As both an editor and a literary agent, I see manuscripts all the time from authors who obviously did not prepare well. They neglected to consider a few things in their planning, if they did any planning at all. Here are some of the most common preparation oversights:
1. No outline - I know it is something we learned in school and no one likes to outline, but few authors are organized enough in their minds to plan an entire book in their head before writing it. And I don't care who the author is, outlining will help them get that book solidly planned so that it comes out looking and reading professional. If and author thinks that they don't need to outline or that outlining "cramps their style," then the author is deceiving themselves.
2. No character map - not many authors know about this little tool, but the best authors throughout history have had some form of character mapping done before they began writing. What is a character map? A character map is a set of pages (print or electronic) that lists the character's name at the top and then is a complete and total history of the character. This is done for major and minor/supporting characters. Without a character map of some kind, the author inevitably gets facts mixed up and the inconsistencies are hard to fix when they add to more and more inconsistencies. A character map takes a long time, but it "puts on paper" what the author is thinking about each character. This can also be done for places and events, by the way.
3. Not prepared to pay for editing - I cannot relate the number of times I have been hired to edit a manuscript after the author got someone else to edit the manuscript for free. If a person says they will edit for free, they are not a good editor. Some of us do this for a living and we do not do it for free. A good author will plan ahead and save money to pay for a professional, competent, and ethical editor to proofread and/or edit the manuscript. You cannot get good editing for free!
No comments:
Post a Comment