Picture this: you’ve typed The End on your manuscript. Maybe you won NaNoWriMo, or you’ve just been working quietly to your own schedule. You want to stand on a mountain top, fling your arms in the air and shout to the world, “Yes, I’m finished!”
Celebrate! It’s a huge achievement. Only a small percentage of the people who long to write a book ever start; a much smaller percentage finish. You have done an extraordinary thing.
But also… you’re not finished. The End is not the end, it’s just the beginning of the adventure.
What you’ve written is a first draft. If you want to write your very best book, there is a lot more work to do before you’re finished.
Because I’m a book editor, I know that some writers submit their first draft to a publisher, possibly without ever re-reading their work. I actually think this is naivety, rather than laziness. People just aren’t aware of the process, and if they are new writers, why would they be?
So here is a brief outline of an effective writing process for you, to help equip you to be the best writer you can be.
Phase 1: The first draft
This is where you just let go, and get the words out of your head and written down.
- Some people work to a structured outline and know exactly where they are heading with each chapter. Others write in a stream-of-consciousness manner, where the book unfolds before them and even surprises them. Either is OK. Non-fiction usually requires an outline before beginning, but even then, some people write it without an outline, and if it works for you, that’s OK.
- Some people re-read and edit each chapter as they go. Others wait till the whole first draft is finished, and then edit the whole manuscript. Either is OK.
- Some people work in big chunks, writing thousands of words in a weekend, and then nothing for weeks. Others write on schedule every day. Either is OK.
Phase 2: Distance
This is where you get away from the book for a while, to allow your mind to recalibrate. Then you can come back and look at your book in a more objective way.
- Time is the best Distance, and the more of it allowed by your deadlines, the better. A day, a week, a month, or even a year.
- If you don’t have the Time luxury, get Distance other ways. Work on something else for a while. Get out and spend time with people. Watch a movie. Anything that can help get your manuscript dislodged from the loops running in your mind.
- Another way to get Distance is to see your manuscript differently — physically differently. Print it out and read it on paper. Convert it to .mobi or .epub through Scrivener or Word and read it on your e-reader. Read it in another room or another building or under a tree or at the beach. Read it aloud. Get your computer to read it to you. Ask another person to read it to you. Read it aloud yourself and record it on your phone, then listen to it while you’re sitting on the train or cooking dinner or flea-combing the cat.
Phase 3: Self-editing and rewriting
This is where you roll up your sleeves and get stuck into the renovations. It’s a big stage. Allow several weeks for it, if you can. Longer if possible.
I’m creating a series of online courses about the power of revision. Find out more about the Strengthen Your Book series by clicking here.
Big Picture issues
- Are the themes working? What is the one big message of your book? How do the sub-themes relate to it?
- Is it tightly written, where every word carries meaning and builds the picture? Or is it full of waffle that needs to be pared down?
- Is there enough description to create vivid images in a reader’s mind? Is it groaning under the weight of too much description?
- If it’s fiction, are the characters plausible? Are there holes in the plot, or anything you’ve hinted at early and then forgotten to tie up?
- If it’s how-to, are the instructions meaningful for a beginner? Do the steps come in the right order? Does it have real-life illustrations? Is it inspiring and encouraging as well as informative?
- If it’s memoir, is it engaging? Will anyone care what you did, and why? How have you made it relevant to the reader’s life, and the hopes, fears and passions of the reader? (Check out my article on How to write a memoir that people actually want to read.)
Detail issues
- Is your spelling and punctuation correct and consistent?
- Do the sentences flow from one paragraph to the next, linking the thoughts, building on ideas, and leading the reader through?
- Are your paragraphs divided according to nuggets of meaning, or do they just break haphazardly?
- If you can’t tell if you’ve got the technical stuff right, that’s OK, some of the best storytellers need help with this. Who could you ask? Could you join a writers group or do a course in writing and grammar at the local community college or online?
- Could you read a book about it? There are lots of books to improve the technical side of your writing. A favourite of mine is My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be ‘Me’?). It takes a dry old subject and makes it understandable and even fun. You can check it out on Amazon
or Book Depository.
