Well, guys, whaddya know? Listening to Destiny is finally back from the editor! I have completely looked through the manuscript and… well… yeah. I looked over the editor’s notes, then took a pen and started making my own marks. I plan on taking a different color pen (light blue or green…) and going over the paper version one more time before I take it to the computer and actually start to fix the mistakes. Then I plan on printing it out one last time and going through it again and then…
*gasp choke*
…and then…
*hyperventilating*
…and then calling it the final draft!
So… what were my biggest mistakes? Bad transitions and tense changes.
See, this was the first story I ever wrote in present tense. It was awesomeness. I loved it, loved the way it turned out, the way Destiny seems to be talking straight to you. (I love reading first-person present-tense!) But occasionally, I’d switch back first-person past-tense and… yeah. There’s little pockets where there are all sorts of fixes on that scattered all through Listening to Destiny. If you do use a different tense than you’re used to, watch out for those pesky little changes. And you know what? Even if you’re using your usual tense… still watch out for them. They’re sneaky, people. Sneaky, I tell you!
The second problem I had was transitions. That was, um, definitely choppy. Some chapters started and I, the author (granted, I haven’t read it since November), couldn’t figure out how much time had passed between that chapter and the last chapter… Not good, guys. When writing also make sure your readers (and you) have a clear idea of how much time has passed. Because if that’s not obvious… well… it gets confusing and confusing loses readers. And losing readers ain’t fun. Neither are bad reviews for that matter. So yeah. Make sure your story is understandable!
And then, if you do all that, everything will be absolutely perfect and you’re guaranteed to be a New York Times Best Seller and have good movies made off of your books and all that awesomeness jazz.
Um… that is… I wish.
Listening to Destiny still has a good amount of work to go through and still a bit more writing that could use a touch of creative thinking, but she’s come a long way too. 😀 I’m excited to finish up this journey to publishing and see where it takes me!
From Causelessness to Coherent 
Ack, tenses. They drive me crazy! I keep accidentally writing in present tense if I’m writing in past tense or vice-versa. It’s quite annoying.
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Haha. It IS annoying! Especially when you think you’re finally done and then… you see it. 😛
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I’ve done that so many times! I changed one of my books from first to third person … it was draft after draft after draft …
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OOOH! Eeek! That has got to be hard….
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It was, but I think it needed to be done. Limiting myself entirely to an eight-year-old POV was working, so I gave myself the option of more than one POV. That led to head-hopping … but that’s a different discussion entirely. 😉
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Yeah, that makes sense. But still, changing POV. Ouch. Lol 😛
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Wishing you lots of luck with your book – what an amazing thing to do! Here’s hoping you have success 🙂
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Thanks! It’s been an amazing adventure, that’s for sure. 😀
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Sounds look you’re putting in good work though! I think it’s good that you’re so open about your mistakes. You’ll really be able to put things right then.
And I like how you like first-person-present-tense! That’s how my books are too! I feel like it really helps you see through the eyes of your characters, in a way that third-person could never allow.
Good luck 😉
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Lol, I certainly hope it’s good work. 😛 Yay!! Another first-person-present-tense person!! Yeah, I still remember the first book I read with that style. I was so amazed and shocked and delighted to see how much you could get into the character’s brain! I’ve been in love with it ever since. 😀 Thanks!
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You must’ve been really stressed out by this haven’t you?
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No, actually, not really. Have I been busy with this? Yes, absolutely. Stressed out? Nah, not really.
>
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Tenses are a major problem in my older stories (you know, the ones I wrote when I was like ten or twelve). I enjoyed writing in present tense and past tense, but within each story, I went back and forth between them accidentally, which turned out confusing, haha! Sad fact, but I haven’t officially edited any of my rough drafts ;-; I’m a writer who has a lot of ideas, but not a lot of structure or commitment hahaa. Once I have my own laptop, story editing will be so much easier.
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Eek! I know that feeling! While I was writing this story, I was writing another story with my friend in first person past tense, so I got really confused, both in this story and in ours. Haha. She kept text-yelling at me. “YOU CHANGED TENSES AGAIN! STOOOOOOPPPPP IIIIIIITTTTTT!!” Good luck on your editing! Do you plan on publishing any of your stories?
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Hahaha yeah, tenses are a killer! There are so many words where which tense should be used can be confusing. Thank you! I hope that I’ll be able to someday, but I would need to do a LOT of revising and editing before I’d consider sending a draft to an editor. It’s one of my dreams to have one of my books published 🙂 Do you want to be published?
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Haha, yeah. All of my stories need tons of editing as well. 😛 The joys of being an author, huh? Oh cool! What route do you see yourself taking? Traditional or self-publishing?
Yeah, I plan on publishing. I’m currently editing my story Listening to Destiny and I hope to get it out to agents by the end of this year. Let’s see how well that works out. 😛
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