Comments on: Making the words good after you already writ ‘em

By: Stevo

Stevo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:59:43 +0000

‘Tain’t nuthin’ like a good beta.

I file off the burrs and I fill in the potholes,
I beef up the verbs and make note of the plotholes.
I tighten the phrasing and cut to the bone
Killing “that”, “then” and “suddenly”, paired or alone.

I’ll shorten the sentences, clear up the scene,
Canonize dialogue, oil the machine.
Activate verbs and cull adjectives back,
Annihilate adverbs and tighten the slack.

Make all the characters speak in my head
If their words are not right then rewrite what they’ve said.
The cadence important and phrase plays a part
Or canon is ruffled and readers depart.

I beta-read fanfic, I beta-read filk
I beta-read much of the worst of that ilk
I fix up your stories, I clean out the murk
So readers will want to read more of your work

It’s your name as author, it’s your name on show
My name isn’t something your readers will know
But we both are aware that your textual grails
My fingerprints sport on their finer details.

So think of your editors, once in a while
When fans of your stories queue up for a mile
To Betas: a toast. Ladies, gents, raise your glass
To friends who make sure you don’t fall on your ass.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:43:02 +0000

*sees double*

“And now I picture hordes of zombies (you need to have a horde, it’s no fun if you don’t) chasing a couple of unicorns.”

Hee! Someone needs to draw that. Where is Katerate?

By: Sabrina

Sabrina — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:41:50 +0000

Aw, you took my “suddenly,” elodie. I’ve also heard one should try to limit the number of “that”s as well.

And now I picture hordes of zombies (you need to have a horde, it’s no fun if you don’t) chasing a couple of unicorns. That example made me laugh.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:40:48 +0000

Justine, thanks so much for reccing Worth the Trip. I know it doesn’t have much to do with this post, but it’s nice to see blogs for glbtq ya. I guess I’m not young enough to qualify as the target audience for ya anymore (22!) but it’s still my favorite… ‘genre.’ it just seems like there’s going on in the ya world… either way, i know when i was younger a site like that would have been amazing, and i relish finding stuff like that now. yay! However, one of the posts makes me want to write my own lesbian ya. there’s an audience for it, i just know it!

thanks again!

By: Danica

Danica — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:15:27 +0000

Oh my goodness. Justine, you typed out the word “unicorns” without any aterisks and LIVED!
I’m impressed.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 22:34:39 +0000

and “then.” then she did this, and then, when she was finished, she did that. then, suddenly! he walked into the room. and then he smiled, and then then then then the writer’s head exploded.

By: Elodie

Elodie — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 22:04:07 +0000

Oh, add “suddenly”! I feel the need for everything in my stories to happen “suddenly.” As in, every new paragraph, if I am not paying attention XD It’s horrible.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:41:12 +0000

since you’re in the midst of writing that big blog post, maybes you could answer a couple questions in it. last night i was editing, and i did the modifier thing, yay me, but what is really driving me nuts is that every bloody sentence i write starts with “she” or “he” or the character’s name. i’m trying to switch things around, change up the sentence structure, whatever, but it seems like it takes five centuries just to write a paragraph. is this one of those things i just have to keep doing and doing over and over again? or is there a trick to it.

also, second question, are there some tricks you know to writing description? i suck at it. i remember i read something here (i think it was here) about nondescript doors and colors and how that kind of description sucks. i know this in theory, but putting it into practice is proving difficult.

By: kim

kim — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:31:25 +0000

now i have some advice for when i write stories for school.