You are receiving this periodical because you marked a request on a
website in the www.Author-Me.com
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.author-me.com%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253D7c8b1a0a-cc7b-42e6-aca1-c704e9ccff0f%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
group
(or Akinyi's websites). To view an html version, please go to:
http://author-me.com/newsletters/NewsJuly2015.html
<http://author-me.com/newsletters/NewsJuly2015.html>
http://www.author-me.com/newsletters/NewsJuly2015.html If for any reason
you'd rather not receive this periodical, simply write an email to
cookcomm@xxxxxxxxx and write the words "no more" in the subject box. Thank
you.
Visit our new project on Peace! www.wwpo.org
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ft.signauxdeux.com%252Fe1t%252Fc%252F5%252Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%253Ft%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.wwpo.org%25252F%2526si%253D6138819900342272%2526pi%253Dee585ada-e36c-4ca1-aa0c-8b50929f096e%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>Comment
Boxes on Author-me.com. *If you have published on author-me, check the
comment box under your text.*Blogs and Comments on AuthormePro.com:
*Check the new WordPress/AuthormePro blog at www.authormepro.com/wp
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ft.signauxdeux.com%252Fe1t%252Fc%252F5%252Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%253Ft%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.authormepro.com%25252Fwp%2526si%253D6138819900342272%2526pi%253Dee585ada-e36c-4ca1-aa0c-8b50929f096e%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>*
*In this issue... How Will You Know When to Stop Editing Your Book?*
============================================================
*How Will You Know When to Stop Editing Your Book?*
*by Muli Wa Kyendo*
Recently I finished the final editing – hopefully - of a children’s
book that I have been writing for the last several years. It took me
long because every time I finished it, I noticed something else that I
should have added or omitted. So I kept going back to it and before I
knew it, years had passed. So, this time I have said to myself,
“Enough is enough! I must finish and let it go!”
Strangely, as soon as I finished it, an email popped up with the
subject: “*Writing a Book? How to Know When to Stop Editing and Move
On.*”
In the email, Miss Wikson wrote something that spoke to me.
“Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your writing career is to
shelve your project and begin anew.” Then I noticed that the most of
the comments the article elicited started with, “Me too, I have the
same problem…” or “I am a victim…” I realized that I am not the only
one who gets caught up in the revision-after-revision trap.
Thinking about it, I remembered my first novel, *Whispers*. My
university teacher who read it after publication was full of praise.
It was a very good book, he told me. “A reader will benefit because
you have put so much into it. But unfortunately you are going to lose
because you will not be able to write another book for many years!”
His prediction turned out to be true. It took three years for another
book to come out of me. In the meantime a friend whom we derided for
producing trite books had written and published six books and his fame
was spreading like the proverbial wildfire. I met him recently. He
took me to an expensive hotel, bought me expensive lunch during which
he told me about his annual income. He has written and published forty
more “trite” books. He admitted to me that most of his books have gone
to waste and have been forgotten, but the few of the 40 that are doing
well are sufficient to make him an important figure in the book
writing field - and, fortunately, a well-earning writer. As you must
have guessed, his royalties are counted in seven figures.
A few things make us continue revising our manuscripts. The most
important being the general attitude held by most writers that a book
that takes long to write is a serious, important book, and its author
a serious, important writer. As students in the university, lecturers
were keen to narrate to us the length of time a book took to write,
creating the impression that books that took long were better and more
serious analysis of what they called the “human condition.”
The consequence was that writers got little practice in writing
because they wrote less. Without practice, chances increased that the
books they produced were not only few, but were often unreadable. They
denied themselves the chance to write good, readable books. Miss
shows the importance of practice in perfecting writing by giving the
example of the British writer Stephen King who improved with practice.
King wrote 40 books and the best are those he wrote later. “Where
would the world be today if King had spent a decade polishing
*Carrie*?” asks Miss.
The attitude of the longer it takes to write a book, the better the
book naturally led to less income for writers. The consequence was the
development of an explanatory point of view: Serious books do not earn
sufficient income for writers. I know of some writers who, with a
sense of self-importance, tell you that their books sell only 50
copies a year because readers “don’t like to read serious books.”
Miss identifies the second reason we over-edit our books: it is that
writers become emotionally attached to their books. But about this
Miss says, “While I understand why writers develop emotional
attachments to something that occupies so much of their time, minds
and hearts, this is not a productive way to use your energy. Give
those words a beginning, middle and end, and move on.”
So when can you decide you have finally completed your book?
This is a simple question with a complex answer. It becomes simpler
however, when you start to regard your book as a project. If you are
writing two books at once, then you are running two projects at once.
All projects come to an end at pre-determined points. So you must
pre-determine when your writing project will stop. If you are an
independent writer, your writing project will probably not end until
you have distributed your book.
Ali Luke, has an excellent article, *How to Finish What You Start: A
Five-Step Plan for Writers,* in which he suggests the following
stop-points to help you realize when to stop your book writing
project:
- When you’ve written a book that has a start, middle and end.
- When you’ve written a book that’s 50 pages long (or more), and
proof-read it.
- When you’ve received feedback on your book and revised your book
accordingly.
And that is also where I will stop trusting that these pointers will
help release you to write many more books and hopefully some
successful ones among the many.
========================================
Publishing Emerging Writers
July 2015 (No. 1607)
Publisher: Cookcomm
Bruce L. Cook, 1407 Getzelman Dr..
Elgin, IL 60123 USA
Submissions and comments to cookcomm@xxxxxxxxx. Links are welcome. To
receive monthly e-mail copies of this periodical, go to:
https://www.elbowspace.com/servlets/cfdC?xr4=&formts=2008-02-02 16:34:51
.129073 <https://www.elbowspace.com/servlets/cfdC?xr4=&formts=2008-02-02
16:34:51.129073>
To review our archive of past issues (sixteen years, every month), go to
www.Author-Me.com/newslist.htm
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.author-me.com%2Fnewslist.htm&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
AuthorMe.com is dedicated to the memory of Dr. David C. Cook III
AuthorMe Professionals (Germany) - www.AuthorMePro.com
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.authormepro.com%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253D1207e3cc-70ca-4286-c142-51da71d37cfa%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
Innisfree Journal - Greg McBride, Editor - www.innisfreepoetry.org
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.innisfreepoetry.org%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253D4febf84a-9a68-4e8a-c793-532097627015%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
For the new Sudan - www.SudanLit.com
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.sudanlit.com%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253D6d598714-40cd-4f08-bbe9-eea562791e75%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
For India - www.authorindia.com
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.authorindia.com%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253Dfa7a47df-f7e0-41e0-cbde-04b632745a4f%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
Reserve Books - www.reservebooks.com
<http://t.signauxdeux.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04?t=http%3A%2F%2Ft.signauxdeux.com%2Fe1t%2Fc%2F5%2Ff18dQhb0SmZ58dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7sM9dn7dK_MMdBzM2-04%3Ft%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fapp.getsignals.com%252Flink%253Furl%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.reservebooks.com%25252F%2526ukey%253DagxzfnNpZ25hbHNjcnhyGAsSC1VzZXJQcm9maWxlGICAgJyW5_MKDA%2526k%253D2af8c6d9-428d-4157-c03d-8976bb6f1fc3%26si%3D6138819900342272%26pi%3D8303da15-cbf1-49d1-c6e5-3231cea8a062&si=6138819900342272&pi=682e0c61-6053-4af3-c66a-69410471674f>
Our Booklist - www.reservebook.com
