Hey all!
I’ve been working away on manuscripts, writing scenes out of order, but mainly because I’ll have a thought and know I MUST include it, so I write in that scene really quickly (usually smack down in the middle of it all and not close to either scenes already written). Also, trying to edit my previously completed manuscript, though that’s hit a stall because I’ve lost a printed chapter. I lent it to a friend who has completely lost it. So, I guess I’ll have to re-print the chapter so I can go through it and edit it. I don’t know about other writers, but typing it up is great and all, but having that physical copy in front of me to edit makes a huge difference. I find that I am able to see a lot of the errors that need to be corrected a lot more easily, and it helps me solve problems like fluidity of story and coherency. I can also more easily jump back to previous chapters and find the page where I talked about one thing, and it changed somewhere else (getting rid of contradictions and fixing the way it’s handled). It also helps with character consistency. Although, I haven’t run into much in the way of these problems yet, I know it’s bound to happen in later chapters – but I’m thinking it’ll be centered around “well why couldn’t she just do this instead of that? that would make more sense….”
Anyway, on another note entirely, a friend of mine has started a blog! I’ve read some of his writing and it’s quite good. He is like me in a lot of ways, particularly in his understanding of structure, writing, and consistency. He is creative and one of the most talented grammar nazi’s I’ve ever known. He catches things so easily and understands grammar rules better than most native English speakers. That might not be saying a whole lot, as most writers usually have an aptitude for that type of thing, but I think it’s genuine.
So, if any of you are interested in this vast world that he is creating through posts on his blog, I highly recommend checking him out. He’s a good writer, looking to get published one day.
Rachel Sparling 