How to Write a Book #3: A Glimpse Into My Editing Process
Editing your own writing is hard, so today I thought I’d give you a glimpse into my editing process using an example from my novel. Most of my novel has undergone extensive editing—only a handful of scenes came to me fully formed. I’ve...
No More Edits and That’s a Promise.
Last week, I finished editing my novel and sent it back to Allen and Unwin. A few days later, one of my editors emailed to say: ‘It has been such a pleasure to read the revised manuscript this week. I think you’ve tightened the pace of the novel and fleshed out...
Cait Gordon: When to Listen to and When to Ignore Writing Advice
I’m always excited when someone I don’t know contacts me wanting to be part of Writers in the Attic. That’s how this post came about, and until I read Cait’s essay, I knew as much about this Irish-Canadian author and editor as you! Read on to...
Writing is Rewriting
Back in 2013, when I finished a first draft of ‘The Sisters’ Song’ (which was called ‘Ida’s Children’ then—I’m still getting used to calling my child by a different name), I had no idea how much editing and rewriting...
I’ve Been Editing …
My apologies for being so quiet on my blog lately. As most of you would already know, I’ve been doing the structural edits on my novel. They’re notoriously hard—just ask any author—and I had only one month in which to complete them. That month also...
My Non-Writing Week
1. I haven’t written any new words or edited any old ones in my novel for a couple of weeks. The kids are on school holidays, except for my Year 12 daughter who is sitting her mock exams. There have been concerts, camps, birthdays,...
More On Writing a Novel: Feedback
In my last blog post, I talked about some of the lessons I’ve learned while writing a novel. Besides learning how to write, I’ve also learnt a fair bit about editing, having revised my novel countless times now. There’s a lot more involved in editing...