BJ Hoff's GRACE NOTES

Revision & Self-Editing

Are you writing a novel? In the middle or nearing the end of a first draft? Facing yet another long and frustrating process of rewriting and revising your tenth manuscript, dreading it as you always do? Losing sleep and losing your nerve because you love your story but hate the grueling job of whipping it into shape before sending it off to your editor?

Not to worry. There's help. James Scott Bell, Christy Award winning novelist, contributing editor to Writer's Digest,  conference instructor, and author of Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, recently published a terrific handbook for all writers--novice and experienced novelist alike.

Beginning writers need to learn early in the process that there are certain essentials they must grasp and command if they ever hope to sell. Advanced writers already know they're never finished with mastering the craft: there's always more they need to learn. 

Moreover, in today's crowded, competitive publishing world, there's an ever-increasing need for the serious writer also to be an accomplished self-editor. Editors don't have time and aren't paid to rewrite your manuscript--that's your job.

Plot & Structure makes the process easier and less painful, no matter where you are on the road to publication. The book is arranged in two parts, Part One covers self-editing, and Part Two covers the revision process. Here's a sampling of only a few chapters from both sections: Characters, Plot and Structure, Point of View, Scenes, Dialogue, Beginnings, Middles and Ends, Show vs. Tell, Voice and Style, Setting and Description, a Philosophy of Revision, and a Revision Checklist. The author also provides excellent writing exercises and questions to help you check your progress and comprehension.

I can't think of another author who could make the editing and revision process interesting and even fun, in addition to providing techniques that actually work--but James Scott Bell manages to do just that.

When I referred to Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing as a "handbook," I meant exactly that. It's a book for the writer to keep close at hand, because you're going to refer to it again and again. Just when you reach the point that you think you've covered all the secrets and richness it has to offer, you're almost certain to come up against a question or a problem you haven't anticipated ... and you're going to reach for this book. Trust me, it will not collect dust on your shelf.

So ... polish and publish, while enjoying the process.

BJ

A Visit with Katy

Sweet Katy McKenna Raymond invited me for a fun visit and interview over at Fallible.com .

For those of you who have read or who are reading Song of Erin, you can see the ancient Irish fort where Terese Sheridan managed to survive the hurricane that opens the book. And if you haven't yet seen the video trailer created for the book, Katy provides a link to it.

Drop by for a visit ...

BJ

Kudos for Harvest House

Congratulations to Harvest House Publishers. Nice to see confirmed in print what their employees ... and authors ... already knew.

BJ

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(Copied from ENews, CBA Online:)

Harvest House named one of Best Christian Places to Work. Harvest House Publishers has been named within the top three 2008 Best Christian Places to Work in the United States in the Publishing category by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI) at the CMA Dallas Conference on April 24.

“This is our second year of participation in the survey because it serves as an excellent tool to gather valuable input from our employees,” says Bob Hawkins, Jr., Harvest House president. “We are once again humbled and grateful to be acknowledged in this award. Our placement in the top three is confirmation that we are reaching our goal to affirm and value each person employed at Harvest House.”

The BCWI survey involved more than 7,834 employees in 67 organizations across the U.S. to identify great workplaces with a Christian mission and/or values. For a complete list, go to http://www.bcwinstitute.com/2008US.aspx.

Q & A

Q. Since you write historical novels, what are your favorite times in history to read about?

A. Too many to name, but definitely at the top of the list would be the mid- to late-1800s, the Civil War era, World War II era, and the Civil Rights period.

Q. How many magazines do you read on a regular basis? Do you read them online or in print?

A. Strange question, that. Including the Mac magazines, and a couple of news magazines--probably eight to ten. I'm more a book person. I read magazines more often in print, but if I want just a brief overview, I'll do some reading online as well.

Q. What's your favorite writers conference to attend, and could you recommend at least two conferences that you think are the best for unpublished writers?

A. I've never been to a writers' conference, so I can't really recommend any particular one. You might check Sally Stuart's Christian Writers' Market Guide. It lists several writers' conferences around the country.

Q. When you first begin to write a novel, do you already know your story or does it come to you a little at a time? What do you need to know before you start writing?

