High Resolution by Poppy Gee

What are your literary resolutions for 2025… as a Writer, as a Reader?

Great question! I love this topic for my first post on this blog. Making a to-do list always gives me a surge of energy. Whenever I write down my goals, no matter how big or complicated they are, the path to them becomes clearer.

This feels especially true for resolutions made in January. Here in Australia, we’re in the middle of delightfully long summer school holidays. We’ve shared the time between Tasmania, staying with my parents, hiking and fishing, picking cherries in local orchards and barbecuing fish the day it’s caught; and at the beach in Queensland near where we live, swimming and snorkelling, mucking around in small vessels on the bay, eating fresh mango, and finding more time to read – this is a relaxing, rejuvenating month.

 

There are big changes happening in our home this year. In February, my 17-year-old daughter will move interstate to live on campus at Melbourne University. We’ll still have our 16yo and 9yo boys, but with one less child to care for I’m hoping to have more time to write. (And more space, I’ll get to use her bedroom to write!)

What can I achieve this year as a writer?

Currently, I have one crime fiction manuscript which my agent has sent out on submission. That’s a novel I’ve been working on for more than twenty years. I couldn’t let go of it, it’s a story I keep returning to, revising, tweaking tiny details. I’ll be beyond excited if it finds a home - I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed.

With that one off my desk for now, I’m free to start something new. This is my favourite part of the writing process. I love the limitless possibilities of the blank page. But I’ve decided not to start a new novel straight away. I have several almost finished manuscripts that I set aside for various reasons. One is a historical crime novel, two are psychological thrillers. Time apart has sharpened my sense of what I need to do to them. I teach crime fiction workshops via the local writers’ centre and bookstores, and the key advice I give to aspiring authors is: Finish Your Novel. I need to take my own advice. So, my New Year Writing Resolution is: Polish and Submit.

Separate to my novelist goals, there’s an essay I want to write. It’s an ‘investigative memoir’ about my grandfather, Ted Embery. I remember him as larger than life, a vivacious man who was passionately proud of his family. He was the son of a house maid and an ‘unknown’ father. His mother had two children but was only allowed to keep the little girl at her live-in employment, so my grandfather was placed in an orphanage when he was only four. He joined the navy at fourteen and met his bride at a servicemen’s function. She belonged to the Alvey family who made fishing reels in their factory on the banks of the Brisbane River, and they warmly welcomed him. My mother recalls him determinedly trying to find out who his father was but he hit a roadblock. I’d like to see if I can find out more. I don’t even know if it’s possible. So far, I’ve recorded interviews with relatives, and last year I attended a memoir writing workshop with the highly regarded Australian writer Kari Gislason. His advice regarding writing a memoir is to structure it like a crime story - what is the question at the heart of your story? That made sense to me. My essay will probably be best suited for submission to a local literary journal. I’m putting it here to hold myself accountable.

 

Kari Gislason's memoir Running with Pirates

Now, the hard bit. Reading resolutions. Here are some:

Stop buying so many books. Finish reading the book stack by my bed. And the books on the shelf near the front door. And those on my desk. Stop reading multiple books at one time because maybe it’s not respectful to the author. Read outside my comfort zone. Read an Agatha Christie book in full for the first time. Stop pretending I’ve read any Agatha Christie books when I’ve only seen the movies. Read more widely. Read just what I want to read, not what I feel I should...    

I’ll stop there - I know I'll break them all. Except for the one regarding Agatha – I’ve outed myself now. Genuinely, I want to scroll less on my phone and read more; and borrow more from the library. I’m not too worried about my reading goals. I’m a good reader. I finish a book each week. I’ll keep doing that.

Current read: Dice by Claire Bayliss (it's a legal psychological thriller about a jury and it's excellent)

 

My last library haul. I'm resolving to borrow more, buy less, in 2025.

My writing goals are very important to me. There’s much I want to write, and only so much time, so I need to set high-resolution goals. There’s much in this world we can’t control but we can control how we move through it, and for me, writing is a satisfying way to do that, and to try to make sense of the confusion. 

Thank you, Eric, for inviting me to be part of this blog. I’m excited to be here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the other writers via their blog posts and their books.

Happy New Year to all the readers and writers in this wonderful blog-community!

 

New Year, Same Old Me, by Catriona

 What are your Literary Resolutions for 2025…as a Writer, as a Reader?

I'm quite big on New Year's resolutions. Making them, that is. Not so much keeping them. But that doesn't stop me.

