EDITING TLC

CONNECTIONS: These are the articles that I write for the MWSA monthly e-newsletter, Dispatches.

July Edition 2010:

See that handsome Marine in the photo?  That is my adopted son, Adam J. Gilmour (Marine Sgt. Gilmour), who served eight years in the USMC.  God gave him to us when he was just five weeks old, but what CONNECTS me to you is the fact that he chose to join the USMC when he was eighteen years old.  At the time, his decision didn’t thrill me, but it did bring me into a world of the most wonderful people around—the world of the U.S. Military.  I spent six years plus as a board member of Marine Parents United (MPU), and through that I was introduced to Military Writers Society of America, and for that I am very grateful.  The CONNECTIONS I’ve been making at MWSA this past year have led me here and to the conference in the fall.

I have always believed that things happen for a reason, and people come into our lives for a reason.  I envision God sitting “up there” connecting the dots between people and I just love to see where life takes us.  During the last few years, life has taken me beyond my classroom of third graders (35 years and still going strong) and I’ve branched out with Editing TLC (Technical Literary Critique).  I’m thrilled to be able to offer a workshop at the MWSA Conference in Pittsburgh regarding editing, and hope to share with you via this newsletter. 

When I look at the MWSA membership, I see hundreds of folks that have served our country.  They have lived with very high expectations for that service.  They have gone the extra mile in service to our country and are topnotch people and the majority of MWSA books prove that authors carried those expectations into the writing field as well.  As reviewers, a number of us have been asked to rate books that were not topnotch.  We know that MWSA writers didn’t serve our country “just good enough” to get by.  They showed excellence in their service.

MWSA wants authors to go the extra mile and raise the bar for putting their books into print.  We are advocating that authors put a bit more into their books up front so that readers will not be distracted with errors.  I have asked the question: “People may buy your first book, but will they buy your second?”  Please accept nothing less than your best for your manuscript.  Work toward perfection BEFORE publication.

So back to CONNECTIONS!  I believe that writers should make a number of connections relating to their manuscript:

1)   Connect with the manuscript. 

This seems to be the connection that comes the easiest for authors.  Those manuscripts are like babies and sometimes that is exactly what causes the problem.  Authors can’t get out of their box to see any problems.  But they need to do just that to take the best care of that “baby.”  As a parent, we look for advice from others and take our kiddos to doctors when they needed it.  Right?

2)   Connect with a writing partner.

Authors need to ask for input from a number of readers (and this needs to go beyond family and close friends: they often struggle to give the brutal truth).  Some writers are fortunate enough to be part of a writing group and this is exactly what they do for each other.  They take the time to share their writing and are brave enough to listen to other people’s feedback.

3)   Connect with a copyeditor (with a matching philosophy). 

By making a connection with a copyeditor, authors are giving their manuscript the respect of having “another set of eyes” work through it.  The author and copyeditor can work together to get the manuscript to that “topnotch” level.  In my business, final decisions belong to the author, for after all, it is their baby.  Authors don’t need to feel like they are handing over their manuscript to someone else and losing control of it.  Writers need to find a copyeditor that has a matching philosophy to their own.  Now believe it or not, I have had authors that say “Fix it and return it.”  Those authors make me wonder a bit about their connection to their writing.  But I guess there are all kinds out there!  And DON’T rely on editing programs.  They can NOT read the heart and soul of your writing. 

SO SERVE THAT MANUSCRIPT WELL…RAISE THE BAR…MAKE IT TOPNOTCH!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE AUTHORS WHO HAVE BEEN DOING JUST THAT!

August 2010 Edition:

Thanks to those of you who took the time to read my first column in the July Dispatches.  I do want you to understand that I do know the difference between a corporal and a sergeant.  Yes, I shared the picture of my son in his dress blues with his corporal stripes and the article mentioned that he was a sergeant.  Well, guess what?  I love the dress blues photo!!  But this month, I’m showing that he actually did make the rank of sergeant!  I didn’t want you to think that this Marine Mom didn’t know what she was talking about!!  But hats off to those of you that noticed the “discrepancy”!   But I guess the new photo doesn’t prove it, you’ll just have to take my word for it. 