Phase 4: Feedback and critique
For a simple, easy-to-read explanation of ways to make the most of writing feedback, check out my bookUse the Power of Feedback to Write a Better Book
*Note: Some people do this as Phase 3, before the big rewrite, and that’s fine if it works for you… although I have found over years of trial and error that it’s more powerful to rewrite BEFORE feedback if you possibly can.
This is where you ask other people to read your manuscript, and give you useful feedback. You are so close to your book by now, that you can’t see the proverbial wood for the trees. You can probably recite it in your sleep! You need someone with more Distance than you, preferably someone who has never even read your book before.
I’ve written a series of articles about writing feedback. Start with this one: What is a beta reader and why do I need one?
To get that information (and much more) in a more convenient package, try Use the Power of Feedback to Write a Better Book. It’s about how to find “beta readers”, get the right kind of feedback, and then how to apply it to your manuscript — which (spoiler alert!) does NOT mean doing everything your beta readers tell you to do.
I also have a section of this website devoted completely to writing feedback. Check it out for useful instant downloads and other articles and resources.
You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m a fan of writing feedback. That’s because I’ve seen the power of it, up close. My approach is based on 20+ years as a developmental and structural book editor, and tweaking the feedback process while writing my own books. (Traditionally published since 2000, self-published since 2014 — different processes, but they also have similarities…)
Don’t leave the feedback phase to the last minute, if you can help it. Expect several more weeks of work after you receive the feedback reports!
Phase 5: Re-edit and rewrite
This is where you respond to the comments and suggestions of your beta readers, the people who have read your manuscript and provided a critique.
Some feedback will be minor. I’d put these in the “minor” category:
- Character names that are confusing and need to be changed (that’s what Find/Replace is for!)
- Occasional grammar and spelling glitches that you need to watch out for
- Minor corrections and suggestions for the flow or meaning of small sections of the book
- In a novel, loose ends that you have forgotten to tie up.
Some might be larger:
- Consistent and widespread problems with basic writing technique
- In a novel, viewpoint problems which means you are “head-hopping” between 20 characters in every scene
- In non-fiction, consistent and widespread problems conveying information in an accurate and understandable way.
All of them are fixable. If you love your book, take a deep breath and dive in.
Being a writer is a continual learning curve throughout your life. My own beta readers have identified several things I needed to work on in my manuscripts, and some of them were major. I took a moment to recoup and eat comfort food, and then got on with the renovations. You can do it too.
Phase 6: Completion
The shape of this phase will vary depending on your publishing path.
- You may seek further feedback after you have done all your rewriting, to check how well your solutions have worked. Another self-edit would follow that further feedback, hopefully smaller than the previous self-edits!
- If you are self-publishing, you will probably seek a professional edit and proofread, before publishing. (Yes, these are different stages to the feedback you get from beta readers.) Sometimes the professional editor will suggest something else you will want to change, and so a little more self-editing or rewriting will follow.
- If you are submitting to a publisher, they may ask for still more changes. Feel free to feel sad for a day, eat your comfort food of choice and then… soldier on!
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: If your book is needing a lot of re-editing and rewriting as you receive feedback, you might start to feel like you are a hopeless writer and should give up. That’s normal. We all feel like that. But it isn’t true. It’s often like a wrestling match for even the best writers. As your book is being refined you are learning new skills, and developing into a better writer. Better and better and better. Persevere!
Where are you up to in the process of writing your book? Have you finished the first draft, or are you somewhere else along the journey? I love to hear your news. Scroll down and leave a comment!
An earlier version of this article was published in 2013.
Hi Belinda,
I just finished my first draft with almost 81,000 words. I plan on happily following your suggestion for phase 2 – distance. In fact, Florida sounds like an excellent place for someone from Chicago to go.
While I am sticking my toes into the sand in St. Pete Beach, I thought it would be a good idea to research the difference between a line editor versus a copy editor. What is the difference, and which do you recommend?
I am assuming a copy editor will rewrite a sentence or restructure a paragraph as needed, whereas a line editor will only point it out. Maybe I need a magician that waves a wand and out pops a grammatically perfect novel.
