A Moment of Gratitude (Personal Development)

This is a picture of my husband.

Something happened to me yesterday that I couldn’t imagine ever happening — a couple of friends offered to beta-read my latest novel!

This is big, for reasons most writers will recognize. Our own families generally don’t read our books, much less our friends. The fact that my friends are actually beta-reading my works amazes me,

I don’t worry about these friends being unable to critique fairly, because they know I need this to grow in my writing. And one’s a Creative Writing grad, one a professor, another a grad in (I believe) psychology. A good mix.

So pardon me if my feet don’t touch the ground today!

Stretch Goals (Personal development)

A Reminder: All Goals Should Be Smart

I know I’ve talked about SMART goals — all our goals should be Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Realistic, and Time-bound. It’s good to write these down to have something to refer to and direct your energy.

Stretch Goals!

But what if we fulfill those goals? We need new goals, and we want them to continue the progress of the met goals. Stretch goals are these next level of goals. They should be as we’re nearing success in the first tier of goals, so we can build them using the momentum we currently have.

Examples:

I am nearing 1000 followers on Twitter. Now I would like to see 2k. I now plan I will acquire 2000 followers by June 1 through a combination of getting my name out there by making and following and liking posts, and following others.
I have just finished the developmental edit stage of my WIP. My next stage is to find beta readers, then collect their comments and edit some more. (This goal has not reached SMART goal status; notice I haven’t developed it enough to make it SMART)

What now?

Look at your goals. What’s the next step? Start plotting that!

If you want help with that or SMART goals, drop me an email at lleachie@gmail.com.

Ode to Developmental Edits (Writing Tools)

I just finished making corrections from the developmental edit of Whose Hearts are Mountains, so I’ve been thinking of all the reasons I’m glad someone told me to find a developmental editor:

Because “good enough” is not good enough
If you think about it, a developmental edit is a brutal thing to put your book and your psyche to. You pay good money (averaging about $800-1200 from my research) to have someone tear apart the novel you’ve spent months or years bringing into existence. You have to read over all those comments and it’s frustrating.

Still, I do it and I swear by it. Why? Because my “good enough” isn’t good enough for publishing. Few people’s are, even after second or third draft. Writers need a pair of fresh eyes; furthermore, we need someone with literary skills to examine our word choice, to make sure our meaning comes out in our words.

Why can’t I just proofread extra good?
First of all, if you didn’t notice the grammatical error in the previous sentence, you probably need skilled help. More importantly, proofreading is not the same as developmental editing. Proofreading picks up grammatical and punctuation errors,and the person who does this is a proofreader or line editor. Developmental editing gets into the conveyance of your ideas itself — whether a sentence or paragraph is clear, whether your passage’s moods make sense, whether your characters are portrayed realistically and readably.

Why can’t I just use beta readers?
Beta readers are very good at letting you know what the average reader will think or do. Some beta readers — the ones with some creative writing skills — might pick up on some unclear sentences or sentences that don’t sparkle. But they’re reading for enjoyment, not for discernment, and usually not in a higher literary sense.

How to find a developmental editor

Ask around. If you have writing friends, they have likely dealt with developmental editors, and have had good and bad experiences. If your sample of writing friends is small, ask on Twitter, a writing forum, or NaNoWriMo. Ask for their feedback in direct message, because they’re more likely to be honest that way. Don’t be surprised if a couple developmental editors find you that way.
Comparison shop. Ask the developmental editors questions. Rates, of course, are important. Turnaround time is important.
Understand their style — you can have them read and respond to a short excerpt of your writing. A developmental editor should push you but be constructive in their criticism.
A very important point — make sure you sign a contract before proceeding. Read it well before signing so you understand what your rights are.

A developmental editor is someone you should consider having on your team. If you can’t afford one, at least find a beta reader who has a lot of literary skills. The idea is to create the most compelling version of your hard work.

If any readers use developmental editors, share your stories with me via email: lleachie@gmail.com

Saturday Morning at my House (Creative Essay)

Mind the clutter on the coffee table.

Welcome to my Saturday morning.

It’s 8 o’clock AM, and my husband and I won’t go out today because of the ice and sleet from yesterday and the potential snow today. It’s a good excuse, anyhow.

We lounge in the living room under low light. The fake fireplace and a piney Woodwick candle create ambience. Tony Bennett sings “Darn that dream” and we chuckle at the song’s quaint language. Chucky sits on the edge of the cluttered coffee table, managing to knock only one thing down.

The coffee today is from Burundi, home roasted and ground, and I can taste notes of lemon, cooked apples, and spice. Tony Bennett has segued into a mellow jazz tune.

I’m in my writing corner on the loveseat typing this. When I’m done I will go back to my developmental edits, which are going smoother than I thought. Today is an enforced retreat day, for which I’m grateful.

Twitter as #writingcommunity (Personal development, Social Media for Writers)

Oh, that’s how you do Twitter!
I just wanted to announce that I’ve figured out Twitter. I even pinned a tweet!

#writingcommunity is my Favorite Place
I have fallen in love with Twitter, especially the #writingcommunity.

Why have I fallen in love with #writingcommunity?
#writingcommunity Twitter is different than mainstream Twitter (although I don’t have much knowledge of other specialty Twitters). It’s surprisingly social. Some of the discussion is about writing, but some of it is simply “tell me how your day went.” It uplifts, commiserates, and makes people laugh.

