I am not a very good author. I realize that and want to apologize for that. I am far too wordy and redundant. I repeat scenes and put in details that are best left out.
Even though I have a college degree, grammar has never been my strong suit and neither has editing. Removing things I have written is a chore when it comes time to condense a novel. I have many spelling errors, many plot holes, and am in serious need of education.
The one thing I can do is tell a story. I just need to get some of the extra words out of the way in order to tell the best story I can. It is like a sculptor who doesn't remove quite enough marble and instead of the Statue of David I wind up with a statue of Jabba the Hut. I feel I am wasting peoples time with Unreachable. It is far too long and, if I'm honest, might grade a D-plus.
I will try to do better next time. Right now I am looking for an editor to condense the book for a second edition and might go back to older manuscripts and fix them as well.
Comments
Re: An open apology
Hello Katie,
I think you don't have anything for which to apologise. I'm enjoying reading 'Unreachable' very much and look forward to each new instalment.
You are, in my opinion, a good writer, as for being too wordy, I hadn't noticed that and, yes, there are some grammatical errors but they're not affecting my enjoyment of the story. I don't think there are any stories on BC that don't have some errors, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Regards,
Dave.
Too Long?
Katie,
I remember the first story I posted here. It is a bit shorter than 'Unreachable', but at 180,000 words, not that much shorter. When I first completed it several years before I posted it here it was a mess (it still might be). I sent it to a professional for comments. That cost me $140. He was kind but to the point. The story was good, but the writing sucked. I licked my wounds, and took out the editing axe. I cut out over 40,000 words, and removed one entire chapter. My chapters are considerably longer than yours. I didn't have any other help at the time, but I plunged in and posted what I had. I was pleased at its reception, but it was still a mess - many typos and grammatical errors. I haven't fixed all the errors on the posted copy, but I keep working on it. I went through my original final copy again the other day and made several dozen additional corrections. It's a heck of a lot cleaner now, and might even be ready to publish on Amazon.
Lucky for me Gwen found my stories, and told Holly Hart about them. Holly was kind enough to go through the next dozen or so things I wrote. She was kind, but brutal at times. I learned a lot. I want to think my writing has improved. I guess my point is that we just have to keep trying to get better, that is if we care. I know that there are some writers here that don't.
Your writing is fine. You have some great story ideas. Yeah, you make a few grammatical errors, we all do that, but that's what editors are for. I'm sure 'Unreachable' can be pared down a bit, but I doubt that you could eliminate more than a few thousand words. I was thinking about Andrew's interaction with the cats. You could possibly talk about it without repeating everything each time. We know what he says to them.
I like the story very much. It tells a worthwhile tale. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Portia
Oh, Katie,
You beat yourself up too much! Your first paragraph is more like negative self talk than even slightly objective analysis. It sounds like your depression talking, not yourself.
Nobody, especially here, is perfect. From what I read from our more well read, well spoken commenters, even the rich, best seller authors apparently don't write all that correctly.
Rewrite what you don't like or get an editor or a co-writer.... or leave your present work as is and try something different on your next effort. I think "Unreachable" is awesome. It's a look inside the life and mind of a great teacher, something I really knew little about and a very different way to see a T-kid.
Ummm...... try transcendental meditation or something. Try to calm down.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
I purchased the book on Amazon
so I have read the whole novel. It is really good. Don't worry too much about length, okay?
SuZie
Unreachable... isn't hard to read
It may take a while to get started; and sometimes has some spelling and grammatical errors.
I don't mind this at all.
I bought the book on Amazon and think it's a perfectly good book. So you didn't have a professional editor sit down over weeks or months to work on it with you? It's still easy to read and I can easily forgive a few mistakes here and there.
I don't think I noticed too many "plot holes" in the story. There were some complications which I might have felt to be unnecessary for the characters to go through... but who's to say if I was in the same position I wouldn't act in the same manner.
Unreachable tells a touching tale, from a slightly different POV than is common to the genre. And I sat down and read it in an entire day.
I couldn't put it down. Whatever you may think are your problems with the book, it told a tale I wanted to read, and it kept me interested throughout.
So don't be so hard on yourself. After all, past all the fluff, storytelling is the most important skill an author can have!!
xx
Amy
You should see what
truly professional writers (those that make their living by writing) turn out, before turning them in for editing. Misspellings, bad grammar, and every horrible mistake possible. If writers wrote perfectly, then there wouldn't be a job for editors. You shouldn't feel bad or apologize, even those people on the NY Times Best Sellers list need editors to make their stories look the way they do.
I have a copy of an Advanced Reader Copy of a novel written by a best selling author, and it is full of errors, so I do know what I wrote above is true.
The Unreachable is shaping up as a beautiful tale
The posting of The Unreachable has passed its halfway point. As a reader, I've found it a gripping tale. As an educator, I've also found it full of heart. I continue to look forward to each & every posting.
Peace & blessings!
