Talk:Barbara McCauley

The Internet never ceases to amaze me. One minute you're surfing along, the next minute you've caught this wonderful wave of information. I've just discovered this site, (many thanks to Marilyn Shoemaker for the tip) and I thought I'd go exploring. Surfing the net is a lot like writing, you never really know what's going to happen, no matter what your original intentions were. (I'd certainly never planned on coming here and finding such an amazing site as this one. Serendipity, is the word.

I love romances. I love writing them, I love reading them, I love talking about them. To find other women out there (and yes, men, too!) who share this love, is truly a blessing. But I'm supposed to talk about editing, yes?

Editing starts the minute you type THE END, two of the most wonderful words in the world (other than royalty checks) After you've typed those two precious words, the fact is, your work has just begun. You can take a moment or two (oh, all right, maybe a night) but then you hit the computer again. Back to page one, sentence one. Did you grab the reader? Are you setting the tone and sticking with it? Is there a clear, you can feel it, see it, touch it conflict? Is the conflict properly motivated? And is the conflict properly resolved? (no sudden, gosh, I really love this man/woman, without some deep soul searching, or unexpected realization why he/she can't live without the other)

Take a step back from your work, be objective, cut those little darlings that add nothing to the story other than you think they're cute and clever. Make sure you haven't hit the reader over the head with a point you're trying to make, and please, please, SHOW the reader, don't TEll me how miserable your hero/heroine is.

There's lots more, but that should give you a few things to think about for now. The editing stage really is where I have the most fun. I love the tweaking and adding and cutting, knowing that each pass through the book makes it a little clearer and hopefully, a lot better!