{"id":228,"date":"2013-02-19T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T14:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2013\/02\/19\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-17\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:22:18","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:22:18","slug":"tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpFirst\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpFirst\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpFirst\">\nI\u2019m not a fan of the<br \/>\nword <i>edgy<\/i> when it refers to Christian<br \/>\nfiction.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpFirst\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpFirst\">\nWhy does the term bother me?<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<i><br \/><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<i>Edgy<\/i> is a subjective word. What is <i>edgy <\/i>for some writers is over the edge for some. I find that for<br \/>\nsome authors <i>edgy <\/i>means they should<br \/>\npush the limit. Well, yes and no. How far can a writer push the limits before she<br \/>\nfalls off the ledge into what would, under no circumstances, be considered<br \/>\nmaterial in a Christian market?<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nThat is a question I<br \/>\npondered as I worked on a workshop I taught last summer. Today, I thought I\u2019d<br \/>\nprovide you with the two lists that explains what <i>edgy<\/i> fiction does and does not contain.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nLet\u2019s start with the<br \/>\nnegative first. What is it that a Christian should preclude from her manuscript, even if she is working toward an <i>edgy<\/i> feel:<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nAn edgy Christian novel<br \/>\nshould not include:<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>Gratuitous anything;<\/li>\n<li>Scenes and actions that<br \/>\novershadow the story\u2019s message;<\/li>\n<li>Offensive words or<br \/>\nphrases, even substitute words that leave the real words or act in the minds of<br \/>\nthe reader.<\/li>\n<li>Offensive language<br \/>\ntoward any group, people, or individual (a disclaimer on this one is a bigoted<br \/>\nvillain. However, this villain should clearly be defined as a villain and very<br \/>\nmuch in opposition of the truth); and<\/li>\n<li>A story that provides<br \/>\nincorrect theology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nOn the other hand, in<br \/>\norder to make a novel <i>edgy,<\/i> an author<br \/>\nmay want to try to write:<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>Thought-provoking<br \/>\nstories that<i> do not<\/i> leave readers\u2019<br \/>\nminds in the gutter;<\/li>\n<li>Dialogue and action<br \/>\nloaded with conflict that <i>does not<\/i><br \/>\nleave readers\u2019 minds in the gutter;<\/li>\n<li>A plot line that shows the<br \/>\nstate of fallen men and women but<i> does<br \/>\nnot<\/i> leave readers\u2019 minds in the gutter.<\/li>\n<li>A story that<br \/>\ncontradicts the world\u2019s theology and pulls readers\u2019 minds from the gutter.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nThink about it. How can<br \/>\nan author change the world if her book uses the world\u2019s methods to tell her story?&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormalCxSpMiddle\">\nHappy editing.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m not a fan of the word edgy when it refers to Christian fiction. Why does the term bother me? Edgy is a subjective word. What is edgy for some writers is over the edge for some. I find that for some authors edgy means they should push the limit. Well, yes and no. How [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[101,105,159,18,189,62],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-balance","tag-christian-romance","tag-christian-writing","tag-editing-tips","tag-engaging-the-reader","tag-tips-for-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}