Illiterately yours,
Mark
Hi Mark, here’s one I prepared earlier! https://smallbluedog.com/5-types-of-editing-for-authors.html Let me know if that helps. I actually don’t use the term “line editor” myself, but know many editors who consider it a deeper copyedit. Enjoy Florida! 😉 And let me know if you have further questions.
Hello Belinda!
Thanks for the helpful article. I just completed my first manuscript and am beginning to revise it all.
I was wondering, at what point does it become advisable to seek out a publisher? I’m hoping it’s not too late to wait until after I’ve finished revising, only so my story has the utmost chance of getting picked up by a publisher.
Hi Zack, personally I’d be getting my manuscript as polished as it could possibly be before starting to submit to publishers and literary agents. It can take a while to hear back from them as to yay or nay, but if you are the rare and lucky one who gets a “please send your full manuscript” the next day, you want to be ready for it. Very best wishes with your book. 🙂
Hi Belinda!
I’m a new writer only recently being able to commit to such a big project thanks to all the extra time given to me due to the outbreak!
I just finished my very first draft, and it clearly has a long way to go.
The aspect about it that sets me off and discourages me to no end is how quick of a read it is, it just seems to go so fast.
My question is, how do I slow it down without adding too many unnecessary scenes or distracting from the story I’m trying to tell my readers?
Thanks,
Nora.
Hi Nora, congratulations on finishing your first draft. Do you know how many words your story is? (If you are writing in Microsoft Word it will show you your word count.)
Hi Belinda,,
I came across your blog, which I must say is excellent.
I have never written anything other than an essay in school,, many many years ago, three weeks to this day I started and ended my first draught , 66,000 words.
I know I have to rewrite large chunks already, change names and a lot more, but the story is down.
I see others talk about a million word first draught 😱 compared to my few, should I be trying to bring more into it, to widen the narrative.,it s a work of adult fiction.
Any feed back would be appreciated
Thanks for this very timely post! I’ve finished the first draft of my novel and gone through 2 rounds of high level edit — removing duplicate scenes, tightening up dialog, and making character names consistent. Not really sure where to go from here. I know it needs work. This is my first foray into fiction and it’s such a different animal from everything I’ve ever written. I tried beta readers, and didn’t get much to chew on. Got some feedback the other day from someone I truly respect, but I’m still flailing. Some days I feel like I won’t be able to polish it up to where it needs to be, as I don’t have a clue where to start. What’s a first time fiction writer to do?
Hi Maria, it’s definitely a challenge. How did you find and brief your beta readers? I ask because I’ve found feedback very useful for my own work. I’ve had up to 10 on one project, but usually 4 to 6. I also wrote a series of blog posts about managing the beta reader process for best results, starting here: https://smallbluedog.com/what-is-a-beta-reader-and-why-do-i-need-one.html
Nevertheless, even with a great feedback process, you still need to come to a point where you’re satisfied you have finished the book, and that will always be a grey area. Always. No one is ever 100% sure.
As for books and resources, I can recommend Self-Editing for Fiction Writers if you haven’t read it yet. https://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Second-Yourself/dp/0060545690 And of course I should mention my own book 😉 Use the Power of Feedback to Write a Better Book.
Thanks for your reply. The beta readers were respected friends who are published authors. The issue comes in as everyone is busy, has their own deadlines. I was expecting (and it was agreed) to receive feedback on the work as a whole, but I got, “I liked what I read but didn’t finish” and “here’s some feedback on the first chapter. Sorry I can’t finish”. I tried to find others but it seemed everyone was on a deadline. And then the holidays crept up. So now I’m trying to figure out where to go from here. It’s daunting.
I’ve been through most, if not all, the emotions mentioned in your article and the comments. I didn’t go jumping and yahooing through the house though. I’ve finished two novels and I’m in the review/self-edit/rewrite phase of both having had an editor review one and a beta-reader the other. As a pantser, when I got to the end of the one story, I just sat back and realised I’d finished, that’s how a story can surprise you.
Anyway, Belinda, thanks for the encouragement to ‘soldier on’, though I do still struggle with the whole self-doubt thing as well as the stage of life I’m at. The two stories I have finished took nearly twenty years each with long breaks amongst the writing and it is difficult to learn the things I need to know to refine the manuscript to a suitable standard to publish. Someone mentioned in their comment about ageing, I wish I had started this part earlier, when my brain was much younger.
But, having said that, I am working on it little by little, trying to keep my head above water. Cheers and thanks again, God bless.
Finishing two novels is an outstanding achievement, Ray. It can be quite a long and difficult job to do the revision. I hope you find enjoyment in it though! And I wish you a really good outcome. Belinda
Lovely to hear from you again. As I may have said before I started writing modern fantasy fiction in June 2010 and set a daily target of writing a 1000 words a day against an aim of a million draft words in three years. Completed a million draft words by January 2014 and averaged about 750 words a day. Daily target better than a longer period of a week or month.
Self published a small book in September 2013 – Ywnwab! the effort required put me off further publishing. Since then by self editing and use of Autocrit and Style writer I have firmed up final versions of a dozen books. In 2019 I wrote first non-fiction building history book with a selected circulation in a draft.
Like other activities in life I think writing has a definite time cycle. Most of my self publishing peers, even those who have written and published a few books, all appear to have run out of steam as well. Ageing in my case does not help.
I have kept going in writing and reading for pleasure much longer than other hobby activities in my life and it has given me great pleasure. Perhaps I need someone else who likes publishing to pick up my books and take them forward.
Best wishes
Alexander
Wow, a million draft words in three years is a great achievement, Alexander. I’ve found that 10,000 per month is working well for me – and I do find the monthly target seems to work better for me than a daily one.
It’s definitely a lot of effort to self-publish, but I’ve found the second and subsequent books much easier than the first. Still a lot of work, but not nearly as stressful. Maybe consider taking another look at publishing them?
Thanks for dropping by, and best wishes for your writing and the pleasure it gives you. Belinda
I, personally, have taken a very long time to finish penning my first draft due to setbacks – it’s taken me a whole 6 and a half years, starting back in June 2010 just before I turned 15! I finally finished it on Christmas Eve, and I don’t know what to do now. I was glad I took so long, because I knew that as I aged, my writing knowledge would grow and, hopefully, my writing style would evolve. I’ve also thought a lot about the background of the story, which I know I wouldn’t have thought about had I finished it, say, a couple of years ago. I need to edit and re-edit, of course, but I feel like it has taken me so long already, and I’m worried revisiting it will become tedious – I don’t want to grow tired of my own story, which I’ve grown and nurtured and loved for years now! I’ve given a copy to my aunt, who has several published stories herself and is probably the most qualified person I know, so hopefully I can get some feedback from her about it.
Also, I read your blog post about pen names. I decided right at the beginning that I would write under a pen name, simply because my real name – Rebecca Smith – is soooooo common. Beeba is actually a nickname I’ve had for the past ten or so years now, so I decided it would be the best fit 🙂
Well done, Beeba. Celebrate! Getting that first draft finished is a huge achievement. It took me about 20 years from first idea to get my debut novel Poison Bay into the world, and like you, I think it needed to take that long. It would have been a different book if I’d finished it sooner. Hope you get really useful – and encouraging – feedback from your aunt. Best wishes with the project!
Thanks for posting this. I’m 14, and I just recently finished my first novel.
I really related to the part where you said ‘You could pretty much recite it in your sleep.’
I have reread and edited SO MANY TIMES. Sometimes I think I’m thinking too hard about certain sentences and chapters before I send them to my beta readers. How can I avoid thinking too harshly of my work?
I really want to go far with my novel. Thanks for this post, because it really helped me out.
Wow, congratulations on finishing your first novel at 14, Khloe! It does indeed sound like you might need to send it to beta readers, so you can step back from it for a bit. As to “not thinking too harshly of our writing”… if you find the solution to that one, you’ll become rich and famous. 😉 All the writers I know struggle with it. If you find it too confronting to send it out, try just asking one beta reader you really trust, first, and ask them to tell you only what they like about it. That might give you the confidence to ask some others as well. Wishing you an astounding writing career!
