What is This?

Weekly Wordcount is a post-NaNoWriMo attempt to continue writing a reasonable amount throughout the entire year. Everyone participating sets their own wordcount goals for a week and assigns their own values to draft, edit, blogging, and collaborative writing.

My weekly wordcount goal is set to 2,000.

• New writing is given full wordcount.
• Rewrites are given full wordcount.
• Heavy edits are given half wordcount.
• Light edits are given quarter wordcount.

Editing is ALWAYS counted. Writing is more than just putting new words on a blank page. It’s also making sure that my meaning is as clear as I can make it. If they didn’t need polishing, they wouldn’t call ‘em “rough” drafts!

How Did I Do?

I’m still not counting my words. As long as I’m putting in the time (I am, oooooh, I am) and getting the results (I love learning about writing!) then I am surpassing my goals. =]

• Choose Installment draft edited once, though it will need another pass through before it can be posted.
• Song of Binding – HTRYN work continues. We finished Lesson 2 and are ALMOST done with Lesson 3! *confetti*

How Did YOU Do?

No surprises on my front, but half of the reason for doing these Weekly Wordcount posts is to find out how YOU’VE been doing! So, spill the beans! Have you been writing? Short stories, flash fiction, or novels? Editing, maybe weeding out some unnecessary plot points or finding things you accidentally told the reader were important?

Vampire Verbs

As a writer, you may be unaware of a dastardly threat lurking in your prose. Seductive and insidious, these verbs entwine themselves in your writing, invading your thoughts and lulling you into a false sense of security.

Vampire verbs.

Verbs which suck the life out of your writing, ruthlessly bleeding your sentences until they’re dry and emotionless, little more than tinder.

“To Be” verbs.

To Be Or Not To Be, That is the Question

When you read writing advice telling you to avoid “to be” verbs (was, is, etc) there are two primary reasons.

1) They tell rather than show.

2) They’re wishy-washy, inactive verbs.

Show and Tell

He was so angry he could hardly speak.

You just TOLD me he was angry. As a reader, that’s boring. I’m not invited to draw my own conclusion or visualize anything at all. Some of this is bound to happen in most books, but a lot of newbie writing is filled with phrase after phrase of this. She was angry, he was sad, she was hungry, he was constipated (okay, that last one? Maybe I don’t want any florid prose added to it, mmkay?)

He sucked in a breath, hands balling into fists at his side. Jaw clenched, he couldn’t find the words to respond.

Hopefully, that second one is an improvement over the first. The idea is to SHOW the reader how angry he is. Do a word search through your manuscript for the word “Was”. How many times do you use it to tell the reader something you could show them instead? It’s a flag, waving and begging you, the writer, to go back and pay attention to it.

Lazy Verbs

He was whistling as he walked down the street. There was a bounce in his step and he was winking at all the ladies he passed.

Try again.

He whistled as he walked down the street. A bounce in his step, he winked at all the ladies he passed.

Not one, not two, but THREE “was” removals later, we have a more dynamic scene.

One “was” removal stemmed from the previous rule – I was telling you he had a bounce in his step instead of showing you the bounce. Two of the “was” removals illustrated the lazy verb rule. Pretty much every time your character “was doing” something, remove it and just let the character DO the action.

• “she was dancing” > “she danced”
• “she was drinking” > “she drank”
• “she was smiling” > “she smiled”
• “she was walking” > “she walked”
• “she was thinking” > “she thought”

Summary

You can tie your brain into knots trying to remove every single “was” in your writing. The rule isn’t THAT absolute, but it is still a very good rule, regardless.

“Was” is a flag word in your manuscript. Do a FIND on it in your favorite word processing software and evaluate every single occurrence of it. If it’s inactive, lazy, or telling, stab it through the heart with a wooden stake. It’s leeching the vibrancy from your prose, a vampire among verbs.

Writers thrive on feedback.

There’s an itch, deep inside us, that NEEDS other people to read our writing and tell us they enjoyed it.

Writing is a solitary activity. You spend hours, days, weeks, months, sometimes YEARS alone with your computer, clickety clacking out a story with only yourself and your music as company.

It’s hardly a surprise that we get impatient, edgy, and protective of our stories.

It’s also not a surprise that we want desperately to share it, but are also terrified that someone will steal our idea.

