What Defines Your Life? You Choose.

“What defines your life? Your days? What is your achievement? Whether it's running or writing or some other feat, own it. Don't make excuses for what you choose not to do. Enjoy to the fullest those things you choose to do.”  

             --- Funds for Writers Newsletter by C. Hope Clark, author of Lowcountry Bribe. 

 Hope Clark hit me square between the eyes today with the above lines. I complain that I don't have time to write a book or complete my next poetry collection, but I have time to answer all the e-mail I get on three different addresses, to read blogs and read magazines, and study writing in all forms. 

I have time to talk for an hour on the phone with my sister or friends, and I have time to research various items of interest on the Internet. I find the time to write posts for two personal blogs and to promote all my writer friends, but I just can’t find time to revise and organize those poems or focus on my book long enough to write the next chapter. 

I can spend too long on Facebook, which is probably my biggest waste of time, and I don’t even enjoy it. In fact the Internet is an addiction for me. I sometimes dread checking my e-mail because that seems to be the jumping off point where I lose myself. Instantly my best-laid plans fly into cyberspace and I, the junkie, am hooked on what is out there.

I have days, oh yes, days when I write and stick to my goals. I have about two hundred personal essays or memoir pieces written and stored in a file. Many of them could be published if only I would submit them. I ask myself now, as Hope says, what is defining my life?

I am a caregiver. That is part of my DNA. Recently, since my brother has been sick, I have been overly concerned about his care. I live five hours drive from him. There is little I can physically do for him. But I get a call from him and I hear his issues and wonder if anyone there is aware of what he needs. Can I be of help in some way? I can spend hours on the phone with doctors’ offices, social services or others who might have answers for helping a sick man and his wife who has dementia. 

I am presently holding the leadership role in our writing organization until a more permanent person is found. I did this already for two years when my husband was sick with cancer. Part of who I am is doing my best in any job, volunteer or paid position. So I try to promote our writers and write articles and reviews while I help new members adjust to our tried and true methods of running the group.

I keep the lines of communication open between our region and the director of the state writers’ network. Meanwhile, I have to hear complaints, squelch gossipy misinformation, and help out any volunteer who has a crisis. Thank God for the close friends who listen and console me when others find fault. 

Then, I do my own work of teaching and running my writing studio. I bring in writers and poets who teach various types of classes for the local literary community. Advertising and collecting fees, keeping the grounds and the building in adequate shape, all take much time and energy. I also mentor students, especially those who have talent and ability to one day publish their writing.

As Hope says, we all have the same 24 hours in each day. We make the decision as to what we do in that time. 

I think I have found from writing this post what is defining my life. Now I have to make some changes if I expect to be a writer. I have to be cold hearted about it and stop giving away my time when I should be using it for my passion - writing. 

What about you? What is defining your life?

What kind of an editor do you need? What can an editor do for you?

At the conference in Blue Ridge Georgia this weekend, I had a conversation with C. Hope Clark, Ellen Schofield, her husband Paul, author of the Trophy Saga, and Ronda Birtha.

We discussed the enormous numbers of errors we find in published books today. Like me, Hope is often asked to read manuscripts or books and write a review. We talked about the biggest mistake most authors make. They don't get a professional editor for their work before they self-publish or they publish with a small press that doesn't edit their work.

We heard from speakers today that some well known writers refuse to let an editor change more than one word or two of their books. Now that is the height of arrogance to me. Perhaps that is why many readers in the audience piped up with how many errors they find in the books by these authors. More and more I find that, reading like a writer as I now do, I am stopped by the mistakes I find in books, even those by NY publishers. 

In an article by David Kudler, he says that J.K. Rowling's first book was too long, had long passages that repeated itself, and needed work, but it was published. He says her future books showed more concern for the way the book was written and had the evidence of a good editor at work. Suffice it to say, Rowling was a good writer before she published a book, but I see far too many writers who are not that gifted who think they can let their sister or some other person who has a college degree,  read over their book and that is enough.

In Kudler's article he points out the myths writers believe about editing and editors.

I suggest to all my students who want to publish a book, find a good professional editor. And don't be so stubborn you won't listen to what you are told. 

Clark said she is continually asked to review mysteries since she published Lowcountry Bribe which is a very good read. She is dismayed at the manuscripts she receives that are so poorly written. I don't mean incorrect punctuation or sagging dialogue. Some books start off with a bang and after two chapters the whole story slumps and when that happens the reader wants to put it aside and never finish it. His sister won't tell the author about this, likely, but she will say what she is expected to say. "You did a great job, Brother." Perhaps sister doesn't know what needs to be fixed anyway. So she can't be helpful.

But a good editor cares not for your feelings so much as she cares for your book. She wants to help make your book the best it can be. That is why she is in the business. 

I could never be a good editor. I hate to edit my own work. But I will do the best I can with my writing before I send it on to someone else. And I want that someone else to tell me the truth. I can sit down with my students' stories and point out the grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and how to rearrange paragraphs to move the story along, but I would not attempt a book of 200 plus pages.

I made a big mistake when I published my family history book fifteen years ago. I did not hire an editor. Now I am ashamed for people to see how poorly it was written. I had not taken enough writing classes to know what I was doing. 

Please read this article by David Kudler if you are writing a book, fiction or non-fiction, and if you want to know just what an editor can do for you.

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