Got the proofs back for Under the Western Sky. Why do you always catch those repeated words and phrases when you get those back, instead of when you do your final edits before sending the story in the first time?

I didn’t find any actual typos in the story — they did a good job setting it up. I do wish I could change a couple of lines though!

The best way to edit your story or proof is to print the thing out. This is the step I skipped because my printer was acting up that week. Somehow, printing the story makes it easier to find typos and wrong word choices. Start at the end of the story and read backwards, looking at every word until you get to the beginning. Misspellings leap out this way, as do grammatical errors of most kinds and repeated words.

I’ll get you a link to the finished book once it’s out on the market. We’re hoping for a November release. I’ll be entering the story in the Peacemaker and Spur awards, too. Probably never going to win since it’s not a “traditional” Western (my protagonists are unrepentant outlaws), but …

Book Two is finished … well, the first draft is done

This is only the beginning, though.

• I’ve got the first edit to do – go through reading for continuity and flow.
• Rewrite as needed from that edit
• Then I’ll do a dialogue edit to make sure all the dialogue sounds good and matches the characters
• More rewriting as needed
• Then there’s the (possibly first) professional edit to see what I need to fix
• Then there may be yet another rewrite … maybe even several

Then, and only then, will I send it to my agent to see what she thinks. It’s not a short process.

How many edits do you go through before you publish?

The manuscript is back from the copy editor already!

I think that’s a good thing. She said it was a good story, and this is a PhD in English, so I’m going to believe her and start working on those query letters!

A few niggles – some instances where I spelled a minor character’s name one way in one chapter, and slightly different in a later chapter, some words I hyphenated one time and didn’t hyphenate later – that sort of thing. And, of course, the inevitable missed comma errors (I tend to add too many) and misspellings that the Spell-Check doesn’t catch because they’re real words (just not the word I intended to spell).

Overall, I’m satisfied that “my baby” is ready to send out into the dangerous world of Publishing. I never had kids, so I don’t really know, but it feels less like sending a child off and more like entering a science project in a huge science fair and hoping for a prize. I did my best work – and I know that will improve as I keep practicing the craft! – and now it’s time to let the judges see what I created.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Draft #2 is off to the editor for the last check-up before I start on the query letters. This is someone who’s never read anything by me before, so it should be illuminating to get her take on the book.

Getting started on Book 2 in November for NaNoWriMo. The working title is Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: The Hawaiian Affair. That’ll change as soon as I think of something better — it’s too much like a Sherlock Holmes title (or something from Man From U.N.C.L.E.). The lads will be involved in treaties between the U.S. and the Republic of Hawai’i … not gonna give you any more hints!

I’m spending the next 10 days doing research, then it’s 1667 words a day for the entire month. By Christmas, I’ll have half the book finished!

This is courtesy of Michael Stackpole’s lecture at Dragoncon.

First, remember that you are not editing as you go along. As Stackpole says, “first, dig the hole” – get the manuscript down before you play with it.

In order to edit the most effectively, Stackpole recommends printing the manuscript out and working on it in a different location from the one in which you write. This forces your brain to switch to editor mode and keeps those two “jobs” separate for you. You should be able to “turn off” one side of your brain and work either as a writer or an editor, but not switch back and forth at the same time.

When editing, if you come across a place in the manuscript where you want to make changes, simple write “FIX” in the margin and keep editing. It’s very important not to switch back into writer mode, but to keep working with the analytical side of your brain to complete your edits. You will go back to writing once you’re done with the edits.

Here are four tips to help you with this process:

1. Create a scene inventory for the manuscript. This is a one-line description for each scene, giving general plot points, tone and nature of the scene (action, technically intense, emotional, etc). For each scene, ask yourself whether it moves the story forward – if not, cut that scene
2. Check the story arcs for each of your characters. Are they genuine? What are the character’s goals, and what obstacles prevent them from reaching those goals? What is the character’s emotional journey? Be sure you have not dropped anything from the arcs, or left out any important information.
3. Make sure your content is genre-appropriate in terms of emotion, action, and thought percentages. For example, for a science-fiction work, you should have something in the ratio of 40-45% action scenes, 40-45% problem-solving scenes, and 15-20% emotional scenes. For romance, the ratio would be more like 15% action, 5% problem-solving, and 80% emotion.
4. When are you through editing? You’re going to write the first draft and then edit, then write a second draft and edit that, and maybe even do a third pass. Stackpole proposes a 10% Rule: when you change fewer than 10% of the words at the end of an edit, it’s time to wrap it up and send it out.

The thing to keep in mind about writing and editing is to keep them separated in your mind. When you’re writing, just write. When you’re editing, just edit. In this way, you’ll develop two different types of skills which will work together to produce your best possible manuscript.

What are some editing tips you’ve learned that help you improve your manuscript?