Revision: Taking A Step Back

Posted in Writing Children's Books by bitsykemper

Image result for image person asking help

Have you ever been asked to read a friend’s manuscript, and, well, their work was borderline horrible? But that friend is so clueless that he/she thinks it’s PERFECT and is honestly thinks a movie deal will be offered any day now?

Well I’ve been that friend. My first drafts were horrible. In fact, I didn’t even know they were drafts. I thought I had a final product. And I thought I had a GOOD final product.

After the first pieces of feedback, I got busy rewording a few things here and there, changed a description or two. What I didn’t realize is I was waaaay off the mark in what needed to be fixed. It wasn’t a matter of copy edits. It was the story overall needed some attention. “Revision” was something that needed to sit tight while bigger issues were figured out.

Here’s what I wish helpful folks would have told me:

Dear Bitsy,

Thank you for the chance to review your manuscript. It’s a charming concept with some wonderful moments. But it needs a bit of work.

A book is a story, a destination. HOW you tell the story is almost more important than WHAT the story is. Both need to be solid.

A simple question to ask yourself is: My books is about _______ but underneath it’s about ________. Wanting to dance, for example, is really a story about wanting to find a partner, or wanting to belong. Knowing what your character wants is what your story is about. Continue reading →

8Jul2013

What to expect, and when to expect it (Hint: don’t set your watch)

Posted in Uncategorized by bitsykemper

So far I spent five minutes going live on WordPress and 105 minutes picking out a font. Background color? Agonizing. Theme? Changed it four times. Still not convinced it’s right yet. But alas, there are better things to do… Sometimes “good enough” has to be, well, good enough. So this is it for now.

I’ll be posting here periodically, and my goal is to make sure I don’t use this blog as a distraction away from my “real” writing, the way I use cleaning the kitchen (and honestly, you’d think it’d be spotless by now). Don’t expect cute dancing squirrels or creative icons sprinkled about that match my thinking, cause, really, who has time for that? Not me. I applaud those of you that do, though, and those of you that do it well.

There is *so* *much* great stuff out there it almost seems like a waste of time to try to recreate the wheel. I’ll be re-posting interesting stuff from other (mostly writer’s) blogs as I come across it, and make note of legit writing events and goings on as I hear of them. I’ll also have some posts of my own, like the ones I’m already doing over at The Picture Book Academy.

Now off to revising my next chapter that’s due to my editor in two days. Sorry, kitchen, you’re gonna have to wait.

My second marketing-for-writers post at The Picture Book Academy

This was my second blog post at The Picture Book Academy. It talks about what every writer needs to include in their website, and what stuff needs to just stop already (I’m looking at you, splash pages). Lemme know whatcha think!

My first marketing-for-writers blog post at Picture Book Academy

I am on staff at The Picture Book Academy and write a quasi-monthly marketing blog for writers and illustrators (let’s not get too caught up in timelines, shall we? show some flexibility, it’s bound to get posted eventually). This was my first post, about creating a writer’s (or illustrator’s) platform. It defines what one is. Each following post will take apart an aspect of a platform and explain why it’s necessary. While there are lots of blogs with great writing/marketing advice out there, I’d like to think mine is just as good. Read and see for yourself. If you agree, pls say so. If you disagree, feel free to rant as well. Just don’t take away my chocolate. Well, the milk and white crap you can have, but keep yer mitts off the dark stuff.