I remember my thesis supervisor once telling me, "never be your own editor," because you are simply too close to the material to see what's wrong. He must have been right, if you said the same thing. Now on my third book (but first work of narrative fiction) I am having 2 trusted individuals - both writers, themselves -- reading the work. I have no idea what to expect, but it's important to get someone you trust to give feedback. BTW, I LOVED what you said about "layering." I didn't even know that's what I was doing, but I agree with you. It feels and looks better with each "layer"; we can often see things -- pockets needing repair -- if we revise this way. Thank you, Datta, for your videos. I find them both helpful and clarifying. 😊🌹
Proofreader definitely. You can go over something 100 times and there will still be typos. With a proofreader you may not get every single one but you'll get a lot closer than doing it yourself. Our eyes tend to overlook stuff in our own work that we would notice in other's. We wrote it so we fill in missing words and correct for misspellings unconsciously.
Sorry about your low subscription number. 1. You should be prouder of your work; it is a way to tell if you are for real or fake. Put a link to your books in the description. Not everyone is going to buy a copy from your sales page. I would suggest a post where you read the first chapter(s) aloud. That would help to hook readers and contribute to establishing your reputation. 2. You have a good tight style with few unnecessary words and a good depth of mystery. Nothing to be ashamed about. Put it out there. That said, a couple of comments. On page 1 of Different, the paragraph starting 'Frank lay staring at the dark ceiling,' is telling, not showing. I skipped to a random page (54?) and you were showing what you had said in that paragraph. So it probably is not needed. On the first page, that paragraph is more of an info dump. Probably got left in by accident. Second, I noticed on that second page that, like me, you like to mix 3rd person comments, thoughts and dialogue. I have not bothered to look up the formatting rules but what I do is leave the first in normal text, the second in italics, and the third in quotes. Your 'What the hell?' then becomes instantly recognisable. 3. Do a word-by-word text analysis of the first page of Harry Potter and you will understand why she was rejected. It's a wonder she even got accepted at all. The series relies on special effects (both writing and plot), not writing quality. 4. I do agree with layering. The opening page of Different shows the results of layering. 5. The reason why people are reluctant to hire an editor is because so many people in such a role provide no service. Just like a lot of the writing 'experts' on RUclips cannot write their way out of a wet paper manuscript, a self-proclaimed or even professional editor may not act professionally with your manuscript. Another point you missed is do not take a horror manuscript to a romance editor. The result could be horrifying. I did subscribe based on your book's text. I had not before because your videos are too long for the quantity of information.
Actually, that the wife walked over indicates that they sleep in separate beds (same beds and she would have leaned over the top), but the teddy bear and her coming over both show that it is a loving family. So that telling is not needed, even on the first page.
Realising he had a pistol in the drawer scared me. By your terminology, you are not ex-military or at least the character is not. I understand that it was not his idea, but he is sleeping too soundly to keep a gun in that place. If he was truly scared, he would have been sleeping lightly and the weapon would have been easier to reach. The story sounds very American. Look, you never fire a weapon unless you know where the round is going. In a US house, that can be into the childrens' bedrooms or out to the street. Innocents can get hurt, e.g., manslaughter. In a European house, that bullet can ricochet several times before striking the person who pulled the trigger. Please, use your platform to teach weapon safety.
Thanks, Steve. Lots of great suggestions. Putting a link in the description for my books on Amazon is a wonderful idea. I don't want to come across as not being proud of my work. Different received 12 literary awards, including four 1st-place awards, and The Reluctant Visionary has so far received 7 awards, two of them first-place, though it has not been officially released yet. AND, one thing I love about writing is that there is always room for improvement. Your suggestions help with that. Thanks, again.
Great advice, thank you for sharing!
You are so welcome!
Thanks Datta, good food for thought. I appreciate you taking the time to share your journey.
Thank you, Joy. Happy to share.
