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| Nina Munteanu and the Fiction Writer |
My
Self-Editing Workshop and my guidebook The Fiction Writer received a very
nice review from fellow writer Ace Jordyn at The Fictorians in a post entitled, “Serendipity is a WeirdMistress”.
When I attended Nina Munteanu’s one-hour
presentation on revision at the When Words Collide Conference [in Calgary, August 2013] the pieces to the puzzle fell together and now revising is totally
fun!
I was elated to discover
that I had many of the skills and resources I needed to revise. What I lacked
was structure for the task. Revising, I learned, is a ten-step process. The
second step, Dig Deep, is the most exciting for it gives permission to
restructure and change things to make the story better. For example, I had been
toying with changing the gender of a main character but was unsure. Then, Nina
said it was okay. Bingo! When I did it, I discovered that I hadn’t made the
original character as strong and unique as I thought – there were trite
mannerisms and stereotypical reactions I had subconsciously written. Why should
a female wail and a male not? Or did I want either of them wailing? Was that
the reaction I wanted? Of course not! Out with the stereotypes, in with more
concrete characters and writing. It’s given me a whole new perspective as I
examine all my characters.
The other helpful thing
about the book is that Nina has a good succinct information on things important
to telling a good story such as an overview of the hero’s journey, using the
metaphor, getting sensual, the Zen of passionate writing and more. Simply and
succinctly written, The FictionWriter: Get Published, Write Now is an excellent resource which has
helped me get my writing to the next level. Simply written (I don’t have the
patience for long dissertations), it makes its points quickly on essential
things such as the hero’s journey, using the metaphor, getting sensual, the Zen
of passionate writing and more.
Thanks, Ace, for a wonderful
testimonial! Hope to see you again at When Words Collide next year.
I teach a self-editing and revision course online. You can also purchase my short guide to self-editing and revisions for only $2.99 on Amazon.com. The guide consists of several papers I've written for various venues on the subject of self-editing and revisions. You can read one of the articles here. Learn more about the series of 12+ guides for writers called "What Writers Need to Know Series".
Best Wishes,
Nina
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