Recognize this great guy?  Of course you do!!  Well, jim greenwald, the Lead Reviewer for MWSA, and I made a CONNECTION in a very unique way.  Last year for the MWSA conference, I donated 30,000 words of editing service.  Jim bid on it and won.  Well, that isn’t so amazing, but the reason why surprised me.  jim told me that he chose to bid on the editing service because he wanted to prove that he didn’t need an editor. (He’ll have to share the story behind his non-capitalized names, which drives his newest editor crazy!)

If you’ve been reading jim’s column, I’m sure that you’ve noticed he has become an advocate for getting manuscripts edited, even if you are an English major!  Here is what he said about the copyediting process: “Recently, I decided to place my next effort into the hands of an editing service, arrogantly, more so to prove how good I am, not necessarily expecting much as after all ‘I am good.’ Well, to call the experience an eye opener would be kind to me.  My level of being comfortable seriously diminished, as I went through my returned manuscript I was constantly amazed at some of the simple errors I had made, and repeatedly. My level of checking my own manuscripts will be as a result, much improved. The feeling of need to have future works professionally edited has skyrocketed. Clearly from my experience I can say that editing makes the difference between a good book and just one more book.  If, like me, you feel you are that good that you do not need to have an editor go through your manuscript, welcome to my world of surprise.”

So THANKS, jim, for the CONNECTION that we have made and for contributing to my second column for Dispatches!! Thanks for the encouragement to get more involved with MWSA and thanks for your friendship.  I can’t wait to meet you and all of the other amazing authors in Pittsburgh.

REQUEST:

To Authors of Children’s Books:  I am a third grade teacher and will have a brand new group of kiddos in September that would love to hear a great children’s story and be able to write to a real author who would like feedback from a great group of eight and nine year olds.  My students always enjoy receiving a letter from a real author after they’ve written letters and drawn pictures for him/her.  Think about it and if you’d like to CONNECT with us at Brooklyn Elementary School in Wisconsin, email me at jmgteach@yahoo.com.  Thanks!

September 2010 Edition:

Unbelievable!  In less than one month many of us will be gathering in Pittsburgh for the MWSA Conference.  I am so excited to meet some of you there and will be able to make more CONNECTIONS with such wonderful people.  I can’t wait to meet some of the authors that I have had the honor to write reviews for their books.  I’m kind of “funny” that way, as I seem to become possessive in calling them “my” authors. (And you know who you are!)

I also am thrilled to have made a connection with Kathleen Rodgers, MWSA award-winning author of The Final Salute, whose book is being included in the stage performance.  Due to the MWSA newsletter, Kathleen contacted me, and we are going to be working together on her second novel.  I am thrilled to announce that Kathleen will be joining me for the “Treat Your Manuscript with TLC” workshop on Saturday of the conference.  We will be demonstrating how an author and copyeditor can get together and decide the process they will use in their teamwork.  You can see the decision-making in real-life action. I want to thank Kathleen for being willing to participate in the workshop.

One of the things that has become very apparent in my discussions with Kathleen is just how important being a member of a critique group can be for an author.  I think it takes a lot of courage to put a manuscript “out there” when it is in “working form.”  It goes well when praise comes your way, but when someone “picks apart” a section of your book, well, that might take a day or more to work through emotionally.  It usually is with that “pain” that growth and change occurs, which often results in a much better manuscript.  So, my encouragement this month is to search out a critique group, either locally or online.

I cannot wait to see what CONNECTIONS I will be able to make at the conference.  I know there is a lot of work going on preparing for this awesome event.  In the next newsletter I’ll be writing as someone who has experienced her first MWSA conference.  I can’t wait!

