Mindy Carlson

How is it already May??

I had the best of intentions to write this blog in February and then March and then I was totally going to do it in April.

Yeah. That didn’t happen.

Things have been difficult. I’ve had some personal losses, several minor illnesses, a major curling bonspiel to coordinate, and a lot of travel in the last two months. I’m swamped.

I feel like I’ve been plunged into white water rapids, the water sweeping me away to be battered against rocks and debris.

If this is the kind of FLOW I’m supposed to go with I’m going to change my word.

But people do fall into white water rapids. There’s a whole procedure for surviving they teach you before you get onto the raft. When you hit the water, you lay on your back with your feet facing downstream. Next, use your arms and hands to maintain this position as you maneuver around waves and rocks. 

You stay calm. You find your balance. And you float.

Right now finding balance is a struggle. I’ve kind of thrown my hands up and said, “Fine! Bash me against the rocks!” But that’s been a bit painful. I need to find my procedure for surviving. The intentional process to get me into floating.

Writing on this blog is the first step.

The second step is opening myself to taking on developmental editing jobs.

A developmental edit is a high-level review of a manuscript that looks at structure, content, plot, pacing, and character development. I’ve been trading manuscripts with a couple fellow authors to help get their manuscript unstuck, or to help them plot out their mysteries, or even look at where this manuscript is working and where I need more.

And, you guys, I kind of love it.

This is different than copy editing. That’s looking for grammar, commas, and proper punctuation. A developmental edit happens way before commas make a difference.

I’m talking about story flow, clue placement, characters you love and love to hate, all the elements that make your story sing. That is where the magic is.

If you have a manuscript you’re working on and need some help give me an email or contact me through my website.