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You know when you’re watching a movie about people making a movie/TV show and they say, “We’ll fix it in post?”

Well, so will you.

Your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. It shouldn’t be perfect. You’re going to write and rewrite until it publishes, and then you’re going to wish you could write and rewrite some more, because there’s always something you could’ve done differently.

There are different camps when it comes to writing and editing. I’m firmly in the camp that you should write the entire project before you start editing. Some say you should edit as you go, but to me, that can cause problems.

You write chapter one. You go back and edit chapter one. Okay, that’s great. Now move on to chapter two. But, wait, you want to change more of chapter one, so you go back to that. Editing as you go can cause this road block where you want to perfect what you’ve already written before you move on. If this road block doesn’t get in your way, then okay, keep editing the way you have been.

But, since that’s not the case for most people, write first, edit later. Here’s how I suggest you work through your project. Now, remember, this won’t work for everyone, but it’s a starting point if you’re struggling!

1. Write the entire first draft from start to finish (if you have a prologue/epilogue, these are the only exceptions for me. Write these after you’ve edited, since so much can change! I may write a whole blog post on just this.)
2. Set the project aside. You’ve just written a ton of words (probably like 40,000 to 100,000, ideally!) and your brain needs a break from it. I recommend at least a week, longer if you can. Give your mind a chance to relax and recover after writing an entire book! You deserve it!
3. Read your entire first draft. Don’t make any changes. Take notes as you’re reading on things you might want to consider, maybe edit a couple grammar/spelling mistakes if you find them, but this should be a plain read-through. The idea here is to get a feel for your book as a whole before you start breaking it down again during the editing process. It can also help you catch continuity errors if you read from start to finish without stopping.
4. Take another break. This one can be shorter, just a day or two, so you can mull over what you’ve just read and come up with an editing plan.
5. Read again, and this time, start editing. Kill your darlings! (You can create a separate document with these darlings so you can use them in the future). Work on tightening your plot and strengthening your characters. You don’t have to focus as much on grammar/spelling/punctuation at this point. This is more of a developmental edit for you.
6. You guessed it, take another break! By this point, you’ve read your own work at least twice, and you need a palate cleanser before you dive back into it. Read other books in your genre at this point. You can also start working on your query letter here if you’re planning on submitting to agents or editors.
7. Read again, but do it out loud this time. This will help you with the flow of the book as well as with any issues you might have with dialogue.
8. Read through one more time for a copy edit. Focus on sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I don’t necessarily think a break is necessary between these last two edits, but if you need one, take one!
9. Start submitting (or publish!) your book!

Of course, each of these read throughs might end up being multiple read throughs, especially when you get to step five. Which is why it’s important to take breaks. You want to love your story by the time you’re finished, and if you overwhelm yourself with it too soon, you might start to hate it.

Again, this is just my recommendation, as I write on my own and continue to work with editing clients (for more information, visit the editorial services tab!). The most important thing is to remember that your first draft is just that: a draft. No need to perfect it right away. You’ll fix it in post.

Xoxo Tia

Visit the new page on my website for information on my editorial services: http://tiarosemele.com/editorial-services/

I look forward to working with you!

xoxo Tia

CW/TW: racism, transphobia

I’m not sorry that I was caught. I’m sorry that I ever said such violent, racist, horrible things.

On 9/20, old Tweets of mine resurfaced in which I expressed racist sentiments, including one where I questioned the legality of a Mexican man working in my dorm building when I was a freshman in college.

These Tweets are not okay. I never should have posted them. I never should have thought these things.

Many say that youth isn’t an excuse. That’s true. I shouldn’t say that I was young and naive, even though I was.

The most recent Tweets came from 2014. That’s six years ago, and two years before I joined my agency. I didn’t stop posting offensive things because I became an intern or an agent. I stopped posting them because I learned how wrong my ideology was, and I learned how to change and grow and be better.

I grew up in a white town surrounded by people saying and doing racist things. For some, this is the life they never leave. This is how white supremacists are grown and fostered. I am lucky, because I went off to college, and I realized that the small world I grew up in is not reflective of the real world.

I learned on accident. I won’t say that I went to college trying to better myself. When I transferred to UConn, I was placed into a class on Feminism. I had no idea what Feminism was, really, when I started. I remember making naive comments, but my professor was patient and guided me to a better understanding of what Feminism means and why it is important. From there, I started taking more classes on Feminism because I realized my world view was small and I needed to grow it.

I also took a class on Arab culture and history. It was another class I was put into as a mid-year transfer, and it’s one I am grateful to have taken, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

My education was filled with courses on different cultures and people. I took sociology and psychology classes because I have a strong desire to learn and grow. Those are my two buzz words right now. I have learned and I have grown since those Tweets were posted.

Some have said that they also grew up in a white town and they never spread such hatred. Not everyone has the same lived experience. I did spew hateful, racist things. I shared inside jokes with friends that were insensitive and awful. I didn’t care about the people I was hurting. I am ashamed of that fact.

I am truly sorry that I hurt people with my words and actions. Reading those Tweets, I know that the girl who said such horrible things is not the same girl writing this apology now. I know that she is still a part of me, but she is a person I have worked hard over the last few years to change. I do not want to be that person anymore. I am not that person anymore.

I am going to continue to learn and grow. It will take a lot to prove that I care about people and that I do not maintain the ideologies I once expressed in such a vile manner. I do not expect, nor do I ask for, forgiveness. I ask for the chance to learn and grow and do better as a person.

Over the last few years, I have tried to show my love and support for the LGBT+ community, the BLM movement, and other groups. I know that my Tweets have hurt and disappointed the people who trusted me to amplify marginalized voices. I hope that I can continue to use my voice in the way I have for the last few years, and show that though I was racist in the past, I have changed since then, and I am going to continue to change for the future.

As for the questions about why I never addressed my past racism before being called out, my answer is that I didn’t remember. I know that is a cop out answer, but it is the truth. Reading those Tweets, I have no recollection of those horrible, racist things I felt and Tweeted. I know they exist because I see them, but I do not remember being the person who posted them. I never thought to clean my Twitter history because I didn’t remember having one. I have over 190k Tweets since I joined the website in 2009. If I were to read back to the beginning, I know I wouldn’t recognize that person, and I am proud of the fact that I have grown and changed so much in 11 years. I will continue to put in the work, as I have promised, to ensure I never regress back to the version of me willing to post vile things on a public forum, or even privately.

On the subject of transphobia, homophobia, and anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, I deeply regret the Tweet which used a transphobic slur. It was a quote from the movie The Social Network, but that does not excuse my posting it on my public Twitter account. I have been a proud supporter of the LGBT+ community and I am terribly sorry that my actions have hurt my friends and family in the community, as well as countless others.

There is also a Tweet in which I use the N-word. I should not have done that, and I have never used it aloud or in writing since. I know now in a way I didn’t when I was younger that this word should have never left my lips, and I am sorry to all who were hurt upon seeing this Tweet on my feed.

All I can say is that I will continue to try. I know it is not enough. I cannot change the past. All I can do is work on myself for the future.

Tia Mele