Summer Reprise Series #10: Thoughts After My Longest Edit… Ever!

THIS IS THE LAST OF THE REPRISE SERIES.

Summer Reprise Series #10: Thoughts After My Longest Edit… Ever!

First published November 17, 2015

I began working on my “final” edit of The 5th Page on September 28, 2015. I sent the edited manuscript back to Sherry Frazier, my publicist, on the day I completed the edit: November 3, 2015.

I worked on the manuscript at least three hours every Monday through Friday of that time. Some weekend work and some l-o-n-g days were included. It was not a fun time. It was a necessary time, but it, too, was not enough. The text in this font near the end of this post provides additional explanation of the red sentence above.

What did I learn from this experience?

1.    Make your characters come alive early in the process. I waited until after I thought I’d finished the manuscript before allowing readers insight into several of my main characters. I will not do that again.

2.   Decide if you’re going to present your story in strict chronological order early in the process. I waited until I was two weeks into the “final” edit to make that decision. As a result, it took me approximately fifteen hours to print, cut chunks from the printed text, and sequence those chunks. And even after I thought I had accomplished that task, I found chunks I had to move after the first move.

3.   Establish a timeline and add to it as you go. I waited until I went to the strict chronological plotline to do that. I found I had not allowed enough time for some sequences of events to occur—and I mean physically not enough time for airplane flights, car trips, etc.

4.   Include enough verbiage on your timeline to recognize what plot point it represents. I used letters to “number” my chunks. I dutifully placed those letters on my timeline and my revised timeline. But, when I started my last sequencing I had to continually refer to the cut out chunks of text to know what was happening at that labeled point.

At 174,000 words, this is far and away the longest book I’ve ever written. Part of my problem was that I treated this novel as a short story in my preparation. That will not happen again.

Original Bottom Line

Time spent on early planning, character development, and sequencing of events will save you a LOT of time in the end.

New thoughts.

After the original posting of this blog, I did more editing. First I had several readers indicate where they felt the story was fine as is, where the story was too wordy, and where the story was deficient.

I took all that input and went back to the “already edited” manuscript. After considering the input and finding additional places that needed help, I edited again. In addition to the “fixes,” I did a thorough grammar, extra words, etc., check as well. This edit ended up as a manuscript of about 181,000 words.

I was almost ready to send it away for prepublication review. I will use Kirkus before I put the book out with query letters or as an entry in KindleDirect or as a self-published entity.

I sent the manuscript via PDF to an office supply store in the city where my proofreader lived. They printed the 700+ pages at their end, and the proofreader picked it up at their store. I saved significant money in postage.

I got the print copy back about a month later. I went through the handwritten markings page by page, generally accepting all the proofing recommendations. In addition, I made the decision to remove parts of the book that were not essential to moving the plot forward. Some readers liked them. They were unhappy with my decision. Other readers applauded the move because “the story doesn’t drag in places now.”

Obviously, I’ve sided with the latter group of readers. I did, however, keep all the edited out text in one file. After all, you never know.

The 5^th Page is still a long book. The final, final edit is 682 pages set to print in a 6x9 format. At 175,500 words, it’s still a big book, but that final count includes front and back matter. The story is around 173K.

I’ll keep you in the loop as I go through the rest of the process. I’m following the advice of super publicist, Sherry Frazier.

New Bottom Lines

1. There is no hard and fast due date for a manuscript unless you have a publisher’s deadline to meet.
2. Time is neither friend nor foe.
3. Time is a tool that authors need to use to their best advantage.
4. That might mean move faster, but it will often mean SLOW DOWN.

Next blog: Updated thoughts on book covers

Follow me on Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com