Your almost there so relax.

                                                                                     

                                                                           

You've been slogging at this for ages, but finally you see something solid and real in front of you. Unless it's on your screen of course and then it's virtual. The fact is, you've done it. YOu've completed your masterpiece and now it's almost ready to make you famous and rich, or both. 

ALmost. this is where decisions need to be made. Editor or no editor? Formatter or no formatter? find a publisher who is interested, or self publish? HOw will you design a cover that leaps up and says, "read me i'm interesting?"

NOw  here is where i put in my disclaimer. THe road i took to publishing is my road. You are welcome to join me on it, but you don't have to. There are many routes to getting your work in print, and you can google to your hearts content to find out about them. THis is just my way. It may not be better or worse than other routes, but it was the route i took, and if it helps you then that is gratifying.

first the editor part. for "the quick and the quirky" I chose not to have a professional editor. THe main reason was simple. Many of my stories were done in the vernacular of a certain age, region or period of time. AN editor is going to have trouble wading through the speech to find errors or replacements. If you are doing a non fiction book, i encourage an editor but if it is fiction, then you'll have to choose. That means though, that at this point you probably need to read over your manuscript a few more times, with acute attention to catch those pesky errors you missed the first several edits. Please don't skip this step, it will make a huge difference to the professionalism of the final product.

an editor will cost you though. I did hire one for my first book and it was about 500 dollars. BUt if you feel you need it, please don't let cost deter you. Mortgage your dog if you have to, but pay an editor.

the next step is getting the book ready for publication. I strongly suggest a professional formatter. the formatter will make sure the print fits, the pages are lined up properly. the font suits the work and if you want illustrations, they suit your story. THey can design your cover, format the liner notes, the biography, table of contents, acknowledgements etc. In short they can turn your manuscript into a book that is worthy of sitting on the shelves in the book shop or library. hard copy and ebook format are very different and your friendly formatter will handle that too. they may even recommend a good publisher and will sometimes do the uploading for you. 

trust me this is a worthwhile investment. no point in writing a masterpiece, only to have it ignored because it looks like something a fourth grade would write at home. You can find formatters online, but don't just leap into it. Do your homework.. I was lucky to have a connection who turned me on to a wonderful lady who i have worked with ever since. 

for your cover and inside illustrations if you are using such, you can find wonderful images on the internet, which  you may use if they are free domain. I used deposit photos. Wonderful selection. I paid for a month's use, about eight dollars. i sent the photos, bio, liner notes etc. to my formatter and she turned it into a cover i was completely happy with.

if you choose to do everything on your own, there are ways to do it, but i honestly didn't want to go there, and so i know not how to do so. i'd happy to hear your story though.

if you find the right people they will walk you through this more easily than you think.

I can't afford a professional editor.

 

You've read over your draft a dozen times, made enough changes to make you wonder if it's the same story you started. And now it's time to start the dreaded edit. 

First of all, let's put the record straight, editing can be fun. You aren't correcting high school essays written by kids with no interest in the topic. You are editing your own work. This is your labour of love, and you are so close to having it ready for prime time. So have fun. Make it a challenge. Can you find everything that needs a bit of a tweak, or touch up? 

Let me mention this right off the bat, unless you hire a professional editor, then you are going to be on this stage for awhile. Even if you contract out you'll likely give one more perfunctory edit just to prove you aren't totally incompetent. Like my mum used to give the house the once over before the cleaning lady came.

So here is a list of my personal guidelines and observations about editing. 

Try to relax in the knowledge that no matter who you are, and who your publisher is, when that book gets out on the market, there will be a half dozen miscues the editors failed to catch. You'll see that in novels on the New York Times best seller list. 

Don't want to do this alone. Even if you cant afford a professional, get some trusted advice. 

Do NOT rely on spellcheck, and "Word" to fix your blunders. When an automatic correction is made, or that annoying red line appears, read over the whole section meticulously. Does the correction fit your meaning and intent? Read it out loud, maybe you meant for a comma to be there, maybe not.

Again relax, this won't go to publishing until you are positive it's ready. No one is going publish your work when you aren't looking. Depending on your own personal goals, you can take as long as you want to get it right. If that means a dozen edits so be it. 

There may come a point where you look over something and you feel it isn't working. No problem, you can change it anytime you want. But don't be a changeaholic, only make the adjustment if you are sure it makes your story better, or gives it more clarity. 

To be clear, this editing thing is not a one off. Once you're finished the first edit, take a break, clear your head and then dive back in. Come up for air and go down again and again, until there is nothing left to find. 

                                         

Half baked but looking pretty good

 

This is a big moment. Seriously. Look at what you've done.  You've finally written that story, and from what you can see it's pretty good. Bravo. Kudos. Your story is now half baked. But as anyone who has ever been served undercooked bread knows, there is still a way to go. Yes the "E" word is now rearing it's head. The big Edit is on deck. Before we do that though, I encourage, nay, implore you to read over your masterpiece a few more times. Are there things you would like to change, gratuitous lines you can delete? What about those troublesome words that don't quite fit. This is the time. Before you start the mechanics of editing, try to make sure you story is pretty much where you want it to be. No sense editing words you are going to cut, or fixing grammar in sentences that are going to get chopped. 

   The biggest caveat involves being too verbose. Writer's, like speech makers, get impressed with their own words, and tend to use more than they need. In writing, despite the number of thousand page novels around, bigger is not necessarily better. Some writing coaches suggest looking at your word count and cutting 20% off the bat. I don't find those kinds of blanket statements that helpful, but the premise is pretty sound. Check for repetitions, over use of adjectives and adverbs, anything which distracts from the story and is mere self-indulgence.

   So while this isn't your last chance to make overhauls, that comes once you submit your work, this is definitely the best time. 

                                            

Yes you can polish a turd.

Are you wondering, does this guy actually practice what he preaches or is this all smoke and mirrors? 

The answer is yes and no. Yes I do follow my advice, and no i'm not just putting on a show.

This week, I had an idea for a new story. The idea came to me at the gym, on the bench press to be precise. Oddly it's where i'd say half of my "ah ha" moments come from. With nowhere to write my little notes, I prayed dementia would not take the idea away before I got home. 

Thankfully, it didn't and as soon as I got in, I took out some sticky notes and wrote down my main idea plus the half dozen other ideas which had since come to me.

Oh, this one needed some research. So I Googled what I needed, which included; Ellis Island 1920, Trans Atlantic steamers early 1900's, Cork, "Irish need not apply." Guess where I am going with this?

Once I had all the information I needed on yet another dozen sticky notes, I just wrote. I didn't stop to evaluate or make corrections. I let the words flow onto the page. Sometimes I still don't know where they come from.

Upon taking a break, I read over what I had, and you know what? I hated it. Well maybe that's too strong a work. I despised it. It was cold, academic and I had no connection with my main character.

Know what the next feeling was? Excitement. This is the ultimate challenge. Like the potter with his lump of clay. Maybe I would rework this a dozen times. Perhaps add dialogue, maybe other characters, a couple of sidebars. There will come the time I finally read it over, smile and say, "Yup this works". 

There are other times you'll have an idea you think is great fodder for a clever story. Sadly, you may find that no amount of reshaping and reworking can make it work. Don't throw it out, just put it in the file of unfinished stories. One day you may have an epiphany. 

More often though, you'll watch your fractious tale morph into something you are happy to send to the publisher. As the potter knows, the final product is in there, it just needs to be released into the world.

PS The title of this post comes from the movie "Christine."