I don't have any reading resolutions, beyond carrying on reading exactly what I want. And giving up on page 50, if I'm still checking page numbers at 49. Right now, I'm reading this:

It's a 1920 domestic novel about middle-class Scottish life written by John Buchan's sister. (He wrote The Thirty Nine Steps.) Imagine the sweetest, tamest cozy ever written and take the crime out. Thrill a minute. 

When it comes to writing, though, I've got resolutions coming out the front door. And the best thing about them is I can't even start breaking them till March. January and February are set aside to edit the eighth Last Ditch Motel mystery - Scot's Eggs. Right now I'm on the shovel edit, where I clear up the ordure of the headlong first-draft production from before Christmas. Peee-eew. However, I got a boost of enthusiasm on Monday, finding out that Book 7 is shortlisted for the 2025 Lefty for best humorous novel. Yay! 

By the time I get to Left Coast Crime in Denver, though, I'll be deep in the new thing I've resolved to do. Which is . . .

. . . under wraps. I've been trying to think of a way to use this particular theme/setting/trope/hook for years. I've seen other writers find a way into it and been so happy for them sick with envy, but I still couldn't bring it into focus for myself. 

Meanwhile in another part of the forest, I'd had three quarters of a story knocking about my head. Only, where did it take place? Who is that woman? Why's she there at the start of the plot? What's she doing when she's not doing the plotty bits?

It was late last year that these two live ends touched each other and frrritzzzzed themselves to life as an actual novel. I dashed off a one-page proposal and sent it to my agent immediately, knowing she had to shut it down quick if it was a stinking pile of rubbish, because I was already so committed that it was only going to get worse if I kept the dream alive a day longer.

Reader, it wasn't a stinking pile of rubbish, according to Lisa. And I've decided it's a series. So starting in March, I've got a wet ton of background research to do. Ah, who'm I kidding? I'm going to blat out a first draft and make up everything I don't know. Then I'll have a wet ton of research to do, but at least if it's a series I only need to do it once and it'll last for books and books on end.

Just as well my New Year's resolution isn't "get more into research", eh?

Cx

Hold me to it! by Eric Beetner

What are your Literary Resolutions for 2025…as a Writer, as a Reader?

I usually vow to read more, but I usually fall short of my goals even though I read quite a bit. I think what I need to do is read more for myself and less for obligation. Beyond the fact that I have spent several years as a judge for major writing awards, I like to keep abreast of what is popular out there and what other are reading, so I try for some books that more often than not, disappoint me. I know this is my issue, and not the book, but I need to do better at sticking to what I like and not feel pressured into reading stories that don’t intrigue me.

That said, it runs in contrast to my vow to take chances and read new authors, new genres, new ideas. It’s a slippery slope. I always try to steer out of my lane and I’ve discovered some great books that way. I think in the end, I’ve been reading long enough that I know what intrigues me. Ignore the author name, the cover art, focus on the story and if it is something I’m interested in. Damn the rest. Go with my gut.

This one may hurt, but I’ve promised myself this year to buy fewer books. Things have been tight around my house, economically, and the royalty checks certainly aren’t helping matters. Now that hardcovers have crossed the $30 mark, I really take a long hard look at a book before I invest. It’s always been a worry that books go the way of live theater and turn what used to be entrainment for the masses into an indulgence for the elite. 

I will embrace my local library and not worry if a title doesn’t make it onto my shelf for posterity.

My writing goals may be opposite most writers – to slow down a bit.

I’ve been accused of being very prolific. Sure, I have a lot of ideas and I like to write. But it becomes harder to keep up the pace. Work, kids, social life all get in the way and I’ve put some of those aside for too long. I have a book out in Feb and another one next year, so I don’t need to keep my foot on the gas. Since the books aren’t paying the bills, I write because I enjoy it. And I want to enjoy it more. Maybe that means taking the pressure off myself to produce so much. I want to leave some in the tank so I don’t completely burn out. 

Now for the contradiction on that one: I want to get through some of these ideas that have been hanging around for too long. I have dozens and dozens of half-baked ideas, outlines, pitches and scribblings that keep multiplying like rabbits. I want to write some of them so they just get out of the way. Maybe some are only short stories, maybe some are screenplays. Either way, I hope to clear out some of the backlog.

Speaking of, back to reading: I need to work through this TBR pile and not be so easily distracted by the newest acquisition. There are a few books I know are coming this year that will be must-buys for me (like Christa Faust’s long awaited conclusion to her Angela Dare series, and William Boyle’s newest) but if I don’t make progress through this pile of unread books, it will surely topple and crush me.

Now, I’ll just copy and paste this for next year when all my resolutions are the exact same!

Literary Resolutions in 2025

 

What are your Literary Resolutions for 2025…as a Writer, as a Reader?

