The End is Just the Beginning!

It’s important to have a plan once you get to the end of your manuscript. First, celebrate!  Go out to dinner; open a good bottle of wine; spend the day at a spa. Completing a novel is an achievement in imagination and perseverance.  Even if you never publish the story, you’ve still finished a project that most people only dream about.

Now that the hangover has set in, the second phase of your project must begin.  I’m sure every author tackles this part of the process differently, so I’ll only describe what I do.  I start on page one and grind through the manuscript, editing and fine-tuning the prose.  I make sure my plot and story are consistent and my words flow.  I do this run-through right away because I want the story and the characters fresh for this round of editing.

Once I’ve worked my way through the story again, I lock it in a drawer or really on a flash drive.  I let the story sit for at least a month.  When I start to read it again, it no longer reads like something I’ve written, but like any other book I might pick up.  This is what I want and need—fresh eyes.
 
Once I’ve completed this go through and I am satisfied that the book, while still a little rough, is solid and the writing good, I look for Beta Readers.  This is where I’ll leave it for now.  Beta Readers deserve a post all of their own!

By Jeff Altabef, author of the thriller Fourteenth Colony.  Half of my proceeds go to the Covenant House to help homeless kids aged 16 to 21.  http://www.amazon.com/Fourteenth-Colony-Jeff-Altabef-ebook/dp/B00C2D97OS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encod....

You can also follow my ramblings on Twitter @JeffAltabef