The Insecure Writer's Support Group and Show us Your Writer Insecurity
The awesome co-hosts today are Christine Rains, Dolarah @ Book Lover, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Yvonne Ventresca, and LG Keltner!
The August question: What are your pet peeves when reading/writing/editing?
Hi guys! Happy IWSG Day! I'm writing quickly this morning before I have to go to work, so forgive the short post! Hope you're all enjoying the summer. We are trying our best around here, but it feels like its slipping away fast. My son is upset because I've already started to invest in school supplies! :)
I have a HUGE pet peeve while editing. Well, when someone gives me their edits of my work. Don't touch my dialogue. No one speaks for my characters, but my characters. I know there are times when things need to be fixed, but just tell me what to fix, not how to fix it.
I must be horrible to work with. :) All growly and stuff. How about you guys? Got some peeves you want to share?
Check out the exciting news below before you go!!
July 27 was the very first IWSG Twitter pitch party, #IWSGPit. And it was a huge success!
Thanks
to all who participated in or promoted the #IWSGPit Twitter pitch
party. It was an incredible success – there were 2300 Tweets and we were
a trending topic. The IWSG team learned a lot and the next #IWSGPit in
January will be even better. Now that we’ve established ourselves and
the site is a Writer’s Digest Top 101 Site for Writers, there will be
five times the amount of publishers and agents watching the feed. Thanks
again for such a successful event! - AlexOn August 24th at 2:00 pm EST, Chrys Fey will be participating in a LIVE YouTube interview with Evan Carmichael, an entrepreneur who she'll be interviewing about his book Your One Word and getting some great advice for IWSG members. You'll be able to watch the interview live HERE. You can set a reminder if you click on the link, or you can watch it later.The video will be uploaded in the August 30th IWSG newsletter issue.
Show Us Your Writer Insecurity!
Are you proud to be an insecure writer?
Then show us!
On Wednesday, October 4 (IWSG Day), post a photo of yourself (or your alter ego) with any of the IWSG swag or with the IWSG logo. Then leave a comment that day at either the IWSG website’s post or the IWSG Facebook post directing us to your photo. (All blog, Facebook, Goodreads, and newsletter members welcome, but photo must be posted on a blog or Facebook to qualify.)
The IWSG site admins will visit each one and pick the top three. Why? Because there are cool prizes involved:
Third place – EBook of A Change of Mind and Other Stories by Nick Wilford, eBook of The Remnant by William Michael Davidson, eBook of Cling to God by Lynda R. Young, eBook of Already Home by Heather M. Gardner, and eBook of Dragon of the Stars by Alex. J. Cavanaugh.
Second place – The entire eBook collection of the Totem series by Christine Rains, eBooks of Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie, audio book of CassaSeries by Alex J. Cavanaugh, eBook of Black and White by Nick Wilford, and your choice eBook from J.L. Campbell.
Grand prize winner - IWSG website interview, IWSG newsletter spotlight, IWSG pinned tweet for one week, C. Lee McKenzie's Featured Follower for the month, the IWSG Goodreads book club eBook for October/November, a short chapter critique, and a pair of IWSG erasers.
We have some great IWSG SWAG – notebooks, pens, mugs, tote bags, etc.
Proceeds go to fund the upkeep of the IWSG site.
You have two months to prepare – show us your best insecurity!
I ever edit your stuff, I won't touch the dialogue.
ReplyDeleteFascinating post, Heather. Shall look out for the repeat of this twitter pitch. Good to be back blogging again.
ReplyDeleteHope your critique partners know that about you.
ReplyDeleteDialogue is personal and individual depending on the character. Unless it's something out of character, it shouldn't be changed. Or if that character really just needs to get to the point and stop rambling.
ReplyDeleteAgree about the dialogue. The writer is the one hearing them and it's up to that writer to bring their voices to life.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I get what you're saying. A valuable editor/critiquer will tell you something isn't working and their immediate reaction to what's on the page, not fix it for you. Suggestions are okay, but only the author knows the right fix, eh?
ReplyDeleteLOL - I'm rather protective of my dialogue as well! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever had an editor mess with my dialogue but I don't think I would like it.
ReplyDeleteLol, I get "growly" too. Funny :)
ReplyDeletewww.jessicatherrien.com
Sounds like you're a bit of a mama bear with your characters! I've had others suggest changes where they're going on a bit or repeating themselves, but yeah, actually putting words in their mouths isn't right I think.
ReplyDeleteI too hate it when someone thinks they know my characters better than I do. Growls and a few cuss words follow. LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree about not changing dialog. Sorry I missed the Twitter pitch party. Looked like a huge success.
ReplyDeleteHa! I probably wouldn't want my dialogue changed, either. It's one thing to suggest a change, another to actually do it.
ReplyDeleteChanging a dialog is a NO-No for most writers.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Some of my writer friends like to rewrite my dialogue. It's weird because then they don't sound like my characters. I don't rewrite their dialogue? I just smile and move on. And unless it just doesn't sound realistic, I don't think you should touch how characters say things.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I'm protective of my dialogue too. Growly is allowed for that! :)
ReplyDeleteDialogue is personal.
ReplyDeleteYou know best because you hear the character voices, with all their peculiarities, in your head and need to transfer the voices to the page.
I don't think I'd appreciate anyone trying to change my characters dialogue either. The rest of the story would be fair game for editing, no matter how critical. Have a great night! Eva
ReplyDelete