 

Ah, January, the month of intentions where we promise to become our best version of ourselves. We vow to eat better, exercise more, and be kinder and gentler to ourselves and to those around us. Writers are word nerds, so we promise to write more, read more, and be more active in the community. That all said, I’ve been made aware that most resolutions die a quiet death by the second Friday of January. There’s a name for it, and it is called Quitter’s Day.

 

I’m better than that, and I say that without a maniacal cackle, tying someone down to railroad tracks, or with a twirl of the mustache I do not possess.

 

Truth be told, I’m burnt out. I set aside my own writing and read over a 100 books in 2024. I had felt the need to get a whiff of contemporary literature since I often feel as if I write Grandpa’s noir. As expected the adventure was a mixed bag of Highs and Lows. I grew tired of seeing the same thing from Big Five Publishers, with some variations on a theme, hashed and rehashed like roadkill. In a word, whatever they think will sell. Therefore and henceforth, I’ve decided to dial back on my reading carbs for 2025.

 

Then the Election happened.

 

I seldom discuss politics because I adhere to the old chestnut that one does not discuss politics, religion, or sex, but…seriously? I watched and listened to a majority of people express their concerns, yet somebody voted a felon and a cadre of grifters into office. Sorry, it’s objective evidence and not subjective opinion. This nation has had less than stellar characters sit in the chair. I get that, and I accept that. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus twice and ordered the largest mass execution in US history—and he is considered one of our best. One of our presidents was a hangman, and I haven’t entered the modern era. As John Oliver says, ‘And now this.’

 

I indulge in this rare tangent for one simple reason. When overwhelmed and depression tempts me, I throw myself into work. I’ve written over 200,000 words since the November election, and that’s not including the sixth Shane Cleary mystery that I am writing at the moment. The idea for the novel came to me, so I sat down and attacked the keyboard.

 

In addition to Shane, I am at the grill, flipping and cooking three novels at the same time (part of the 200K body count), and I’ve sketched out a Weekday Mystery cozy mystery series that I’ve been ruminating on for years. While the world seems on the verge of collective whatever, I decided I won’t be the cow chewing the cud in the meadow. I can’t control the show, but the best way I choose to react to it is to work.

 

That said, my other resolution is to explore the narrative of crime and mysteries through the lens of foreign films and series on Netflix. Subtitles have never bothered me, since I use them all the time for shows, movies, and other binges in English because I am hard of hearing. There’s an embarrassment of riches on Netflix. Here is a shortlist.

 

French

Black Butterflies

Code Name: Emperor

Criminal French

Gone for Good

 

 

German

Criminal Germany

Dear Child

Dogs of Berlin

Murder Mindfully

 

Italian

Adagio

Baby

Lidia Poët

On My Skin

 

Portuguese

Glória

 

 

Spanish

Costa del Sol

Criminal Spain

Emilia Pérez

Gangs of Galicia

Money Heist

 

When in doubt, Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury is as good as a virtual hug.

New Year Newish Literary Me? From Angela Crook

 What are your Literary Resolutions for 2025...as a Writer, as a Reader?

Welcome 2025! We made it through 2024. We survived. Maybe, some of you even thrived. Was 2024 the year you had hoped for? Planned for? Prayed for? And more importantly, did you cross off resolutions you made sometime in December of 2023? Have you finished with your list of grand plans for 2025? Or are you, like me, still considering every option to make 2025 the most perfect year of your life so far? Let’s discuss. Tell us, we’re dying to hear, at least about your literary resolutions. What resolutions do you have on your literary list for 2025?

Personally, 2024 was the greatest time of my literary career. I signed with my dream agent, my first traditional novel was released, making me feel like Celie from The Color Purple, as she dances down that church aisle, crying out for all the world to hear, I’s married. In my case, it was more spinning around my living room clutching my brand-new book baby to my chest, while my audience of three cats and a twenty-something young son looked on slightly less impressed as I proclaimed, I’m published. Same thing though, right?

But I rode that excitement all through 2024 to arrive at 2025 with the question, what’s next? The answer, so much! But where to start? The obvious answer, write more books. I promise I’m working on it. Albeit too slowly, which brings me to resolution number one. Setting a daily writing goal and sticking with it. Now, I know if you’ve been in this profession for a while and this is how your bread is buttered, this one may seem like a no brainer. But if you’re new in the game and your discipline is a little sketchy, you, like me, may need a little help. Introducing my new whiteboard schedule that I have to see everyday when I walk into my office for work. I figure if the master, Mr. Stephen King, commits to ten pages a day, per On Writing, then one thousand words is a worthy goal/resolution for me.

