Writing Mixtape - Writing is Rewriting...
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Writing is More Than Putting Words on a Page. When I was young, I thought writers spent all of their days at their desks creating wonderful books, occasionally going on book tours, and celebrating their royalties.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned all that goes into writing and publishing a book. Publishing is a business.
Round One - Finish Your First Draft - Whether you’re a plotter (a planner) or a pantser (one who writes by the seat of his/her pants), you need to finish your rough draft. Do not spend hours (days, weeks, or years) editing and rewriting. Finish the draft and type “The End.” (My first book took five years to finish, and I probably rewrote each chapter at least twice.)
Round Two - “The End” is Just the Beginning - Now the real work begins.
I always print out a copy of my manuscript. It’s easier to find errors on the printed page than the screen.
Read your manuscript as a reader. Look for parts where the logic is fuzzy or for plotholes in the story. If you write mysteries, remember if you mention something several times, it needs to have a purpose. You need to tie up the loose ends (clues and red herrings) by the end.
Is your story plausible? Are there glaring mistakes like she ate lunch twice in the same day or your character’s name changed midway through the book?
When you’ve made those corrections, go back for another round as a line editor. Are there parts that need more description? Less description? Is it clear who is speaking? Did you get the facts right? Are there grammar, spelling, or punctuation problems? Are there places where the dialog or your description takes the reader out of the story? Are there overused words? Use your search feature to look for your culprits.
Read your text aloud or use your word processor’s “read aloud” feature to listen to the text. You’ll hear misused words like then/than.
Run spellchecker each time you do a round of major edits.
My “round 2” is usually eight to ten different read-throughs.
Round 3 - Get Feedback - You need to have another reader or writer read your manuscript. Find a critique partner, critique group, or beta readers. I have had all over the years, I prefer that mine like or write mysteries. They understand the conventions of the genres and subgenres. When you get the feedback back, you need to decide what you’re going to change and keep.
After all of the changes, I usually do another round of proofreading and spell checking.
After your multiple rounds of reads and edits, you’re ready to submit your manuscript to an agent or a publisher (if you are going the traditional route). Once your book is accepted, the editing and proofreading processes start again.
