Hi
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Catherine E. McLean and her
new book, “Revision is a Process – How to Take the Frustration Out of
Self-Editing”! For other stops on her
Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of
the images in this post.
Be
sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Catherine and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Revision is a Process – How to Take the Frustration Out of
Self-Editing
by
Catherine E. McLean
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GENRE: Self-Help, Self-Improvement, Non-Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A
first draft holds the possibility of what will be a great story. Revision turns
that rough diamond into a spectacular gem worth a reader's money and time.
Writers
are individuals but to be a producing writer means creating a system to revise
and polish a work so the reader thoroughly enjoys the story. REVISION IS A
PROCESS is a guidebook for writers and authors that shows how a simple 12-step
process can be tailored to eliminate the most common and chronic maladies of
writing genre fiction. This valuable guidebook contains secrets, tips,
practical advice, how-to's, and why-to's for taking the frustration out of
self-editing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT THREE:
From Section 7, Show Don't Tell - What to Cut or Change
One
rule of fiction is to show more and tell less.
What
does that mean?
A
very simple example is that saying it's a flower is telling but to say it's a
white rose, its petals edged with a mist of ruby-pink is showing.
Showing
means providing an instant, vivid image so the reader sees in their mind what
was meant.
Yes,
showing requires more words than telling, but how much detail is too much
detail when showing?
Keep
in mind that readers will stop reading and skim over sentences and paragraphs
of details in order "to get to the good stuff" of drama, action, and
something happening of interest. So it's best to choose all descriptive words
carefully and keep the passages succinct.
Now—
Go through your manuscript and highlight all descriptive phrases and passages
so you can see how much of the total text is description.
If
using your word processor's highlight feature, pause to zoom down to view
entire pages and look at the end of pages to see how much carried over to the
next page.
If
you have exceeded three sentences (20-60 words) of description or explanation
at any spot, that may be overkill. Determine what needs to be cut, pared down,
rewritten, or reparagraphed for visual effect and immediacy, and what is too
lengthy, mundane, or bordering on boring.
It's
also important, when revising such areas, to remember that the replacement
words should be in keeping with the story's or scene's narrator—and not you,
the author, stepping onto the page with your voice, (that's a type of Author
Intrusion that readers hate).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Do You Ever Wish You Were Someone Else? Who?
Who
doesn't wish they were someone else? My life is ordinary and so it's not that I
wish to be someone else, it's a matter of wanting to escape from same-old
same-old of everyday earning a living, making ends meet, being a wife, mother,
4-H leader, Red Hatter, and all the other things that have to be dealt with in
life.
But
secretly, in my mind, I liven up the doldrums of existence by creating
vicarious adventures—being someone extraordinarily special, even quirky.
Discovering and reading novels was a godsend because I met pirates, cowboys,
Horatio Hornblower, Robbie-the-Robots, Nancy Drew, fighter pilots, submarine
captains, scientists, detectives, Superman, Wonder Woman, E.T.s, policemen and
women, spies, and more. All an eclectic assortment of heros—and some antiheros
and villains—but all kept me returning to the library for more books to fill
any vacant hours with adventures, mysteries, and more.
Lack
of finding good romance novels set in phantasy realms (medieval times, with or
without a dash of magic or fantasy) and stardust worlds (futuristic, sci-fi
fantasy, paranormal) is what drew me to inventing and imagining such worlds and
the story people that populated them. In all of my stories, I get to be someone
else, lots of someone elses—especially the protagonist. And sometimes, too, I
cringe when I have to write about the villain who terrifies me. An example of
such a villain is in my novel Karma &
Mayhem, (http://karmaandmayhem.blogspot.com/) a paranormal fantasy romance
that will be re-released in October 2017.
Actually,
in that book, there was a triad of witches bent on immorality. Of the trio,
Celinae and Sweets were evil-evil, and those two terrified me so I could not
get into their heads and be them. But Annelisa was the odd-woman-out of the
trio. She was perceived by her two cohorts as naive and expendable. But
Annelisa was smart. She had not gone over to the dark side of dark. I could get
into her head and witness or relay the perversions of the other two witches
without having nightmares.
I
also like fun characters, ones with quirky personalities, like Marlee in my
novella Hearts Akilter, -
http://tinyurl.com/HeartsAkilter-Amazonlink - a fantasy sci-fi romance. Marlee
is a no-nonsense maintenance technician on a space station. She fixes robots.