And of course, if I want to continue down this road of making writing a career, then I must swallow my anxiety and fear of failure and market, letting the world know my book baby is out there looking for a home, or thousands of homes. So, we’ve arrived at resolution number two: author for rent. Need a guest for your book club, podcast, hastily put together in-store event, say no more. I’m your Huckleberry (Tombstone reference).  To be honest, this may be the hardest of my resolutions, being the typical introvert writer who is most comfortable with a good glass of red, have bottle will travel (LCC 2024 reference IYKYK. 😊) And a good book. But in 2025, I am resolved to put myself out there more. Which to me means more time on social media, seeking out opportunities to be a guest on podcasts or panels. I’m interested, what are some of your favorite ways to spread the word about your books?

Resolution number three is a fun one: conferences! That time where for a few days your only job is to talk about books, whether it’s reading or writing, making new writer friends, or connecting with old ones. Attending conferences is like adult summer camp for bookworms. Because in the end, I believe, that all the great writers were bookworms first. So being surrounded by people you’ve spent so much time with, cuddled up in bed, riding the train, having a soak, well, that’s food for my writing soul. So, I’m resolved to attend at least two conferences this year—maybe three, depending on what the bank account says—because I believe, feeding your inspiration is as important as feeding your body, at least from a writing standpoint.

I only wish resolution number four was as fun. I’d like to commission a study for this one, because I think this might be fairly, or even highly, common with writers in general. Still, I’ll admit, I might be on the outskirts of the acceptable when it comes to checking my email. All I can say is I’m going to do better. In 2025, I am resolved to treat my email like I treat my favorite shows, currently Love Island and Elementary, and my current read, No Man’s Ghost by Jason Powell, and at least look at it every day. I won’t embarrass myself by saying how many unread emails I’m currently in the process of deleting, but if you want to share your number, I’d be most interested. No one wants to feel bad alone. By the end of 2025 I intend to read and delete emails once a day. Feel free to cheer me on.

 And last but never least. Reading!  I am resolved to put such a dent in my TBR list that by 2026, I will not feel in the least bit guilty when I pick up all the new releases from my favorite authors. If you saw the greatness of my TBR list, you’d be filled with envy. Imagine having to make time to read a Tracy Clark, Catriona McPherson, Jess Loury, or Cynthia Pelayo book? Insane, I know. I could entertain myself for the whole of 2025 without ever having to leave the house or turn on the TV.

So, in 2025, look for me to be organized, disciplined, writing, and reading and maybe, just maybe, a special announcement at some point. If you see me roaming around a writer’s conference with a glass of wine and a giddy smile, say hi, and maybe ask if I’ve checked my email. Cheers to a new year to write great things, meet great people, and read great stories.

Advice and Dissent from James W. Ziskin

Tell us, the best edit or manuscript advice you received, and the worst?  

I have a tradition of posting my New Year’s resolutions poem every January. You’ll find it below, following my answer (rant) to this week’s question. Happy New Year!

For this week’s question, I’m going to limit myself to my least favorite bit of writing advice and make some enemies in the process. I strongly disagree with the conventional wisdom that it’s “bad” style to use any dialogue tag other than “said.”

Such advice reminds me of Newspeak. It handcuffs us. Reduces our choices. Makes our language poorer. Deprives us of so many words. Perfectly good words. Words that carry nuance and imply a more precise meaning than the humble “said.” Aren’t we encouraged to use strong verbs instead of weak ones in our writing? Why shouldn’t that advice apply to dialogue attribution as well? No one tells us to use one verb to describe, say, eating, do they? “The man ate the chicken” certainly doesn’t convey the same meaning as “The man devoured/wolfed down/nibbled on the chicken.” By the same token, “said” can’t communicate the precision of yelled, shouted, screamed, bellowed, mumbled, grumbled, whined, and so on.

To me, this particular bit of advice feels random, and I believe it could very well be subject to changing tastes. Norms go in and out of style. Today’s rules will be tomorrow’s fodder for ridicule. It was once acceptable, after all, for writers to use “ejaculate” and other verbs as a dialogue tags.

We have dozens of powerful, descriptive verbs to characterize speech, so why not use them occasionally when appropriate? Here are some examples.

“I love you,” she said ≠ “I love you,” she whispered.

“My leg,” he said  ≠ “My leg,” he moaned.

“But I don’t want to,” she said  ≠  “But I don’t want to,” she whined.

“Good morning,” she said  ≠ “Good morning,” she sang.

“Get out,” he said  ≠ “Get out,” he bellowed.