Hi Belinda, thank you for posting this. It is a great relief for a new writer like me. I have no idea what to expect and where the path is heading non other than picturing myself to be a writer someday. If other can do it so do I.
Hi Sandra, glad it’s helpful. If you really long to write, then go for it. I wish you every success. 🙂
Thank you so much … I was just surfing the net for advice and here you are. Probably the best advice I have read!
I am just about to finish my first book … I have read it over, edited, checked and double-checked and now it is ready for the next stage.
What I am finding hard is the thought of letting this go. It is my first novel and I have become very attached. Having said that I am very excited about the next phase and hopefully publishing.
I’m so glad it was useful, Victoria. Congratulations on finishing your book! I hope it goes really well. Yes it’s hard to let them go. The best thing is to start on the next one straight away! 😀
I literally typed “The End” about two hours ago and I’m giddy, but worried I have a lot to fix. I’m also struggling with the idea of walking away from it for a while for distance even though I’ve read that tip countless times. I want to dive right into the editing now!
Also, how will I know when it’s “finished?” Do you just know?
Congratulations, Jenny! Fabulous job!
Now, put the manuscript down, and back away from the computer. 😉 Yes, you really do need some space if you’re going to do the best possible job on your edit/rewrite.
As for knowing when it’s finished… you never finish, you just stop. 😀 Even Aldous Huxley, author of the classic Brave New World, thought there was plenty he could have done to improve it. We will tweak forever, given a chance. So there does come a time when you need to say, “Enough.” (But you are probably not there yet.)
Can’t wait to see what you produce!
Hello Belinda,
I felt it almost necessary to comment to you, considering your name. Plus, our initials are the same! Must be a sign!
Anyway, I have a very interesting story and time is of the essence. It’s for an 88-year old man who asked me to write a book for him and his health is declining. I so want to get this published for him!!!!
I’ve worked on it, on and off, for quite some time, but don’t know where to go from here. Would you please advise me? I’m not sure if it would be safe to list as based on a true story, although it is. However, I don’t want to put either of us in danger. The story is great, I’ve always wanted to write a book, and the inspiration has come. I just don’t know which direction to go next. PLEASE help! Thanks, Belinda
Hi Belinda!! 🙂 Sorry to be so slow to reply… your comment slipped through the system. It sounds like you have a particularly tricky situation, and I’d suggest you get in touch with someone for legal advice (I’m not a lawyer). Where are you in the world? Here in Brisbane, Australia, we have an Arts Law group that can often arrange a free first consultation for local writers. Perhaps there is something similar wherever you are, too. If you are in the USA, I have seen a lawyer named Kathryn Goldman interviewed on Molly Greene’s blog several times http://www.molly-greene.com/estate-planning-basics-for-the-self-published-writer/ Perhaps Kathryn can point you in the right direction. If the telling of the story might involve danger, please do be sure to get some professional assistance before you proceed. And best wishes with your book!
By the way, Belinda, I deleted your last name from your comment, just in case it turns out that you want to fly “under the radar” later, due to your book. 🙂
Your article came as a blessing to me.I live in Lagos,Nigeria.How do I write queries and get connected to an agent and editor?
Hi Peter, I’m glad the article was useful. As for how to find a literary agent, that’s not a topic I specialise in, but you might find this article by literary agent Rachelle Gardner helpful: http://www.rachellegardner.com/how-do-you-find-a-literary-agent/
Once you have an agent, they will advise you about editors. I hope that helps you a little! Best wishes with your writing.
I really liked your words of inspiration and as a new writer a have learned a thing or two from you. Please keep up the goog work
My the Loving God Bless You!!!
Thanks Pogisi! Best wishes to you.
I just finished my first draft. I’ve written so many notes within the manuscript and have a few scenes to insert it’s a little overwhelming! I’m just worried I’m going to forget something…
Emily, congratulations on completing your first draft. What an achievement!
