Ask the Author #4

It’s time for another round of Ask the Author questions! Today I’m answering your questions about my favorite part of writing, my favorite paranormal romance, over-editing as a writer, and a bunch of fun ones about Forgive My Fins.

If you want to watch the video version, here ya go:

Otherwise, read on…

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My first two questions this time come from Goodreads.

What’s your favorite part about writing?

Hands down, my favorite part about writing is the brainstorming phase. The whole process from taking that initial idea and developing it—the story, the characters, the world (especially the world!)—into a fully-fledged story.

I would spend all my time brainstorming and worldbuilding if I could!

What’s your favorite paranormal romance?

Tough question! I haven’t been reading a lot of fiction lately, but my most recent favorite YA has to be Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. It’s technically fantasy, I suppose, and not paranormal but I absolutely adored that book. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

If you’re talking adult paranormal romance, them my all-time favorite is Karen Marie Moning‘s highlander series. I read them years ago and I still think about them. swoon (Warning: These are definitely adult books, not for younger readers.)

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My next series of questions came as comments on Ask the Author #3 video + blog.

Will Quince and Lily one day get married and have children? Will Doe and Brody get married and have children too?

It’s so hard to answer these questions!

I definitely have thoughts on what I think will happen. But that doesn’t mean they are set in stone. Until I actually write those parts of their lives (and/or the parts leading up to those parts) I can’t actually know what will happen. Things might (and usually do) change while I’m writing them.

So, um, yeah… it’s a cop-out, but I don’t know.

Will Lily become queen one day?

I can say definitively though that YES someday Lily will become queen. I don’t know when that will happen or even how (there are a number of ways in which she could take the throne) but one day Thalassinia will be ruled by Queen Waterlily.

How old is Lily ‘s father?

Haha! I think this is a funny question. It’s also a tricky one.

King Whelk probably looks like he’s in his early-fifties (kind of like King Triton in Disney’s The Little Mermaid), but because merfolk live much longer than humans and age very differently he’s actually much older than that.

What to know more about this series? Read All About Forgive My Fins.

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My final questions this time also came in the comments of my Ask the Author #3 video.

I’m on the fifth draft of my first chapter now, and I’ve been warned against falling into over-editing. Is there such a thing?

So many thoughts on this.

First of all, a book never feels done. Even the most successful/critically acclaimed authors would still go back and make tweaks. Things always slip through the cracks.

At the book launch for Oh. My. Gods. I did a reading and stumbled across a sentence written in the wrong tense. And this was a book that had been through several critique partners, my agent, my editor (multiple times), a copyeditor, AND a proofreader. Gah!

Anyway, the point is, you’ll never feel finished. You just have to let it go.

Also, I think it’s not so much OVER editing that’s the problem (because the goal of editing is always to make the book better, right?) as it is one or both of two other things:

• A loss of perspective because you’re too close to the story, too involved and invested, you can’t see the forest for the trees anymore.
• A loss of (story) heart because you’re so caught up in fixing things that you lose the emotional core of the story. Plot and grammar matter, of course, but emotion and character matter more.

The real root of the over-editing problem is confidence.

Especially early in your career, when you’re unpublished and you haven’t had that external validation yet (although even multi-published authors have this problem), you tend to try to fix EVERYTHING that someone points out. Whether it’s an agent or an editor or a critique partner.

That often leads you too far away from the heart of the story.

And how do you know if you hit it?

There are really only two ways to know if you’ve crossed over into over-editing:

1. Take time away to give yourself some objective perspective on your story.
2. Have someone experienced (with writing AND critiquing or mentoring) read it. When I read a young (career-wise, not age-wise) author’s book I can often “feel” when it’s overworked. There aren’t necessarily quantifiable signs or symptoms, but an experienced pro might be able to sense the over-editing.

I know that wasn’t much help, but I do know…

How you can avoid or recover from over-editing!

First, you have to learn to take all critique or criticism with a grain of salt. You have to consider the source, what their experience is and what their motives might be.

What does your gut say?

You don’t have to do EVERYTHING that an agent/editor/critique parter suggests. Only make those changes that resonate with you OR that you are hearing repeatedly. If multiple readers tell you that your character is unlikeable or your plot twist isn’t believable, you might want to check in with that note and see if they’re right.

Also (very important lesson!) you don’t have to fix things the way that they suggest. Agents and editors aren’t writers. Reviewers aren’t writers. Even if they do write, they aren’t writing your book.

If you agree that there is a problem, find your own way to fix it. That’s the only way that the solution will stay true to your voice and your story.

Second, remind yourself regularly why you’re writing this story. What was that initial spark that got you so excited that you wanted to write an entire book about it?

Write that down and reference it as often as possible. Make sure everything in the story, every change you make, answers to that.

Finally, forgive yourself for doing it. If you’ve realized (or even suspect) that you’ve fallen victim to over-editing, forgive yourself. It’s natural and normal and all-to-common.

Know that, as you write more books/stories and get more confident, it’ll get easier.

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That’s it for this round of Ask the Author.

As always, if you have a question you want me to answer next time, you can ask it in comments below or submit it at teralynnchilds.com/ask.