Elizabeth Bailey: Learning to Edit for Yourself

Today we welcome Elizabeth Bailey who discusses what she’s learned about editing.

While editing for others, I’ve learned a great deal about editing for myself. At one point I realised

how easy it was to use clichés instead of trying for a different way to say things. I found out how I drop out of POV without noticing; how I’ve allowed the momentum to drop by getting self-indulgent or chucking in unnecessary paragraphs of introspection which are holding up the story.

I have always been conscious of overkill with emphases and deplore my early texts spattered with italics and exclamation marks. Thank goodness I got the rights back to them and was able to edit all that out before self-publishing anew. I remember being told by my editor that a heroine was two-dimensional. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but now I do. The character wasn’t fully rounded. I’ve been able to sort her out as well.

Having begun in theatre, I’ve never had trouble creating dialogue. But I have to watch to make sure it serves a purpose in the story and isn’t just an exercise in impressive stage fluency. Oh, and because I’m writing historically, often the characters tend to sound the same and I have to remember to inject speech differences.

It took me some time to learn how to refrain from intruding as the author. So tempting to tell the reader about the characters, instead of weaving characterisation into the narrative structure.

But I didn’t know all this when I started. I learned some of it just by writing. Having taught drama and learned a great deal about my own craft in so doing, I found exactly the same phenomenon popping up when I began to assess and critique. The learning curve became, in a way, my self-teaching curve. When I came to put it all together in a book about editing, I discovered exactly how much I had learned from helping other writers.

“What’s Wrong with your Novel? And How to Fix it” does not set out to be a writing manual. Rather it is based on what I found to be the most common problems arising to stop a novel from getting the attention it deserved from potential publishers. Mostly it’s got nothing to do with story. It’s almost always about how the story is knitted together.

PTQ – Page Turning Quality – is the name of the game these days. Ask an editor or agent what they are looking for and they will tell you they’ll know it when they see it. They may mention genres in particular, but really all they want is a story that grabs them from the first sentence and doesn’t let go. The books that set new genres are exactly that. Stories the editor just couldn’t put down.

And that’s really all this book is trying to help with. What’s getting in the way of the reader reading on? What’s stopping them becoming so involved they can’t help reading just one more chapter before they put the book down and go to sleep? Why are they tempted to give up and just flick through a few more pages to see if it pulls them in again? Why, in a word, has the story lost them?

Losing the reader is really easy. Holding them to the page is the skill. That, to my mind, is the where the writing craft comes into its own. I don’t care what genre it is, literary or commercial fiction. If the reader starts skipping paragraphs looking for the next interesting bit, you’ve had it.

Fortunately, one can learn what to do and what not to do. It comes with experience, and with being edited by others (also a helpful learning tool). But there are short cuts to learning the tricks of editing your own work, and that’s what I’ve tried to set out in the book.

The mantra my clients likely get tired of hearing is “cut to the chase”, but that’s the single most important skill to learn in my view. Knowing what works and what doesn’t work. What’s relevant and needed? What can be done without? Get that right and you’re pretty much there.

LINKS:

Amazon

Elsewhere

 Thank you, Elizabeth. Your book will be such a help to all writers. Good luck with publication! 

If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Kate Thompson: The Wedding Girls

Join Kate Thompson as she journeys back in time to meet with the mesmerising brides who said ‘I do’ to a lifetime of commitment.

With her 22-inch waist and perfect poise the bride could have stepped straight out of a 1930s motion

picture. And yet, this portrait wasn’t taken in Hollywood, but impoverished post-war Whitechapel in

1948. 

           Half-an-hour after posing for this photograph, the bride was back at her mother in law’s terrace in Bethnal Green, East London, clambering over a Salvation Army trestle table for a wedding breakfast of mashed potato, cold roast beef and beetroot, followed by Thursday to Monday in Canvey Island.

           ‘All top show, nothing underneath as my Mum would say,’ laughs the bride, Pat Spicer, now a twinkly-eyed 87-year-old grandmother living a comfortable life in Berkshire. Pat was working as an apprentice dressmaker, when she met and married the man of her dreams, gent’s barber, Bill Spicer.

