Reality Check

Well, I have something to say about myself. I ain't as good as I thought I was.

When I was at a low point last week, a published author offered to take a look at a section of my work and critique it.

I wasn't expecting much, to be honest. Most people send about 100 comments for the entire manuscript. He asked for just one chapter. I sent him the first chapter. The shortest chapter in the whole series thus far.

I got back an email so detailed and thorough I think it thrust me headlong into shock. I won't relay to you everything therein for fear of a) boring you to death or b) have you read a computer screen until you go blind.

The gist of the email was this:

I've got what it takes, I just can't write.

No one get mad at him on my behalf. This is the stuff I need to hear if I'm ever to improve and, hopefully, get published. I'll quote from the email, so that you might understand:

you have what takes. You can write, you have a superb sense of setting and imagery and judging from what I’ve read, the plot and characterization of your novels is excellent. Now, the only thing you need to learn is fiction writing or, in one word: technique.

My biggest problem? Passive voice. This one is going to be tricky for me to fix. I tend to write as I speak. Thankfully, the same said author provided a lovely .pdf book that I can read through to help me fix this enormous problem of mine.

I also tend to tell rather than show. This is something that had me confused for a long time, but I think I've figured out how to get around it.

Also, I write very, very, very long sentences. That one will not be too difficult to fix, I hope.

There were a whole slew of other problems that I won't detail here, but do intend to fix. See another long sentence. Hmph. Fixing this is going to be tricky.

Here's something else I didn't know. Formatting is not exactly what you think. Pressing tab to indent a paragraph is not sufficient! There's no such thing as double spaces in a novel manuscript (which is weird because I distinctly remember primary school in which the teacher insisted that periods are followed by a double space). Another long sentence. Lord help me.

It was incredibly generous of him to take the time to review my work and provide so much help. I am so incredibly grateful. I owe this man an enormous thank-you. Thus, Carlos,

Thank-you!

I'm still working on The Osprey and the Crow to submit to competition. At the moment, I have abandoned the edits by a Beta Reader in favour of fixing the formatting. Once that is complete, I'll finish the edits suggested by the Beta Reader, then go over it again, using the knowledge I now possess to tighten it up. Wish me luck!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone.