Interview Ryder Islington Author of ULTIMATE JUSTICE

Thank you Ryder Islington

Revisions: Where the Rubber Meets The Road

Writing a book is like getting married. The newness, wonder, dreams, and pleasures of the first draft give way to the real work: Revisions. Notice there’s an ‘S’ on the end of that word. I don’t know of anyone who revises only once.

There are dozens of things to fix after that first fervor is cooled. First the obvious, grammar, punctuation and spelling must be corrected. Then there are all the things you read about in articles on all the writing sites: description, dialogue, senses, repetition.

And let’s not forget the big stuff: plot holes, sagging middles, and consistency in time, weather, descriptions, etc.

I’ve read about how we need to just write that first draft, not stopping for anything—don’t worry about spelling, dialogue tags, repetitive words, etc—just write. I just can’t. Every time I return to my story, I have to read a few pages, correct glaring mistakes, and then continue on.

I’m not the typical writer. I know I’m supposed to write everyday, but I can’t. My health, and my family life will not allow it. But I’m not one to give up. It may be days, or weeks between bouts of writing, so I need to read the previous pages, so I know where I am, and where I’m going. And, it helps me not have to revise so many times. My debut novel, Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery, took me years to write. I revised it more than thirty times—I know that because I gave each new revision a letter of the alphabet, and did several revisions after I reached ‘Z’.

I’ve met writers who hate to revise, and others who think that’s where all the fun is. The first draft is foreplay, and the revision is the steamy stuff. Well, I like to mix it up. A little foreplay, steamy stuff, a little foreplay, steamy stuff…

No matter when or how you revise, it is imperative that you comb through your work carefully, and make sure you hit every subject listed above, and then some. There are great resources out there to help make sure you don’t miss anything. Christine Fairchild teaches a great class on revision. You can find her at www.editordevil.blogspot.com.

And there’s a great book called Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, How to edit yourself into print, by Renni Browne and Dave King. I’m sure there are hundreds of other resources, but these two did the trick for me. Without them my book would still be sitting in a corner, waiting for some publisher to say yes.

So have your foreplay to your heart’s content, but don’t forget that foreplay is only the beginning.

 Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery is receiving rave reviews from readers. http://www.ll-publications.com/ultimatejustice.html

The small town of Raven Bayou, Louisiana explodes as old money meets racial tension, and tortured children turn the table on abusive men. FBI Special Agent Trey Fontaine returns home to find the town turned upside down with mutilated bodies. Working with local homicide detectives, Trey is determined to get to the  truth. A believer in empirical evidence, Trey ignores his instincts until he stares into the face of the impossible, and has to choose between what he wants to believe and the ugly truth.

A graduate of the University of California and former officer for a large sheriff’s department, RYDER ISLINGTON is now retired and doing what she loves: reading, writing, and gardening. She lives in Louisiana with her family, including a very large English Chocolate Lab, a very small Chinese pug, and a houseful of demanding cats. She can be contacted at RyderIslington@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://ryderislington.wordpress.com