{"id":6574,"date":"2018-07-13T16:01:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T21:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utopianediting.com\/?p=6574"},"modified":"2022-01-01T17:03:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T23:03:16","slug":"everything-wrong-with-your-novel-in-15-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/13\/everything-wrong-with-your-novel-in-15-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Wrong with Your Novel in 15 Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re an author or screenwriter and you\u2019ve never watched the YouTube series \u201cEverything Wrong with\u2026\u201d by CinemaSins<\/strong><\/a>, then I have homework for you.<\/p>\n

Scan their offerings, find their review of a movie you loved, and then watch every minute of it.<\/p>\n

Watch and learn.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become a tradition for me and my husband after work. He switches on YouTube while we putter around the kitchen to make dinner.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]\u201cOh, look!\u201d he says. \u201cEverything Wrong with Ender\u2019s Game<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

I groan loudly. \u201cCome on, I loved that one! I waited YEARS for a film adaptation and was actually happy with it!\u201d<\/p>\n

He chuckles and hits play.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]As always, the narrator fast-talks through sin after sin, and I have to give it to him:[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]\u201cOkay. Well, he\u2019s got a point there. Yeah, I kind of thought that was too convenient. Well, crap.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]By the end, I\u2019m shaking my head and wondering why these gaping loopholes and logical inconsistencies weren\u2019t caught WAY before the producers spent $115 million. (Or before the book was published, in some cases.)<\/p>\n

Producers, if you\u2019re reading: HIRE THESE GUYS. Hire them the minute you decide to move on a script or concept and before you spend another penny. Let them rip the script to shreds and help you put it back together in a more believable and satisfying way.<\/p>\n

To be sure, when the acting or production quality is high, we may not even notice some of the biggest sins. How many times has Fast and Furious <\/em>jumped the shark? Yet each sequel still draws an audience.<\/p>\n

But type \u201cmovie bombs\u201d in the YouTube search box<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and you\u2019ll be treated to a parade of failures\u2014many of which could have been prevented by a good script critique early on.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]\n

Who\u2019s going to trash your book<\/strong>\u2014and when?<\/strong><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]Now, what about your book?<\/p>\n

Who besides you has read it? Your mom? Your best friend? A writing buddy or professor?<\/p>\n

Your book might be just fine, and your family and friends might be excellent beta readers who give you quality feedback. But they might also be Catelyn Stark staring in silence as her sister breastfeeds her six-year-old son in public1<\/sup>:[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]\u201cWhat is she doing? Doesn\u2019t she realize he should have been weaned long ago? Somebody should say something\u2026but I sure don\u2019t want to take a dive through the Moon Door\u2026\u201d<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]Painful as it\u2019s likely to be, you really need someone like the CinemaSins crew to tear your manuscript up\u2014because if they don\u2019t, your audience most certainly will. And those Amazon and Goodreads reviews never go away.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]\n

Who can help?<\/strong><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]What you need is a good developmental editor (DE), and the earlier, the better. Ideally, you\u2019ll find someone who can help ensure it\u2019s believably crafted from the beginning.<\/p>\n

Bringing a developmental editor in at the beginning may spare you major revisions or, worse, complete rejection.<\/u>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Author: \u201cI want to write a novel about a girl and a vampire boy who fall in love. There will be all sorts of dramatic tension because he can\u2019t even hold her hand without wanting to drink her blood!\u201d<\/p>\n

DE: \u201cStephenie Meyer already did that one. And the vampire thing has been done a lot now\u2014Barnes & Noble actually has a whole section devoted to paranormal romance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Author: \u201cDoesn\u2019t that mean it\u2019s hot, and readers want more of it?\u201d<\/p>\n

DE: \u201cCould be. But how will your<\/em> vampire love story be different from Twilight<\/em>? Or Vampire Diaries<\/em>? Or Vampire Academy<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Author: \u201cUm\u2026\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The DE can help the author brainstorm ways to make his or her vampire vision unique so that readers won\u2019t feel they\u2019re just reading Twilight<\/em> fan fiction. At this juncture, the DE acts as writing coach and even collaborator.<\/p>\n

Most often, however, an author presents a completed draft for critique. Those days or weeks between submission and feedback can be excruciating for you. An honest voice inside you might be saying, \u201cMake it better, but make it better by leaving it alone!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

When the file comes back with comments filling the margins, however tactful, your inner Lysa Arryn might rise up and shout for the guards to toss your editor through the Moon Door.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only natural. Betsy Lerner, who has spent her career as an acquisitions editor and agent, has also experienced this process as an author. After delivering her manuscript to a DE, \u201cI was a mess, every fingernail shredded, my face a splotch of anxiety.\u201d2<\/sup><\/p>\n

One would think that her first draft would be perfect as-is. After all, it was a book about publishing, and she\u2019s an expert. She\u2019s also been a DE herself, so surely she\u2019d know how to avoid the pitfalls.<\/p>\n

Alas, it was not so: \u201cWhen her notes came,\u201d Lerner writes, \u201cthey blew my mind and not in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The editor basically told her she needed to rewrite the whole book with a more positive attitude. It didn\u2019t matter that Lerner had delivered such advice to countless others: when it applied to her own work, she felt that every criticism implied hatred.<\/p>\n

After some reflection, however, she realized the editor was right. She wound up rewriting the book and being much happier with the result<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove hurts<\/em>,\u201d Lerner concludes.<\/p>\n

But once the author and editor get on the same wavelength, the collaboration can be beautiful.<\/p>\n

As Lerner writes earlier in her chapter, \u201cThere is no greater feeling for me than when a writer takes my notes, then ups the ante, making the passage or paragraph not just better but brilliant. Author and editor form a mutual appreciation society. The author feels inspired and inspires in return. . . .it\u2019s a love fest.\u201d<\/p>\n

So thicken up your skin by watching CinemaSins videos. Eat some chocolate, drink a glass of wine, and then open the file your DE just sent back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be okay. It\u2019ll be better than okay. This is your chance to purge the book\u2019s sins before loosing it on the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Utopian Editing provides editing services from concept through proofreading. <\/em>Click here to request a free sample edit and quote.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

1\u00a0<\/sup>This is a\u00a0Game of Thrones<\/em> reference, you sweet summer child.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0<\/sup>Betsy Lerner, “What Love’s Got to Do with It: The Author-Editor Relationship,” in\u00a0What Editors Do: The Art, Craft & Business of Book Editing<\/em><\/a>, ed. Peter Ginna (Chicago, IL: U of Chicago Press, 2017).[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re an author or screenwriter and you\u2019ve never watched the YouTube series \u201cEverything Wrong with\u2026\u201d by CinemaSins, then I have homework for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[134,133,129,130,109,120,108,119,137,132,135,110,121,138,136,131],"class_list":["post-6574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editing","tag-betsy-lerner","tag-book-reviews","tag-conceptual-editing","tag-conceptual-editor","tag-developmental-editing","tag-developmental-editor","tag-editing","tag-editor","tag-kerri-miller","tag-novel-writing","tag-peter-ginna","tag-substantive-editing","tag-substantive-editor","tag-utopian-editing","tag-what-editors-do","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6574"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7059,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574\/revisions\/7059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utopianediting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}