This week, my editor/publisher/son, Steve May, owner of Alderson Press, has my latest novel, To Find A Home. To those friends and relatives who have been hearing me say “it’s finished,” I confess all those declarations were pre-mature. Writing a novel is much like birthing a baby, but can take a lot longer.
I started this story almost two years ago, to keep my sanity while waiting for the arrival of my first novel, The Last to Know, which was published in January 2009. I wrote the final chapter of this current effort while on spring break. I let the manuscript cool for a couple of weeks before I read through it again. I tweaked some of the scenes, but I also could see it needed another chapter to clarify and smooth the story line. I shared these latest pages with my critique group, Central Arkansas Writers, who helped me flesh out this part of the story.
In late June I gave the ‘finished’ manuscript to my daughter, Linda, for proofing. She returned it a week or so later with pink tabs marking each page with a typo that needed correcting. A valuable service!
After those corrections were made, I edited the entire manuscript word by word, usually reading aloud to gauge the flow of the writing and pick up redundancies. A couple of times I used Microsoft’s word-search feature to find over-used words. Several times I found a better way to say what I was trying to convey or thought of something to add to the story. For instance, when Becca is about to be disciplined for misbehaving, her dad demands an apology. I decided she would give one of those non-apologies teenagers are good at, “I’m sorry you made me so mad that I …”
After I finished the word-by-word edit, I wrote the acknowledgement and ‘about the author’ pages. And then, read through chapters again, skipping around through the book. (Some self-editors read the text backwards.) Very few corrections this time, so I sent it off electronically.
The next step for me (besides waiting) is to write the text for the back cover and choose art/photography for the front cover. When I receive a galley from the printer, I will read and edit again, hopefully “with fresh eyes.”
Maybe by Christmas the baby will be here.
I told the Bryant Study Club that I’d been pregnant for 12 years–with this “baby” of a book. They groaned in sympathy. (Didn’t they?) Congratulations on your preparations. How long do you think you’ll have to wait? (I get asked that sooooo much, sorry.) pl
I’m sure it will be perfect. I can’t wait to read it. CP