Blogger: Michelle Ule
Sitting in for Wendy who is having technical difficulties.
As I type the glorious words “the end” at the bottom of the page, I know it’s actually just the beginning.
Here are the steps I take when beginning a revision that can only start when I think I’m finished.
Recognize I’m not done yet.
Sure, I’ve said it was the end, but for the author on a first draft it never is.
The first draft is where I get the story down, in all it’s messy, sprawling brilliance.
Some of the writing is so beautiful I could weep.
A lot of it isn’t.
But at least I’ve got a place to start
Planning the rewrite.
You cannot begin to rewrite until you know what’s in the manuscript, so I start by running a word census on my manuscript.
Using a macro my husband wrote for me, I look at the 25 or so most used words, paying close attention to those I typically overuse like “that, just, back, go,” and so forth.
You should know which words you tend to overuse.
I then examine all the sentences in which those words appear and frequently rewrite them.
I pay close attention to the verb “was” and beef up sentences with a different verb.
This often takes a couple days on a lengthy manuscript.
Of course I run spellcheck–often.
Printing the entire manuscript.
It’s important to get away from the computer screen–to see the manuscript differently and also to rest your eyes and fingers.
There’s something about using your hands to read that activates other corners of the brain and enables you to catch things you might have missed on the computer screen.
As a good ecologist, I bristled at using up all that paper, so I use the backside of an old manuscript I’ve already read.
(As long as the page numbers are in a different font–say bold on the second manuscript–I never get confused).
I read it on paper with my pencil in hand and scribble, write in the margins, cut out sentences, rearrange sentences, reformat paragraphs, and generally make a mess of the whole thing.
It’s so satisfying.
Input the changes
This often takes longer than I expect and yet moving between paper and pencil to computer screen also engages parts of the brain that were lolling around before and not paying attention.
I can see things I missed on the screen AND on the paper when I’m moving between them.
So I make corrections and the writing improves.
Read it on an ebook format
I then read the entire manuscript in an ebook format on my Ipad.
There’s something so gratifying about reading my words in what appears to be a book (indeed, it is an ebook).
I read with a notebook and pen at my side. When I see something that needs to be changed, I scribble a few words and the page, then move on.
By this point, I’m confident I can see the problems by just looking at a few words and activating the “find” feature when I return to my Word document.
This often will fill a lot of pages–because your eyes just don’t seem to see all the mistakes!
Not at the end yet
When I get the manuscript to a point that feels like I’m close to done, I ask a few friends to read it.
My ever-loving-patient-saintly-hero of a patron of the arts gets the first chance.
I have a young assistant with a degree in English who has been reading all along and said yesterday as she finished marking up chapter 18, “I can hardly wait until you’re done and I can get a feel for the entire thing.”
Exactly.
Give it time
It takes a while to edit and clean up a manuscript. I’ve just finished one and it’s not due for three and a half months.
That should give me plenty of time to improve it, but in this case, I’m also going to need those months to organize other items needed for a nonfiction book.
In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my (mechanical) pencil sharpened!
What do you do when you after you type “the end” on your manuscript?
Other than celebrate, of course!
Tweetables
6 tips for manuscript help after typing “the end.” Click to Tweet
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I never had a “first draft.” I revise as I go. My first draft is more like my 100th draft.
*I agree, Michelle, with editing a paper version. I’ve been in a couple on on-line critique groups. I preferred to edit on paper and scan my scribblings back to the author. Paper is more big-picture: “this scene has a different tone. Is that intentional?” Circles around all the “was” in a paragraph, with “action, please!” in the margin. In my own work, a big X through one paragraph and an arrow from another to its new home. And “RETHINK” scrawled across another. Brutal, and satisfying.
*I’ve never done the e-book version. But I always read aloud. If the sentence doesn’t roll well off my lips, it won’t roll well into someone else’s brain.
*And, yes, it takes L-O-N-G-E-R than I expect!
I like to scribble and draw all over a manuscript as well–somehow “Track Changes,” seems sterile, laser-focused, and not given to clever asides.
Reading aloud is always good and will come on the next examination for me–the end of October.
Send it to a writer friend who catches the routine errors or flags things that don’t make sense and then to my fiction coach if it’s fiction. That gives me time to step away from it and be ready to hit it again when it comes back with changes marked.
I’m a bit like Shirlee in that I do edit as I go, and I also read it aloud by sections.
I think I’m having an identity crises. I’m logged in as two people! LOL
I think everyone edits as they go–or at least I am continually tweaking.
On this last manuscript, I edited as I wrote each chapter, handed it off to my assistant–who wrote all over a printed version–rewrote and edited and then moved along.
