editing | Big Owl's Tree

I hate National Novel Writing Month. Hate isn’t really strong enough. I loathe and abhor it. The whole concept flies in the face of my strongest convictions about the craft of writing. First and foremost, you shouldn’t need a cheap, bullshit gimmick to motivate you to work. If you don’t have the internal motivations, you shouldn’t try to write a book in the first place.

I also despise the whole rah rah cheerleader horse shit. If you need a cheering section telling you how great it is you typed 10,000 words today, you aren’t a writer. Sorry. Hate to burst your precious snowflake ego, but writing is hard work that requires hours of solitude and months without feedback.

I also hate how it cheapens the difficulty of writing a full novel. This is probably what pisses me off the most. People who know nothing about crafting a book hear that hundreds of thousands of people are cranking out books in one month, and suddenly my three months of busting my fucking ass to write my fourth book seems like slacking. Why does it take him so long? All these people are pounding out fifty pages a day.

This stupid bullshit also floods the market with thousands of poorly conceived, shoddy products that make it that much more difficult for year round writers to be noticed. Thanks. This career wasn’t hard enough already without every starry-eyed, bored housewife or pimply-faced college freshman thinking their 30 day type fest will land them an interview with Oprah.

I’m all for creative expression, and I think everyone should write because it’s good for the soul. But I can’t stand this “social writing” bullshit. If you want to write, fucking write, but do it all year or shut the fuck up. Learn to craft your story and take some pride in the quality of what you say. Don’t flood my fucking newsfeed with tales of how you hammered out 15k words on day one of NaNoWriMo. What the fuck are you going to do with those 3 vanishing plot lines, 16 stock characters, and shifts in POV?

As for me, I’ll spend November finalizing edits on the manuscript I wrote over the summer.

As the release date for The Fall of Dorkhun approaches, I want to give credit and praise to my close friend, Philip Hopkins, who edited the manuscript. There are many passages and phrases and scenes in the book that are good because of the diligent work he did combing through my mess. I have long maintained that Philip is one of the smartest people I know, and as I read through his comments, suggestions, and markings on the book, my opinion of his abilities only grew.

If any of my writer friends are looking for a good editor, someone who can pour through your work and polish the language into something tight and well-crafted, I highly recommend Philip. He is a natural and has an innate sense for the rhythm of language and the flow of narrative. He is thorough and consistent and honest, so if you have a tender ego that’s easily bruised, he might not be the right editor for you. But if you are a serious professional who wants to improve the quality of your work, you should hire him to work on your manuscript.

In terms of pricing, I can only say that he is fair and reasonable. That said, he did give me a “friend” price, so if he charges you less, please don’t tell me. In all seriousness, though, his services are worth every penny. If you’re interested, please let me know, and I’ll forward him your email address.