Editing – It’s So Much Fun!
No, not really. It’s hard, but necessary work, and my first novel was over 100,000 words. However, before the editing could begin, I wanted someone to read the manuscript. While my sister and her husband were my first beta readers, reading chapters whenever possible, it was a friend who read the manuscript in its entirety. Their collective positive remarks gave me the confidence to continue.
It wasn’t until my printed manuscript was returned to me with a few red scribbles here and there that the real work began. At first, I thought I would just be correcting typos, spelling, and grammar, but I was wrong. Instead, I found myself re-writing chapters as new and better ideas evolved. Many times I thought I was making progress only to find I had to go back and edit some more. However, during editing I discovered something truly amazing. First, let me explain that books actually write themselves. Though the author might come up with the initial idea, the characters ultimately take over. If you’re writing, don’t fight it; let the characters tell you where the story is going. Now for the amazing discovery, without realizing it, I’d made subtle connections between earlier chapters and those further along in the story. These links and connections were not planned and I learned that the subconscious mind plays an important role when writing.
By the time I was satisfied, I had cut more than 2000 words from the original manuscript and changed dialogue and other bits. It was now time to look into publishing. At some point during my research, I heard about a website for authors to post their work for others to read. I was nervous, but went ahead and posted anyway. I was glad I did. The positive feedback from complete strangers strengthened my resolve to publish. It also made me realize my editing wasn’t over as one reader from the UK was instrumental with correcting some of my earlier English dialogue and other pieces of information. While Promised Soul is still in the editorial phase of publishing, one thing is certain. Editing isn’t over until the book is finally published.