“Help,” he said  ≠ “Help,” he screamed.

Some others: quipped, snapped, harrumphed, snorted, mused, offered, chirped...

Okay, you may not like some of these, but why exactly are they bad style? What are the criteria being used to determine their quality? It’s not like math. It’s not two plus two. There’s no objective standard.

Look, many of the rules floating around out there are useful, and we should bear them in mind as we write. In fact, I probably use “said” as a dialogue tags ninety-five percent of the time. But every now and then, I opt for a more expressive verb. The mot juste. 

And now that I’ve vented, please enjoy my resolutions.

I Hereby Resolve by James W. Ziskin

Upon the first of Jan-u-ary each and every year

I choose a comfy cushioned chair on which to park my rear

Then taking pencil, pen, or plume I think with all my might

About my life, my hopes, my dreams, and then begin to write

I make a note of all my flaws, my missteps, and my sins

And number them from one to ten and sort them into bins:

A catalogue of wishes, goals, and changes to achieve,

To lose some weight, to write more books, and royalties receive!

But not all thoughts are for myself, I also have a heart

So I resolve to do some good, pitch in, and play my part,

To be a better person and to help human-i-tee,

Or maybe just be satisfied to keep my san-i-tee

For all in all you must admit that things are not so good

At home, abroad, in Baltimore, and in your neighborhood

With guns and hate and politics and fears we cannot quell

It often seems we’re on a highway heading straight to hell 

But then I reason as I sit here in my pensive pose

Some things I can control and fix, so why not start with those?

My wrath, my sloth, and moods most foul are faults I could improve

Why not correct them right away? Cast out, erase, remove?

While in the past I must admit that my resolve was frail

This time my pledge is resolute; I don’t intend to fail

I vow to change, to grow, to thrive, and forge myself anew

And through hard work and sweat and blood I’ll make my dreams come true

But just in case my will is weak and my plans gang ag-ley

I’ll save this verse for twelve months more until next New Year’s Day

Then with high hopes and best intents I’ll shout for all to hear

The very same prom-is-es that I made and broke this year

It Was the Best of Edits, It Was the Worst of Edits.

This week, I’m pleased to welcome fellow Vancouver author Iona Whishaw. She’s the award-winning author of the Globe and Mail bestselling Lane Winslow Mystery series, and she’s here to answer the question: Tell us, the best edit or manuscript advice you received, and the worst?

by Iona Whishaw

So, let me start by saying I’ve adored my editors, every one, across the twelve books. But one of the things I’ve learned is that editors are people too. I’d been apt to think of them as disinterested geniuses with pumpkin-sized brains who are driven by a zeal for grammar and continuity. But of course, their brains are normal-sized and they generally maintain a very professional neutral view of the work before them. 

My editors have been exceptional, and I myself, being a boomer, am the very definition of laid back, and have endeavoured to be as hassle-free a writer as possible. I genuinely trust my editors to know what works. I have been amazed by how laser-sharp they are about every detail in 400 pages of script. They can remember that a character I only use briefly had a different name 239 pages ago. Or the details of weaponry: wasn’t that gun a Welbeck? Why is it now a Colt? Or are you sure about the moon phases in ’47 in August? They catch a thousand little problems in the manuscripts. But there is one thing I most value from my editors under the heading, Best of Edits: catching repetition.

 

My editors are absolutely fixated on eliminating repetition of any kind in the books. If they spy one of these offenses they pounce and leave a terse little comment: “you already said this.” And this can apply to a repetition made within a few pages, or indeed, one that appears three hundred pages later. Or my favourite: “you get to use this word once per book, if that.” (‘Epiphany’ anyone?) I don’t mind this, in fact, I feel a bit silly when I get caught out like this. But, I didn’t fully appreciate this service until one day I was reading a thriller by an extremely famous author who shall remain anonymous, and I came upon the fourth repetition of the same information about a corpse. I made a mental note, thinking, hm … this author’s editors are not so picky as mine. By the end of the book there were not four, but seven repetitions of that same information, I’m not making this up, and to be honest, it was pretty unpleasant the first time around.

 

I wondered this: Is it because this writer is so famous? Maybe editors wouldn’t feel they could leave imperious little notes all over my manuscript urging me to condense, if I were insanely well known. Or maybe Anonymous is mean and snaps at any hand that tries to curb this repetitiveness.

  

When I see how clean and tight a book can be when the editor forces the author to trust the intelligence of the reader, I find myself incredibly glad I am only moderately well-known. No editor has hitherto felt any compunction about whipping my prose into shape, and I suspect it is because they may think it’s not just my book, it’s theirs too.  

