Monthly Archives: November 2011

Are You Editing Improperly?

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Not too long ago, I wrote about various methods that writers can use to focus on their writing. Once you’ve picked your ritual and/or piece of software (and beat writer’s block), it’s time for the most dreaded part of writing-– the editing.

I’ve always found editing to be the most tedious part of writing my novel Rawmesh, but it’s a necessary step before you can submit your work to an agent, publisher or even an editor (there aren’t many who would accept something full of basic errors). Of course, editing also leads to some amazing ideas and concepts that might have never crossed your path any other way. There are countless books on editing, but I’ll describe what I feel are the ten most important steps you should do once the first draft is finished:

1) Remember that first drafts are almost always crap (no, seriously, even first drafts by famous authors can be outright horrible). Don’t be discouraged by your writing. While reading through your work the first time, take notes on which characters, scenes, tangents or other items can be changed or cut entirely. Be ruthless. Even J.K. Rowling admits that she cut an entire character (and associated scenes) even though she “really liked her”. When you finish reading all the way through, cut what isn’t doing what you need/want it to do (though keep it somewhere in case you ever need to bring it back).

2) Split your writing into separate pieces and look at them individually. This could mean putting summaries onto index cards (or using software like Scrivener to separate everything into “sections”), spreading out the attached physical chapters/sections, or simply zooming-out in your word processor. Doing this allows you to see the big picture and modify the flow a lot easier. Many times, this also allows you to see gaps that might not have been noticeable while you were in the weeds. Personally, I like rewriting summaries onto index cards by hand as that forces me to think of a specific goal/point for each section, as well as shows me where I might have “wimped out” in certain chapters.

3) Along with the above, it’s important to check continuity (whether it’s continuity of a character’s hair colour, time of day, or a part of travel you’re discussing in your autobiography), everything should be catalogued and checked each time you read your work. Make sure that all subplots or ideas are followed through to completion, otherwise they should be cut.

4) Especially in fiction, it’s important to check both the point of view and language of your characters. It’s easy to make mistakes with both of these points, but important to get them right. Having your character suddenly know another character’s emotions or thoughts (when they normally wouldn’t be able to) or have a character say a word they normally wouldn’t can pull the reader out of the story.

5) I strongly recommend having at least one vivid image or event on each page of your writing, whether fiction or non-fiction. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a major plot point — it could could be something as simple as a line that resonates with the reader. Not only does this give a visual memory for the reader to look back on, but also gives the reader expectations/hope that more will come.

6) First and last lines have always been important for readers. This isn’t just true with the first and last lines in the entire book (though they are)–- the first and last lines of your chapters are vital as well. Going along with number five above, you need to give something to the reader at the end of each section that will make them want to keep reading.

7) Weasel words (salt-and-pepper words, beholder words and lazy words) should be eliminated as much as possible to keep the pace of your writing in check. Not every one of these can be removed (some are required grammatically, or are part of your character’s speech), but use your software’s Find option to see which can be changed.

a. Salt-and-pepper words include “a number of”, that, just, various, fairly and quite. They have no real meaning to the reader (e.g., “A number of men in black suits stepped out of the van” could be changed simply to “Men in black suits stepped out of the van.”).

b. Beholder words like interesting, surprising, remarkable, or clearly, are “boring” or do the dreaded “show and not tell” (e.g., “To his surprise, the gun was out of ammo.”).

c. Finally, lazy words include very, extremely, a lot, seem, many, most, several, really, usually, often, great, exceedingly, few, vast. These don’t describe the events on the page in any real detail and should be changed to something a little more concrete (e.g., “The greyhound ran very quickly” could be “The greyhound ran faster than our own car could go.”).

8) It shouldn’t have to be said, but considering how many times I’ve read them recently, clichés need to be searched for and destroyed (unless, again, they’re a part of your character’s speech for some ungodly reason).

