What words do you need to drop?

That. We need to drop that. Maybe not all of them, but a whole bunch of 'em can go.

Up. Down. Bet those aren't words you think about much. She stood up. She sat down. Are 'up' and 'down' really necessary? Well, no.

Well. Sometimes a sentence just doesn't look right, so I add well. I've noticed other writers do it, too, and usually it's not really necessary.

Really. I probably could have dropped that from my last two examples. But I really, really, really like really.

Starting a sentence with but, and, or 'or'. It just doesn't look right. But I do it all the time. And I notice other writers do too.

Dialogue tags. I've worked with enough editors to know they don't like excessive dialogue tags. "But I love them!" she yelled excitedly.

Words ending in 'ly'. These are frowned upon too, of course. Overuse of adjectives and adverbs clunk up a story.

He blinked his eyes rapidly. Well, where to begin? Do guys blink? Do they blink rapidly? And what else would they blink besides their eyes? Maybe just 'he blinked.' My point is, we sometimes add body parts into a sentence that aren't necessary. We know he blinked his eyes, or we know he pointed with his finger. Of course, sometimes we might want to add which finger he pointed with.

We can drop words that are redundant. Such as telling someone it was a free gift. A gift is free by definition.

Clichés. Sometimes, all we can think of is a well-worn cliché, but our readers deserve more and our editors demand more.

Sometimes. I've noticed I use sometimes a lot. Watch out for words that overpopulate your manuscript. (Like 'out'.)

Do you have words you know you need to drop but they creep into your writing anyway? Writers who have been at it a long time know all these pitfalls. For someone who is new to writing, these are some of the things you need to consider.

What is an Acquisition Team?

For someone who works on the inside of a large publishing house, the language of their world is as familiar to them as grass. To an outsider, the language of their world is about as clear as the mud under the grass.

I asked a new question yesterday. What are acquisition editors and what are acquisition teams? Naturally, the acquisitions editor is part of the acquisition team, but other people are as well. And one leads to the other. Our manuscript is not going to make it to an acquisition team unless the acquisitions editor wants to acquire it first.

The reason it's important to know which acquisitions is being referred to is because one is still slush-pile stage and the other is farther along in the process. At the latter stage, your manuscript is discussed between colleagues and in editorial meetings. There are formal and informal meetings going on. As the process moves along, more people are involved and more departments are brought in, such as marketing and sales teams. While I researched this yesterday, I was staggered by all that goes on inside that big publishing house. (I imagine the process is similar for small publishers.)

There is a lot involved in getting a book out of the slush. Once an acquisitions editor decides (s)he likes a manuscript, it is passed to the next person. They read and decide if they like. If it succeeds at these early stages, proposals are drawn up and it becomes a subject of meetings. It's easy to see that every moment they spend with your manuscript costs them money. More people read it. In fact, it seems to be read by a lot of people--people who know books and know the hard, cold, dollar facts of publishing. It's the subject of meetings where pitches are made by complete strangers for your story. Their efforts for your book may succeed or fail. Even if they fail, what a thing to consider that they tried! They invested in you.

If you want to know about what goes on inside a big publishing house when they consider your story, then these are the articles. 

Five Publishing Hurdles (And How to Clear Them)
http://michaelhyatt.com/five-publishing-hurdles-and-how-to-clear-them.html

The Acquisition Process
http://www.firstsecondbooks.com/behind-the-scenes/the-acquisition-process/

What's an acquisitions editor? How can I help this editor?
http://www.right-writing.com/acquisitions.html

What leads the acquisition team to say no, even when the editor says yes?
http://carinapress.com/blog/2011/10/what-leads-the-acquisition-team-to-say-no-even-when-the-editor-says-yes/

How to speak publisher - A is for Acquisitions
http://www.stroppyauthor.com/2010/11/how-to-speak-publisher-is-for.html  

Harlequin Shivers asked for a Revise and Resubmit for CLIFF HOUSE. The news is even better, though. I was asked if I wanted to work with an editor to take my writing to the next level. Absolutely, positively yes! (Update: I have decided not to move forward with this kind offer. I want to move away from secular fiction and focus on Christian fiction and non-fiction books in the future.)

Here's another article. This one is about R&R. Very interesting.

http://carinapress.com/blog/2011/01/what-does-it-mean-when-youre-asked-to-revise-and-resubmit/ 

Have you ever wondered what an acquisitions editor is? Or an acquisition team?

Sherlock Holmes Appreciation Day

A bit of Sherlock Holmes trivia for you today.

It's well known that Holmes used cocaine, but did you know that at the time it wasn't considered dangerous and didn't have the stigma it has today? It was a recent discovery in Doyle's day and was thought to have medicinal purposes. So, maybe not as shocking to the people of his day as we might think.

Holmes smoked shag tobacco, which isn't that unusual. Where he kept it is a little strange, though. He secured it in the toe of a Persian slipper on his fireplace mantel. What's up with that? That's where he should have kept his cocaine.

Not all Holmes stories were narrated by Dr. John H. Watson; two were narrated by Holmes himself, two more were third person. Do you know the names of the stories Holmes narrated himself? 

The first Holmes story was published in 1887. Doyle went on to write four novels and 56 short stories that featured Holmes. These stories covered a period from 1880 to 1914 and are still read more than 100 years later. I wish us all the same success as writers.