To celebrate the release of Helen's second Harlequin Special Edition, Marriage Under The Mistletoe, she is giving away a copy to one commenter. So over to Helen...
The Inner Editor
by
Helen Lacey
As much as I have tried not to at different stages
in my writing career, I always edit as I write. Even though I am not a plotter
and simply start with Chapter One and get into the story, I still edit myself
page by page. I’ve never been the kind of writer who can do what is often
called ‘dirty draft’ and then go back and fill in dialogue tags or add settings
etc. I can’t write something that says ‘fix this’ in brackets mid-scene and
then return later to flesh it out. Which means sometimes I am working on the
same page for hours, wondering why it’s not working, and then making sure that
it does work before I move on to the next page.
I have tried what I call the ‘sit and surge’
approach, but inevitably have to go back and edit the words and pages that I’ve
done before I hit the save button and close down the computer for that particular writing session. I stopped
trying to force myself to plot my books out in advance a long time ago – but
have found that editing as I go helps me stay within the framework of the story
and keeps my characters true to theme. I do the usual character biographies,
story outline etc, but I have found that if I plot in too much detail I often
lose spontaneity and get easily distracted from the project. Not knowing what is going to happen next
keeps me interested and invested in the characters I am writing about.
Of course, while I’m actually writing the first
draft this approach sometimes doesn’t seem particularly time effective – but I
have found that since I do edit as I write, when it comes to the latter stages
of the manuscript’s development, I can polish and do any editorial revisions
reasonably swiftly. Some books seem easier than others though, and often I’ll
work with critique partners and/or a professional manuscript assessor to really
fine tune any glitches and ensure the story is in the best shape.
But there is no right or wrong way and every
writer has to find the process that suits their writing style. Essentially, the
important thing is to write the best possible book every time.
Helen Around the Web:
Website
Author Page
Marriage Under The Mistletoe:
Strong. Sensible. Dependable. That was Evie Dunn's type.
Certainly not young, fearless gorgeous firefighter Scott Jones. She knew
the wisest course was to keep her distance, but she couldn't resist the allure
of a holiday fling. Now the widowed single mom found herself with an unexpected
post-Christmas gift—she was having Scott's baby!
Scott came to Crystal Point to see his sister tie the knot, not fall for the alluring owner of the town's oceanfront B and B. He knew he was all wrong for Evie, but he would do anything to win her heart and build the family he'd always wanted. All he had to do was persuade Evie to take the biggest risk of her life…on love.
Scott came to Crystal Point to see his sister tie the knot, not fall for the alluring owner of the town's oceanfront B and B. He knew he was all wrong for Evie, but he would do anything to win her heart and build the family he'd always wanted. All he had to do was persuade Evie to take the biggest risk of her life…on love.
Read an Excerpt:
