Monday, July 1, 2013

Day 176 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

ANNOUNCEMENT

 
Fourth Editor Added to Speak at VCWC July 9 Meeting on
“Working with a Professional Editor”
Private pre-meeting interviews for club members

(Ventura, CA – July 1, 2013) Professional editor and co-founder of the Los Angeles Editors & Writers Group, Monica Faulkner, has been added to the evening panel discussion “Working with a Professional Editor,” at the July 9th meeting of the Ventura County Writers Club. Ms. Faulkner has been a professional editor for 20 years, working on both fiction and nonfiction works. Club president, Kate Sexton, will moderate the session.
Also on the panel are: Greg Elliot of Agoura Hills, author, editor, screenwriter, and writing professor at UCLA, Tammy Ditmore of Newbury Park, professional book editor, and southern California publishing legend, Shelly Lowenkopf of Santa Barbara, former Executive Editor for several California publishers, recipient of the “Life Time Achievement in Writing” award from USC for 30 years teaching masters writing classes, and author of over 35 books. Mr. Lowenkopf has personally seen over 700 books to publication as an editor.
Before the club meeting begins at 7 pm, Ms. Faulkner, Ditmore and Mr. Lowenkopf have agreed to meet privately with 12 club members to review their book project. A special sign up page has been set up for this purpose. Those members interested should respond to the email sent by the club or contact Kate Sexton at Kate@katesexton.com
“Editing is a very grey area for most writers,” stated Sexton. “A properly edited book can make the difference of getting an agent and a deal, or not. This does NOT mean spell checking or school teacher grammar. Publishing today has created its own standards that help American English evolves. Grammar taught in school lags behind the public discourse. To have a book that sells, the author must submit a top quality manuscript.”
The panel will cover both copy/line editing and, what Ms. Sexton thinks is more important, content/concept editing. “Where does your story really start? Do you have real conversations by your characters or do they sound stilted because of not contractions? Is there enough dialogue or is the manuscript filled with narrative? And how to judge?”
The 90-minute panel will address these questions and more.
Time will be set aside at the end of the formal panel for questions from the audience. There will be no Opening Act this evening so more time is devoted to the panel topic.

CALENDAR INFORMATION
July Meeting of the Ventura County Writers Club
July 9, 7PM
Pleasant Valley Senior Center
1605 Burnley Street, Camarillo, CA
Topic: Three Editors’ Panel on “How to Work with a Professional Editor”
Open to Members and non-members. No fee
For information on the Ventura County Writers Club, visit:
http://www.venturacountywriters.com

CONTACT: Kathleen Kaiser, 805-524-6970

 

WE NEED TO TAKE A MINUTE TO TALK ABOUT CHARACTER

NO NOT YOURS. THAT IS UNLESS THOSE THINGS I HEARD ABOUT BILLY WATSON'S SENIOR POOL PARTY ARE TRUE, HUH?

Really, we are going to talk about character - or characters - the ones in your story. Now that you've got a good idea what your story is about and where it's going, it's time to populate it. Your story may involve one character or several, and in order for these characters to engage your audience they are going to have to be as familiar to you as your best friend. It's up to you to create every facet of your character's personality.
 
Whoa! Isn't this an awful lot of detail for someone who may exist for as little as a few thousand words and assuredly no more than a hundred thousand? Every GREAT, memorable story as complex, believable characters that an audience can relate to on an emotional level. And that goes for every character in your story. Each must have a life of their own, so well constructed that the reader feels that the character is speaking for his or herself, not that you are speaking through the character. Even if you are visibly the narrator, you're the creator of the world of the story and it's up to you to think deeply about how your characters operate in that environment.
 
There are three main types of characters:
 
*Protagonists
*Antagonists
*Supporting Characters
 
Each one of these will play a distinct role in your story and interact with each other in different or similar ways. Before we run off like some mad scientist assembling body parts and high voltage instruments, we need to take a more detailed look at each of the character types. That's where we'll pick up tomorrow.
 
 
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
 
 
 
Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Tomorrow,
 
Dane F. Baylis
Author.

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