Whoa. Not so fast.
It feels fabulous to write The End but there’s more work to do. So much more work. First, I read the novel from start to finish. When I feel the plot is solid, the dialogue is smooth and shit happens in every chapter, I send the document to an editor and a few writing buddies who have great critique skills. Then I close the file and wait.
Almost the longest wait ever.
Responses trickle in. I sift through suggestions, rejig sections I agree with, swear at not having caught my own errors and then, because I fiddle fart around with the text, I recheck the story threads to make sure the sequence of events still work.
Once
that’s done, I check for excess use of ‘ly’ endings in adverbs and adjectives
and move on to search for those bad words. You know the ones: was, felt,
very, had, thought, saw, very suddenly
(never use), that, only, and for some reason (also, never
use). I've collected these words from speakers at writing conferences so don’t
blame me for the list.
Next,
a quick review of exclamation marks. Did you know some agents will search the
manuscript for them and if there are too many, they won’t read a single word? Again, not my experience. I learned that tidbit from a panel of
agents who were discussing their editing process. And personally, I probably
used up my quota of exclamation marks by grade 10.
Then
it’s on to spell, grammar and punctuation check with the Word edit tool. Yup, tedious
but necessary. It still surprises me how my favourite words aren’t in their
dictionary yet.
Nearly
done.
One.
More. Final. Read. I am a firm believer of reading aloud to find errors my eyes
skim over when I read to myself. I like to do it in two consecutive days, so
everything is fresh, but I procrastinate. By the end of day one my house is
spotless, and I’ve done 10,000 steps. Not a single page turned.
Day
two, I plunk down in my office chair. My screen is dust free. The light is
perfect. I change Word’s Read Aloud program voice to a male, speed it up a
notch and increase the screen viewing size.
As
the unsexy voice tells my story, I follow on the screen to spot errors. Thirty-seven
pages in, I find a typo. How’d I miss that? How’d my readers miss it?
Two
days later, a huge sigh of relief. The End. Again.
And
off my baby goes to the publisher.
Fingers,
toes and eyes crossed, I walk, I bike, I invite grandchildren over to play. Days
take longer than 24 hours and I’m grumpy.
Longest
wait ever – but only for me.
The
publisher’s edit returns. I open the document and check the comments. One, two, three pages in without edits, a few notes,
more pages without…I breathe when I get to The End for the last time.
When
the manuscript returns and the book cover pops into my email, my heart melts.
It’s
perfect.
What About Me? Release date September 1, 2022.
How
do you know when you’ve finally reached The End? What’s your process?
Summer
of Lies: Baker, Barbara:9780228615774: Books - Amazon.ca
Smashwords – About
Barbara Baker, author of 'Summer of Lies'
Barbara Wackerle
Baker | Facebook
Barbara Wackerle Baker
(@bbaker.write)
Thanks for sharing your process. I'm also in the midst of editing and polishing Angel Ship, my October release, and it's comforting to know that other authors go through the same torture. But for me, the final run before submitting to the publisher is a true pleasure. The hard work is done, so I relax, and I get to polish not only the prose, but the characterization, and add the last final touches.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your October release!
DeleteFor me The end is only the beginning of a lot of work
ReplyDeleteYes, I hear you. It is a lot of work.
DeleteI, too, feel the need to read my story 'out loud.' Best way to catch narrative flow errors. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt always surprises me what errors I find when I read aloud.
ReplyDelete