Anam Chara
bah
my favorite authors are ann rice and eddings , the couple , you are concise and tight with your enjoyable tales comparably ; not to mention heinlein which your treatment of your characters remind me of,
dang that preposition ending thing ... nevermind
ed
ed
At least
your stuff hasn't been described as 'putrid offal' as one of my pieces has, by someone who should know better. They should also know what goes around comes around.
Angharad
What an Offal Thing to Say
I can't find any such description of your work. Which of your many stories was said to be "putrid offal"? Can you point me toward the remark?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Your comment to this blog
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/forum/47566/17-comments-author...
As I was the only one with 17+ comments for a short story, together with an undercurrent of anti British sentiment, the implication is clear.
Angharad
Please Read My Post
First of all I was talking about kudos, not comments, so how many comments a story of yours had really is not salient.
I'm glad you posted a link so people can judge for themselves. My post contained NO anti-British sentiment. I believe Susan Heywood, joannebarbarella, and Robyn Hoode are all from the UK. I consider them all to be extremely nice people and would hope they value my friendship, as I do theirs. There are many others who are Brits who I've edited for, who I think are great people.
I don't have a anti-British sentiment. (I do wish we could have some agreement on punctuation and words like toward and color.)
Over the years I have worked extensively with many, many people in the UK in my business. I've very much enjoyed their courtesy and honesty. Most of our deals have been done on casual handshakes involving millions of dollars, and I've never had a problem.
I currently am working with a publicist for one of my businesses who is based in London. If I didn't like Brits, I would by crazy to have one in such a key position.
My remark was made to give comfort to writers who place too much emphasis on comments and kudos. That remark is consistent with dozen, or hundreds of other such remarks I've made over the years. I certainly didn't go out of my way to take a shot at you, OR pick a fight with a nation of people I respect. People quit writing because they don't get kudos and comments, which runs against one of the reasons for this site's existence. My remark was to illustrate that good writing is often ignored while "offal" writing is highly praised.
I also said I agreed with Erin's remarks which referred to awful writing which is highly prized. Coincidentally I bought another John Grisham book yesterday.
One woman's "offal" is another's Sunday meal.
You and I have banged heads in the past. I don't know why you feel so put upon by a very oblique remark. People here love your work. Isn't that enough?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I Really Don't Understand You
To send someone a PM like you did to me, and then to block any response is inappropriate.
My remarks in my comments were meant to soothe writers, not to take a shot at you.
I have no regrets for making those remarks as I know what I meant to say . . . AND what I said.
I will admit that I don't like to watch certain English TV shows or movies when the accent is so thick that I have a terrible time following it. On the other hand "As Time Goes By" was one of my favorite TV sitcoms. I hardly think that rises to the level of Anglophobe that you're trying to attribute to me.
I have received many, many comments from people on other continents that state they don't understand some parts of some of my stories because of the references to pop culture or US sports. I assume some people would rather read stories written with references that are familiar to them. That's all I meant. Any interpretation beyond that is on you.
The reference I made to a story was oblique and meant to be oblique. I used the word "offal" because we used that word on the farm to describe what we tossed out from a process . . . the part that was not wanted. It is a precise word. In my opinion the story I referenced had little value. Yet . . . it received a tremendous number of kudos, which clearly reflected something other than story's quality.
You have taken this to a personal level. Your first post should have been a PM to me and since it served no purpose other than to seemingly threaten me with retribution, I have to wonder why it wasn't taken down as abusive.
Since you were, for whatever reason, offended by me, you're entitled to send me a PM for an explanation. But to block a response?
We had another precise word for that on the farm.
I'm just guessing, but I think most people on this site would prefer both of us to devote our writing time to stories so this is my last word on your tempest in a teapot.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Huh? WhatThe.......
My reply to this is here: {LINK} In Dottie's thread!
>i< ..:::
Nonsense Dear One
Your works are some of my favorites. Rae and Jes have been reading
to me and I shall make sure we make comments, just dealing with Quads is more interesting than I care for right now and I am still 5 weeks away from a different kind of aggravation though I should be much more comfortable
Goddess Bless you
Love Desiree
You know,
in my earlier years when I used to read tons of Westerns, especially in paper back I used to find tons of errors either in the spelling or punctuations. Get this, they had already been edited by professionals!
Katie, you keep telling us that you are not a good author. LOL, shut up, you do the most important part of what an author does. You, make the story!
Big deal, there are spelling errors. Big deal there are punctuation errors. Big deal sometimes there are small repeats but nothing much really to worry about! Some repeats are good repeats such as Andrew's dealing with the cats. What child that cares about animals small or large with not repeat his or her feelings to them? I always did and still do and that is what makes life important even in stories!
In your story you bring out the feelings, emotions of the people and that right there helps to hide any mistakes that are made in the story whether it be spelling or punctuations. At least with me it does anyway!
Anyway like I already mentioned, I have read books that had been professionally edited and had found lots of errors in the past. No big deal! Annnnd, as I stated earlier you are doing the most important part of what a good author does, making the story!
Relax, get it edited and make your fortune. :}
Vivien