I look forward to reading more of your advice!

You identified my overly qualifying caution (might and could, instead of does and would), my hyperbolic pile of adjectives — perplexed, confused, disoriented, which was not overtly intended to remind readers of the great Rodgers and Hart song “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” — but could. And you spotted the redundancy in using both transitions and bridges, which are actually the same thing and not just similar.

Good editing.

-Alan

Thank you. I find your words very encouraging. It’s just that we’re starting a publishing company next year, so we have to publish what I wrote, or we won’t have any titles to start the company with. And just as you mentioned regarding the self-published author, our goal as a company is to get bought out at some point when we’ve acquired a certain amount of selling titles–panned for gold in the slush and struck it rich, so to speak.

I wrote one novel, and we think it’s pretty good (we’ll see what the market thinks of it.). I have another I’m writing, and I think it will be my last. I say that because the story burns up all the themes that burn within me, and after that I don’t want to just whack away at books that don’t really matter.

But like you illustrated so well in your previous post, it sure would be great to find the next Mary Shelley or Edgar Allen Poe–all unpublished and wanting.

We’re on the cusp of Generation X, don’t you know? What are we going to do? We always have a lottery ticket, and we still hold the delusion of the American Dream.

I also find reading what I last wrote helpful before I write again. That way, I’ve been away from it a little while and can more easily see faults in it, but it also helps in getting me back into the story and the writing frame of mind.

Self or “independent publishing” as it’s known now, is an honorable way to break into the commercial literary world. About five percent of all self-published books are taken over by commercial houses after they’ve demonstrated some degree of success, around 10K copies sold. In fact, I recently acquired two self-published books for reissue in my position as Executive Editor at Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons.

You have to work just as hard and hold yourself to the same high literary standards when self-publishing as you would with any commercial publication. But whether it’s for family and friends or for a broader commercial market, you’re never a loser when you take charge and do it yourself.

-Alan

First: this is another great, and useful article.

Second: once you got me started looking for potential improvements in the article, I couldn’t stop. I think this may be the difference between writing and editing. I want to make the piece my own, while an editor can’t do that.

Third: my suggestions are not meant as any disrespect to your own editor.

Fourth: my ideas, with Bernard as editor, below:

The answer starts “You might need to work on the transitions.” I think from there, the article would flow better if you just assume the plot does in fact have this problem. Then you could lose “[y]ou might”, “could be”, and “could read along pretty well”.

I think it’s a bit much for the reader to be perplexed, confused, disoriented and up in the air all at the same time. Three of these would do, maybe even two.

Generally, I don’t think the differences and similarities between bridges and transitions is well enough defined. The word “bridge” is only used in a few places. The reader could be left thinking, “Are they the same thing, or just similar?”

Remember that people don’t have photographic memories — they tend to remember the gist of things, so if you have many characters/plotpoints/events that are fairly similar, they will blur together. To make them stand out, try adding in details that make a particular scene distinct. Have one argument in a restaurant, and the other one in a lumber mill or something. Also, repetition enhances memory, so if you want to emphasize an important plot point,you may want to mention it more than once. However, this could lead to a Dr. Seuss-like disaster if overdone, so use your judgment. The basic idea is to emphasize important plot points and make sure they stand out to the reader as important , either by spending more time on them, or by marking them with emotion, or some other way. Hm… I see a potential post on memory principles and plotting for my own blog… Thanks

It might be helpful also to sit down with someone who hasn’t read your novel just explain the plot to them in your own words. There’s something about the act of talking something over face to face that forces you to be clear, and you can also get instant feedback on what parts are the hardest to follow.

I’ve finished a novel that I’m hoping to self-publish next year. I realize that brands me as a loser, but there are extenuating circumstances. Nevertheless, a blog like this, written from your vast experience, may be just what I need. Thanks for writing it.