Writing Dialog

I am in the edit phase of  Book 2 of the Solstice 31 Saga: The Broken Cage.

I have a lot more dialog in this book than in the first book. There are more characters. It's fun to write the dialog with a different voice for each  character. I always make sure to use a natural language voice. To do this I say it out loud. Yes, my cat looks at me funny. My wife sometimes thinks I am speaking to her. It's worth it!

Grammar does not have to be right in dialog. I find that when people actually speak grammar is forgotten quickly.

I found another weirdness when editing dialog.

I write using the tool Scrivener (I love this tool!). It turns out that when Scrivener exports to MSWord format all the quote marks are inch marks, not open/close quotes.

To be honest, when I wrote Still Falling, I didn't even know there was a difference. There is a difference. 

( " ) vs  ( “ and ” )

--Say it out loud! Do it! Do it now!!

Cutting

The best advice I received that helped me actually finish my novel was just hammer though the first draft all the way to the end without stopping and no looking back. Besides writing a lot of run on sentences I ended up with a novel that was over 1000 pages.

The second best advice I received was, cut the shit out of that thing. With a chainsaw.

That is very important advice for me. I put a lot of science in my science fiction. But it turned out the extra 600 pages of data dumps that explained how my FTLs worked, or the anti-gravity, or the AIs worked didn't forward the lot or develop character.

Start with a chainsaw, then a butcher knife, then a scalpel. (Then write more to sew up the wounds)

--I had to be brutal. But in the end, the story is way better for it.

The Broken Cage

I finished the 2nd draft of The Broken Cage, Book 2 in the Solstice 31 Saga.

The proof arrived yesterday. I call this the the red-pen-proof.

Volunteer editors and beta readers will use this edition to mark it up and give me feedback.

This edition will be vastly different from the final published version. More than just spelling, grammar and punctuation will be fixed up.

Plot holes will be filled. Characters will be tuned. Clues to mysteries will be seeded.

Books are kind of like children. The second one is easier. I know what to expect. I know what to do.

--Still having fun!

The Broken Cage: 2nd Draft

I finished the second draft of The Broken Cage, book 2 in the Solstice 31 Saga. I tightened up the plot and polished the ending.

I took the day off to crank this out. I cannot believe how much I can get done with a whole day. I hammered out almost 7000 words yesterday.

I even picked a new Author photo. I think I may use a different one for every book. It will be fun!

--Go buy Still Falling!

Almost There...

The editor is done working on my book. She did a GREAT job! I learned a lot, mostly because I am making this all up as I go along!

I have begun the actual mechanics of publishing it myself. I have copyrighted the story and even have an ISBN now.

Here is what the final cover will be, I think:

I am still working on the text for the back cover. One more time through and it will be ready for Amazon.

--I am currently working on Book 3!

Cutting Room Floor

Killer Robot Sentries

I still have a huge pile of stuff that I cut out of my first book. It's good stuff. It was not necessary for the first story but it was still good stuff.

I have an entire thread I cut out that was a first person log from a lone survivor.  I was using it as a tool to over explain several plot points. I liked the stand alone plot that it developed.

I remembering how influenced the writing was by images I was seeing on Pinterest.com. Photos can really inspire my writing.

Music also inspires my writing. People and places also inspire it.

--I guess I find inspiration everywhere!

Editors

I love writing. I enjoy doing it. It entertains me more than TV or Facebook or even reading.

I don't like to edit. It's work.

Thank the makers I have some excellent friends that are spelling and grammar Nazi's that also make excellent content remarks and recommendations. With their help I will be able to polish this thing up.

I have also lined up a professional editor:

Katherine M. Gotthardt
All Things Writing, LLC
www.allthingswriting.net

I met with her for the first time tonight over coffee. Anything that starts with coffee has got to be so good!

--This is still fun!

Routines

Got a lot of editing done this weekend. I probably reached the halfway mark. I am getting back into the routine of working it. Vacation is over. I started dieting. I'm back to work. Running in greased grooves.

--I set a new deadline for this draft: October 31

Writing this Weekend

My wife and I went camping this weekend with some friends. We have a 16 foot camper trailer that we took on it's first shakedown cruise since we bought it.


The camper we had just before this one was nice and helped us figure out what we really wanted in a camper trailer.

• No leaks if it rains
• A bigger double bed
• A booth in addition to that bed
• The ability for my wife to sleep in even if I can't
• Coffee

These were hard and fast requirements so I could quietly slide out of bed, make coffee, and sit at the booth with my laptop. The trailer passed with flying colors.

I would wake at 6am, drink coffee, eat Strawberry Frosted Poptarts and work on my book! There was no Internet there and barely a cell signal. I spent the whole weekend off-line.

I got through six chapters this weekend! It was very productive. More fun and less like work too. I can meet my self imposed deadline if I manage just one chapter a day going forward.

--Maybe it was the Poptarts! Who knew!