9) Big blocks of text or large portions of white space should be examined for possible changes. Zooming-out to two or four pages at a time can give you some idea of where your writing might be too dense/slow or too wordy. All writing should be about balance, otherwise the reader might be forced to alter their reading style (or forced to re-read dense sections) too often.

10) Although having a trusted friend read your book is always a good idea, I would also suggest having the book read aloud. Even better would be to listen to a recording of you reading (this could be for certain troublesome sections only, if you so wish). This allows you to truly understand the flow of the writing and what sections need to be worked on.

There are entire books on the art of editing, though the above should help push your drafts into a near-final state ready for submission. I won’t lie — editing is hard work (taking up to 3/4 of your writing time) and is usually the point where most people give up. But, this work needs to be done if you want to have your work published. Take it slow if you need to, but keep working at it. Good luck!

Jason Boudreau is a writer whose blog, www.adadpress.com, provides entertaining insight into publishing and writing. ArchitectureTravelWriter reviewed his blog last month.

Urban Agriculture: Green Trend de rigueur

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From the nation’s poorest to its richest neighborhoods urban agriculture is becoming de rigueur. The US is taking a new look at cities, one through the lens of food.

When her family stepped into the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama espoused a timely, multi-faceted issue by embracing home gardens, returning to a World War II practice in North America and Europe known as Victory Gardens. Throw in global warming, a rocky economy, and rising obesity and a full-scale urban agriculture trend sprouts nationwide.

While the phrase ‘urban agriculture’ is still, to the common household, considered analogous to food coops and low-income vocational practices, it has indeed evolved. Denizens are successfully convincing municipal leaders to change zoning. They’re stocking restaurants with locally grown produce, perpetuating sustainable dietary and agricultural practices in children via outdoor gardening programs in schools, and gaining supplemental income. It all sounds good in theory, and it does bear success stories, but urban agriculture isn’t without controversy.

Mobile greenhouses
Seattle, Washington-based architecture firm Atelier Jones is developing inexpensive, immediately deployable urban greenhouses that will allow for mini farms to sprout up throughout the city, minimally impacting the land, requiring no digging or soil clean up, and offering easy relocation.

These 45-square-foot urban greenhouses, estimated to cost $435 each, will allow homeowners, restaurateurs, and schools to seemingly extend farming seasons. Each greenhouse harvests rainwater and enough solar energy to power a grow light that also works as an auxiliary heat source. Installation consists of connecting the hoses between the fabric gutters and the water cistern, installing the solar grow light and solar panel, and filling growth bags with soil and seeds.

Atelier Jones wants to expand this early program around the city. It’s in the prototype phase of a project with a local elementary school in which 18 greenhouses on an empty, adjacent lot to the school will provide produce for school lunches.

‘The kids won’t be there during the primary growing season of summer, so they can plant winter crops and harvest colder-weather produce and then plant again in February to get one more crop by June, when school gets out,’ says Susan H. Jones, founder and principal of Atelier Jones.

A couple years ago she met with Andrea Petzel, then of the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development as part of the City Council’s local food action initiative.

‘The president set up a big initiative for all city departments and how they touched food policy. We looked for barriers to urban agriculture, how to integrate urban agriculture in our emergency management plan, how to make more land spaces available,’ says Petzel, now in Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment. ‘To develop a new piece of code we … met with code compliance people, plan review people, the department of neighborhoods, and the planning and development department. We also met with community groups and individuals. That’s how I met Susan. She brought up issues that were important to a larger group of people. It even related to Department of Neighborhoods which has… community gardens and some rooftop gardens.’

The result expanded land-use codes beyond horticulture, animal husbandry, and aquaculture, by allowing permit-free urban farms of up to 4,000 square feet of planting area, for rooftop gardens higher than the original height restriction of 15 feet, and for vertical gardens.

‘We just passed the legislation in summer 2010 and therefore missed the big growing season but we’re curious to see how it turns out this year. I’ve sat in on meetings with projects who wanted to incorporate community gardens into their new developments. The City of Seattle went this way because we’re zoned almost 60 percent single family. The biggest opportunities are in people’s backyards. We allow that in single-family zones, allowing light commercial elements in their zones now.’