November 2010 Edition:

Unbelievable! Has it been a month since the MWSA conference?  If you weren’t able to attend, you missed making CONNECTIONS with some great people. Start socking some money away each week/month for travel plans to attend next year’s conference in Pittsburgh.  The MWSA Board is already at work taking reflections from this year’s conference to make next year’s event even better. They are a hard-working, dedicated group of people.  Over the next few months, I will be sharing with you about some of the people that I had the good fortune of meeting during this conference…people that have impacted my life.

I’m going to begin with a trio of gentlemen, three of the authors of Kings of the Green Jelly Moon: Michael Mullins, James Jellerson, and jim greenwald. (Lloyd King, the fourth author was not able to attend the conference.)  The title of the CD (and forthcoming book) is comprised of parts of each of their names...oh such creative guys!! (Lloyd King, jim greenwald, James Jellerson, and Michael “Moon” Mullins. (And you can read Vietnam in Verse to learn about Michael’s nickname. Very interesting!) They all are Vietnam Veterans. 

It was great fun sitting around with a group of people and swapping stories with these guys after conference hours. We all had a wonderful time.  But the specific event I’d like to highlight here is the workshop they presented.  The Poetry Corner took place at the Tin Front Cafè.  I wasn’t originally scheduled to attend that workshop (sorry, fellas!), but I had been asked to be part of an interview team that Bob Calvert (Talking With Heroes) was going to film prior to the Poetry Corner.  Due to the shuttle situation, I had the FORTUNE (as opposed to misfortune) of being able to stay for the Poetry Corner, and for that, I am so thankful.

These gentlemen handed out some of their poems and we each were able to read one to the group.  I had the honor of reading one that Michael wrote for his wife about memories of special times spent with her.  I thought to myself, “What a gift for a man to give to his wife…a lovely poem.”  It was a wonderful time of sharing.  I think what amazed me was the answer to my question, “At what age do you think you began to write poetry?”  I believe two out of three said they began writing poems in elementary school.  Being a third grade teacher, this really made me think about how we handle writing and more specifically, poetry.  It was also very interesting to learn that writing poetry has helped each of them work through some PTSD issues. 

I was told that everyone has a story to tell…everyone has a poem within.  Well, thanks to a fourth grade teacher, my writing life pretty much was shut down and from that point on I never felt like I could be a writer.  Michael, jim, and James convinced me that I needed to open myself up to what I have within me. If they believed in me, why couldn’t I believe in myself?  The experience of the Poetry Corner gave me a lot of food for thought.

Sitting at the airport on my way back to Wisconsin, I grabbed my new journal (a wonderful gift from MWSA discovered in my registration bag) and penned this poem.  It scares me to share it here because it is a simple poem, but it does convey my thoughts after what I learned from three wise men: Michael, James, and jim.

Writer Within

They say it’s within me.

But where?

They say to spill it all out.

But how?

They say I’ve got stories to tell.

But what?

They say to get started.

But when?

They say people want to hear.

But who?

They say it’s important.

But why?

They say it’s within me.

But where? Deep within my soul.

They say to spill it all out.

But how? One word at a time.

They say I’ve got stories to tell.

But what? Life’s many experiences and memories.

They say to get started.

But when? Upon waking to each new day.

They say people want to hear.

But who? Those who love me and beyond.

They say it’s important.

But why? To prove to myself there’s a writer within.

Dedication:

This poem is dedicated to three new friends from Military Writers Society of America.

These three Vietnam Vets and poets have encouraged me to find the writer within.  This is a first attempt to join the world of poetry.  I’m sure it is way too structured for them, but what can I say?  It’s from my heart. And that is where they told me to begin.

Thank you, James Jellerson, Mike Mullins, and jim greenwald.  You three are very special guys who give so much to others.  Thank you for all you do and the love that you spread.  You all are amazing and are heroes to me. YOU are the “they” in this poem.