I remember my thesis supervisor once telling me, "never be your own editor," because you are simply too close to the material to see what's wrong. He must have been right, if you said the same thing. Now on my third book (but first work of narrative fiction) I am having 2 trusted individuals - both writers, themselves -- reading the work. I have no idea what to expect, but it's important to get someone you trust to give feedback. BTW, I LOVED what you said about "layering." I didn't even know that's what I was doing, but I agree with you. It feels and looks better with each "layer"; we can often see things -- pockets needing repair -- if we revise this way. Thank you, Datta, for your videos. I find them both helpful and clarifying. 😊🌹
Thanks so much for that! I'm happy that you find these useful.
Proofreader definitely. You can go over something 100 times and there will still be typos. With a proofreader you may not get every single one but you'll get a lot closer than doing it yourself. Our eyes tend to overlook stuff in our own work that we would notice in other's. We wrote it so we fill in missing words and correct for misspellings unconsciously.
That is SO true, Gene.
Great information. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Catherine. Glad you liked it.
it's not even that there's so much bad stuff. there's a shit ton of GOOD STUFF. it just seems that we're in a period of GLUT - OVER SATURATION.
Thanks for your honest feedback. My future videos will be more down to the bare bones. I'm planning to put one out next week.
Sorry about your low subscription number.
1. You should be prouder of your work; it is a way to tell if you are for real or fake. Put a link to your books in the description. Not everyone is going to buy a copy from your sales page. I would suggest a post where you read the first chapter(s) aloud. That would help to hook readers and contribute to establishing your reputation.
2. You have a good tight style with few unnecessary words and a good depth of mystery. Nothing to be ashamed about. Put it out there. That said, a couple of comments. On page 1 of Different, the paragraph starting 'Frank lay staring at the dark ceiling,' is telling, not showing. I skipped to a random page (54?) and you were showing what you had said in that paragraph. So it probably is not needed. On the first page, that paragraph is more of an info dump. Probably got left in by accident. Second, I noticed on that second page that, like me, you like to mix 3rd person comments, thoughts and dialogue. I have not bothered to look up the formatting rules but what I do is leave the first in normal text, the second in italics, and the third in quotes. Your 'What the hell?' then becomes instantly recognisable.
3. Do a word-by-word text analysis of the first page of Harry Potter and you will understand why she was rejected. It's a wonder she even got accepted at all. The series relies on special effects (both writing and plot), not writing quality.
4. I do agree with layering. The opening page of Different shows the results of layering.
5. The reason why people are reluctant to hire an editor is because so many people in such a role provide no service. Just like a lot of the writing 'experts' on RUclips cannot write their way out of a wet paper manuscript, a self-proclaimed or even professional editor may not act professionally with your manuscript. Another point you missed is do not take a horror manuscript to a romance editor. The result could be horrifying.
I did subscribe based on your book's text. I had not before because your videos are too long for the quantity of information.
Actually, that the wife walked over indicates that they sleep in separate beds (same beds and she would have leaned over the top), but the teddy bear and her coming over both show that it is a loving family. So that telling is not needed, even on the first page.
Realising he had a pistol in the drawer scared me. By your terminology, you are not ex-military or at least the character is not. I understand that it was not his idea, but he is sleeping too soundly to keep a gun in that place. If he was truly scared, he would have been sleeping lightly and the weapon would have been easier to reach. The story sounds very American. Look, you never fire a weapon unless you know where the round is going. In a US house, that can be into the childrens' bedrooms or out to the street. Innocents can get hurt, e.g., manslaughter. In a European house, that bullet can ricochet several times before striking the person who pulled the trigger. Please, use your platform to teach weapon safety.
Thanks, Steve. Lots of great suggestions. Putting a link in the description for my books on Amazon is a wonderful idea.
I don't want to come across as not being proud of my work. Different received 12 literary awards, including four 1st-place awards, and The Reluctant Visionary has so far received 7 awards, two of them first-place, though it has not been officially released yet.
AND, one thing I love about writing is that there is always room for improvement. Your suggestions help with that. Thanks, again.