Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Editing and Dedications

"Writing has made me rich--not in money but in a couple hundred characters out there, whose pursuits and anguish and triumphs I've shared. I am unspeakably grateful at the life I have come to lead." - Wright Morris

So ... My husband keeps poking at me, "When are you going to get a BOOK published??" and "Your stories are nice, but what about a BOOK?".

He showed my a real estate listing for lake property and said, "When you get your BOOK published, we'll buy this." I laughed hysterically, but it was a nice thought.

He looked at a map and said, "When you travel the country on a BOOK tour, can I go with you?" And then he pointed out the places he'd like to visit.

Yesterday, I worked on editing my novel -- the third one I've completed as an adult (I wrote three as a minor). And edited and edited. I got through about 10,000 words and have only about 16,000 left to look at. This is the second round of edits for me.

I need to do at least one more for three reasons:

1. Because I there is still more stuff I know I've missed that needs fixing.

2. I need to break it into chapters (this little problem is why my promised "closings" post on Friday may be a challenge. When I write a first draft, I don't do chapter breaks.)

3. I'm approximately 6,000 words short.
It's that last that has me worried the most. I lost quite a few words via this most recent edit and will need to find them somewhere. A new scene? Possibly. And the ending, which I hope to tackle today at some point, needs a lot of work according to the one person who's read the entire thing. Maybe I'll gain some words there.

DH thinks I should dedicate the first book to him. He said I could make it such a long, in depth and wonderful dedication it could take 6,000 words.

Maybe I will -- though not 6,000 words worth (even though he scored the dedication in "Miles From You".

We'll see.

If it was you, who would you dedicate your first book to (if you're already published, who did you dedicate your first book to) and why?

Enjoy your day :-)

9 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

I dedicated my first book to my husband and kids because they're the ones who had to put up with me being buried in my computer, they gave up the most. I also thanked my first writing group and three friends who've been "by my side" since I started seriously writing.

I think it gets harder as you go, the dedications, that is. I dedicated my third just to my sister who I somewhat based my heroine on (well, some of her experiences anyway).

I need to have something full length to edit. I've got some possibliliites, but since my current "novella" is now over 31k and not done, maybe I will have a novel length wip to work with.


Good luck on yours!

Anonymous said...

Good luck on finishing your new book, Marianne!

My first book was dedicated to my parents and siblings. It was based on an event that occurred to me as a child. My first book published by Samhain is dedicated to my husband. Books 2 and 3 are dedicated to my daughters. Present book will be dedicated to another daughter. I have lots of daughters! LOL When I write another mystery, I'll dedicate it to my son.

Judy said...

Virtual Love's (the story of an internet romance told in emails) dedication was different. In my acknowledgements, I listed my family and my writing group at the time. But the dedication read: "To all who search the Internet looking for love, this book is for you, with my heartfelt hope that you will find your Virtual Love."

anno said...

It would have to be to my husband who always goaded, um... I mean encouraged, me.

Excellent progress on your novel --that's great news! 6000 words? well, piffle... hardly more than a day's work on NaNo.

Alice said...

Hi Marianne, I can't help giggling when your DH said about doing a dedication of 6,000 words for him. LOL.

As for the question on dedication, if it were me, I would dedicate my first published book to my Mom. She's a very special lady and she did a great job raising us (six of us!) as a single parent. God bless her! :)

Michele said...

HI!
I have to LOL on the 6,000 word dedication. He sounds like your biggest fan and wants the world to know it.
Not a bad thing. *wink*

I also got a kick out of reading that you still have to break your story into chapters. I wrote up to 10,000 words - the longest I have ever committed to paper/tech and yet that was the one thing that completely escapes me - HOW to break them into chapters. How big? How little? How many pages does it equal?
It's the little things that seem to trip me up. Always have.
Must be an ADD thing. *gg*

If I were to ever write "The End" on a story, I also would dedicate it to my DH and kids. And the house - for withstanding the invasion of the mutant dust bunnies. *grin*

Best of luck in your writing. Sounds like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel - maybe it's a pinprick - but it's there!

Sylvia Dickey Smith said...

Hey, Marianne. I dedicated my first (and only, I might add) book to two young women who inspired the story. I did not name them due to their request not to be, but they know who they are. If it hadn't been for them, I would have named Bill (hubby) because he's put up with so much throughout this process!

I laughed at the idea of an around the world book tour. Your hubby does indeed live in a dreamworld, eh?

Keep doing this edits--you're almost done!!

Syl

Melissa McClone said...

I dedicated my first book to my hubby because he always believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.

Marianne Arkins said...

So... it looks like it's *mostly* husbands and family. My first Wild Rose Story was to my writing friends (without whom I never would have submitted anything), my second to my mom, and poor DH came in third.

He didn't mind.