I just signed my first writing contract for a romantic short story called The Last Straw. My publisher is The Wild Rose Press. Now I am on my 20th hour of the first round of edits.
In this post I talked about deep point of view: Writing craft musings and Brenda Novak. A lot of the editing steps help increase the experience of deep POV. The publisher provides a list to help authors. The list gives a systematic way to edit. Use Find and search for specific words, then rewrite. Some things you have to look for by reading, but many things can be found by searching for certain strings. I can’t even imagine doing this effectively in the days of typewriters. No wonder so few authors were published in those days. With the help of word processing, we can all improve.
Here is an excerpt from my edit letter. I think it articulates why we do all this editing even though the original was correct and good enough for the publisher to offer a contract.
All of this is to make your book even better. Most readers won’t be thinking “wow, I wish this sentence wasn’t quite so distant,” but they will notice they’re not as engaged with the book overall as they are with others. And we really want readers to engage with your story!
Aside from all the struck-out text all over my manuscript, “bleeding red ink” as we say, I can see how much more effective the story is now. In the past, I resisted doing this kind of a deep edit, but now that I’ve done it and seen the results, I love it! It’s worth every bleeding splash of virtual ink and all the hours of work if, at the end, the manuscript looks more like Brenda Novak’s work, smooth and engaging, but in my voice. What a thrill to contribute to the reading world a fresh and enjoyable story by Nia Simone!
Nia
Congrats on hooking that Big Fish! Deep POV is a wonderful thing to read, but it’s darn elusive to create as a writer. Only when you see two sentences side by side (one with, one without deep POV) can the difference be appreciated. But to stride in and make those changes…whew! No wonder you’re 20 hours in. Keep plugging away at it – it’s going to be well worth the effort. Who needs sleep, anyway? 😀
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Thank you, Andrew!! And you’ve inspired me to put a before and after picture of a few lines up here.
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Nia, congratulations on your First Sale! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I cannot wait to buy your book. 🙂
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Thank you, Isabel!!
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Congrats on the first sale, Nia. So glad the process of editing is working for you, it’s long and hard but so well worth it in the end.
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Wow! Many congratulations on your first contract! Looking forward to reading ‘The Last Straw’ Well done you! 🙂
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Thank you so much!!! I’ve been writing for 12 years so even though this is just a short story the occasion is momentous for me.
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Well done you! Really happy for you! 🙂
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Hey that is wonderful. I won’t pretend I know everything you are talking about, but it is certainly a new world and so great for you. I am so happy for you. 🙂
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Thank you, Leanne! Yes, it is a new world. It is so different (from being pre-published) and yet so familiar (like a job)!
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