‘There was so much poverty in those days, we all craved glamour,’ she says, ‘our chance to feel like a star for the day.'

Pat’s heartwarming story shows the dichotomy between hardship and high glamour that was so prevalent during the grinding poverty of the thirties and forties. In researching my book, The Wedding Girls, I stumbled upon a lost world of innocence and hope. A time when divorce was never a seriously considered option, girls’ married for life and weddings were about love, community and family, not sugared almonds and selfies.

Glamorous weddings were a reaction to the horrors of the Great War and that, combined with the emergence of Hollywood, meant brides were determined to sprinkle a dusting of romance and escapism over the most important day of their lives. 

Nowadays, every wedding guest can be seen snapping selfies with the bride, but back then, formal studio portraiture was de rigueur across all classes. To own a beautiful wedding portrait – in a time when few people owned a camera, much less a selfie-stick, was a badge of honour. During the Depression and the deprivation of post-war Britain, a beautiful wedding portrait was a symbol of hope.

In researching my novel I travelled my way around the East End to meet with many women,

now in their nineties, whose memories and health might be fragile, but who still recall with vivid intensity the most treasured day of their lives.

‘Brian was just back from serving with the 7th Armoured Division, one of Montgomery’s brave ‘desert rats’ when I met him at a dance,’ recalls 90-year-old Renee Stack from East London, who was working as a 17-year-old shop girl in Petticoat Lane at the time. ‘He walked over to me and said, “I’m going to marry you”.’

Renee’s strict Jewish mother was less impressed. “Wait and see what he makes of himself first,” was her sage advice. Brian knuckled down to civilian life and spent three years learning Hebrew so he could convert to Judaism in order to marry Renee. At her wedding ceremony in 1948, Renee was so lusciously beautiful she could easily have passed for Rita Hayworth and her handsome bridegroom, Clark Gable.

‘We had no money so Brian borrowed a suit and my friend Edie, who worked as a sample machinist, made me my beautiful pale blue silk crepe wedding dress as a gift. That’s the way people were back then, helping each other out. I did my own hair and make up and the whole family chipped in to pay for the wedding portrait. We married on a shoestring, but I was the happiest girl alive.’

I spent the most absorbing week in Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives looking through the wedding announcements in back copies of the East London Advertiser from 1936. 

Buried amongst news articles on outbreaks of Tuberculosis and fascist demonstrations were more romantic offerings. Page-after-page of captivating young brides smiled back at me. I was so touched by the immense care each married couple took to look their absolute best and the hope, resilience and pride shining out from their faces. In 1936, the Second World War loomed darkly on the horizon. How many of these dashing bridegrooms I wondered, went on to fight and indeed survive that war? The knowledge of what fate awaited these newly weds, leant a deep poignancy to their spellbinding wedding portraits.

We can never hope to recreate these images, or the chaste innocence that shines out from them, but perhaps we can lose ourselves in them, if only for a little while.

Kate Thompson is the author of The Wedding Girls, published by Pan Macmillan out March 9^th.

Kate will be discussing vintage weddings between the wars on a panel with curators, designers and photographers at the Museum of London on March 31^st 6pm.

More details here

Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter: @katethompson380

Thank you Kate and good luck with The Wedding Girls!

If you would like to be featured on the RNA blog please contact the team on elaineeverest@aol.com

MARCH PUBLICATIONS

Many congratulations to the members with books out this month. Thank you to Sheila Riley for compiling the words and book cover images.

TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED 

Louise Allen

Surrender to the Marquess

Paperback & ebook

Harlequin Mills & Boon

March 2017

Sara lost her husband in a duel. Now gentlemen’s codes of honour and their instinct to shelter their womenfolk leave her cold: she is determined to be independent at all costs. To fall in love is a shock – can she trust a marquess when he tells her he accepts that she is her own woman? And can he live up to his promises? (This novel can stand alone, but is Part 3 of The Herriard Family trilogy) 

Liz Fenwick

The Returning Tide

Traditional - Trade paperback and ebook

Orion

23rd March 2017

In wartime Cornwall, 1943, a story between two sisters begins - the story of Adele and Amelia, and the heart-breaking betrayal that will divide them forever. Decades later, the effects of one reckless act still echo - but how long will it be until their past returns

Annie O'Neil

Her Hot Highland Doc

Trad, E-pub

Harlequin/Mills & Boon

March 1st 2017

A match made in Scotland. He might have the good looks of a modern-day Viking, but Dr. Brodie McClellan has brooding down to an art. He's only recently returned to the Isle of Dunregan and already the demons of his past are pushing him to the edge.

Running from her own troubled past, this remote posting is heaven-sent for locum Dr. Kali O'Shea. And Brodie makes her long to find her true home in Scotland in her new boss's arms!

April Hardy.

Kind Hearts & Coriander (a New Forest romantic comedy).

Paperback.

Accent Press.

3rd March

On her mother's death, sous chef Polly learns she may be New Forest hotelier Charles Hetherin's illegitimate daughter. Having grown up watching her mother struggle and do without, she's furious. The Hetherins have it all - including fabulous Hetherin Hall country house hotel. Determined to discover the truth, Polly arrives at The Hall where she's mistaken for a job applicant, but takes the waitressing position to get to know the family who may be hers. Romance is the last thing on her mind, but she can't deny the sparks flying between her and Oliver, the grumpy but gorgeous restaurant manager. However, it seems nobody is quite who Polly thinks they are ...

Beth Elliott

The Rake And His Honour

Paperback + ebook

Endeavour Press

March 2017

How can one young woman and a charming but irresponsible rake succeed against two of Napoleon's most ruthless agents? A fast paced quest ranging between England and France in an attempt to change the course of history. As Louise embarks on her mission, she starts to question whether she will ever get what her heart truly desires.

Besides, what is love between two people when so much is at stake…? Set during a time of intrigue and uncertainty, The Rake and His Honour is a must for fans of French history.

Jan Ellis

A Summer of Surprises and An Unexpected Affair (The Bookshop by The Sea series, book 1)

Paperback

Waverley Books

23 March 2017

After her divorce, Eleanor Mace decides to begin a new life running a quirky bookshop in a quiet corner of Devon. She adores her seaside home in Combemouth and her bookshop is a hit and yet . . . Eleanor is still unsettled. So when she rediscovers an old flame online, she sets off for the South of France with her fun-loving sister in search of a man she last saw in her twenties. But will she find happiness on the Continent or does it lie in rural England? In A Summer of Surprises – the engaging sequel to An Unexpected Affair – Eleanor is finding life sweet and rosy in her Devon bookshop, but there are clouds on the horizon in the form of an ageing rock star with plans to bring some Californian glitz to the traditional seaside resort. Eleanor decides to take a stand and rallies the whole town to protest against the planning monstrosity with entertaining consequences. The story comes to a happy conclusion, but not before a trip to Spain and a surprising discovery that launches Eleanor into the spotlight.

Jan Ellis

The Bookshop Detective (The Bookshop by The Sea series, book 2)

Paperback

Waverley Books

23 March 2017

When a ghost ship is spotted on the horizon one spring evening, bookseller Eleanor Mace decides to investigate the myths and legends of Combemouth, the seaside town where she runs The Reading Room. As Eleanor digs deeper into the town’s history,

she becomes intrigued by a Victorian crime report and is determined to find out what happened to a boy at the centre of the case – one with intriguing links to the present.

As Eleanor begins to uncover the truth – aided by the vicar but somewhat stalled by the local librarian – she has an unexpected challenge on her own horizon that leads to things turning a little frosty as the summer begins. A celebrity book launch, an exploding dress and some salsa-dancing pensioners make this a mystery with a difference.