A. I suspect this requires a much lengthier answer than you might have thought, but I'll give you the brief version. The idea for a story begins as a seed in my mind. That's all, just a seed. And that seed is a character. Sometimes I know the timeframe in which that character lives--sometimes I don't. John Braine said that "if you have your characters, it won't be long before you have your story." That's always been true for me. Every story I've ever written began with a character. Naturally, I also do a lot of research before I begin, and continue to research as I go. But even before the research, there's a character.

Q. Do your books always have a happy ending? I won't read books with depressing endings.

A. My books always have a hopeful ending. Just as in life, in stories bad things ... sad things ... happen. I could never write a book in which nothing but happy, wonderful things happen to the characters. Not only would that be deceitful, but it would be incredibly boring. I'd be writing about plastic people. But because we have a God who never leaves us without hope, and because I believe in that God--I'll never write a story that's void of hope.   

BJ   

No Offense

Let me pose a question to you. Perhaps this is an issue you've already thought about and come to terms with. If so, I'd like to hear from you.

How far does one go in "defending" the truth of our faith? Maybe I should phrase that, "how far does one go in defending our God?"

Do we defend our faith or our God? Given the Hitchens and Dawkins of our day and all the rest of the atheist manifestos out there, along with the Eckhart Tolle types, plus the rest of the contingent ever eager to
chip away at what the Christian believes in their attempts to replace the evidence of Christianity with their own jingoistic huffing and puffing, it seems almost a herculean effort to inform ourselves--at least to the point of formulating an intelligent opinion--of the different beliefs and perspectives that abound.

I don't like reading this stuff, especially when there are so many good things to read. Some of it is downright boring, some of it silly, and almost all of it irritating. But if I don't read it, then how do I muster an articulate opinion? (And that's another question: why do so many people ask writers our opinions? It's almost as if they expect us to know something about everything. I don't--and I don't want to. But even if I were a lot smarter than I am, why would I think I should have an opinion on just about everything?)

But I do wonder where the Christian's responsibility begins and ends in all this. Are we all supposed to be apologists? How many of us qualify for that role?

Honestly, some of these writings strike me as little more than drivel--a lot more bad writing than good--and I yawn my way through most of it. During a discussion of this same subject among a writers' internet group, one member commented that our God is "too big for this," referring to wasting time defending God or the faith against some of the atheist propaganda and other publications circulating these days. That's how I feel, too. I'm convinced God doesn't need any defense from me--but I've wanted to make certain this isn't simply me, defending my own disgust of the spewing and mewing going on.

Do you believe that God cares one way or the other if we're informed enough to argue the point, should we find ourselves in a position to do just that?

Approaching this strictly from a writer's perspective, given all the research reading we're compelled to do for our own work, and with the recreational reading we enjoy but have so little time to indulge in, where do we draw the line?

I've discussed this with other writers and searched the Scriptures, and the only basis I've been able to come up with regarding a defense doesn't involve going on the offense with these attacks on the Christian faith. It doesn't in any way suggest that we confront or argue with those bent on airing their own personal "doctrines." 1 Peter 3: 15-16 indicates that in our hearts we're to "set apart Christ as Lord," to "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." There's a huge difference in giving a reason for our hope rather than arguing against those who would mock or give the lie to that hope.

Some definitely are gifted in apologetics. The Holy Spirit seems to place them in places and positions where they can eloquently explain and defend and strike a real blow for the Truth. I'm not at all gifted in that respect. Until recently, I've asked myself just how far I should go when it comes to reading and exploring what, more times than not, does nothing but annoy me or make me roll my eyes--in other words, what seems a waste of time and counterproductive.

Well--I've decided that I've gone as far as I'm willing to go.

A friend and pastor seems to have come to the same conclusion. Responding to questions from others in his congregation, he discussed the fact that he's explored samples of some of the publications in question (and so in vogue with the media) and found himself wondering why he was wasting his time, that he was not only accomplishing nothing but was in fact using valuable time (of which he has no abundance) that could better be used in reading what builds up rather than what tears down.

There's the point: why not spend our reading time--and, if applicable, our money as well--on what's edifying and will more firmly ground us in our faith and draw us closer to God?

So that's where I am. I simply don't intend to lend support in terms of time or expense or energy to these misguided rants from the voices out in la-la land who speak from arenas in which I don't care to venture.

What's your take on all this? Feel free to email if you don't want to leave a public comment, but I'd like to know what you think.

BJ