Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Wednesday Sandwich and Writing

I love sandwiches--if I have decent bread. No cheap stuff for me. I also like good stuff in the center. You know. Nice ham or turkey with all of the trimmings.

Cheap bread is a little like cheap writing. Cheap ingredients like the old tuna fish in the refrigerator will never satisfy me.

  

When it comes to your own writing you may say to yourself: "This is good enough, I really don't need to go through another edit. Please..."

But maybe, you do.

In-between the first draft and the end of your book, there's this lovely land of polishing that must take place, though you may agree with me that even after all of the polishing, the smoothing out, one or two errors still manage to find themselves within your work. :)

I've had this happen more times than I'd like to admit. And that doesn't mean I haven't gotten beta readers and editors to go over my work. And it doesn't mean that I haven't re-read my manuscript that final time for those little 'squeakers' hiding out.

But there is something about the middle of the sandwich; maybe it's the juicy taste or the stale re-reading that gets me down, but, try as I might, though the top piece is good and the bottom piece is yummy (I love the beginning and I love the end) there is something that can get lost in the middle like that piece of ham, if I'm not careful.

And I want to be careful, because I want my work to be the best, complete sandwich, if you will.

Other than editing, there are many things I need to look at when it comes to my Wednesday sandwich. Are my characters individuals? Can I take out most, if not all, of the 'he said' and 'she said's' and still know who is speaking because of their individuality?

Is my setting real, or am I running again above the distant cloud with nowhere to plant my feet?



What about the plot? What about timing?

Like a proper sandwich, everything in your book should be in it's proper place, and the best ingredients should be used for the best results.

Agree?

Kathryn

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