One of the activities in #writingcommunity is following each other.There are two reasons: one of the purposes of Twitter for writers is to add to one’s “writer’s platform” or media presence. One of the things many publishers and agents ask is about your writing platform, because that means potential buyers for your book. The more important part, though, is the interaction I mentioned above.

Is #writingcommunity for you?
If you’re a writer or an aspiring writer, a thousand times yes! Think about it — you have thousands of people who are good with words. Playing with words is a natural consequence. You have people with writing as a commonality; they’ll talk about writer’s block and rejection.

Comparisons (Personal Development)

Wandering the Twitterverse:
I’m spending time on Twitter building my social network there (#Writercommunity is a good start). It’s a great place for encouragement and commiseration and celebration

But there are dangers. I’m an author who has written five books and

haven’t yet gotten an agent or sold one to a publisher, and I refuse to self-publish because the average self-publisher sells 250 books at latest count.

There are people on Twitter who have agents, who have books traditionally published, who have awards, who have 41k followers on Twitter. In other words, people much more successful than I am.

It’s hard not feeling inferior. Or bitter. All the ugly emotions that I don’t want to bring into the Twitterverse because people are so nice there.

Comparing yourself to others is toxic.
Those negative feelings are the result of comparing myself to others, always the more successful ones. This creates a toxic inner voice that says, “why aren’t you as good as them? You should be better. You should try harder.”

Or ” You might as well give up. You don’t have a chance. You should never have been a writer.”

Either way, I don’t like the person I’m listening to. I want to hide from the Twitterverse, from people, from my cats (who don’t care as long as I feed them).

My solution
First, I take a short break from Twitter and have a good talk with that toxic inner voice. Cognitive journaling (Check out this link; )Ragnarson, 2019)) helps with the cognitive distortions I experience. For example, “You don’t have a chance” is an example of furtune-telling, and I know I can’t predict the future (or I wouldn’t be in this mess anyhow).

Then I go back on Twitter and celebrate those who are successful. I know I would like it if people celebrated me. If there’s such a thing as good karma, I would like to have a piece of it.

Finally I celebrate myself, because I know I’ve come a long way.

Reference:
Ragnarson,R. (2019). Cognitivejournaling: A systematic method to overcome negative beliefs. https://medium.com/better-humans/cognitive-journaling-a-systematic-method-to-overcome-negative-beliefs-119be459842c [Available: January 9, 2020)

Part 2 Developmental Edit (Personal Development)

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
After a certain amount of hyperventilating at the sheer length of the developmental edit notes, I took a deep breath and dipped my toe into the first chapter. It really wasn’t bad with a two-screen setup so I could go back and forth between comments and book. I made it halfway through the second chapter before my eyes started bleeding. Only 29 chapters to go.

Procrastination is not my friend
Honestly, I’m my own worst enemy with these edits. It goes back to my dissertation, where I sat on a major edit for six months, because I thought I couldn’t fix it. It was easy to think that, what with comments like “why should I care about this?” I finally approached the professor who made the remarks, and she said, “Oh, that’s simple. Just explain the importance of it.” I did not respond with “Why didn’t you tell me?! because I was a lowly grad student and she was a tenured professor.

In praise of dev edits
I have a long ways to go on fixing my work in progress, but I wouldn’t go without the dev edit. I have trouble looking critically at my work — I’m either too critical or not at all, and I sometimes get overwhelmed by the sheer number of words. So I need help in the form of an educated set of eyes.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of my work blossom under edit.

Unboxing my Dev Edit (Personal Development)

I’m a bit nervy about this …
I confess — I’ve been afraid to open up that dev edit for Whose Hearts are Mountains. It’s long, it’s detailed, and I’m going to be mortally embarassed by the mistakes I’ve made.

But it doesn’t matter.
My novel deserves an opportunity to improve. It deserves to become great, not just good. And I deserve to have a better book.

Too many excuses
I’ve been avoiding reading this for four days. I had to clean my room, take a nap, write a synopsis of a poster session I want to present research in, nap some more…

But now it’s time.
I need to get the courage to dig into it and improve the story. Anna Schmidt and Daniel Ettner deserve better than to be left in the corner, their story never heard.

An Epiphany (Personal Development)

Happy Epiphany!

In the Christian calendar, today is the Epiphany, which I guess has to do with the Three Wise Men meeting Jesus. I’m nowhere near a devout Christian, so I think of this as the night some good friends hold a Twelfth Night party, complete with flaming pudding.

What is an Epiphany?

According to Wikipedia (yes, I went there) the definition of epiphany is “an experience of a sudden and striking realization.” (Wikipedia, 2020).

How to Recognize an Epiphany

Imagine you’re thinking about an issue that vexes you. Suddenly you have an “aha” and the explanation for the problem suddenly hits you. From there, a solution comes quickly.

Epiphanies take the form: “Oh, that’s why!” or “I get it now.” Or even, “Well, shit, it’s staring me in the face.”

Epiphany and the Writer

Writing is full of these sudden realizations. Insight into a character, a revelation about a story line, a clue to the action — all are epiphanies that writers cherish. Creativity and innovation come from these aha reactions.

A Happy Epiphany!

Whether you’re a writer or not, here’s wishing you a happy epiphany!

Wikipedia (2020). Epiphany. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feeling)

[January 6, 2020]