by Mayumi-H | Jul 11, 2015 | Persona 4 Fan Fiction, Publishing
Hey, everybody! 4amwriter is going indie!
If you don’t know who 4amwriter – Kate Johnston – is, click the link above and head over to her blog to find out. You won’t even need to come back here, because she can speak for herself much better than I can do, but I’ll share my experience of Kate anyway, because I always like a personal touch when I read recommendations. And, if you know the kind of writer I was before Kate, you’ll get an understanding of how I’ve grown with her help.
I first “met” writer, editor, and activist Kate Johnston about three years ago, through a writing blog called LimebirdWriters (archives still available and worth it!). Over the course of reading her poetry and prose, and looking through her articles and commentary, I learned a lot about writing in general, as well as my own voice. I even took advantage of an editing offer Kate had a few years ago, for which I sent her the first 1000 words of my 2012 NaNoWriMo story, “Anywhere but Here.” Her feedback for that scene was awesome, so much it pains me that I’m still trying to sort out the best way to rewrite this story, to be worthy of those comments. Kate’s helped me with other scenes over the years, too. So, when I read that she was jumping into independent publishing with a series of books on helping writers be better writers, I knew I had to help spread the word.
My acquaintanceship with Kate doesn’t even begin to scratch this lady’s surface. Head over to her blog and read about her adventures in writing and life – of both the 2-legged and 4-legged variety! You will not be disappointed. And, while you’re there, click “Follow” so you’ll know when her “Writer…Uninterrupted” series hits the virtual shelves. You’ll be glad you did so.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 14, 2015 | From Hell (A Love Story), Process, Publishing
As of 10:22pm ET, Thursday, March 12, 2015, I finished the content pass edit of my pseudo-novel, the homoerotic space opera western From Hell: A Love Story.
Closed chapter folders in Scrivener = Finished content edit!
I started my Borderlands story of “How the Commando Got His Turret” in July 2013. It’s grown and changed quite a bit over the course of the last year-and-a-half, I think – I know – for the better. I took chapters out, I redesigned scenes, I added and deleted and deleted some more. The original version of this story ran about 112,000 words. This edited version? A little over 83,600 words, as Scrivener will tell you:
Over the course of the latest edit, I cut or reworked a tad less than 30,000 words. I’m sure a professional editor would have helped me work the story even tighter, but, since I can’t sell this story, I wanted to keep my costs down as much as possible. Still, I think that’s pretty good, for a first-timer.
Just because I’m so far happy with this content edit does not mean even my truncated version of the self-publishing process is over, though. I still have the interior line edit, the cover (front, spine, and back), the administrative logistics like ISBN details and credits, the dedication, the compile, and the submission process. But, right now, I’m riding too pleasant a wave from finishing that tough rewrite to think about all of that yet to hurdle.
I could spend a long time talking about why I chose to publish this particular story, how all the ups and downs of my life over the last two years pushed me to try and better myself as a writer, but the honest truth is that I just wanted to see if I could do it. I love this story, no doubt, and its flawed Byronic hero is one of the most fun I’ve written yet. But it is fanfiction, and for that reason alone I can’t get too attached to the men and women on its pages, at least not to the extent I might do for a cast of my own true creating.
I’m not finished-finished, yet. But, looking back on the last six months or so of editing this story, I’m glad I did it. It is a better story than it was, even if some people might disagree. I took to heart a lot of commentary I got from that earlier version, too. So, you know, it pays to tell a writer what you think of their story, because you never know how you might change a book. I’m happy with it, though. And, I’m still as in love with these characters and this world as when I’d started, something I’d feared would fade as I picked apart their conflicts and arguments and make-up moments.
Was it a difficult process? You bet. I can’t I don’t want to count how many times I thought about giving up and tossing the whole thing out the window. Because this is a fanfiction story for a niche fandom, and I’m on the edge of that niche. Because anyone who’d be interested in this story in the first place has probably already read the first draft and won’t want to read an edit. Because it’s a story loaded with bloody violence, graphic sex, drug use and abuse, and foul language that sometimes made me, as the writer, pause to consider if I really wanted to go there. But, the one piece of advice I’ve always believed in, and that I’ve always shared with other writers around me, is to finish whatever story they’re writing. Writing “The End” on a story – even if that end is a crap and totally seat-of-the-pants conclusion – is a real accomplishment. Anybody – ANYBODY – can start a story. A writer finishes them. I viewed completing this edit as completing the story for a second time. Because, with all of those changes I’d made, it did feel a lot like a second story. And getting to write “The End” on this one made me feel so good.
Have you ever edited one of your own stories? Did you make a lot of changes? How did those changes make you feel? What would you recommend for others editing their work?
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