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Andrew Parker

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Jul 1, 2017
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Hello Savvy Authors,

I am a newbie to writing groups, this is my first try. I am looking for editing tools and suggestions to organize roughly nine months of free writing. The first part of my writing journey has been “getting it down on paper”. Now I’m going back to make sense of it all and am looking to see what others have done before I start on this giant task.

Thanks,
Andrew
 
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Hi Andrew! Welcome to Savvy!

While I'm sure the Mods can suggest more resources for you, the Editing Boot Camp in August comes to mind. It's a chance to work alongside other writers as everyone sets out to accomplish their editing/revision goals. Savvy also has THE best workshops for writers of all levels and all stages of their careers, and you're bound to find workshops about editing and revision. Personally, I would also recommend the mentoring programs. I've been working with June Diehl for quite a while and have learned so much from her. She's been a great help with my editing.

We're all here to help and support you on our writing journey! :)
 
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Welcome @Andrew Parker
I am a "Mod" or Moderator -- a glorified name for assistant to the Instructors and participants. We're the go-betweens to smooth technical issues that anyone might have, so teachers and students don't have to worry about anything, except the class material.
Welcome to Savvy Authors--one of the best sites for learning the craft of writing and editing, and more remarkable, it remains the most cost effective.
Since you asked about editing, I scrolled up to Registrations above and did a query search and there are three classes coming up--soon--that might be of interest.
I can HIGHLY recommend all the instructors. Liz is an editor and was one of the original founders of Savvy. She is very smart and savvy...uh...hence, Savvy...LOL. When I first came to Savvy as an academic and Non-fiction writer, I took classes with Becky. She taught me SOOOOO much. She is approachable and outstanding at helping with the nitty gritty details. Riley is also brilliant, but her course comes way later in the year.
There are going to be bootcamps, too. And they will help the process.
Becoming part of a SIG will also help. A SIG is a Special Interest Group--where you are a part of a group that can read and critique your work--a mutually shared give and take situation.
At any rate, welcome. If you have questions, PM me. That's what Mods can do. If we don't know the answers to questions, we can find them out.
Lyn
 
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Thanks Lyn,
That is very helpful, I'm looking for a beginners session.
Andrew
 
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Leslie
Leslie
OK and if you are looking for an intro to writing class... Gosh, most of our classes the rest of the summer are intermediate. How did that happen. :( Actually, I do know. We tend to not have beginner classes because most people have some writing experience. I suspect that you have more than you think you do. :)

Most of our social programs are built around our bootcamps, which we run nearly every month. This month we have a writing bootcamp and next month an editing one. We usually do a three-camp series with plotting-->writing--> editing. I suggest you plan to attend the plotting one in October and then join us (and about zillion others) for Nano Boot camp in November. Then you will have a 50,000-word novel-ish thing that you can edit in January. Here is a link to the Special Events calendar with those events: Special Events Calendar - SavvyAuthors

We are having a conference, online, in September. Definitely, bookmark that. There will be a lot going on and many classes, all free, so you can see what they are like. the conference is Sept 17-19, all online.

June Diehl has a short story class in September. June is a long-time instructor with us and everyone loves her classes. I would definitely recommend her class. Shorts are nice to start with because you get the full beginning--middle--ending cycle and a completed story. Nicely satisfying.
Becky Martinez has a Pacing class in October. Becky is great and this class will go over the fundamentals of structure and pacing.


Let me know if you have questions!

and great to see you are writing! We need more loons like me who are sciency types who write!!!

:batman:
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Hi! I follow this site all the time. I've been writing consistently for almost a year now and need to sort thru it all. Started using Scrivener at the start but it slowed me down. Now I have piles and piles of work that I need to sort out and may turn back to Scrivner or just use Word to organize it all. Looking for some help from more experienced folks than I, which is easy . I downloaded your character and scene templates...looking for input from someone that's been down this road before.
 
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Leslie
Leslie
I am a HUGE fan of Scrivener. It's like a development environment in software and I love all the versioning. It can be daunting, but I find it far easier to write in than word. Gawd, I hate word. UGH.
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Coming of age stories using satire and tragic comedy in short story format. Also have several poems that I am organizing into a small book...about 30 so far. During the process I bounced between character and scene development. I found a model called "snowflake method" (lol) that worked for me. How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method . Again, since this is my first run at it, the emotions inside needed to get out. So I kind of abandoned methodologies and just poured my guts onto the page. Now that THAT is over, I'm organizing things.
 
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One more thought that you may be able to comment on...I find that my creativity/stream of though is hampered when I try these tools or methodologies. When I just "write", sometimes on yellow pad, it comes out easier. Thus the editing process or next step after free writing is my bottleneck to completion...at least I think ?
 
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Kendi McLain
Kendi McLain
:...in spite of all the planning and plotting the characters seem to have a mind of their own. LOL."

Leslie, I had to laugh at this. During a very bad time when we were overseas, I was seeing a psycologist. He asked me if I ever heard voices in my head. I said of course I do, I'm a writer.

He said "I don't mean the make believe ones."

I said, "Neither do I."

That was the last visit. He had no imagination.
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Bobbie Carlton-Hess
Bobbie Carlton-Hess
:ROFLMAO: Some people have No Sense of Humor!!
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lrdavis
lrdavis
@Kendi McLain
That is an hilarious story.. now get yourself on over to that NEW THREAD button and start a new Intro for you, so we can give you a proper welcome...and do some more ROFLMAO.
But for now, welcome,
Lyn
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Hi @Andrew Parker

Cathy Yardley is not scheduled right now, but she is an awesome instructor. She has books that have really helped me. Rock Your Revisions has been very good for editing and revising novels. She also works with people individually.

Keep an eye out for other editing classes.

Lyn
 
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@Kendi McLain
That is an hilarious story.. now get yourself on over to that NEW THREAD button and start a new Intro for you, so we can give you a proper welcome...and do some more ROFLMAO.
But for now, welcome,
Lyn
 
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