearts out, we can welcome that openly. Some of us might still say it stings and burns. As long as we know where you’re coming from without making yourself sound overly critical. We do take feedback.

The Due Process

Some say, “Oh, it’s not hard to write a book.” Let me stop here, lower my glasses and give you the side eye. Now some stories can roll right off the pages, and you can knock out a good first draft in no time flat. But you then run the risk of flat characters deprived of depth. You run into plot holes etc. When writing, we have so much that goes into it. We all have our styles. I use what I call character bibles. It lists the characters’ names, mom and dad, and siblings. Suppose they are going to be destined for a lover. I list out a description of this person. Do I have a real-life person I envision when I think of the character? If so, I use that to my advantage. Now, these are works of fiction. That does not mean that the world around you cannot inspire you.

Next

Once you have the outline done, then comes the first draft. Wait, no second, or maybe the third draft. Now, let’s move on to a copy editor. Do you have one? Perhaps you know a person who will do it for you. Wonderful. Now that they have it, they cut, tweeze, and carve a path through your book. Don’t be shocked, scared, or mad when it comes home covered in red ink. This is unlike in grade school, where we get stars for effort. Once again, we’re at that draft board and addressing edits. Once you fix any of those issues, granted, you have the right to say no; my story stays as I wrote it. I advise if you paid someone to do edits and they do it for a living. Listen to them. They know what they are doing. Once you get two rounds of revisions in and you feel confident. Then you seek out a professional proofreader. This person is going to be your comma king or queen. They will catch all your acceptable tune grammar errors. They will help you keep everything flowing smoothly. Again, I advise you, but I am not telling you. If you pay for service, take the advice. It’s like going to the eye doctor and getting told you should wear glasses at night. You do it so you don’t have an accident. Listen to those you pay to do a job because it will also reflect on them.

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