Activity

@wingiby-iggiby

*Hurtles into the room surrounded by a cloud of pink glitter*

BROOOKEE!!!! WINGIBY!!!! I MISSED YOU!!! *Gives you a huge hug*

I missed you so much, it’s so amazing to hear from you again! You have to tell me all about how your project is going!!

Your characters are not talking back, are they?

… It’s Liorah, what were you expecting? XD

Any tips and tricks are sincerely welcome – but I do have one big question: when should I start editing? My WIP is going to be at least two books long; should I edit the first book after I have completed the first draft so that I have a completed story to base my second book on, or should I write both books and then edit them together so that I do not edit the first just to write the second and realize I have major revisions that must take place?

Okay here we go! Blessing upon blessings this is something I can help with!

So, as always the answer is ‘it depends’ but I can clarify that a bit XD

As you know, I’m writing a trilogy. (Actually I’m currently revising it, so that works out nicely!)

I suggest having at least some draft of both books before finishing it, but not working on both at the same time. If you have to draft both consecutively, and then edit both consecutively, that can be a bit overwhelming!

So, I suggest having one, (probably the first book) a stage further than the other. So, you might draft book one, do a first editing pass on it, then draft book 2, and then go back and forth between them!

In my experience, you’ll discover some pretty major things during the first revision, and they might completely change your perspective on book 2. On the other hand, you’ll discover things about book 1 in book 2, so going back and forth has always worked really nicely for me! Plus it has the added bonus that you can let one book simmer in the back of your mind while you work on the other!

I hope that made sense XD

If you’re interested, I can tell you more about my revision process, if that would help you find a place to start!

How on earth do beta readers work? I know they read your book and give you feedback, but when do you let them read the book? The first messy draft? The second revision? While you’re physically writing it?

Again, the only correct answer is ‘it depends’ XD

So, I think this depends on how practiced you are at finding flaws at your writing. Sometimes you’ll finish drafting with a mental list of ‘Here are the things I should fix’ and sometimes you finish with the thought ‘I have no idea if that was a masterpiece or a flaming hot mess’.

In the first case, I suggest doing at least one pass to fix the flaws you can already see! In the latter, it’s perfectly okay to get readers for the first messy draft.

I think whenever you come to the point of ‘I don’t know what to do next and nobody can answer because they haven’t read it’, that’s when beta readers are life savers!

Giving the draft to people as you’re writing it feels a bit scarier, but it can help a LOT in specific cases! Especially when finishing a whole draft feels so overwhelming you can’t do it, it can help!

So, short answer, as soon as you can’t think of what to do next! Also, you don’t have to let everyone read it at once! As Archer said, you can divide it into rounds, which is what I did!

And what feedback from them are you looking for?

Okay, this depends per draft! But for developmental edits, I’ve found it very useful to have a list of questions to ask them! (I’m happy to share it if you need an idea of it!) Besides that, the most useful way I’ve found that works for me and doesn’t use too much of my readers’ time is to ask them to write a few thoughts at the end of each chapter, even if it’s just something like ‘It’s fine, I liked it’. In the best case, you’ll get a ‘This chapter made me feel X, I liked Y, you could fix Z’

Again, this kind of depends on the reader, some of them like to leave a lot of comments, some of them keep it very brief. Both are useful, and you’ll figure out which works best for you and you can fine-tune from there!

And, also, if any of y’all are interested in beta reading my fantasy novel, let me know!

UMMM YES!!!! Sign me up!! I’ll make time to read it, I love beta reading and your story is so interesting!!

Also I’d really love if we could keep in touch, I really missed seeing you around! I can give you my writer email, if you’re comfortable with that! Or any other social media you prefer 😀

I also started a writing newsletter a while ago! Here’s the link if you’re curious!

https://swordandscrawls.ck.page