the craft. what to keep and what to throw away.

You may know by now that I’m a big fan of revision. Worlds open up in your writing process when you stop getting analysis paralysis before you even put a word on the page and learn how to let the first draft of something be shitty. Excuse my French. But if you can convince yourself to start writing, whatever way it comes out, you’re already 50% of the way to actually completing something. I can’t tell you how many times I completely rearrange these newsletters and if I had more time, I would probably revise them three or four more times before sending them because I know they could still be better. But you have got to get going at some point.

the craftAshley M. ColemanJanuary 13, 2024editing, revision, books, publishingComment

the craft. challenging yourself.

I have been in the wonderful land of revision for the last few months trying to tie up two different manuscripts. And one thing that has been boggling my mind has been how to describe mundane things in new and exciting ways. I promise you, I have taken offense every time I wrote that someone smiled. It’s like enough with the smiling already. What is it that they’re feeling for real? I’ve also been struggling to describe people’s physical motions which are important to any story. Did they furrow their brows? Click their tongue? Lean their head into their hands? What are they doing with themselves while this scene is happening?

the craftAshley M. ColemanFebruary 26, 2023revision, writing, black writers, writers of color, writing advice

the craft. printing process.

After I get to a solid point in a draft, I have to bounce the story down, so to speak. Which in writing, is printing it out and having it bound for me to continue my revision process. This is after I’ve already done a ton of rounds of tweaking within the Word document on my computer.

the craftAshley M. ColemanDecember 16, 2022writing, revision, book publishingComment

the craft. getting meat on the bones.

Drafting is such an interesting place now that I’ve written a full-on novel. One of the best things about it is that I know more now. I’m taking everything my editor taught me the first go around and applying it to this new draft. I’m taking out unnecessary words, looking at pacing, making sure to ground the reader in time. One of the worst things about it is remembering not to compare the first draft of a new work to the final product of the first novel.

the craftAshley M. ColemanAugust 15, 2022writing, drafting, first draft, revisionComment

the craft. stet.

the craftAshley M. ColemanMay 1, 2022writing, writing advice, black writers, freelancing, editing, revisionComment