Upcoming Flogger workshops, and the pursuit of quality

I'm pleased to report that I'll be doing two of my Flash Editing workshops at Northwestern conferences this summer and fall.

The first is at  Writer's Weekend in Bellvue, Washington. I'll be doing my bit on June 22. Writer's Weekend focuses on genre writing, and has excellent attendance by top editors in that arena as well as helpful workshops.

Then on October 7 I'll be at  Write on the Sound, an excellent conference in Edmonds, Washington. WOTS has a broader focus on craft and looks at a wider variety of genres with high-caliber speakers and workshoppers. They've just decided the 2006 program so it won't be up on their website for a while.

If you attend either of these and follow this blog, it would be great if you stopped in to say hi.

I call it "Flash Editing" because I lead the participants in editing samples of the opening pages of novels submitted by conference attendees. It's an interesting and often entertaining way to coach a bunch of writers at once in storytelling craft. As a group, we go through a sample, looking for things that need attention. When we spot something, there's an opportunity for a dialogue about how the shortcoming affects the storytelling and how to fix it. The authors are there, absorbing all the input from dozens of pairs of fresh eyes. The authors have found it to be highly valuable, and the other participants tell me that they learned something.

The trickiest part is arranging to have submissions ahead of time so I can make printouts of the samples to hand out to the workshoppers to read before we edit, and to have time to do a quick edit myself that I can share with the authors when it's all over. But, even if no one sends in a submission, I can use submissions to the blog to do the same thing. As usual, I learn something, too.

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Words of wisdom from Miss Snark

So why all the focus on editing, editing, editing? In a recent post,  Miss Snark, sharp-tongued literary agent, said "Quality, quality, it's all about quality." In another entry, she passed on a novel because the plot was weak even though it had a very fresh and original voice.

She was referring specifically to the sample pages writers submit with queries for their novels. For her, the writing sample is what either opens her door or shuts it.

With her, and many agents, it's the quality of that 5-page sample that determines whether or not she asks the writer for a "partial." That's often the first 50 pages or 3 chapters of a manuscript. And it's the quality of the writing and storytelling in the partial that decides whether or not she asks for a "full." And, of course, the quality of the full manuscript is what settles whether or not she offers representation. And those are just the first three hurdles your work has to clear. Then comes the acquisition editor at a publishing house.

Now, if you're like me, you work and work and work on your narrative to make it the best you know how. Finally, you reach a point where you think it's good, good enough to be publishable. If you're unlike me, you then put together your query and sample pages and send it out, expecting that whoever receives it will feel about it pretty much the way you do. We all expect, at some level, approval.

Me, I seek fresh eyes first. I have three varieties of fresh eyes to help me see what I can't see -- flaws in the manuscript hidden from a mind enamored with my own wonderful writing. The first is a group of friends who are avid readers of good books. I've found that they can't give me the kind of specific criticism a writer or editor might, but are good at spotting problems with pacing or characterization or plot.

In group two are fellow writers I've met in critique groups, writers whose work I respect and whose insights into the craft are sound. They know the craft well enough to be good at editing as well as writing. These good folk help with all of the points above, but also with specifics of language and structure. They are also capable of making suggestions and line edits that help strengthen a manuscript in a hurry.

Group three is the smallest, but the most accomplished. I "trade" critiques with the managing editor of a small publishing company whose eye I've found to be keen, and with a fellow litblogger and MFA who has an equally keen eye for the literary qualities of a work.

Given the time -- and that's what I urge you to do, is to take the time -- those people will help my manuscript reach a professional level of quality that increases my chances of making an agent like Miss Snark, or an acquisitions editor, want more. From that point, it's the story that decides whether or not a manuscript moves from a hope to a book.

I'm chagrined to admit that I don't always follow my own advice, and sometimes get caught. I recently rushed out a sample of the newly finished WIP. It had gone through the rigors of a top-notch critique group, and I'd revised the first chapter accordingly. But I didn't get anyone to read through the revision. Sure enough, it went out with a typo and a word missing. Arrrgh! I've probably poisoned that particular well, all because of my haste to get it out. And haste was the least necessary -- actually, unnecessary -- part of the process.

Ah, well.

Call for questions

You would help me a bunch if you would either email or use the comment feature to ask questions about storytelling and craft that you're interested in.

For what it's worth.

Ray

Free edit in exchange for posting permission. You send a sample that you have questions about and of which you'd like an edit. I won't post it without your permission.

ARCHIVES .

© 2006 Ray Rhamey

Comments

[Radean]

Question: When writing in a particular genre, do you think it's best to read other work in that genre, or anything but? I've heard varying, some very strong, opinions on both sides, and I go back and forth myself. I would be interested to hear what you think.