Have you tried Scrivener? I find it really useful for keeping track of scenes still to be written, etc. It helps untangle the complexities of it all. I’ve written about some of my favourite aspects of it here: https://smallbluedog.com/3-reasons-im-a-scrivener-fan.html
This article is exactly what every new writer needs – a sharp kick in the proverbials to tell them “Sorry, this isn’t gonna be easy, sonny. It’s gonna take more work and pay much less than your day job, but persevere and at the end of it you might have something half-decent that came from your own head. You can and should be proud of that.” Also, your point on getting distance is VITAL. From experience, I suggest moving onto writing something of a completely different genre/form. For example, i’m on the last few thousand words of a fantasy novel, after which I plan to get some distance by writing a few short stories. Getting a break from the style as well as the story is helpful so that when you go back to it, it’s almost like reading something that someone else has written because you’re now in a different writing mindset.
Good tip about changing genres, Matthew. Anything that creates a complete change of “headspace” is helpful, I find. Best wishes with your novel and your short stories! 🙂
Thank you for this article! I have finished my first draft and let it sit for a month. I printed it out to look at it and begin rewriting, but have been reluctant to start. I suppose I am afraid of finding it isn’t any good, but I will soldier on!!
Hi Kristi, I think most of us are afraid of that, even if we don’t say so! Remember that even if it needs quite a bit of editing, that’s not a sign it’s no good. Everyone’s first draft needs quite a bit of editing. Soldier on and believe in yourself. 🙂
Thank you for creating such a ‘feel-good’ place for new writers, Bellinda. I finished my first contemporary romance about a year ago, sent those queries, got a couple of partial requests (my query letter worked, yay!) but nothing further than that. Months after my last self-editing, I’ve recently been going over the manuscript again, and I’ve found quite a few places that need rephrasing, so ‘distance’ does work!
I have started the second book in my Aegean Lovers series (I’m Greek, what can I say?) and now I’m seriously thinking about self-publishing, but it’s such a treacherous and windy road so any form of guidance is much appreciated. I’ll devour your site, hoping I’ll find answers to basic questions that have been bugging me such as handing out your manuscript to beta readers, publishing a draft etc: how safe is this? Why can’t someone just pick it up and go for it while you’re still mulling over taking the plunge? (I think Californication did it for me: Mia just stole Hank’s manuscript, adapted it, and she went on to become a best-selling author. I seriously don’t think anyone could get crazy rich from publishing my love story but still…scary stuff!)
Maria, it sounds like you are really on the way with your writing. Congratulations on getting positive responses to your queries… that’s a good sign! Those requests are harder and harder to get these days, and they are encouraging even if it didn’t end up in an offer.
Book stealing probably happens more in fiction than in real life, but nevertheless I think you are wise to be very selective about your beta readers. Try to get to know them as well as you can before taking the leap. Two of my betas are people I met online, but I interacted with them a lot on Twitter and our respective blogs, and then by email, before we ever did the beta exchange thing. By then I had a good sense of their integrity and no trouble whatsoever entrusting my work to them.
Thanks for stopping by, and I’m glad you’ve found it a positive place to be. I really do try to encourage writers. I believe if a person has the passion for writing, they can keep working at it and produce something wonderful. Let us know how you go with your books! 🙂
Thank you.I’m writing my first novelette and am following your advice.It’s set in the 80’s and it’s about the struggle a once happy family has after a redundancy,and the tragic events that follow.
I’m in break mode right now.
The way I do things is to re-read and edit each chapter,re-check etc.
Thank you so much Belinda.
Thanks for stopping by, Linzy. The longer the break you can take between completing the first draft and going back to revise, the more clearly you will see what needs to be done. All the best with your project! 🙂
Brenda, I would like to thank you for all of your helpful info on my very first book, I have already done the first draft and I am now in the re-read phase of my book. My book is about The Flyleaf Rock Band that my grandson is in. They have played in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney in 2007 and in August of 2013. Your info has been very instrumental in my wring process. .Thanks again, Respectfully, Carl
Thanks Carl, I’m glad the information has been helpful. Enjoy your revision process! 🙂
Great post. I tend to rewrite until there’s no life left in the piece. I find that I need to back off, open a blank page and literally rewrite the piece or section without looking at the original to get back to raw voice. If I’m nitpicking sentences when I need to be working on the big picture, I’m in trouble.
