Why you need an editor

No matter who you are, whether you've had experience with self-editing or not, I believe that you need an editor. I have found them to be the most helpful resources that you can have as a writer. The reasons may be obvious, but sometimes they aren't.

  1. Outside perspective.
"That doesn't make sense to me."
"What do you mean? I explained it back on page 51!"
"But it didn't make sense back there either!"
   So often, we as writers take pride in our work, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Don't get me wrong. But because of that we often overlook the flaws in our work. Everything is in our head, so what happens in the book makes sense to us. However readers only have the information that you give them through the writing, and a lot of times we leave things out. The reader knows it when something is missing in the writing. If it doesn't make sense to them -- even if it does to you -- it likely means that you need to put more of the information in your head into your manuscript. This happens to me all the time. And that's part of why I think we need editors. They see things that we can't as the writer.

   2. Idea generating.
Since our readers have that outside perspective, they often find ways to improve the writing that we won't think of on our own. This doesn't mean that we have to do everything they tell us, but we should at LEAST consider what they have to say. I have found that sometimes even little things that my editors say can produce great ideas on how to improve the story. One sentence can become a scene. One blurb can add a chapter. That's the joy of being a writer, isn't it. We especially need these pushes when we are drained out of ideas concerning a particular story. This happens to me often, and the inspiration usually strikes when I'm having someone else read my story.

   3. Identifying interests.
As a writer, you have a choice to make. Write what you want to write...or write what you think the reader wants you to write. While I believe that we should write for ourselves, we should also keep the others in mind. When we let someone else read our work, we have an opportunity to see what snags our readers and what turns them off. This gives us a chance to improve in order to draw more readers. Whenever someone reads a bit of my manuscript, I always fire a barrage of questions at them. "What did you think about so-and-so?" "Do you think their character was consistent?" "What part of this story did you like best?" "What part did you lose interest in?" There's something to be said for engineering your writing to best suit your readers.

These are just my opinions. If you have anything that you'd like to share, I invite you to comment below. I just know that without my editors (among them are my parents and grandpa), I wouldn't be near as good a writer. (Thanks, guys! You're awesome!) So I would encourage you, if you don't have an editor, find one. Even if it is just a family member. It is a GREAT learning experience!

Describing Characters

One of my favorite parts about writing is creating the characters. From deciding how they look to how they act is always just an adventure for me. However, I tend to have a harder time describing what they look like than what they do. There are some tricks to avoiding stereotypical descriptions and having really unique characters.

1. What you describe. A lot of times a writer comes to the part where they must describe their character, and they dawdle around until they finally jot "He was a handsome man with blue eyes and blond hair." *Zzzz....* There are millions of people in the world that have blue eyes and blond hair! We need more than that to get a picture of this person! Each description should be unique and bring to life certain quirks about the way that character looks. I loved the very first description of Four in Divergent.

Page 59: "He" is the one attached to the hand I grabbed. He has a spare upper lip and a full lower lip. His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color.

I don't know about you, but that was enough to give me a pretty good first look at this character, and Veronica Roth didn't even go into hair color or body type. I believe the trick is using the most powerful descriptions you can, in the shortest amount of time.

Here is a description from my book: His hood and mask fell during the scuffle, revealing the young man's pallid, angular face. His breaths are long and furious. He appears to be in his late teens, perhaps a couple years older than myself. A mess of unevenly-cut black hair falls across his face but fails to hide his eyes. His eyes! A deep shade of violet, almost glowing in the shadows; they look warm against his cold sharp features. "Are you finished?" his lips twist. He would be attractive if not for that sneer.

Now, this description goes into a little more detail than the last one, and it's probably not as concise as it could be. But you get a pretty good idea of what this guy looks like. Cocky. Mysterious. And then there's those glowing eyes... What's up with that? The description is meant to make you realize that this dude isn't normal.

2. Don't clutter your writing. Another thing about writing descriptions is I CAN'T STAND IT when it takes half a page to describe something. We get it. She's pretty. If it takes half a page to describe a character, then the writer could be writing a lot more concisely. I think it's better to be short and powerful when it comes to descriptions. And another thing is that you don't have to describe everything about that character in one place. Feed your readers little nuggets of information about their appearance and quirks. They'll catch on. Information dumps can work, but they often slow the pace of your writing.

3. Have a picture in your head. In order to plant a picture of your character in your reader's mind, you must have that picture in your own mind first. You can write a willy-nilly description and go back to fix it later, but make sure that you have that picture in your head. In order to evoke something on the reader, you must know what you are trying to evoke. If you are struggling with coming up with a character description, I would suggest either sitting down and writing about that character until it becomes clear or look at pictures on the internet to come up with ideas.

A very helpful exercise I have used is taking a picture of a person, and describing them as best I could. Then I would write different descriptions of the same picture according to the mood I wanted to convey.

These are just a few tips that I would suggest. This is still an area that I struggle with myself. I wish you luck in creating your characters! :)

(Thank you for listening to my ramblings. My ebook, Crutch, is now available at Amazon for only 0.99 cents: http://www.amazon.com/Crutch-Kari-Rushmer-ebook/dp/B00X4B2PA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430765666&sr=8-1&keywords=crutch+alex+rushmer   I would love it if you checked it out and left me a rating.)

Crutch by Alex Rushmer

My ebook, Crutch, is now available for purchase at most retailers. I would greatly appreciate it if you checked it out and left me a review. :)

Here are some links to it:
   http://www.amazon.com/Crutch-Kari-Rushmer-ebook/dp/B00X4B2PA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430765666&sr=8-1&keywords=crutch+alex+rushmer
   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/534893
   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crutch-alex-rushmer/1121725695?ean=2940151864848
   https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/crutch-1
   https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/DFPcqYAR6a8CXFcvrsfEoN/crutch
   https://www.scribd.com/book/261655234/Crutch
   https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/x/id985011094


I hope you enjoy!