The post 280 Editorial Alchemy: Turning Good Writing into Literary Gold with Rebecca Faith Heyman appeared first on Sacha Black.

In this episode we cover: 

• The different types of edits and what you can expect from them
• The most common myths about editing and editors
• Editors and author voice
• How to know if an editor is good
• How to deal with, process and work with editorial feedback

This week’s question is: How do you process your editorial notes?

Recommendation of the week is: A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

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Links and events I mentioned:

The Rebel Author Diaries Anthology Submissions are now open.

Find out more here.

Connect with Kristina Stanley:

Her Course: An Insider’s View of Story Editing

Course Description:

Thirteen professional story editors edited the same novel. Each editor worked separately in Fictionary StoryCoach. This course compares their edits and shows you what worked and what didn’t. You’ll see actual examples of edits. We’ll also show you a scene before and after revisions were done based on the edits.

If you want to elevate your skills as a story editor, this course shows you how Fictionary Certified StoryCoach editors work. You’ll know what you need to deliver to a client to help them tell a powerful story.

If you’re a writer looking to hire a professional story editor, this course shows you what you should receive from a story editor.

Coupon Code:  SACHAREBELS

You get the course for $39USD instead of $99 just because you’re a rebel!

If you’re interested in Kristina’s software StoryTeller, she has a coupon SAVE20 for writers who want to try StoryTeller. That gives them 20% off an annual  or monthly subscription.

Link to Kristina’s first episode with me

Rebel of the Week is: Jere Anthony

If you’d like to be a Rebel of the week please do send in your story, it can be any kind of rebellion. You can email your rebel story to rebelauthorpodcast@gmail.com or instagram me @sachablackauthor

3 new patrons this week, welcome and thank you to Matty Dalrymple, Eden Collier and Lucie Béraud-Sudreau. A big thank you to all my existing patrons. If you’d like to support the show, and get early access to all the episodes as well as bonus content you can from as little as $2 a month by visiting: www.patreon.com/sachablack

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY KOBO WRITING LIFE

Visit Kobo Writing Life here, read the Kobo Writing Life blog here, and listen to their podcast here.

The post 087 How Editors Edit with Kristina Stanley appeared first on Sacha Black.

HELP…

I have a wonderfully rare gift tomorrow. A day off from work, almost entirely child free that I intend to dedicate to writing. Whilst I am acutely aware I now have an overdue assignment, tomorrow is dedicated to my novel. But I have a problem.

I have 50 something thousand words written – that need a heavy edit, I have some major character development needed too, and probably before I carry on. I have also lost a bit of confidence due to the mis-timed feedback and I’m not sure how to get it back. But it has knocked me significantly off track, and now I feel like I need to go back and edit major storylines, sub-stories and character lines.

But here is my question, Should I go back and spend the time I have between life admin editing the 50K? Or do I spend a couple of hours on character development and then soldier on with the story and edit at the end?

Now – before you all charge in and tell me to plough on (because thats what everyone has said without exception)

There are a few caveats –

I need to either raise my confidence with what words I already have down on the page or I am not going to be able to continue, OR someone needs to provide me with an extremely rational logical argument as to why I should continue.

Listen to me. I already know the answer, I am inviting you to tell me to continue, but I am stuck. Stuck wanting to edit, to critique and perfect what I have before carrying on… the urge to edit is overwhelming.

Also now I haven’t looked at my novel since the 26th Nov when I completed NaNo, the usual ‘carry on to keep the flow going’ doesn’t really apply, as I am a bit out of the flow now anyway.

So what do I do???

Answers on a blogpostcard!

The post To Edit or Not to Edit? That is the Question appeared first on Sacha Black.

I have lost count of how long I have been subscribed to Jamie’s blog, but it’s been a while. I follow a number of bloggers, but Jamie’s is the one I wait with baited breath every week to see what delights she gives us. The reason I wanted to mention her blog, is because she is an editor. A developmental editor.

Her blog, which you can find here, is no less than a gold mine. She has hundreds quite possibly thousands of blog posts rich with information, from writing tips, industry insights, general information, book reviews to all you could ever want to know about working with an editor.

Any writer who is reading this, listen up – I cannot advocate you reading her blog more. Be warned, Jamie can be cuttingly honest at times, so much so it took me over a year before I even plucked up enough courage to post a comment on her blog, and still now I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve done so! But it’s an honesty you need… if your serious about being a writer anyway. Jamie will tell you exactly what not to do, all about the habits writers do that annoy editors, and educate you in just what you do and don’t need to do when approaching an editor. Jamie will make you a better writer. I only hope one day my stuff is good enough to get edited by someone like Jamie.

The respect and admiration I have for Jamie is infinite. If you’re even half serious about writing, GO. CHECK. HER. OUT.

The post Writing Tips #8 Follow an Editor appeared first on Sacha Black.