In November, I bought myself a $40 Editing 101 online writing workshop. I was given two hour-long videos about how to edit my work. The first hour was about developmental edits (character, setting, pacing, chapter lengths, etc), and the second was about line edits (syntax, grammar, etc). The videos, also, came with a workbook, filled with examples and additional resources. Then, there was a live Q&A (via google hangouts). A pretty sweet deal, I thought! But wait! For $5 more, Victoria Griffin, the professional and talented editor, would look at your first-five pages of your manuscript. I asked hubby what he thought, and he said, "go for it!" so I did. Granted, my draft is still unfinished, but, yeah, why not? (Spoiler: I'm glad I did it!)
I double-checked my schedule and triple-checked that I didn't overlap anything, and then dutifully logged in on time. I was, in fact, the first one to the Q&A!
Can I just say how surreal it was to see Victoria on my computer screen... live?! When she asked me how I was doing, it took me a second to realize that she was actually talking to me. She said we'd wait a few minutes for the others and then get started. But no one else came. Well, not for a while anyway. After about 5 minutes, she said it was okay to get started and hope others trickle in. I'd asked one of my jotted-down questions, got an answer and was trying to decide which one to ask next when someone else logged into the chat. She was about 15 minutes late, which is fine. Life happens, and we expected this. But I, nevertheless, panicked inside a little. Maybe I should have asked a different question, like something about my manuscript. Victoria had sent me her line edits a couple days before, and I'd skimmed through them. Did I have any questions about her comments? Probably! Why hadn't I prepared any questions about my manuscript? Why didn't I ask anything about my specific project when I had her alone?... I smiled and sweated as the new writer talked about herself, her job, and her genre (which she called "chick-lit"). A part of me feared that I'd lost my opportunity to ask any more questions. What if she hogged the rest of the time? What if more came in and they talked as much as her? Silly, I know. But I felt like I'd somehow blundered through those first 10 minutes. But then, unexpectedly, the other writer announced that she had to make a phone call for work. She was sorry, but she had to go. (What? She'd only popped in for 5 minutes!) The other writer left, and it was me and Victoria again. There was an awkward silence, but eventually, I smiled, relaxed, and asked another question. Slowly, but surely, I relaxed. My questions came out naturally, and I even felt comfortable enough to talk to her about my writer's journey. We talked about character development (how I throw my characters in a closet) about trial and error and about persistence. She gave me some great pointers, specific to my WIP, and told me that my main character was voicey! (Wow!) I'm really glad I had this opportunity to learn from a professional editor. I can't wait to see where my writing journey takes me.
1 Comment
Lacey Ellsworth
2/7/2020 10:32:25 am
That sounds like a wicked good deal. $45 for a class and a Q&A plus editing help from an editor? Sweet deal.
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