We had a wonderful time together when the manuscript was finished, scribbling all over a manuscript, writing each other notes and I was pleased to see it really wasn’t too bad.
But then, we’ve been refining it for months!
I’m pretty unimaginative. I just go through the manuscript again,taking out what I don’t like, and lengthening what to me worked as a kind of ‘shorthand’.
* I typically hate writing descriptive prose, so part of that process includes beefing up the description to clarify the physical sense of place.
* I REALLY hate writing introspection, so that’s generally enhanced at this point as well.
* And – this is the hard part…I remove ellipses and dashes.
I have similar problems, Andrew. I go back to “embroider” when I’m done–usually because I’ve got an eye on word count.
Read, read, and reread. Edit, edit, edit. Reading on my tablet works best for me. If anyone doesn’t know how to do that (it might be different for each version) … I make a PDF file of my MS. I email a copy of my MS (that PDF file) to myself, which helps to save it, too … I go to my tablet, open my email, and click to download. I then go to my download file and move my MS over to the “Kindle” folder. If I didn’t have a techy person in my home, I would have never figured this out, I’m sure.
*Something Ann Voskamp wrote this morning made me think of writing and finishing a MS: “You have to fall in love because this will get you up and keep you going every day. Fall in love, fall into sacrifice, and you will always rise.” When I fall in love with my story, I can’t wait to put my fingers on the keyboard each day. 🙂
I just send the Word doc to myself and open it in IBooks. Saves one step.
Great tips, Michelle. It’s so amazing how we can use so many different resources to view our manuscript in various ways. It helps me see the story with different perspectives.
*When I type “The End” I let the manuscript breathe for a few weeks, and then I get back to it. When I fast-draft, I usually take notes of things I’ll need to add/change when I go back through it again. I work on that list, and try to refine different aspects of the story through rewriting. Then comes the editing. Then comes the polishing. It takes me a long time. I still need to figure out the system that works for me.
It all comes with time and experience. Curious, though, how we adapt our own writing style.
I can never seem to sit down to write until 1 o’clock in the afternoon. So, now I don’t worry about it in the morning because at 1, I’m here. 🙂
Very timely post! I wrote “THE END” on the second book in my historical series last week, although it is not due to my editor until November. I closed the document, with a sigh of relief, and promised myself not to open it again for at least a week, even if the most brilliant idea attacks me in the middle of the night. I write it down, but don’t open the doc. I’ve read two books in this lull week, and started a third. Finally, though, I began the editing process yesterday, which I dearly love. Will go through it several times, set it aside again for a week or so, then read through again, etc. until I have to finally hit the “send” button. 🙂
Great idea– step away from that computer . . . Which is the same advice I got just two weeks ago!
I like the idea of writing down insights, but leaving it all alone and refreshing yourself with others’ books.
I’m reading Laurie E. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes thrillers– set during the same time period, but a far different genre than biography!
This is such an encouraging article! I’m right in the thick of it with editing my manuscript, and I can’t wait to put some of these into practice, I’m going to go hunt for the word “was” as soon as I finish here. Thank you so much for writing this!
Another thing I’ve found helpful is a hint that a writer friend gave me a few years ago: Have Windows Narrator read your work aloud to you. It’s a great way to catch typos that you might miss otherwise…for example, words that are spelled correctly but are not the word you meant to write.
I have kind of a different thing going on, where my (very rough) first draft made its way to an assistant editor (yikes!) and she read it and responded by asking me to do some specific edits including write another chapter. She will send it to her editor when she gets it back…I’m working furiously on it, but I’m wondering if anyone knows how much time you think I might have to before getting it back to them? I don’t want to leave them hanging, but I also don’t want to send in anything but my best.
You have time. Write and polish the best you can, but unless the editor has specifically told you s/he wants it Monday, I’d guess you have a few weeks.
And where do I find Windows Narrator? 🙂
Whew, thank you! This is good to know.
You can start Narrator by hitting the key with the little window picture on it and “enter” at the same time. There are settings you can adjust and you can choose things like speed and voice type (although they do all sound a little like Siri).
Here’s a link that will help: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17173/windows-10-hear-text-read-aloud
Yes, yes, yes! That’s similar to the process I use. More accurately, I feel your
pain. Hah! It is fun to look through your own writing as you begin to highlight what works and what doesn’t. What amazes me is how long it takes to review and input the changes, and I may go over it several times before I am relatively satisfied. I’m still rather new to the authoring/writing venue. Hopefully my first drafts will become stronger in time.
Thanks, Michelle.