More Cutting

More characters fit the cutting room floor this weekend.

The book was bloating back up to 140,000 words so another seconday plot made it's way to the next book.

The slow slog of the second draft continues. I think I am still on target for the June 31 deadline.

This part is work. I need to tough it out. Make a habit of working it for a couple hours a day.

This part is also very important. All the people I know say that the editing shows the difference between amateurs and professional writers.

Spelling and grammar won't make your story better, but it makes a big difference in the Book.  Spelling and grammar can only make your effort worse.

--It will never make a crappy story better.

The Cut

RIP Madison the Great

I am a bit behind on the cut of my edit.

There is a more difficult cut that involved a surgical cut of a plot line that doesn't belong but it's not in well defined chapters.

I also am trying to resist doing the full rewrite until the cut is done.

I fear I am just going to have to go a bit long even though I am cutting to the bone.

My writing buddy also died yesterday. Our ongoing struggle over the ownership of my keyboard is over. I may have to add a cat to my story.

--I'll miss you Madison. Sure is dusty in here...

Emotions in Story

Random Utah trip photo!

I was editing my book and found myself reading a chapter and getting all choked up and misty. I love it when that happens.

The story you write needs to touch you. If you want it to touch your audience it has to get to you first. You have to really care about the characters. Your readers will love it when you make them feel emotions!

All the emotions. My story has many, everything from anger, outrage, romantic love, hatred, pride, and humor.

--Read it again. Get help if you need to. Have fun with it.

The Cut

I wish I could remember where I read this tip but it worked really well for me. The tip was simple advice for beginning authors:

Delete you first three chapters.

Oh my God. That worked so well for my story I cannot believe it.

The main function of my first chapter is to hook the reader so well that they cannot put down the book. I want the reader that reads preview pages on Amazon to press one click just to see what happens next.

Most of the first three chapters I cut had utility later. Some of it just was not necessary.

--Only about 20 chapters left to review in the cut phase.

Writing about Food

Happy Friday to both of my readers! It's a long weekend for me and I should get a lot of work on my editing this weekend!

As I am reading my book on the edit it is making me hungry. Dammit!

It is a survival story. He goes from survival rations in the story to eventually wonderful meals that make my mouth water.

The food itself is a symbol in my story and carries a larger meaning. I won't give away anything here.

--Dammit, now I am starving! 

Still on the Cut

I am about half way through on the cut review. I have already cut out about 71,000 words.

It is getting tougher now to trim.

My goal was to get to 105,000 words. It has been recommended to me that it was a good length for a first novel I have been told by published authors.

A big problem is that I keep adding text in the revision. I love some of these chapters and I feel that I am too close to them.

Steven King said that after his first draft was done he would put the draft away and move to his next project and come back to it months later for the edit and revision. I might do that eventually after this trilogy.

--Back to work.

Faster Than Writing

Rand

I have discovered that I can cut and edit way faster than write. It has been moving right along. I will be way faster than I thought. So far I have cut about 70,000 words with a current 122,000 count. More to go.

I have been finding annotations in my "project" that include links to internet photos that inspire characters in the story.

I use a tool called Scrivener. If you are doing any kind of creative writing I highly recommend it. Download it and give it a try. It's only $40! It also has great Youtube.com training vids.

--Back to work! Having fun!

Spelling and Grammar

I have tried to start 4 other novels in the past. I always got wrapped around the axle trying to be prefect as I wrote. Constantly checking, revising, editing as I went. Then I would go back and change it as I thought of something.

It crippled me to the point that I could not get past act 2 in a 3 act story.

I decided this time I was going to hammer through and never go back until the first draft was done.

I found it to be very productive. I wrote more, faster and hopefully better.

After my first cut/edit I have lined up my niece/friend Holly to do the spelling and grammar edit. She loves editing and I am lucky she is willing to take it on, FOR FUN!

--Action Adventure!

Started Editing

Author Photo Candidate Number 2

Wow.

I have already, in less than an hour, cut out about 50,000 words.

I cut one complete subplot out that will end up being the basis of Book 2.

I also cut the first three chapters. I read an article that said new writers make the mistake of spoon feeding their readers with too much set up for the pivotal event. It was true.

I also cut out in the first three chapters all my friends that I wanted to introduce and kill off for fun. Sorry guys. Cutting room floor.

The remaining cuts will be more complex. They need to be more surgical cuts. Cuts that weave all the way through the story.

--This is fun!!

Next Up: The Cut

The word count on this thing is over 192,000 words. My target length for publication is about 105,000 words.

So tomorrow I start cutting with a chainsaw.

I have already decided on one entire parallel plot line the grew too much will be completely removed and used in Book 2. That might be as much as 50,000 words alone. Other small sections can be easily removed and not missed.

Some subplots will need to be carefully cut away as they are woven into several places.

I am giving myself six months for cuts and rewrites.

--I might even spell check...