Found and Lost: A Crash Course in Editing

[msocampowrites]

I never thought I would get picked for this. I didn't know what I was getting into. I just thought I would get through NaNoWriMo and get some new critique partners.

And then I got a new job. All of a sudden, it was like I was balancing three different plates, spinning around. Not only was I in the midst of NaNoWriMo, but I had to adjust to my new job and still participate in this contest. I thought I would just use a snippet of my story as sort of a "practice run" for when I eventually would get back into the edit/critique phase.

What I ended up getting is a crash course in editing my own work. I had no time to let my sensitivity get in the way of everything. I had to take all the feedback that I got and edit what I created as best as I could. I learned that I definitely have a long way to go before I get good at self-editing. But I'm also learning what I need to improve on. I need to use less filter words. I need to put a lot of emotion into action scenes.

I am definitely adding the "Emotional Thesaurus" to my Christmas list.

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback: Jeni Chapelle, Sandy Roffey, Rebecca Fryar, Tyler Zeoli, Stephanie Whitaker, Jennifer Lynn Burrows, R Pelham Hern, KJ Harrowick, Kristen Howe, Dianna Gunn, and Meghan Tomlinson.
Y'all have been mentors, teaching me how to improve on my work. I can only hope that I can take what I learned from you going forward.

[Dani Frank]

The Emotional Thesaurus! I knew there was something I was forgetting for my Christmas list.