 

This is the first installment of three of an article I published in Perspective magazine.

Seven Things I’ll Miss When Leaving Lima, Peru

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For a couple weeks now I’ve been contemplating what I’m longing for of home, but what I’ll miss of Lima, Peru, has begun to hit me. The sentiment of leaving this city weakens my heart and mind. Surely it’ll peak to sadness in the coming weeks. Here’s a few things I’ll miss.

The Commune

After spending my first four months here I ended up living in the neighborhood I’d sworn off, Miraflores, home to Lima’s elite. It’s been a treasured experience, though. I have all the privacy I need to continue my heavy drinking habits alone on the spacious rooftop terrace. Yet friends are available downstairs, too. Our commune features a beautiful and intelligent El Salvadorean woman; a Peruvian Lothario with musical gifts that send heavenly notes through open windows to my ears when he plays piano; a sweet and sensitive Hong Kongese woman with a penchant for cooking; and me, who swills Coca Zero or lattes while teaching or writing at vegetarian restaurants during the day.

 

Five– Arts and Diversity

When I return to the States, I’ll be staying in a town whose ethnic diversity holds as much excitement as a box of white chalk. Conversely, Peru celebrates life with color. The buildings are colorful. Combinations I’ve never encountered from trips around the world present themselves in the clothing, art, and architecture. The music, rich with diversity, seems to throw color into the air, as does the tropical flora and tropical cocktails.

Street art in the bohemian district of Barranco

 

Four– Castellaño

Speaking Peruvian Spanish, or Castellaño, feels good and natural. While I’ve surprised myself in not taking classes to refresh what I learned in undergrad, I’ve found it does of course return naturally. In fact I have improved. But I’m contemplating hiring someone from the local Mexican restaurant for conversational Spanish upon returning to the States.

Three–The Malecon

The Malecon is the Pacific coastline. If relegated to taking a taxi to the southern part of the city, I’m delighted when he takes the Malecon. Whatever book was in my hands is forgotten in lieu of views of ubiquitous surfers who brave the cold waters. Recently sunbathers have taken to the beaches as spring is warming up the air and kicking out the drizzly skies with its buttery sunlight. This weekend’s agenda includes taking a lengthy walk down the beach.

Two– Perufume

Limeños smell damned good, especially the men. Unlike what I experienced in China and India, the profuse application of colognes, perfumes, and deodorant seems as important to the Limeños (people from Lima) as eating. Some cultures I’ve experienced in my three years of serial expatriatism make smelling good seem avant garde. Here, as I read in a Mario Vargas Llosa book written in the 1950s, even maids from the sierra and the selva (mountains and jungle) used talcum powder to prevent odors. I’ve come to call the Limean scent Perufume.

 

Colorful Walkability

 

One– Architecture

Hello, Bauhaus

The tightly knit diversity of architectural styles rendered me breathless upon arrival from the US six months ago. From where I currently sit in Miraflores, one of Lima’s more affluent neighborhoods, an Art Deco cathedral appears to my left, some Spanish-filtered Moorish houses to the left. Also around the city numerous examples of Brutalism, Mid-Century Modernism, Republicanism, and indigenous designs echoing the irregular shapes of Machu Picchu architecture can be found. Not a day passes when a house or building breaks my step and forces me to stare in awe. Not normally inclined to take snaps, my photo collection has grown like guppies in a fishbowl.

What I’ll miss about Lima is a topic I’m unwilling to delve into during the last few weeks I’m here. Instead, for now, I’m reveling in the aspects I enjoy.

Nichole L. Reber is turning over her journalist leaf to explore her talents as a creative nonfiction writer. She writes about architecture, art, travel, and the realities of expat life for magazines, blogs, and bathroom walls. So far on her list of lived-in countries are China, Hong Kong, India, and Peru. She plans to return to Peru, exploring beyond Lima, in January.