The biggest change to my writing process in the last few years is a renewed focus on working with editors. In the past when I submitted to anthologies there were editors but as I writer I had limited interactions with them. The usual process was send in a script, they match it to an artist, I’d see the final product. I hired editors for Sherlock and Renfield but for the most part they came in late in the game and focused more on helping me with the comic book aspects of the script than the story. For my current project, a children’s holiday adventure (chapter book) I knew I was going to need some help.

Finding and hiring an editor seemed like a daunting task but I got lucky. A writer/editor that I have immense respect for decided to host a month long writing group and he picked the participants from his substack subscribers. We had interacted a bit in the past, I had actually reviewed his comics on What’cha Reading back in the day as well as interacting in the substack comments and on socials so I felt fairly confident in asking to join the group. It was a great way to create, having a peer group to talk through stuff with is invaluable. I got more writing done that month than I had in the previous six.

After the group had ended and I had finished the manuscript (finished, HA!) I reached out and asked if he’d be interested in giving it a high level editorial pass.

We had a zoom where we discussed the project and I laid out what I was trying to achieve, the themes, the intended audience. He seemed excited by the project and I was excited to have another set of eyes. I sent him the manuscript. Have you ever made something and then willingly asked someone to critique it? To honestly point out every flaw? It’s a sobering prospect. I waited.

I assumed I would get notes on story structure, pacing, etc but what I got back was so much more than what I expected. First and foremost he “got it”, he saw what I saw in the story and matched my energy in wanting to tell it. There were notes, a lot of notes, but they were good notes. In my opinion good notes aren’t “fix this” “change that” good notes are questions. Questions like “have you considered” or “what if you” that help to drive the story forward, help to make the story better.

Now that I’m armed with some really great notes I just need to get back to work. Do I relish rewriting something that felt “finished?” Of course not, but I want this book to be the best it can be. The only way to do that is to put in the work.

Did you know I made some shirts a while back?

I was messing with the idea of doing merchandise but before settling on designs based on my books I thought I’d mess with some simple stuff…

https://whatchareading.printify.me

It’s just a few items that I designed in order to try out the platform and it’s design tools. The shirts are high quality and the designs look great when printed.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for your continued support!