Published on February 26th, 2009 Join the conversation »
For the first time, eyes other than mine are looking over the words I have been poring over for well over a year. I guess it should be a scary time, but it is not. Could this be due to the story already having been released in audio format – and the very positive response I have received from many listeners?
When I gave it a little more thought, I realised something very important about this proofing process: whatever comments I receive, they can only result in a better novel.
There is no room for egos and sensitivities at this stage. If the work fails to provide its first, amateur readers with a positive experience, it stands virtually no chance of passing the infinitely more discerning eyes of a professional publisher’s reader.
The first reader to return edits was one I trusted would not tip-toe around my sensibilities, and tell me exactly what she thought. She did not fail me. Thankfully, she enjoyed the reading, wanting to continue with the rest to learn how the story unfolds.
Minor typos, misspellings, and glitches aside, I found most of her more significant comments matched quite closely to those areas I have either struggled with or have had a gut feeling myself that something was not quite right. Now someone else had spotted them, there was no denying the need for a little repair.
I’m enjoying this editing process. Again, I think it comes down to an underlying realisation that the book is being improved, polished, and made more complete.
I have spotted some issues myself while going through someone else’s comments. Focusing merely on how to fix issues they have highlighted, have detached me a little from the emotion of the words, and enabled me to spot – and fix – a couple of quite significant continuity errors, plus a chronological discrepancy.
I suspect, once the editing gets down to nothing more than individual word tweaking, I will get sick of the sight of the book. But I think I’ll retain my optimism, because at that stage, it is very close to being complete.
February 20th, 2009
There are a multitude of texts covering self editing, but few extend their landing struts and come right down to earth with simple, practical techniques. Here is one very simple technique to give your writing more punch.
I regularly read about the danger of too frequent use of passive language in writing. We use passive language [...]
February 14th, 2009
If writing really is re-writing, then I’m thoroughly wrapped in writing right now!
In addition to completing the final chapters of Persistent Spirit, I am in the process of the third draft of the first ten chapters. These will be off to some enthusiastic friends for proofing.
The opportunity to submit to a publisher has motivated me [...]
February 3rd, 2009
As I have discussed fairly recently, plans for TableRappers invariably involve keeping a keen eye on the distant horizon. Last week came the idea for another book in the series.
Book one is in the early stages of its third draft. Well, to be more accurate, it’s second novel draft as the physical second draft was [...]
January 19th, 2009
I completed writing the latest Persistent Spirit audio chapter over the weekend and realised I had just created the starting points of five associated short stories in the space of a few paragraphs. There seems no end to the possibilities.
The TableRappers book series is planned to have short story collections spread amongst the full novels [...]
December 27th, 2008
Just over a year ago and with a very rough, hand written first draft, I decided to start writing and producing a regular audio book series of my first novel, Persistent Spirit. Now that I have struggled through a year of working this way, is it something I would repeat?
There are pros and cons to [...]
December 7th, 2008
A few months ago, when buried right in the middle of my novel writing, the thought of discovering a problem with the story large enough to consider rewriting perhaps 20,000 words and killing perhaps another 15,000 was horrific. Oh how attitudes change.
I’m 110,000 words complete in the second draft and a flaw has occurred to [...]
November 19th, 2008
Getting everything about your characters in place before the writing begins is the surest means of weaving your story and characters together throughout your book – erm… no.
I was thinking around a recent comment on my character arc post. Kev wrote:
Planning a story arc for a character can be difficult until you know the character [...]
November 14th, 2008
If you’ve been paying attention here, you’ll know that my big project, TableRappers, has been conceived as a series of novels. Currently four are planned, with aims to create a least six. This presents a significant challenge in managing character arcs.
Arcs are, of course, essential. The reader must follow a character’s journey through each story [...]
October 23rd, 2008
The history of TableRappers is one of planning. Like nothing I had tackled previously, the concept grew from simple ideas into an expanding universe of possibilities. Even after several years, the expansion continues.
I posted on the TableRappers site yesterday an announcement about the fifth book in the series. The concept I have had hanging around [...]