I do exactly the same thing, Diane! When a particular section is bothersome, I keep on and on until I’ve sucked the life out of it. Your idea to just begin again with a blank page is a good one. I might need to do this with the first section of my own novel…
Hello Belinda,
A great blog post. I have recently finished my first draft and now am going through a major phase of self-doubt. It seems that I’m not alone in this. Good advice here, thank you!
Ruth, self-doubt is phases 2, 4, 7,11, and 25. 😉 (Making those numbers up, but you get the idea!) Give yourself some time to get Distance, and then, soldier on! 🙂
Belinda and company, I am a firm believer in letting a work grow as cold as possible. Begin another book, have loads of stuff to do for work, read a few books that are really well-written (enough to give me a serious inferiority complex: highly motivating) and repeatedly tell myself, it is far from ready. Of course, I wait until all that jumping about the house yelling, “It’s done, it’s done!” dies down completely. There are so few pats on the back in this lonely business/hobby that one should never put a damper on the amazing joy of thinking you are finished. I keep editing it until I am certain that I have utterly ruined it. Then I let it go cold again. Read it and hope I am satisfied.
Essentially, I agree with you all.
Distance is so valuable, Elldee. Enough Distance, and we can almost look at our work as though someone else wrote it!
You’ve also made another useful point… we CAN overwork our manuscripts. Someone told me many years ago, you never finish a book, you just Stop. And it was wise advice. There comes a time when we need to put the manuscript down and back away.
Finding that balance between enough and not too much? A delicate process!
Great downright helpful advice. Thanks. It’s amazing how many people – writers and non-writers alike – think that stories jump of the writer’s head fully formed and finished …a bit like the Goddess Athena, who popped out of Zeus’ head ready to do battle. Rewriting and redrafting, as you rightly say, is what writing is all about and not just getting all the commas in the right place. I also support what you and Carrie Ann say about having more than one book out there- having brought out two books now, I saw first hand how a new book can rekindle interest in the previous one. So, the more books, the merrier, ;o) Thanks again 🙂
No Greek gods among my first drafts, Marianne. Even when I THINK they are brilliant, after some Distance and reevaluation I come to realise they look more like a newborn kangaroo joey (which resembles a tiny oyster with a nose) and need many months of nurture to turn into something recognisable. 😀
Multiple books are the go, and I am looking forward to the sequel to Food of Ghosts!
Great post. In general, people underestimate the amount of time they need to let a draft sit before tackling revisions. My rule of thumb? If I can quote myself from memory, it’s too soon. Sometimes the best course is to start working on a new idea. By the time THAT draft is done and needs to sit, I’m ready to go back and face project number one. A side benefit is that, over time, a writer ends up with a selection of finished work to submit to different venues. This increases the chances of placing something.
Excellent point, Carrie Ann. The other advantage to having several manuscripts on the go at once is that it is a real sales booster for self-published authors. Lots of indie authors report that have two or three books for sale really boosts their profile… people who love the first one come back for more!
This has been a godsend for me as I’m at the stage where I feel like chucking my manuscript in the bin! I’ve finished the first draft of a novel and I’ve done an initial re-edit myself. The result is heaps of things I’m either uncomfortable about now, and don’t know what to do about, or worse, very unhappy about. Still, I’ve done as you’ve suggested. I’ve put it aside, ordered some printed copies from Lulu.com and organised some good, honest readers to give me their impressions. I’ll wait for their feedback before I do any more, but thanks for making me feel I’m not unusual in this crisis of confidence!
Aha, yes Val, the crisis of confidence is more likely proof that you SHOULD be doing it! All the best writers feel that way. 😉
Manuscripts are like hair. Some days you just have a Bad Manuscript Day, and ask your dog or cat, “Why would anyone read this garbage???” Getting feedback is a great idea. I hope your beta readers give you increased confidence about the strengths of your manuscript, and useful suggestions for resolving issues.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