December 2010 Edition:

Over the last ten years or so, I have become more cognizant of how I think God “connects the dots” between people, and the way that He goes about it still amazes me. Seeing the impact that people have in my life, I want to share a DIVINE CONNECTION that was made at the Pittsburgh MWSA Conference.  The funny thing is that this connection was made because of a frustration of one of the participants.  Really, you say?  Well, having served on the board for Marine Parents United for six years, and having planned many conferences, I know that “glitches” can happen and thus my “meeting” Navy Chaplain Father Ron Moses Camarda.  He actually had a concern for someone else at that moment.  Go figure…this is the essence of this man…reaching out to and for others.  At this point in time, I had no idea who this man was…none at all.

Father Ron was feeling a bit of frustration due to a scheduling glitch and was trying to share his concerns…I can remember reaching out and touching his arm and saying “I get it.  I get your frustration.”  At that point, we left the room together and were standing out by the elevator, and then because of all of the commotion and the dinging of the elevators, we moved over a ways, and I think we talked for about half an hour.  That time spent together was nothing less than a DIVINE CONNECTION.  Here was a man who ended up in the Battle for Fallujah, being recalled into the chaplain service of the USMC.  He shares about his experiences in his book Tear in the Desert.

If you are not familiar with Father Ron’s book Tear in the Desert, please visit www.tearinthedesert.com today. It is a MWSA Silver Medal Award Winner (please check out the review on the MWSA website). Father Camarda has also done readings from his book for You Tube.  I can’t put into words the impact that this man had on me that day: God is using him to bless our military families.  The subtitle of the book is “A Journey into the Heart of the Iraq War.”  Here is a quote from the jacket of the book: “I must pilot the ship of my soul with precision and great trust in God.  Mother Theresa of Calcutta taught me to celebrate every Mass as if it were my first Mass, my only Mass, and my last Mass.  It serves me well with the real possibility of death always a few yards away.” – Father Ron

I cannot do justice with my words in this column.  There is no way that I can share the impact of my two conversations and the interview with Father Ron that happened at the conference.  I just can’t.  He shared with me some of his experiences as I stood with tears in my eyes.  This man experienced the death of many of our service members, but more than that, he experienced seeing souls enter eternity.  This man shares his humanity, his doubts, his fears…his tears.

Let me quote from Father Ron’s introduction of Tear in the Desert:

            “Jesus used stories.  This is a book of stories.  Part of the book is my story, but it is also the story of how millions of people had their lives changed forever.

            “This story is everyone’s story.  All of us are born from a man and a woman.  All of us are in need of abundant love and joy and sorrow.  We need food and shelter and peace.  O yes, we need peace.  And this may sound even more incredible…We all need war.

            “This is a story about journeying into war and coming home to realize that we must be rescued from the war within.  The story begins in the desert amidst the mystery and marvel of a single solitary tear.  The tear has been tearing me apart and drowning me.  The tear will also make me whole and call me to an authentic life.

            “A very weak and unworthy person tells this story.  I tell it with feelings of love and fear, but mostly of love.  I am continually transformed and transfigured by this story.  I am filled with gratitude beyond all telling for the tear that is this story.

            “Tear in the Desert is my journey.  I share it with all of my idiosyncrasies and biases.  I share it with love.  I pray and hope you will find comfort in it and not terror or despair.  It is probably a story told since the beginning of the human race, whenever that was.  I hope we all grow and benefit from tears shared by those who died for a worthy cause, one they believed to be closer to the divine, the spirit of love.

            “God bless you and thank you for taking this journey.  I dedicate this story to your heart and your capacity to love.  For without love, there would be no tear.”

When I had my second conversation with Father Ron at the conference, I was trying to share with him about my feelings of how God connects people.  I couldn’t find the right words…and it was he who said, “It was a divine connection.”  And he was right.  Father Ron’s sharing of his journey and his book has impacted my life.  For that, I want to publicly thank him.  I truly hope that each of you will invest the time that it takes to go to his website and investigate Tear in the Desert.  Take the time to CONNECT with Father Ron Moses Camarda. Your heart and soul will be glad you did. 

Thank you, Father Ron, for your ministry.

Sincerely,

Joyce