Your online “21 Steps to Fog-Free Writing” class helped me tremendously in writing and publishing my six novels. How did you develop the program?
The idea for it came several years ago on a flight from Chicago to Atlanta, where I was to research an article for a public relations client. Out of boredom I was editing a fog-filled paperback—yes, editing is actually a game for me—when I realized the same mistakes appeared over and over. I was intrigued. I bought another paperback at the Atlanta airport and edited it on the way home. A pattern emerged, and I became excited. Had I discovered the writer’s Rosetta stone?
Over the next several months I edited many other paperback novels. I joined critique groups and aggressively edited other writers’ fiction. I plowed through all those manuscripts from pre-published authors and the marked-up paperback books I'd tossed into a dresser drawer, and painstakingly sorted thousands of offending sentences and other problems by type. I eventually identified twenty-one distinct problems. Today I call their solutions, appropriately enough, the 21 Steps to Fog-Free Writing.
The inference staggered me. Just as there are a specific number of elements in chemistry’s Periodic Table and letters in the alphabet, there’s also a specific number of fog problems in writing. I realized many unnecessary words are actually tips of bad-writing icebergs, and that eliminating them resolves otherwise complicated editing problems. In fact, almost half the Steps actually strengthen action while shortening sentences.
Do you teach other writing classes?
Yes. It occurred to me that the “21-Step” course
helps writers take words out of their WIP, but what’s the best way to put them
in in the first place? So I developed a companion course titled “Editor-Proof
That Manuscript!” that helps writers do that. It covers such areas as hooks,
point of view, information dumps, developing scenes, conflict, sexual tension,
and much more. What’s your writing background?
I’ve written my entire career, starting after college in the early sixties. I edited magazines for eleven years, wrote and managed other writers for a major PR firm for six years, then ran my own marketing communications business for twenty-one years. While I was successful in what I did, I yearned to write fiction, a different animal entirely. I “went to school” since then, combining trial-and-error with writing classes and reading. Since then I’ve written three romance novels, two young adult novels, and a book of short stories.
Can you tell us about your romance novels?
Well, I’ve often heard one should write about what he/she knows about, so I based two of the romance novels on my own experiences. It’s a great way to do research.
The first, Mystery at Magnolia Mansion, evolved
from owning a crumbling historical house my wife and I found in Magnolia
Springs, Alabama. As we renovated it, it occurred to me it would be an ideal location
and topic for a romance novel. So I
developed a story about a young interior designer who… well, here’s the story:
Brenda Maxwell’s
new interior design client tells her to “paint, wallpaper, whatever” his
hundred-year-old landmark mansion (the house we owned), “but for God’s sake,
don’t go overboard.” When she figures her grandiose plans will fit handily into
his edict’s “whatever” section, they’re launched into a constant head-bumping
mode. Brenda’s poor money management
skills (that’s his view, but what does he know?) and lawyer David Hasbrough’s
ridiculous need to control her life (that’s her well-reasoned evaluation of the
situation) combine to keep the battle going. Is this couple’s romantic goose
cooked? Well, she can’t be near him without sparks flying and goose bumps
popping out everywhere. But that mansion
has to be done right!
The other
romance novel is titled Mystery on
Firefly Knob. It was born on a trip
through Eastern Tennessee, when my wife and I ran across a Cumberland Plateau
knob overlooking beautiful Sequatchie Valley. It looked like an ideal place to
launch a story, but about what? As I
considered that, I read of a unique firefly that flashed simultaneously with
others instead of individually. I also remembered my own hobby dealing in
mail-order antiques in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I threw in a murder, intrigue,
love, and action, and came up with this story:
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I guess the very first time was when I
was in grade school, and the teacher asked us to write a story about Mother’s
Day. The next day she read mine to the
class, and later a pretty little girl came up to me and said, “Donnie, I loved
your story.” That’s when I realized I
loved writing, and feared little girls.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you
do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I spent most of my forty-year career
writing stories that told how my client’s equipment or services helped other
manufacturers solve problems—less expense, faster production, better
service—then placed the stories with magazines read by my client’s potential
customers. I also oversaw writing staffs, and learned early that even
“professional” writers needed editing.
Today I put that knowledge to work for editing fiction writers at http://McNairEdits.com . I generally
edit in the mornings, and write my WIP and do promotion in the afternoon.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Just this. If you want to be a selling
fiction writer, keep learning. Take evening and online writing classes. Write
every day. And above all, after your
critique partners have signed off on your work and you’ve polished it as much
as you can, have it professionally edited before sending it to a publisher or agent.
I work through an editing network, and see hundreds of raw manuscripts. Most
need heavy editing. What I see is what those experienced publication editors
and agents see, so I know why they reject ninety-five percent of the
manuscripts offered. Remember: the manuscripts I see are written by writers who realize their work might not be the best it could be, and have asked for help. The rest send their work directly to agents and publishers, and most will get them back with a nice note thanking them for their interest. They won’t know what mistakes they’re making—or even that they’re making mistakes, for that matter— and for the rest of their lives they will make the same ones. They will produce manuscript after manuscript that will find their way back to them. A professional editor can tell you what you’re doing wrong and short-circuit the process. At the very least, I hope your readers read and apply Editor-Proof Your Writing when it comes out!
My favourite page on Don's website is the one which shows before and after editing - have a look... http://mcnairedits.com/EditingSample.html
Thanks for going minxy for the day, Don!
Mystery at Magnolia Mansion is available from Amazon uk here.
And Amazon com here.
And Mystery on Firefly Knob is available from Amazon uk here.
And Amazon com here.
2 comments:
Hi Don,
Thanks for being with us here today, what a fascinating interview!
I love the sound of your book about the crumbling mansion, I'm going to add it to my christmas book wish list. :O)
Thanks for the kind words, Jody. Hope you enjoy the book!
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