There is always something magical about immersing ourselves into a story. We escape reality for a chapter or two, maybe even longer if time allows. Stories have been entertaining, educating and fascinating humans for eons. From campfire tales to fairy stories to modern literature, we have passed on these narratives from generation to generation. Beginning with word of mouth and traveling troubadours to parchment scripts to printed books and now to electronic devices.
Stories are a part of our culture, our locality and our history. Some may disappear, others stand the test of time. We have the ability to share them with future generations and keep them in the world.
I have a troubadour in my novella, The Rython Kingdom. He travels from feudal to feudal land (lands owned by the monarchy and gifted to Lords) and is invited to the King’s court. He knows this is a great honour and tells a tale over a couple of days, unaware there is a release spell within its words of an evil sorceress.
Celebrate storytelling week reciting your favorite stories to your children or grandchildren, pass on these generational tales so they may be forever told.
It is World Folk Tales and Fables Week and we can celebrate those stories that have been told and retold thousands of times in every country in the world.
The classifications for a folk tale or fable are:
Animal Tales.
Tales of Magic/ Wonder Tales.
Religious Tales.
Realistic/ Romantic Tales.
Tales of the Stupid Ogre.
We are all familiar with the ‘main’ stories, they are part of our childhoods. Obviously, there are cultural differences but the basis plots are similar.
Goldilocks
Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Little Red Riding Hood.
The Sisters Grimm
Cinderella.
Anansi and the Magic Stick
The Ugly Duckling
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Which are your favorite?
I think mine is The Ugly Ducking because of the transformation aspect. We can all become something we want, and are always better being our true selves.
As many of you know I am in the midst of editing and revising two projects. Yes, I’m mad! The first is the prequel to my fantasy series, Malgraf’s Dawning. It is currently being beta-read and revisions are coming back to me chapter by chapter. The other is a western romance manuscript, Willow Tree Tears, that until recently, had languished in my ‘to do’ folder for quite some time.
As authors and writers, we have to refine, revise and rewrite our manuscripts to ensure they are ready to submit. As we all know though, some will slip through the cracks – we have all read books and noticed slip-ups in every book we read. So let’s look at the editing process:
Editing encompasses several elements in order to achieve a well-polished manuscript for submission. Editing includes among other things, continuity, grammar, spelling, character development, revisions to scenes etc. the list is long and sometimes overwhelming.
Where should you start?
Instead of plunging directly back into a first draft, let it sit for a while. Start another project, take a rest, whatever you need to tear yourself away from the world and the characters you created. Ideally, leave it for three to six months, depending on any deadlines you have, of course. This will allow you to ‘see; it with fresh eyes.
When you go back to re-read there will be new insights. Rather than overwhelming yourself with trying to ‘correct’ all the editing elements mentioned above, concentrate on one item at a time.
Limit each read through to a specific task.
When you have completed these tasks let either trusted friends, or members of your local writing group read it. Take note of their suggestions and correct any errors they may find. Remember, no matter how many times you or your beta readers go through a manuscript, there will always be a word missed, mis-spelt, or a continuity slip up. Once this is done it is time to consider handing over the manuscript to a professional. A professional editor is a good investment, if you can afford one. A badly edited book reflects on you the author and no-one else.
Here are a couple of tricks that can help you edit more effectively:
Read the book from back to front page by page. This stops your brain putting in words that are not there.
Read it out aloud to yourself or an understanding friend. A missed word is very obvious with this technique.
Go through the manuscript correcting one area at a time, instead of everything, which can become overwhelming. Such as spelling, or continuity.
When editing there may be sentences, or even whole paragraphs, that you know need to be revised, or even omitted from the manuscript to help with the flow of the story line, or scene. Deleting these can be hard. There are different opinions on what to do with these revisions, but I think they should be saved in a separate document until you are absolutely sure you do want to delete them and even then you may keep them as a record of how the scene developed. A writer’s jetsam so to speak. These ejected words from our narratives may dwell in our hard drives or document folders for months, sometimes years. They may even be useful if at some point in the future you decide to use them in a sequel!
Without correcting and improving, our creations will not be polished and worthy of reading and that is the one thing we all want – our work to be read and enjoyed.
There is always discussions on the pros and cons of print versus eBook, but to be able to travel light, an e-reader makes vacation reading much easier. Some traditionalists, like myself, take our printed versions. However, I just finished reading an eBook collection of short stories, which was really enjoyable. Most of the stories were paranormal in theme so obviously they appealed to me!
Insomnia by Kelly Covic
What a wonderful collection of paranormal stories. The author takes you into a world of each character with expert ease. I particularly enjoyed Music Box, it has a great twist and Idle Thursday, because its subject matter is one of my interests. I recommend losing yourself in these narratives.
And in print:
The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
Inter relationships, secrets, female perspective, damaged souls and brilliant storytelling. A narrative over generations of wounded women finding their path
I took an extra day off this past week to ‘finish’ the prequel to the Rython series. Although, the manuscript has ‘the end’ on it, this is the start of the editing and revising stage. However, it is always a great sense of achievement to get a story completed.
I hope that my readers will enjoy this part of the Rython series, which is now officially a trilogy. When I first wrote The Rython Kingdom, I had no intention of continuing the story of a traveling troubadour in medieval England. But as we all know we should ‘never say never’, and with numerous requests from readers for more story, I, of course, obliged and Rython Legacy was born. It follows the granddaughter of the first sorceress on her own journey and how she vanquishes an evil.
The idea of a prequel telling the story of the evil witch came to me unexpectedly, but then became an insistent ear worm, so to speak. So much so, I abandoned the final book in my crime trilogy, to quieten the voices. Of course, I will get back to that project once this prequel is published, sometime in the fall/autumn. I had so much fun tracing Malgraf’s character and the darkness within her soul. Watch this space for more on Malgraf’s Dawning in the months to come.
As for my current reading, I am 3/4 through The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler, which I am really enjoying and am also reading a short story collection called Insomnia by Kelly Covic.
This week’s literary birthday is: 2/22 – Edward Gorey – he wrote more than 100 books. (That is an exception number!) He was also a talented artist and illustrator.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 