Thieves

Not to feed the paranoia TOO much, but it is true that there are people out there who will happily copy/paste your entire manuscript and pretend they wrote it. There are people (FRIENDS, even) who will read your work and then produce something so strikingly similar in tone, characterization, plot, and even character names that there’s no question it was stolen.

Slow down there, Paranoia Polly.

1) Do not post your entire manuscript anywhere that thieves can find. How can they copy/paste something they don’t have?

2) The first time a friend pulls the “accidentally” similar manuscript trick with you, confront them boldly and directly. THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND. Burn that bridge as fast as you can, people. Accidents happen, but if you’re pretty sure it’s stolen, it probably was.

3) Agents are not morons, nor are they greedy, soul-sucking horror monsters. They require a full, finished manuscript before they will take any author on as a client. Someone stealing a fraction of your work will not be able to get an agent or a publishing company to glance at them without a full manuscript. Additionally, agents like to know that they’re representing authors who can produce consistent work. A single stolen manuscript does not an author make.

4) Are you a writer or are you a one-trick pony? In the unspeakable, horrifying, worst-case scenario event that your manuscript is stolen and you find it on the shelves with someone else’s name under it – write another one. A better one. (And maybe don’t trust that person any more, kay?)

5) Ideas cannot be stolen. Any summary or synopsis of my story that I share with another person would result in a vividly different manuscript from them. Harry Potter is not the only wizard school book available. Graceling is not the only book where magic talent is revealed through funky eye colors. Arrows of the Queen is not the only book with a telepathic bond between a human and an animal. Choose is not the only book with air pirates and robots.

Take basic precautions against thieves, but don’t let your fear of them keep you from confidently pitching your book to other people.

Also, thievery is rare. Very, very rare. Most real writers have too many of their OWN ideas to worry about trying to steal yours. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Talented writers who can transform ideas into vivid, entertaining novels are treasured. So … don’t get kidnapped. You are more valuable than your idea.

Lawyers

Did you know that when you post your book publicly (on a blog, on a forum, in an eBook, as a publicly available pdf or document, or on a website) that you are using your legal electronic rights?

Did you know that a lot of publishers kind of want those rights themselves, so they can sell eBooks?

Choose is available, in its entirety, online. Even if it were the most entertaining story with the most effervescent of sparkling prose, the likelihood that it would be picked up by a publishing company is slim to none. Why? Because I have exhausted my electronic rights and made the text available for FREE to anyone with access to the website.

Assuming some big name agent or editor or publisher stumbled across it and became blinded by its brilliance (email me. seriously.) they are more likely to ask me “what else have you got” than “hey, let’s make money on this Choose thing you’re doing”.

That was a calculated decision on my part. I knew that before I started the project, and I knowingly dedicate time to write it that could be spent on another, salable manuscript.

If you decide to publish any or all of your writing online, you should be making the same decision.

Yes, authors post excerpts from their work on their blogs. I feel pretty confident that they’re not doing that behind their publisher’s back. They’re teasing you, trying to seduce you into buying their book and putting a little bread on their table. Those excerpts are timed to coincide with pending releases. It’s marketing and it’s brilliant, but it’s not the author working alone.

Also, a side note? Self-publishing doesn’t count as a publishing credit on your query letters, but it DOES use up some of those lovely legal printing rights. It’s an even bigger no-no to self-publish a novel and then try to sell it to a publishing company.

Yes, people have done this and succeeded in the past, but it’s a huge gamble. If you are planning to publish your novel, my advice is to share your work PRIVATELY and only with people you trust. Email, GoogleDocs with restricted viewing, that sort of thing.

Summary

Don’t allow your fear that your work will be stolen keep you from privately sharing writing with people you trust or (heaven forbid) even being able to talk about your book. The vast majority of writers, agents, editors, and friends are able to read entire books without trying to copy or steal from them. We’re too busy with our own stories and ideas.

Stop and think before you publish. While sharing a prologue or a chapter isn’t likely to ruin your chances at publication, self-publishing or posting large tracts of your work just might. Why should the publishing companies buy the author cow when readers can get the milk manuscript for free? (or … something. Look, just work with me here, okay? I’m working on a coffee deficit.)

DO share your work with trusted friends and fellow writers.

DO feel free to share any writing you don’t intend to publish.

DO be careful.

DO be a creative, strong, and confident writer.