You’re right, Norma. I think, “Oh, it won’t take me long to input all this,” and there I am two days later . . . LOL
Lots of good stuff in this article. 🙂
My 1st drafts are almost always handwritten (5 young kids = a need for the fastest, most portable writing possible), so my 2nd draft is the first to hit the computer. I fill in all the blank lines, question marks, and other placeholders in the 1st draft with the words and elements I couldn’t remember or needed to look up. There’s a lot of editing as I go.
I set it aside for a while, then print it out, edit again, and repeat. The 3rd or 4th draft goes to a new pair of eyes or two, and I take a long break while I wait for their input.
I like the idea of reading it eBook style. I’ve never done that! I also should pay more attention to overused words. I have a feeling the first search I do is going to be eye-opening!
A number of writers write long hand–I simply cannot write legibly anymore and am SO much faster on a computer. But if I had small children at home, anything might be happening!
Michelle, I like your orderly process. I tend to do most of the things on your list but not all and some not as well as others. I’m trying to improve on that. Thanks for sharing your process.
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Like Shirlee, I edit as I go, sometimes just the previous chapter, sometimes a couple of chapters. Sometimes I stop at a point and go from the beginning to my stopping place, especially if I get to a “where-do-I-go-from-here” point. So I end up with what I call my first final draft. Then I begin the kind of editing Michelle is talking about.
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I pre-format 5.5 x 8.5, so when I’m ready to print, I save paper by printing 2 pages per sheet, front and back (4 book pages per sheet of paper). At some point for a different visual, I copy and save as an 8.5 x 11 document and print that front/back. Sometimes I change the font. Any change helps me see things I didn’t see before. I’d like to add the read aloud part to my process, but that seems so difficult to me. (I don’t learn well by listening, either. I learn best by reading and better by re-writing.)
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Like Andrew, I’m usually short on description (I prefer dialogue), so I go back before that first final draft printout and record the scene as I saw it all along but didn’t take the time to type it. I wish I could get to the point where I can do both simultaneously, but for me, writing description stops my story flow.
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I love the ideas everyone shares in these posts and the comments!
What a great idea to put four pages of the manuscript on one piece of paper. I only now, however, have a printer that will print two sides!
Another interesting idea when you’re writing, is to leave a couple ideas at the end of the day so you can get started without having to think to hard the next. I’m amazed at how helpful it is to have the next day’s work laid out when I sit down to type.
Thanks, Michelle. One clarification on the 4 pages to 1 sheet of paper idea: If your manuscript is formatted for 8 1/2 x 11, the pages will be smaller than you might anticipate and difficult to read for some of us. This works really well for me because I pre-format to my book’s interior size at 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, so the 2 pages on each side are the same size as a print book spread. (I hope that makes sense.) For folks who publish traditionally or who must submit manuscripts to editors and such on 8 1/2 x 11 pages, this might not work so well.
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I like the idea about leaving a couple of ideas at the end of the day. It makes me a little jittery to think about it though because I’m afraid I would forget whatever it was I had in mind! But maybe not. At least it would give me something to think about.
I usually let the item sit a short while, maybe five days. I’ve been editing some as I go along, so I’m fairly confident I’ve caught _most_ of the typos. Then I read. The first read-through is for consistency of plot. I find that, as I progress linearly through a book, I tend to forget what I wrote at the beginning. Thus I either repeated myself, or interjected plot elements that force a change somewhere, or have some scene that isn’t clear. In general, this round of edits will result in adding words to the book.
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Then I read it again, either silently or out loud, looking at sentence structure, unintended passive voice, cart-and-horse type construction, etc. Word economy is part of that, so this round of edits tends to subtracting words from the total.
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From there I read mainly as a proofreader. How many times it a question of how sick am I of the book at that point. At least once, twice if I can. I’m not opposed to three times if I think it needs it. I try to cajole the wife into reading it then, which she usually will. After her read and my proofreading, it’s done. I publish.
I’m with you, particularly when it takes a long time to write a novel–I find I repeat myself. In the biography I just finished, it was only after the third or fourth review that I realized I used the same quote several times and two chapters had the same title.
Which is why you edit and get someone else to look at it! 🙂
My patron of the arts is usually the first read, and the second, and the third . . .
Oh yes, Michelle! Printing out an MS and editing with a pen is satisfying! lol. Such great steps after first draft completion! Thanks! I will definitely try your steps when I finish my manuscript.
I recognize I am late to this conversation from yesterday, but I wanted to highlight the idea of changing the font style and/or size for review. By having the words look different, we process it differently, whether on the screen or print.
Also, because everything I write is available in both English and Spanish, I catch different errors when I think about how a non-native speaker will read it, as well as how it will translate into Spanish. Re-reading the manuscript with a specific reader in mind helps me catch things I might need to reword.