Margaret Mounsdon

Hungry For Love

Pocket Novel

People's Friend

16 March 2017

Louise Drew replaced celebrity chef Charlie Irons when he was let go from his daytime cookery slot. Charlie's fans deserted the programme in droves and the show folded. When Louise applies for a new job as personal assistant with catering experience she realises to her horror that it would mean working for Charlie Irons, but what choice does she have? She is about to be evicted from her flat. If she doesn't accept the job she will be homeless.

Carol MacLean

Shadows at Bowerly Hall

Linford Romance Series

Paperback

Ulverscroft

20th March 2017

Forced to work as a governess after the death of her father, Amelia Thorne travels north to Yorkshire and the isolated Bowerly Hall. Charles, Viscount Bowerly, is a darkly brooding employer and Amelia is soon convinced that Bowerly holds secrets and danger in its shadows. A spate of burglaries in the county raises tensions amongst the villagers and servants. Amelia finds herself on the hunt for the culprit. Is Charles to be trusted?

E-PUBLISHED

Nora Fountain

Love Thine Enemy

ebook

Endeavour Press

1st March

It is 1939 and the world is on the brink of war. Helen Latimer arrives in Paris hoping to study there. She soon learns that it won't be possible. Fate takes a hand and she meets Max, a handsome young German. They fall madly in love and despite their best intentions Helen becomes pregnant. They plan to leave for neutral Portugal but Max's

Nazi brother Hermann has him kidnapped and taken back to Germany. Reluctantly Helen returns to England with her brother. She and Max marry other people but they are destined to meet again in the chaos of war. What possible hope is there for their future?

Lynne Connolly

Wild Lavender (part of the Emperors of London series.)

e-book

Kensington Publishing.

March 2017

Ravishingly beautiful and accomplished, Helena has her pick of suitable bachelors — and because she is the daughter of a powerful duke, her mother is determined she makes a good marriage. But Helena won't marry any of them, because she is in love with the son of her family’s most dangerous enemy. Though she has now been rebuffed by her beloved, she is resolved to win him back—no matter the cost.Tom’s forbidden love for Helena has only intensified over the years of their separation. But the discovery of his true roots has changed everything. His secret spells danger for his family and everyone he loves. Devoted to Helena, he will sacrifice anything — even his one great love — to keep her safe. And soon, caught between warring factions and hounded by a deadly assassin, the couple will be swept back together in a fight for their lives, and their destiny…

AnneMarie Brear

Nicola’s Virtue

Paperback and ebook

Knox Robinson

March 14th

In 1867 Nicola Douglas attends a London lecture given by Miss Maria Rye, the founder of the Female Middle Class Emigration Society, which inspires her to change her life. With no family, but a good education, she boards a ship to Australia with high hopes of a fresh start in a new country as a governess. But Sydney is full of young women with similar hopes and equally poor prospects. When Nicola is at her lowest ebb, a benefactor appears, Mr Belfroy, whose past has made him sympathetic

to women struggling to survive. She also meets Frances West, an activist from a privileged background, and her attractive but distant brother, Nathaniel. However hard she tries to resist, Nicola's attraction to Nathaniel West grows. She is soon also introduced to a visiting American, Hilton Warner. In Warner, Nicola sees a true gentleman, and she basks in the American's interest, which only angers Nathaniel West. As both men shower her with attention, Nicola reaches a crisis. She came to Australia never expecting to be anything other than a governess. Yet, the prospect of finding love, and being married, shows how empty her life has been since her parents' death. Her achievements at the Governess Home are vital to her. Can she have both?

 

AnneMarie Brear

Grace’s Courage

Paperback and ebook

March 14th

Knox Robinson

As the Victorian Age draws to a close, lonely and brokenhearted, Grace Woodruff fights for her sisters' rights to happiness while sacrificing any chance for her own. The eldest of seven daughters, Grace is the core of strength around which the unhappy members of the Woodruff family revolve. As her disenchanted mother withdraws to her rooms, Grace must act as a buffer between her violent, ambitious father and the sisters who depend upon her. Rejected by her first love and facing a spinster's future, she struggles to hold the broken family together through her father's infidelity, one sister's alcoholism, and another's out-of-wedlock pregnancy by an unsuitable match.

