Writing Process Blog Tour
My colleague Bethany Kaczmarek is conducting a blog tour with writers and editors. Each one answers the same four questions:
1. What am I working on?
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
3. Why do I write what I do?
4. How does my writing process work?
After posting their responses on their own blogs, each of these writers/editors nominates three colleagues to answer the same questions about their work. Here’s Bethany’s website for the blog tour: http://alittleredinc.blogspot.com/2014/05/ello-loves-were-next-stop-on-writing.html. And here are my answers to the questions:
1. What am I working on?
At any given time, I’m always working on about a dozen things at once! I have lots of editing work for terrific authors—I love helping writers polish their manuscripts and learn professional writing techniques. I’m doing some promotion for my new book that came out in January, Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, and working on putting together the next book in the series, Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. I’m also preparing for two writers’ conferences I’ll be teaching at this summer. In late June I’ve got the West Coast Writers’ Conference in Los Angeles, and in July I’ll be presenting a continuing morning session at the Montrose Christian Writers’ Conference in Pennsylvania.
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
There are lots of books out there about proofreading, editing, grammar, etc. Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors is unique in that it contains tips from actual multi-published authors on how to proofread for typos, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies, followed by easy-to-understand explanations of the industry-standard rules for punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling based on the style guides used by US book publishers. I don’t know of anything that’s quite like it.
The rest of the books in this series will also contain tips from best-selling authors on topics like editing, publishing, marketing, even keyboarding (in ways that will help writers avoid repetitive-strain injuries). Through teaching at writers’ conferences across the country for several years, I have developed wonderful relationships with multi-published authors, many of whom have graciously agreed to share their expertise with me so I can share it with readers of my books. I love the spirit of cooperation that permeates the Christian publishing industry!
3. Why do I write what I do?
When I started my editing business, I came up with a tagline: “Writing is my passion. Helping others improve their writing is my delight.” That is still true. I have expanded that to helping other editors create and maintain successful businesses. The Secrets of Best-Selling Authors series is my way of helping writers and editors achieve whatever God-given dreams they have and being successful in whatever ways He has in mind for them.
4. How does my writing process work?
Since editing is how I make my living (and I absolutely love it), I often find it difficult to carve out time to work on my own projects. When I do get really involved in my own work (whether it’s writing, rewriting, polishing, proofreading, editing/proofreading other authors’ submissions for my compilations, or marketing), I tend to get behind on my editing work. I don’t like that … and neither do my clients! So it’s always a bit of a juggling act to find the right balance.
I’ve tried several schedules, some of which have worked to varying degrees at different points in my life. My most recent idea was to set aside Fridays to focus on my own projects. And allow myself until 10 a.m. the rest of the weekdays to catch up on e-mails, but start editing promptly at 10:00. That worked … until I had to drop almost everything else to get my book cover designed, then get the interior designed/typeset, then proofread the galleys very carefully and thoroughly, then do pre-launch and post-launch promotional stuff. About a month after my book’s release, I had three major events almost back to back: the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference (which I’m on staff for), The Christian PEN’s editor convention (I’m the founder and director of the sponsoring organization), and the Orange County Christian Writers’ Conference (I was on the board and on the faculty). I spent the month of May working like crazy to get caught up with my editing work!
But I can’t complain about my crazy life. I totally love what I do, and I thank God every day of my life that I get to do something so awesome and fun for a living. God is in charge of my business, so I spend a block of time every morning having a meeting with “the Boss.” I ask Him to let me know what He wants me to do that day, and I ask Him to do it through me. That way, at the end of the day, I can feel confident that I did whatever He had in mind for me … no matter what happened (or didn’t happen) that might have been on my agenda.