Trouble is, Henry, a meter-tall medical robot, comes to her complaining of a
heart attack. Turns out there's a bomb inside the little guy. Marlee can't risk
the bomber discovering she's found the device, so Marlee opts to kidnap an
unflappable bomb expert to secretly disarm the bomb.
One
of my wonderful kick-ass heroines is Darq, the Wysotti Indian fighter pilot
protagonist of Jewels of the Sky, -
http://tinyurl.com/jewelsofthesky-book - a sci-fi adventure (space opera).
Being a direct descendant of the captain who massacred the Mayans, Darq is a
duty-oriented, pragmatic interstellar fighter pilot. She doesn't believe in
miracles or forgiveness, or that J'Hi-inti (god) would ever rescind the death
curse on her people for what happened to the Mayans. Only J'Hi-inti hears one
compelling plea for reconciliation and decides to let chaos rule—and test Darq.
After all, she's a wild card like her nefarious ancestor. What will she do when
she faces the ruthless alien fleet commander who spearheads the blitzkrieg that
is to finally destroy her homeworld, and who she once witnessed murder her
cadet comrades? She's blinded by hate and survivor guilt—and all that stands
between survival and extinction, heaven or hell, for Darq and her people, is
mercy, or a miracle.
By
the way, two weeks after the launch of Jewels
of the Sky, I found an Indian doll that looked just like what I imagined
Darq to look like. I bought the doll, renamed it Darq, and gave Darq a blog -
https://jewelsofthesky.wordpress.com/ - with the premise that Darq is visiting
Earth as an ambassador and staying with me. I've had a lot of fun sewing her
clothes for the many social events she gets invited to, taking the photos for
her blog, and promoting the book through her blog adventures.
I
also like medieval romance and a current work in progress is titled Thunder & Snow. The heroine is known
as the Unworthy Princess. Only she's to become the legendary wielder of the
Ironwood in this tale of heraldry and magic.
I
doubt there's a limit on the number of heroines I get to be because of the
stories and novels I read and the stories that pop up from my ever-active
imagination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Catherine E. McLean's lighthearted,
short stories have appeared in hard cover and online anthologies and magazines.
Her books include JEWELS OF THE SKY, KARMA & MAYHEM, HEARTS AKILTER, and
ADRADA TO ZOOL (a short story anthology). She lives on a farm nestled in the
foothills of the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. In the quiet of
the countryside, she writes lighthearted tales of phantasy realms and stardust
worlds (fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal) with romance and adventure. She is
also a writing instructor and workshop speaker. Her nonfiction book for writers
is REVISION IS A PROCESS - HOW TO TAKE THE FRUSTRATION OUT OF SELF-EDITING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH CATHERINE:
Hub Website:
Website for Writers:
Writers Cheat Sheets Blog:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
LinkedIn:
Goodreads Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Catherine will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N
GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, and thank you for having me as your guest today!
ReplyDeleteEscaping ordinary life through fictional characters gives us an emotional ride without the consequences of taking the character's actions. A win-win for readers and writers.
ReplyDeleteHi, Janet,
DeleteI heartily agree! Thank you for stopping by today.
Who is your favorite author currently writing books? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough question. That's because I'm an eclectic reader, that is, I will read anything that intrigues me, has characters I can sympathize with (or hate), and a plot that keeps me turning pages. Much like the fiction I write! Okay - My favorite genre is romance. That runs the gauntlet from historical (Kathy Otten) to the sci-fi/fantasy of Elizabeth Moon or David Webber or even the dark fantasy of Anne Bishop. Of course that's just the tip of the iceberg! LOL
DeleteThanks for stopping by, and I wish you luck in winning the gift card. Have a wonderful Christmas Holiday.
Great post, I enjoyed checking it out. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the guest post, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI want to thank everyone who stopped by and apologize for not signing off last night. The reason I couldn't get online was that I lost my wi-fi service and, long story short, someone from my service provider has to come out and check the lines and my unit. So, I'm at my public library (I love the library!) using their wi-fi. Trouble is, I live in a rural area and the library has staggered hours of operation.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I truly appreciate being the guest blogger here and I truly appreciate everyone who stopped by. If you entered the raffle, I hope you win! Have a good week (or at least one better than mine! LOL)
I enjoyed the post.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rita, and many thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDelete