My Editing Life

I recently did a guest post for Cynthia Ravinski's blog,  http://cynthiaravinski.com/blog/. She is an amazing author who has published the Emotobook Lingering in the Woods, which I highly recommend. ( http://www.gritcitypublications.com/Grit_City_Publications/LingeringintheWoods.html). Anyway, the post is about my experience as an editor for Grit City Publications. Enjoy!

From a young age, it became clear that editing would be my passion. As early as first grade, I was bored with my spelling tests and my teacher let me create my own lists with harder words. Hey, when everyone else is still learning how to spell “cat” and “pen”, being advanced enough to be learning “alligator” is quite an accomplishment! As time went on, I could always be found with a book in my hand. As my family watched television at night, I would have my nose in a novel and learned to drown out all the background noise, much to my mother’s annoyance at times.

Once I entered middle school, I gained a passion for writing poetry and short stories. In high school, as I started to consider what I wanted to study in college, I didn’t even have to think about it; I knew my future was in English and writing. During my time at the university, I found that I gained a greater feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction from editing the work of my peers than I did in writing my own works. I put more focus into learning the details of proofreading and editing and set my sights on becoming an editor with a publishing company.

Now, six months after graduation, I have spent five months editing for Grit City Publications. As soon as I heard about their revolutionary approach to writing, I knew I had to be a part of it. By combining the best genre fiction (or popular fiction, if you like) with emotionally-packed abstract art, Grit City’s emotobooks present a sensory experience that heightens emotions and helps the reader create a more solid connection with the story unfolding before them. These past few months have been extraordinary, for many reasons.

The best part of working with Grit City is that the editing work presents a challenge. It is certainly a challenge that can be overcome, but it also strengthens my skills as a result. Not only do I have to worry about such physical things as punctuation, spelling, and grammar, but it is important to identify places where the emotions need to be heightened and absorbing. These five or six places in each emotobook have to be built upon in order to support the illustrations that will be created to fit the piece. It is my job to help the author anticipate these insertions and provide the best possible set-up to ensure that the illustrations and writing work together.

Another challenge in creating emotobooks is the specific formatting that must be done before a novel or short story can be considered ready for the public eye. After all of the writing details are nailed down and the perfect illustrations are created, I have to put them together and change the formatting to fit the requirements of each company, from Amazon to Barnes & Noble to Apple. This is a lot to juggle, especially when it gets closer to the deadline (each company publishes on a quarterly schedule), but it reminds me how important it is to multitask.

Overall, editing for Grit City Publications and supporting the emotobooks revolution has been a far different experience than I ever imagined when I decided to become an editor. However, I wouldn’t trade a single moment, because I know it has made me a better professional and has shown me how to work with multiple genres. The unique approach to eBooks that Grit City offers has allowed me to grow as an editor and, for that, I will be forever grateful.

Journaling Ideas

Creating Your Own World

If you want to write a sci-fi, or fantasy, or western, then many times you end up creating your own world within the story. This is not easy and requires a lot of creativity and deep thought. I have a lot of respect for people who can create a believable world that is entirely separate from our traditional lives.

Doing this comes with challenges. First, you must be able to remember what details you have given the reader. You can't contradict yourself, because you will confuse your audience! It is also important because, while you have this whole world in your head, you have to be sure you have explained it thoroughly enough that the reader can picture it too. If you accidentally leave out one important detail in your description, it could send them off in a different direction or throw them off completely.

If your world is very extensive, such as in the Lord of the Rings, it might be a good idea to give the reader a visual aid. This might mean including a map at the beginning of the book, including a picture of your main character, or using an introductory chapter solely for getting the reader oriented. This could also be a place to expand your book across media lines and make a website that delves further into the intricacies of the novel. While this might seem like a lot of extra work, it gives the reader a place to learn more and might hook  potential readers that happen to stumble upon it. From a marketing standpoint, it also keeps your reader focused on your work and will encourage them to learn more about you and about other titles you have published or are working on. This is why it is important to have a blog or an "about the author" section!

While there are a lot of points that can be made about making your own world, this is just a brief look into the needs of the reader.

Reaching Outside The Box

Lacking a little in the inspiration department? Try reaching out to a genre you don't normally write in. If you mostly write romance, try delving into horror. If you normally write erotica, try your hand at nonfiction. If you are a poet, try to write a short adventure story. You don't have to worry about it being good, that will only make it harder. The purpose is to go outside your comfort zone a bit and force your creativity to start up. If you want, you can keep it to yourself, or you can share it with others to get some feedback. Who knows, you may even find you like it!

A Tip for History Writers

Through my college years, I was very lucky to be able to take some interesting history courses as gen ed credits. One of the most unique ones was about gender and sexuality in medieval Europe. The books we were assigned to read were, for the most part, concise, easy to follow, and helpful. With history not being my strongest ability, I was worried that the books would leave me lost and confused. These fears quickly vanished, however, thanks to the authors who kept non-history-buffs like myself in mind when they were writing. Without a background in any medieval European history, I was still able to follow every sentence, every paragraph, and every chapter and gain an understanding of the material. It was exciting!

Now, in my spare time, I am reading a collection of essays about the connection between Harry Potter and history. It talks about ancient philosophers and the beginnings of Christianity. While I am fascinated by the idea that one of my favorite series might actually have a realistic basis, I am highly disappointed in this book. First of all, it sounds like most of the writers have barely even looked at a Harry Potter book, as they use quotes that don't apply and take things out of context that don't make sense otherwise. My poor fiance has had to put up with my outbursts as I complain about the inaccuracies involving the original text.
Another thing that bothers me is that the writers don't have a clue on how to relate to their audience. I keep trying to push through, but even within one essay, the author jumps from one time period to another, from one important historical figure to another and then back again, and from one idea to the next, without providing some way of connecting them. It seems like each new paragraph (or, sometimes, each new sentence) springs out of thin air. I really want to understand, so I keep pushing through, but I wonder how much more I could be learning if the writer would simply explain what he or she is talking about instead of dropping comments as if they were leaves in autumn.

After experiencing this dreadful novel, I have some advice to give to history writers. If your subject matter is bound to be popular (such as the HP one, which involves pop culture), please write so that the general population can understand you. This doesn't mean you have to "dumb it down" or talk down to us. It simply means that we need you to stick with one thought long enough for the reader to grasp what you are trying to say. If your subject matter is for more involved history buffs, then by all means, skip over the stuff that is common sense in that area. However, if it is not, then you must take the time to explain the more common elements of your topic.

This is what you are!

The gist of this: Don't expect writing to be easy. There is no winning formula, there is no cut-and-paste style, there is no way to master writing overnight. You have to be willing to work hard and put in the hours of practice in order to improve your skills. This shouldn't be too hard, however, if you have the passion for it. It might not always be what you want to do that day, you might want to have an easy day and relax, but in the end you need to motivate yourself to get through it. If you push yourself through the hard work, you will have that finished product in your hands that you can be proud of.

Trying Something Different

While this is a rather crude example, it accurately portrays the experiment I want to propose today. If you are having trouble coming up with new ideas, try putting a secret message in your writing.

You could write a want ad, like the one above, that uses every other line to send a message. You could write a letter that includes a code with a secret message. Find a way to make your writing serve two different purposes at one time.

If you decide to try this activity, please send your attempts, I would love to read them!