I recently recieved some additional reader feedback on the latest iteration of the Fate manuscript (thank you, Elizabeth!), and given that I’ve got another month to go in the queue before it’s my turn with the professional editor, I decided to have another go at the beastie.
I’ve got some (what I think are) good general books on editing:
· Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
· Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon
· Line By Line by Claire Kehrwald Cook
My copies (and I have two copies of Manuscript Makeover) are all full of sticky notes and yellow highlights. I learned a lot from them, and am confident that I have been able to internalize and incorporate a lot of their teachings in my own work. I applied it to the FATE manuscript, to the best of my ability. But I’m still a beginner, and I am likewise confident that the professional editor will find plenty more to anoint with her little red pen. That said, I continually seek to improve my emerging writerly skills and find new ways to make my story the very best that it can be. After all, the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference is coming up in August, and I want to make sure that FATE is spit-shined and polished for my next pitch session. I’ve found that I really can’t move forward on the DESTINY manuscript until I’m satisfied with FATE.
That said I turned to editing guru, Margie Lawson (http://www.margielawson.com/ ) and ordered her Deep Editing: The EDITS System (http://www.margielawson.com/lecture-packets/deep-editing-the-edits-system-rhetorical-devices-and-more/view_document/3-deep-editing-the-edits-system-rhetorical-devices-and-more ) lecture packet. I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I’d taken a class from Theresa Meyers, and she mentioned that she used the Margie Lawson Deep Editing process. The price was right, and the lecture was delivered via email in a zip file.
I swear, I am not getting any compensation for this endorsement (and you may recall that I am NOT YET a published author), but man-oh-man do I love-love-love Margie Lawson and her EDITS method. The lecture packet is chock-full of examples, and the color-coding is a great fit for how I think. It was simple to understand, and for me, easily learned. I cannot believe how much I have learned (and in such a short time).
But don’t get me wrong. This is dense material. Margie herself admits that her deep editing process in hard work and it is. Until I started reading that Deep Editing lecture packet, I didn’t understand the need to scrub every paragraph, line, sentence, and word. But wow. The results are, WOW. Immediately, WOW.
So I’m sold. I imagine her real-time classes are even better, but I’m delighted with the lecture packets. I’ve just ordered another one.
I’m a big believer in the Law of Attraction, especially when it pertains to information (it comes to you when you’re ready for it). A couple of people had mentioned Margie Lawson to me previously, but I didn’t pay much attention at the time. Last week, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. At this point, I’m thinking that she’s the best thing since sliced bread. Imagine what I’ll know next week…
Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I’m so glad you pushed yourself and ordered a Lecture Packet.
I’m having a cyber Open House for Lawson Writer’s Academy on June 9th and 10th. Drop by my website, tour the cyber classroom, and you may win a free online class!
All smiles……….Margie