But, there can be a downside to this inclination to think the book is theirs. Consider for a moment that it is possible that an editor who is very attached to a book or series might, from time to time, have feelings about what’s going on in the story. It is here that great work can be done, but counterintuitively, it can also be the source of the most difficulty.

Even where there is a laid-back author and fully supportive editor, this editor/writer relationship can be fraught. I nearly always give editors the benefit of the doubt, and rarely kick up a fuss, because I assume they work from their experience of what makes sentences flow and books sell. But, here’s the thing; if you write a series, as I do, the editors can decide they know who the characters are and how they ought to behave. Sometimes this is brilliant. I get a note from time to time saying ‘so and so wouldn’t say this.” I feel a momentary bristle and then I realize the editor is absolutely right. That’s not the way this guy talks at all. Good catch.

On the other hand, this familiarity and attachment to a character can get in the way.  I have an inspector who is famous for being snarky and caustic, and very funny, even with people he loves. Because he is the love interest of the main character, my editors have been very invested in him. In one scene Lane, my main character, says to him on a visit to the police station, that there is but one piece of chocolate cake left, and she plans to eat it before he gets home, to which he responds, “I hope it chokes you.”

This bit of banter caused a wail I could hear across the city. “NOO!” the editor wrote, in caps, extremely distressed by this apparent cruelty. How he could be so mean and unpleasant? That’s not like him! But it is exactly like him! This editor was upset enough to beg me have him kiss her so we could all see he doesn’t really mean it. I was gobsmacked by this complete lack of understanding of the relationship between these two characters, especially after a number of books. This episode was enlightening, because it was the first time I realized editors can become personally invested in characters.  

My most puzzling and trying experience, however, was when an editor struck something that appeared in dialogue. It was early on, maybe third or fourth book. I was bopping along reading the editorial comments and agreeing with them, when I saw a note explaining that this expression was coming out because it made no sense.

I immediately reinstated the phrase, because after all, it was my intention that my character should say this very thing. Imagine my irritation when the manuscript came back for the next round with the same thing struck through.  

At this point I sent a little email, saying it was staying. Several more emails were exchanged, each increasingly stiff, and I became genuinely puzzled by the absolute insistence of this editor to edit out this bit of conversation.

“No one will understand it. It’s not a thing. It’s not going in, I don’t care what you say,” the editor said when we’d finally had to resort to talking on the telephone.

“It’s a perfectly good British expression,” I said.

“I don’t believe it. I’m not,” said the editor … I could imagine the crossed arms, the vigorously shaking head … “backing down on this.”
(I should say at this juncture that it is so too bad that in the modern world one cannot slam down a phone receiver.)

After a number of days of silent standoff, I finally got a note saying the editor had quizzed an English friend and been told it was a perfectly normal English expression, so, reluctantly, it would be allowed. And thus, this little frisson ended. But I became more cautious after that. Though editors are brilliant, they don’t know everything, and I would sooner have had a note saying “what the hell does this mean?” than the embroglio we engaged in. Because, just as editors can think they know your characters because they have a relationship with them that is different from yours, their understanding of how language may be used is formed to some extent by their age and experience.  

    

I’m as old as its possible to be and still be ambulatory, and I’m writing books that take place in the late 1940s, with many British characters. There are bound to be usages that perplex my younger north American editors. And now I’m also being more dogged about drawing the line at any tendency to edit dialogue unnecessarily. Dialogue is something writers think very hard about because it is the outward manifestation of who the characters are, and the essence of how they relate to other characters in the story. Being edited for informal grammar in dialogue, or expressions the editor might not be familiar with within the confines of the quotation marks, can be frustrating, especially when you’re, you know, as laid back as I am.  

All’s well, of course, that ends well. Harmony restored, the good work of the partnership moving forward. Though, to be honest, I feel myself growing in confidence…I’m working on my thirteenth book, after all…so, is it just a matter of time before I stop being chill and start demanding that editors just leave my prose the hell alone?  An enticing prospect to be sure, but gosh, I really hope not. 

Editing: Who Needs It?

 

Terry here, with this week’s question: Tell us, the best edit or manuscript advice you received, and the worst? 

 First let’s talk about editing. People either love it or hate. I happen to like it better than writing first draft. At least you have something to work with. And it always needs work. 

 I know people who edit their own work, and I admire them. But I have to have other people take a look at what I consider my final product. Even though I know it isn’t “final,” it means I’ve done everything I can by myself and I need an outside eye. If you give your story to beta readers or a writer’s group, advice abounds on what to do with your precious manuscript. Some of it is useful, some not so much. 

