Comments on: Bad Advice Wednesday: Writer, Edit Thyself!

By: Barbarann Ayars

Barbarann Ayars — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:01:45 +0000

You know, thinking hard, what’s more boring than bringing your video of your last blast trip on safari, or Holy Land, or trekking the Himalayas, or walking on the moon? If you didn’t make the trip, why would you care after five minutes of polite viewing? hey! Is that my book?

My life is mine. It’s pretty interesting and quite unique. To me. But what about it should make the reader care, stay up late reading, laughing, weeping, swearing through my detritus and my triumphs? A child of nearly complete negation, it’s a real challenge to write about what isn’t there, which on the face of it is the work of a mother of wild success, so how do I show a reader how it feels to be invisible? Not sure that would keep me awake, etc. But I’m having one heck of a good time trying.

#4 and #5. Oh thanks. Makes my day…..sticking this on my computer, on my wall, on my page of do’s ….btw, Happy New Year you guys.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:01:07 +0000

Scene-bashers! I love it. I guess I’m one after my “Don’t Write Scenes!” post, but I really meant don’t write ONLY scenes.

By: Richard Gilbert

Richard Gilbert — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:35:32 +0000

Love it, especially #s 1 and 6. Per the latter, it’s something the scene-bashers don’t discuss: it is much harder to write scene than summary. Not sure about good reflection, though. That’s pretty hard, too. That point you made in 3.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:21:13 +0000

Hi Barbarann,

I love the idea of sketching in out and filling it in later. Don’t do that myself so much any more but I used to. Gives you the idea of the shape/feel of the book before all the nitty-gritty work.

Thanks for the comments. David

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:11:01 +0000

Thanks Barbara–And welcome to Cocktail Hour. We won’t need spell check anymore, i can see that!

By: Barbarann Ayars

Barbarann Ayars — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:03:42 +0000

ditto livlliness….liveliness…..back to the drawing board. Or lunch!

By: Barbarann Ayars

Barbarann Ayars — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:02:05 +0000

There is no word: reffered. How about: “referred.”….see what I mean?

By: Barbarann Ayars

Barbarann Ayars — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:00:33 +0000

You can see by my posts that I am now obviously addicted. To writing. To words. To you. #7 and #8 are worthy for my needs, and occupy much of my time. I began by just blasting it on the page. The whole memoir. Freeform. And, hilarious, gave no one a name, reffered to dialogue but wrote none, vigorously glistening lilies. In all, 300 pages of recall. No order, much heat. Jeez.

Two years later it has order, focus, agony and comic relief. Sensory livliness, real. That’s because I read the first draft and said, “girl, you need help”. Several writing courses later, a few capable editors, and one sterling one, I have a memoir that is tightened, focused, in-your-face alive. I have written it real and omg, slant. It boiled down to one simple idea: decide what you want to say and say it. Don’t make the reader guess.

I recognize a blessing or two. The characters that shaped my life are many and colorful. Easy to write about. Some of the events they shepherded me through are and have always been favorite topics for the reading public. Some of them taught me to laugh my way through tragedy. Some of them taught me survival. A few of them showed me I was right about a toxic mother. A couple were larger than life. I miss them all.

#1 is the imperative. Walk away from the hot thing and return a week or two later to see with new eyes what you said as opposed to what you thought you said. See how to say it better, or perhaps don’t say it at all. I am sooooo happy for the delete button. Look how much crumpled paper I don’t have any more!

#2 and #3 make me think to tell you: self editing must, for me, come from my editor, who across these few years has taught me to do lots of what I used to pay her for. But her eyes and her listening ears are invaluable to me. I still send her stuff and say, “look at this. Send me a bill”. In the long run it saves money.