What should I read next?
"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."—Stephen King
Hey, y’all—
My favorite book at the moment is such a quirky, odd little fellow that I’ve found he makes a great test case for book recommendation apps. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a hard act to follow. Recommendation engines tend to suggest the same twee book- and library-themed tales, followed by a plunge from magical realism into old-school fantasy.
But this week, I rediscovered a book app engine rattling around at the bottom of my link stash that managed to pop up some fresh book titles I haven’t read. I suspect I’ve mentioned this recommendation app here before, but since I discovered at the chronological end of my link stash, it’s probably been a good, long while.
Join me in The Writes of Fiction as we rediscover the smart little book recommendation app, along with another handful of savvy writing advice.
What should I read next?
“If you simply want a quick recommendation, you only need to enter one book; click on the best match in the list that appears as you type and you will get some recommendations. The best thing to do, though, is enter a list of favorites. This will give you more focused recommendations, as well as helping to build the database and share your taste with other users of the site. If you enter your email address, your list of favorites will be remembered next time you visit, so you can then add new titles, create more lists, and get even more appropriate recommendations.”—Search for your own favorites at What should I read next?
More on reading for writers: It turns out that aspiring authors aren’t the only ones struggling to come to grips with keeping up. Self-taught scientists, too, find themselves at a disadvantage when they don’t do the reading. “My clients know so little about current research in physics, they aren’t even aware they’re in a foreign country,” writes article author Sabine Hossenfelder. “They have no clue how far they are from making themselves understood. Their ideas aren’t bad; they are raw versions of ideas that underlie established research programmes. But those who seek my advice lack the mathematical background to build anything interesting on their intuitions.
“I try to help them by making connections to existing research. During our conversations, I point them towards relevant literature and name the important keywords. I give recommendations on what to do next, what they need to learn, or what problem lies in the way. And I make clear that if they want to be taken seriously by physicists, there’s no way around mathematics, lots of mathematics.
“The lesson for authors, of course, is to substitute ‘reading’ for ‘mathematics’ in the above equation.”—Read the rest at 10 kinds of books anyone who writes fiction should be reading.
Don’t count on agents and publishers to polish your diamond in the rough
“Some authors have heard that agents engage in pre-submission editing prior to submitting to publishers. Failing that, they know that editing is literally in an editor’s job title.
“So if you just have a great idea for a book, an agent and editor will help you polish it up into something publishable, right?
“Don’t count on it.
“Yes, sure. Some agents really do offer pre-submission editing. But typically these are situations where agents are taking a book project that’s nearly there and helping it that last extra mile across the finish line. They’re taking books that are already in the 99.5th percentile and getting them to the 99.9th. They’re not taking a hot mess and turning it into gold.”—Read the rest from Nathan Bransford.
More on editing before querying agents: Everyone has an opinion about whether you should get professional editing before querying agents with your manuscript. There’s the story about the agent who turned down the author once he found out someone else had edited the manuscript. There’s the story about the agent who claims she no longer reads sloppy manuscripts because she gets so many clean ones.
The field seems to be split between old-school types searching for authors with relatively developed skills and newer agents who just want clean submissions. Both have the rationales to back up their opinions. Here’s what you need to know.—Read the rest at Should you get professional editing before querying agents?
Keyboard movement shortcuts
“In my previous article about automatic text, I discussed how paying attention to what we type most often can help us create typing shortcuts that make our writing and editing work go much faster. That’s all very well, but if you pay attention while you’re editing a manuscript (including revising your own manuscripts), you’ll notice that moving around a manuscript probably consumes more time than repeatedly retyping certain words or phrases. If you’re reaching for the mouse each time you want to move the cursor to a new position or holding down an arrow key, you’re wasting significant amounts of time.
“In my article ‘“Save time by mastering the basics: efficient movement within a file,’ I showed how mastering only three keyboard shortcuts saved me up to 20 minutes per day compared with using the mouse or just holding down the arrow keys to move the cursor. In this article, I’ll go much further and show you all the keyboard shortcuts I currently use to move around a document.”—Read the rest from Geoffrey Hart at An American Editor.