 Here are some of the “nudges” I’ve received—all on the same manuscript. 

You need more backstory. 

You need less backstory. 

The backstory needs to be woven into the book more. 

You should tell more of the backstory up front.

I don’t like the main character, but I like the plot (this from an acquiring editor that turned it down).

I love the main character but I don’t like the plot (this from a different acquiring editor that turned it down).

Here are some other pieces of advice I’ve received, not necessarily all on the same book, thank goodness: 

You need to start the story later. 

Cut the first six chapters. 

You need one more twist. 

Write one more final chapter. 

Too many characters introduced too quickly. 

Choose your details more wisely.

And then there are the specific “notes” that gently tell you that something in your plot makes no sense because (you name it). And it's always true.

After I have work critiqued, I have to let the advice sit for a few days. That’s because I’ve found that my first response is often skewed by my bias in favor of what I’ve written. How can I possibly cut my golden words? What I wanted to hear was how wonderful the piece was, not what’s wrong with it. But trust me, no matter how wonderful it is, there’s always something wrong with it. 

When I’ve let a critique mellow, the trick is to sift through the advice for the following: 

1) Does the suggestion serve the story I want to tell—in other words, does it ring true to me? 

2) Is the advice coming from someone I trust? This is equally important to number one. I belong to two writers groups. I’ve learned to trust particular advice from particular members. One member always focuses on descriptions. Another, character development. One is a non-fiction writer who has an uncanny ability to zero in on exactly what is not quite working—anything from a scene that doesn’t quite get to the point, to a character who doesn’t belong. Another seems to have an unerring sense of the intricacies of plot. I’ve learned to listen to them. 

3) I’ve learned to pay special attention to any critical comment that I immediately reject. Why? Because my knee-jerk response often means I knew there was something wrong and I didn’t want to face it. And/or I know fixing it is going to require rethinking, and maybe a lot of rewriting. 

With all that in mind, I’ll answer the original question. Oddly, there are no “worst” pieces of advice I can cite. That doesn’t mean I haven’t rejected some advice, but I always knew it was given with the best of intentions, so I didn’t think it was “bad,” just not useful for me. However, there is one humorous bit of editing I’ve received that I’ll relate. My publisher is in England, and all my manuscripts have “Texas” phrases in them. Invariably the editor will change something from “Texan” talk to “British” talk. I have to remind them that I’m writing Texas characters and the way they speak is not the way the English speak. My favorite example in my last manuscript was when a character asked another one, “Do you want to come to my place?” The editor changed it to “Do you want to come to mine?” Nope. That’s British terminology. 

As for best advice, there are a few gems I’ve gotten over the years that have stuck with me: 

One doesn’t happen so much anymore, but it was vital for me to learn as a new writer: If one reader loves the character and but doesn’t like the plot and another likes the plot but not the character, there is something basically wrong with the manuscript—usually that the action doesn’t derive from the what a character wants or needs. Character and plot are inextricably intertwined. Character moves plot…and whatever happens in the story has to move the character. 

Another was advice I got from my former agent, Janet Reid. It has become a vital part of my process. On each book I wrote, she said, “You’re not done.” She meant that the book needed one more twist, or a chapter that brought everything to a close. The first time I heard it from her, I stormed around grumbling for two days. “She’s wrong! The manuscript is great the way it is. It is done ….” And then, “Oh, wait.” Every, single, time, the book became better for that advice. It meant stretching my imagination. It meant really thinking about what I wanted the book to be. Janet is no longer with us, but her advice lives on. 

When I was at Squaw Valley Writer’s Conference, I had a chat with an editor who talked to me about “a sense of place.” She didn’t mean only the description of where a scene was taking place, but how the character fit into that scene. What was the character experiencing in that particular place. What did it mean to him or her? Was it uncomfortable for some reason? Comforting? Baffling? The point was that the devil is in the details—the particular details that are important to that particular character. If you want an example of that, ask any three people the first thing they noticed when they walked into a room. People notice very different things. One person may notice that the room was cold, another that there was a familiar face, another that there was a painting they admired. My series protagonist, Samuel Craddock, has an art collection. It stands to reason that when he enters a home for the first time, one of the first things he notices is the kinds of art they have on the walls—if they have any. You have to know your character enough to be able to tell the reader something about them simply by the way they react to their surroundings.

I mentioned my writer’s groups earlier, and recently one specific piece of advice I got completely changed the trajectory of a book I’d been working on for years. I had struggled with not feeling like I had a good handle on my main character. Several readers said they didn’t like her. The woman in my writer’s group asked, “What do you respect about your main character?” It was like someone hit me over the head. I thought about it for a while, and thought, “Nothing. And that has to change.” It didn’t require a huge amount of rewriting, but it did require subtle shifts that worked. 