Caring for an illegitimate half-brother affords Grace an escape, though short-lived. Forced home by illness and burdened with dwindling finances, Grace faces fresh anguish --and murder-- when her first love returns to wreck havoc in her life. All is not lost, however. In the midst of tragedy, the fires of her heart are rekindled by another. Will the possibility of true love lead Grace to relinquish her responsibilities in the house of women and embrace her own right to happiness?

Ruby Moone

Trapped

Traditionally published e-book and paperback

JMS Books

11th March e-book End of March for paperback

Sam Holloway is a desperate man. Trapped in Dante’s, the high-class London brothel catering to men who love men, his only hope is to find a rich protector. Then he meets the young aristocrat with sad eyes.Tristan Barrington, sixth earl of Chiltern, waited until the death of his father before acting on his unnatural desires. Dante’s has a reputation for quality and absolute discretion. He never expected to find in its sordid depths a glorious man who could master not only his body but his heart, as well.In Tristan, Sam sees an opportunity to flee a life he hates, and he sets his sights on seducing the earl. Tristan vows to help him escape, but in the process not only uncovers the vile corruption at the heart of Dante’s but also suspects that Sam’s declaration of love was nothing but a lie. Then Sam is gravely injured, and Tristan faces a tough decision -- leave Sam to his fate, or help him once again?

INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED

Julie Stock

The Vineyard in Alsace

Ebook and Paperback

Clued Up Publishing (Independently Published)

6th March, 2017

Is there really such a thing as a second chance at love? Fran Schell has only just become engaged when she finds her fiancé in bed with another woman. She knows this is the push she needs to break free of him and to leave London. She applies for her dream job on a vineyard in Alsace, in France, not far from her family home, determined to concentrate on her work.Didier Le Roy can hardly believe it when he sees that the only person to apply for the job on his vineyard is the same woman he once loved but let go because of his stupid pride. Now estranged from his wife, he longs for a second chance with Fran if only she will forgive him for not following her to London. Working so closely together, Fran soon starts to fall in love with Didier all over again. Didier knows that it is now time for him to move on with his divorce if he and Fran are ever to have a future together.

  

Louise Rose-Innes

Floria (Book 1: The Levante Sisters Series)

E-book

Self-published

7 March

Add caption

After being dumped by her politician boyfriend for causing a scandal, as well as reeling from the death of her famous opera-singer mother, party-girl Floria doesn’t think life can get any worse. Then she discovers she’s got three half-sisters, all of whom are coming to the funeral. It’s one of her sisters who convinces her to use her reputation to her advantage, and start her own party-planning company – and so Prima Donna Productions is born! Floria is determined to prove to herself and her stuffy ex, that she’s more than just an empty-headed socialite. Through one of her newfound sisters she meets the charming, rescuer of damsels-in-distress, Josh Graham. The strong, capable finance whiz agrees to help her set up her new company, but their instant chemistry has Floria wanting much more. Except business and pleasure should never mix, and Josh already has a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend - a skinny super-model girlfriend. How can Floria, with her voluptuous figure and her less than stellar reputation possibly compete?

Charlie Cochrane

In The Spotlight (two stories)

e-book

The Right Chair Press

18th March

All That Jazz

Francis Yardley may be the high kicking star of an all-male version of Chicago, but bitter, and on the booze after the breakdown of a relationship, he thinks that the chance for true love has passed him by. A handsome, shy rugby player called Tommy seems to be the answer to his problems, but Tommy doesn't like the lipstick and lace.

Can they find a way forward and is there still a chance for happiness "nowadays"?

If Music Be Rick Cowley finds himself taking up am-dram once more, thinking it’ll help him get over the death of his partner. He’d never anticipated it would mean an encounter with an old flame and the sort of emotional complications the Bard would have revelled in. Still, old Will had the right word for every situation, didn’t he?