More on efficiency and using Track Changes: Seriously, Track Changes isn’t that terrifying. But don’t try to revise your manuscript by opening the file with tracked changes and beginning to click through it one edit or comment at a time. A typical full-length edited manuscript contains between 10,000 and 30,000 revisions—that’s right, tens of thousands. Clicking through each one is a sure path to wasted time, hard liquor, and seething regret.
Don’t try to manually transfer or key in the changes from the edited manuscript to another file. The chances of successfully completing that without introducing errors are minuscule. And did I mention you’d be handling an average of 10,000 to 30,000 revisions?—Read the rest at The Writer’s Guide to Track Changes.
Enjoying this issue? Share The Writes of Fiction with your favorite writer or writer’s group.
Revising for a literary agent
“A lot of people ask, ‘When you start submitting, is your book finished?’ The answer is, your book should be as polished as you can make it with the help of your writing group, beta readers, and critique partners.
“And yet, I see writers rush toward publication, skipping some of the necessary steps to ensure their book is as strong as it can be. And unfortunately, it ends the same way – a book that wasn’t ready, and the author feeling disappointment and disillusionment when their novel fails to gain traction with readers.
”For this book, which we shall call my Regency Mystery novel, I spent 54 hours doing research, 24 hours outlining, and 135 hours on the first draft. (I actual researched, outlined, and wrote the first draft all at the same time, based on what was needed any given week—it wasn’t sequential.)
“Then, I did lots of revising: 88.5 hours on the second draft, then I sent it to readers for feedback, 107 hours on the third draft, then I sent it to readers again, who did not have much feedback, and then 6 hours on the fourth draft.”—Read the rest from Katherine Cowley.
More on the specifics of preparation: Suppose you’ve asked your fabulous copyeditor to keep an eye out for plot holes (a developmental-level task) or shore up any shaky writing (a benefit of line editing). Not only do those things represent a significant increase to the scope of a copyedit, but they by their very definition draw your editor’s attention away from copyediting. For a well-prepared manuscript by a seasoned author, combining editorial services can sometimes save time and money.
But in all but the ideal scenarios, it compromises your editor’s focus. All too often, it leads to the kind of editorial triage that editors notoriously refer to as “polishing a turd.”—Read the rest at Avoid this editing misconception that will sabotage your writing.
Narrative art must be clear, but it must also be mysterious. Something should remain unsaid, something just beyond our understanding, a secret. If it’s only clear, it’s kitsch; if it’s only mysterious (a much easier path), it’s ... pretentious and soon monotonous.—Stephen Sondheim
Join our monthly small-group coaching calls
Paid subscribers to The Writes of Fiction receive access to monthly Office Hours small-group coaching calls. Talk with me directly about your story, and ask your writing and storytelling questions. Office Hours features guest speakers and discussions to help you grow as a writer.
On top of monthly Office Hours calls, paid subscribers get weekly newsletters and bonus newsletters (see what happens when my slush pile overflows!), full access to the Writes of Fiction archives, and commenting ability to chat with other Writes of Fiction paid subscribers.
Current subscribers: Upgrade to a paid subscription and gain access to full weekly newsletters and monthly group coaching calls for $8 US per month. Follow these steps to upgrade your subscription.
New subscribers: Join Writes of Fiction by hitting the button below.
Thank you so much for being here. See you next week for more on books and writing!
Onward,
Lisa
This is The Writes of Fiction, a curated collection of old and new thinking designed to accelerate your learning curve as a fiction writer.
Affiliate links support indie bookstores and give me a small commission that I use to purchase more craft-of-writing books. Thanks for supporting book people.
🧡 Support Greyhound Adoption League of Texas: Now rehoming internationally from USA, Ireland & Australia #editorialassistants
