One drawback of being a writer is that it can ruin your reading enjoyment, your editor's eye automatically critiques everything you read; whether newspapers, magazines or books; and, half the time, I am constantly amazed at the level of writing; and the lack of editing that is out there!

Yesterday I began reading a novel, and by the end of the first chapter one, I was so aggravated--I shake my head, grind my teeth, and have this insatiable urge, to mark it up with my red pen; that I decided not to finish it: even though I am interested in the subject matter! I already tired of rereading; I can't make sense of what I just read. If there was a Hook in the first chapter, I missed it!--because I was so distracted, by things like:

*Sentences connected by commas.
*Endlessly long sentences that are actually four or five sentences combined by colons and semicolons.
*Other unusual and awkward sentence structures.
*A voice is lowered, yet no voice had been speaking--it had appeared that she was merely thinking.
*A new character with no clue to her identity, to where she might fit into the story, or the purpose of what was said to her.
*The mysterious new character complains about someone else by name, with no clue to that person's identity either.
*Nouns used as verbs.
*Missing verbs.
*Proper nouns not capitalized.
*A common noun capitalized.
*A question without a question mark.
*A sentence beginning with "But" followed by a colon.

I was under the impression that the large well-known Publishers use editors? But: are they so large, that now, they just skip that step in the publishing process; or, did an editor actually edit this? and then except this end-product as good; and might this level of editing what is now being produced, by colleges?--is a major publisher not embarrased by such writing.

And of course the whole time I am writing this--criticizing someone else's writing!--I am thinking, "let him who is without Sin cast the first stone." Perhaps as you read this, or something else I've written; you, entertain similar thoughts about me?

I recently presented a student writing activity that didn't go as well as it had in my mind when I planned it. That learning experience helped me this past week, as I worked up a creative writing activity for a student writers event coming up soon. I realized there could be a different outcome than what I imagined. I looked for weaknesses in my plan and "tweaked" my steps and directions until I was satisfied. When I was done, I found it interesting how the activity had evolved. I ended up with something quite different than what I originally envisioned.

Writing a book often follows a similar process. You begin with an idea, not knowing exactly where you will end up or how you will get there. You type up your original idea, then stare at the screen and mull, add a little, subtract a little, mull some more, drag this part around and drop it somewhere that fits better, stare some more, etc. In fact, this ease of computerized writing and editing has freed me up immensely since the days of pen and paper, when my words looked so much more permanent, and seemed so much harder to rearrange.

Sometimes you realize that a whole section just isn't working, no matter how you move it around or tweak it. Your creative voice says, "I can't just delete that whole section! I spent a lot of time creating that!" But your self-critiquing voice says, "Yes, you know you must delete it. Be a big girl and just do it." As soon as you do, you feel relieved because you can see that now you are in a better position to get where you were going.

The more you write, the more ideas you get. Some you try out, then discard, then try another direction. The very process of thinking, writing it out, and editing leads to more creative thinking. As you go back and read aloud, you fix typos and find words that don't sound quite right. Even creating this blog post followed the exact scenario I've described.

Sometimes I am leery of starting a new writing project because I am not confident in my ability to come up with good work. Yet every time I make myself begin, I find I can trust this process, and I gain more faith in it. I choose not to listen to my excuses.

YEE-HAW!

Yep, I finished the sequel today! I've been so excited the last week or two, knowing how close I was, but I kept getting subbing jobs every day. I knew if I could just get a couple days to myself, I could do it. I couldn't write the last little bit in the evenings because I needed a quiet empty house to concentrate and "hear" what my characters were saying and thinking.

I've been thinking lately how funny it is that even though I know the plot and how my story will end, I don't know the details until I write them. And I don't write them until I put my characters in a situation, then watch them and listen to them--then I write it down. First you create believable characters, then you get to know them, then you put them in situations and see what happens. Sometimes they come up with the darned-est things. And sometimes I have to egg them on a little to get them going.

As I read my Bible, I see parallels to how God works. As a writer, I'm kind of playing "God." He's got a Big Plan (the plot) and various themes and sub-themes, which will work out the way He has planned, but within that plan, He gives us free will. And everything we choose ends up fitting into His Big Plan! (Unlike me, God doesn't have to wait to find out what His characters will choose to do--He already knows that, as well as the ending.)

Another thing I've been thinking about that relates to writing is working puzzles. I recently got some new bigger puzzles for my grandkids, and worked a few with them. I have always loved jigsaw puzzles, as well as crossword puzzles. I think perhaps working puzzles trains the brain to think in ways that help a writer: to look for and find seemingly unrelated things that might fit together, to foreshadow, to patiently work a little here and a little there on various themes and plot lines that will eventually converge.

So what do you think I'll do, now that I got to the end today? Do you think I'll kick back and take a break from writing? Give myself a party? Send it right off to a publisher? Start a new story? Guess again...every school kid should know the answer:

Rewrite! Edit! Polish! I'll go back to the beginning and read through (preferably out loud), looking for ways I can change passive voice to active voice. Looking for dull, overworked words that can be replaced with more interesting, active, descriptive words. Looking for awkward, wordy sentences that can be reworded or pared down. I do a little of this while writing, and while doing what rereading I've done. But if I see something I'm not satisfied with and can't think of a quick improvement, I don't let myself get bogged down there when I'd rather spend my limited time getting the whole story finished. I often just "bold" a word or sentence I want to rework so I can easily spot it later.

A writer needs to be able to separate her roles as creator and critic. Both roles are necessary, but should operate separately. First you create, then you critique your work. I do have a few people who are interested in reading and critiquing this story, providing some outside feedback. In the past I've been in critique groups, so I relied on others to point out what could be improved. I don't have one now, but hopefully I have learned enough from past groups, and from my experience working with the editor and publisher of The Orange Slipknot, that I can see my own work more objectively now and make improvements.

I just finished reading a novel by a major American novelist and found it quite boring. There was no opening hook to grab my interest; I kept hoping that on the next page, a gripping plot would suddenly develop, but it never did. I slogged through the book by sheer determination. There was little action, little suspense, long unbroken passages of dialogue, and I found myself skimming over much of the book, just trying to get it over with. The only reason I continued to read was my interest in the subject matter of the book.

Many aspects of this book did not match up with what I had been taught about basics. Because of the author’s reputation, and my contrasting lack of knowledge and experience, I wondered if the problem was somehow me. I thought, who am I to question the technique of a popular established author? Am I off-base here? Perhaps I lacked appreciation for what others thought was actually a good book. I knew how to find out what others thought: I went to Amazon.com, did a search for this book, and read all the reader reviews.

I was relieved to find that most readers’ opinions were similar to mine. I gained confidence in my ability to critique the writing of others. I realized that just because an author is talented, not every piece of his or her writing is guaranteed to be equally good. Each piece must stand or fall on its own merits.

I have just started on another of his books--again, because of my interest in the subject matter, and because it comes recommended by someone else. I’m half way through the first chapter and am still waiting for it to “grab” me. I doubt I'll read this book. I have always loved books and am willing to give the author many chances to hook me, but other readers may not be so forgiving. I think a weakness of many books is to start by laying the foundation for the story, instead of jumping right into the action, filling in the details and background as it goes along.

As a writer of books for children, I know that I am competing with TV and computers. I only have a page or two in which to hook a reluctant reader, and each chapter must leave the reader wanting to know more. There must be action, dialogue, little narration, and opportunities to “hear” what the protagonist is thinking, so that the reader almost “becomes” the protagonist--seeing what he sees, hearing what he hears, feeling what he feels. This is what I work towards.