Sunday 20 October 2013

Editing while you write, makes you wise? Almost!

This is a guest post from fellow author Jack Eason:

When I first began seriously writing back in 1995, I wish I had adopted what I like to refer to as the constant editing technique at the time. But back then I was yet to be published.
What can I tell you – after almost eighteen years of writing I have finally found a process that works for me. Each and every word is not only spelt correctly, but its particular version is also carefully selected via the process of working through the Oxford English Dictionary, plus utilizing the process of synonyms by right clicking on a word, which offers you a choice of alternatives. As an example of which form is correct for a given circumstance within any sentence, I give you  earth as opposed to Earth. Both forms are correct according to the OED, but earth is the usually accepted form.

I finally decided to adopt the technique last year while writing my last eBook novella The Forgotten Age. I’m glad I did. Apart from reducing the errors to an absolute minimum, bearing in mind that no book is ever totally error free, it also ensures that the darned Goodreads and Amazon trolls, plus the odd one or two individuals who just love to find fault, tend to refrain from voicing their opinion in the form of a one star review on either site.
But no matter how meticulous your approach may be, you have to be prepared for those people who absolutely hate your work.Face it folks, you cannot please everyone, no matter how hard you try.

Returning to the main thrust of this post about adopting the constant editing technique, It would not suit most writers as it drastically slows down the whole writing process, particularly the prolific in our ranks. By using it you can forget about any form of daily word count target, something that many new and seasoned writers think is the be all and end all to get that next book out there into book land.

These days since adopting the technique, I’m lucky if I write a paragraph each day before editing. Back in 1995, I would have been thoroughly disappointed. No longer…

Jack's latest book The Next Age is a new pure science fiction eBook novella set in the thirty-second century.


Prepare yourselves for a wild ride as you read about an apocalyptic possible alternative future for mankind. The Next Age follows our fight for survival in the thirty-second century. It's not too late. We still have time to change our ways. This story need not become a reality... 

For countless millennia we swallowed the myth perpetrated by the world’s many religions that we were the only sentient species in the cosmos made by an all-powerful God. As it turned out it was an arrogant belief. In the twentieth century, during the period known as the Cold War, between America and its allies versus the former Soviet Union and its acolytes, we revealed our existence to the universe by launching two probes into deep space. The whole event passed into history and was completely forgotten until the thirty-second century, when mankind got a wake-up call that none of us were prepared for...  
 
About the author
Jack Eason lived in New Zealand for forty-two years until 2000 when he returned to his birthplace in England. As far as he is concerned he will always consider himself to be a Kiwi. After military service in the 1960′s, he travelled the world, visiting exotic lands and making many friends. Now in his mid-sixties he is content to write and travel via the Internet. Besides writing novels and short stories, he contributes to his own blog “Have We Had Help?” Some of his short stories and numerous articles appear in the No: 1 online E-zine Angie’s Diary 

His literary interests include science fiction, history, both ancient and modern, and humorous tales like those written by his fellow writer Derek Haines, such as HAL. Now retired, he lives in his home town surrounded by his favourite books, ranging from historical fact to science fiction. His literary icons are J.R.R Tolkien, George Orwell, Arthur C Clarke and John Wyndham

In the US you can find his books here

If you live in the UK, you can find his books here

No comments:

Post a Comment