Comments for The Writings and Musings of B.A. Matthews

Comment on Lucky 7 by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:24:31 +0000

She’s relating a past event to her diary. That’s an awesome place to end up! Or is the entire story told through Diary windows?

Comment on Lucky 7 by Literarygrrrl

Literarygrrrl — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:21:48 +0000

Greg: I’m afraid you have to be punished baby.
(This was when I got a little freaked out, Diary.)
Me: What do you mean I have to be PUNISHED?
Greg: It seems you’ve forgotten how to address your daddy. Plus you were pretty demanding the other night. You never asked nicely for your drinks. Never said please or anything.

Comment on My Writing Process, Part II by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:49:56 +0000

Speaking from a technical standpoint, the closer that you can tie off all the plot threads to each other, the more your ending will pack a punch… which is why in my novel, the romance, story and character storylines all end within a chapter and a half of each other. If I can, I’m planning on cutting that down to one chapter in the editing process.

Sometimes you can’t get all of them right at once (your mileage will vary) but punchy endings tend to share this feat. As Mary Robinette Kowal has said, “It was the difference between a satisfying ending and leaving my readers in tears.”

I can’t wait to read yours though! Its one of the many reasons I enjoy critique group.

Comment on My Writing Process, Part II by Eric Satchwill

Eric Satchwill — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:18:25 +0000

Reading over these anchor scenes, I’m coming to an interesting realization/thought experiment: some of these scenes happen at different times for different characters in my story. Certain turning points are different depending on if we’re following Barnaby, Lisa, Michael, or Felicity, especially since the Act III Turning Point/Dark Moment is a very personal moment for each character. I suppose that’s what I get for having multiple major POV characters… definitely good food for thought!

Comment on It’s always hard… by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:04:04 +0000

Congratulations! Getting there is the difficult part I find. Once I started editing, I found out that I really enjoyed it! I remember that feeling of finishing my first novel though… It’s comparable on a level with some of my best and greatest memories.

Comment on My Writing Process, Part I by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:00:32 +0000

Sorry for the delay in answering… Life jumped in.

I found out about the course by listening to Lani Diane Rich’s Podcast that she does with her husband, Storywonk Daily. She advertised it on there. Editing is a tough chore any time. I’ll be posting more about my editing process up here, today and Friday. I describe how I go through and figure out what needs to be cut and what needs to be tweaked.

Comment on It’s always hard… by lorraine

lorraine — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:30:14 +0000

December, I put my writing aside and basked in the fact that I actually wrote 50,000 words .. I actually started Nov 11 and completed it on Nov 27th — on the 26th of November I wrote, 16,537 words! I actually have a real story after all that and well alot of editing I see in the future.

Comment on My Writing Process, Part I by lorraine

lorraine — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:35:15 +0000

Hi there. I am wondering how did you find out about this editing course? Your blog is very helpful as I have completed my 50,000 word novel, however, I know I have alot to cut out of my story to make it flow better. I am just not sure where to start and I am very unsure of my editing skills. So any advice you can provide will be very helpful at this stage.

Comment on Suck it up, Princess by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:02:43 +0000

I really do have to look at those stages of grief. You’re the second person to suggest I go and take a look at them. It was actually a really great review. In general she liked my idea and thought that my story was decent except for a few spots.

Waiting and raging/feeling pathetic with offline friends really helped. Fortunately, its difficult to keep me down and I’ve already re-edited my first three chapters. I think this is going to turn out great when its done. It will be good enough to Self-Publish, even if I can’t find a traditional publisher willing to take a chance on a great vampire story in todays client.

Comment on Suck it up, Princess by B.A. Matthews

B.A. Matthews — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:42:51 +0000

I am getting it back, slowly but surely. What was really hard was her telling me that my story was pretzel-ly, convoluted. I am past the anger and annoyance now, and I have been able to look at her criticism with more restraint and a clear eye. I have to admit that she is right with a few of her remarks and that I am in the process of changing my manuscript. However, I think I’ve also learned that in the end, only I can know what is best for my book.

All in all, for me, it’s improving my story and that is the important thing.

Thank you for your words. Moving past this was definitely something that I had to learn and what will help me as I continue on my journey to be a published author.