Edits can be really valuable. You have to learn to separate the ones you want from the ones you need. Is there bad advice? Probably. But I what I remember is the best advice.

It was the best of edits, it was the worst of edits. Tell us, the best edit or manuscript advice you received, and the worst?

Happy New Year! Brenda starting off 2025.

Hope you gave and received lots of books these holidays :-) 

As every writer knows, a book will succeed or fail based on the quality of the editing. I've come to appreciate the editing process more and more with every manuscript that I've written, accepting that you simply can't skimp on the process.

As a helpful side note, I watched a Zoom webinar once where the author made a post-it note timeline of each chapter, arranging on sheets of paper in chapter order. It seems simple, but it helped to keep the weather, date, order of plot points, etc., straight. This is an especially helpful hint for editing.

Good manuscript advice: Don't worry about getting everything correct on draft one. Write the story with a sense of freedom with the understanding that you'll be spending a lot of time finessing it later. 

If I'm giving advice, I'd add to make sure each paragraph and chapter has a reason for being included, whether moving the plot forward, developing character, planting a clue ... attempt not to ramble, information dump, or pad with filler. I'd add to focus on the paragraph and chapter you're writing at the time and not to be concerned with the entire manuscript. It's almost magical how the story all comes together in the end.

As for the worst editing advice I've ever received, I honestly can't think of anything. Every editor I've ever worked with has had the best interests of the manuscript at heart and we've worked together to improve the final product. Some editors have been better than others at catching all the errors, alas, but there's not one thing I can point to in regards to advice.

Editing is a time-consuming, meticulous endeavour that doesn't get easier. I've learned that even when I believe a piece of writing is as perfect as I can get it, there's always something to improve once I have another read through. It's all part of the sweat and joy of creating, and that's okay by me. After all, if it was too easy, there'd be no challenge and no feeling of accomplishment when all is polished and done.

Website: www.brendachapman.ca

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Books that inspired me in 2024, by Josh Stallings

 Crime fiction spreads across all genres, here are some of my favorite reads of the last year.

Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake is a brilliant weave of spy novel, anthropology and a character study. Following a freelance spy/investigator as she infiltrates a rural French commune, it delves into a prehistoric cultural divide between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens, the deadly danger of mega farming, and the destructive nature of capitalism. 

“The whole internet is like a giant mirror. A swampy reflecting pool for the world. Viscous and unclean, mottled, distorting.” — Catchpenny: A novel by Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston’s Catchpenny is the story of a rock singer who sold his voice so he could slide in and out of mirrors. Too weird? Not in the hands of Huston. He ground this fantastical world with real humans dealing with real pain while fighting to save the world from dark magic destruction. 

Nemonte Nenquimo, Mitch Anderson’s We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People is the amazing life story following Nenquimo from a childhood where missionaries taught her to devalue her ancestors, her way of life and ultimately herself. In reclaiming the wisdom of the jungle she grew into a leader of a movement that brought together the tribes of the Amazon. It is a crime book, just not fiction.

I have also read a lot of Mario Vargas Llosa every writer should, he’s that good. He’s won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Miguel de Cervantes Prize, Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit, and a bunch more accolades. Normally this would lead me to believe he was a stuffy headache inducing author. Nope, he writes clean direct crime stories that break a million and one rules and never leave me bored. His ability to jump in and out of time and blend several conversations without ever causing confusion is miraculous. 

Here are the Mario Vargas Llosa novels I read this year, there is much to be learned from his work. My only regret is I can’t read them in the original Spanish.

The Discreet Hero

Who Killed Palomino Molero?

Death in the Andes: A Novel

The Storyteller: A Novel

Captain Pantoja and the Special Service

As an added bonus here’s some music that is inspiring me.

I write to all kinds of music, recently its been indigenous music from South and Central America.

Amazon Ensemble’s Enchanted takes me far from my office.

Nación Ekeko & Ayahuasca Icaros single Limpia is cool and trippy to type to. I’ve been enchanted by all of Nación Ekeko’s work.  

Giselle World’s Tribu mixes ambient and chants in a way that keeps me typing.

Jon Batiste’s Beethoven Blues while not indigenous music, is amazing to write to. Familiar enough melodies that they don’t pull me out, with complicated enough variations that they never bore the logical part of my brain.

****

What I am reading now:

End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland by Haruki Murakami, new translation by Jay Rubin.

Happy Holidays to all. In these dark and deeply weird days I hope you find and share love, laugher and joy.