This is number 134 in the blog series, “My Life in Erotica.” I encourage you to join my Patreon community to support my writing.
I TYPED “THE END.” That means I’m finished, right?
-Seasoned author laughs hysterically.- (So do the editors)
Oh, my friend. Writing was the easy part! It’s not finished until your editor gives the nod. (Of course, then you still have a bundle of steps to go through before you’re finished, but let’s assume the story part is finished.)
I made a comment last week that “It may come as a shock to some authors, but they are not transcribing the word of God in their novel.” Take a minute and congratulate yourself on finishing the FIRST DRAFT. Then get to work. The sooner you get an editorial team to help you, the better.
I was talking to an agent seeking representation a few years ago—before I turned my back on the traditional publishing process—and had just finished my pitch for Nathan Everett’s The Volunteer. She was nodding and treating the concept seriously. The first question she asked when I finished the pitch was, “Has the Book Doctor been through your manuscript?”
No matter how well I pitched the book, she was not interested in a raw manuscript unless a competent story editor had been through it. She thought the idea sounded great, but she didn’t know if I could write.
I’ve been fortunate through the years to have some incredible story editors work with me on the first draft of my books. Sonja Black—known as the Book Doctor—was at one time my business partner. She has reviewed and commented on many of my manuscripts. Michele, Margie, Kathryn, Pixel the Cat, and others have undertaken to be my story editors, each contributing something a little different.
Lyndsy Fernandes has undertaken massive amounts of work on my most recent manuscripts, including my 2025 NoNoMo project, The Inheritance Paradox. As soon as I finish a chapter, she reads it and comments on what I’ve written, flaws in my logic, stumbling blocks for readers, grammar, and the development of the storyline.
Lyndsy has taken the extraordinary step of ‘going old school,’ as she says. She goes to the extent of printing out the pages of the manuscript and using a blue pen to comment. Then she scans them as a pdf file and returns them to me. Since her comments typically get to me while I’m still writing the next chapter, I have time to adjust and refine my approach while I’m still in the first draft. I consider this a rare privilege.
I have other alpha readers like GMBusman, Cie-Mel, and my Sausage Grinder patrons who read chapters as they are finished, but typically their comments are cursory rather than so deeply analytical.
So, what happens after I get a completed first draft with all these notes to absorb?
First of all, I take them seriously! I don’t brush off my editor’s comments as her just not understanding. If I think that, then I haven’t been clear in my intent and writing. Every single note is important to me.
Second, I start rewriting. I seldom have a story these days that doesn’t go through at least two complete drafts. When I say I rewrite, I mean that I start from a blank sheet of paper, not that I try to cut and paste stuff together or ‘edit’ it in the first draft. The first draft, even though usually cleaner than many people’s final, is still GARBAGE.
I rewrite with the first draft open, but I’m constantly comparing what I’m writing to what the editor or editors have told me. Am I being more clear? Is my language less complex? Have I been consistent in my timeline? Do I really know what my character looks like? Does each character have a distinct voice?
All these questions and many more must be answered as I rewrite. If I was simply editing an existing file, I would not be considering every word as I type. I would assume what I wrote was fine but just needed a little adjustment. That is never the case.
Third, I send the second draft (if my story editor approves) to my copy editor. Usually, this is Pixel the Cat. He goes through the manuscript for sentence structure, grammar, and the occasional spelling error. He often writes clarifying comments in the margin on things that I already knew but had failed to implement. Was I supposed to use further or farther? He not only corrects it if mistaken, he also adds the note, ‘Farther is for physical distance. Further is for metaphysical distance.’
After I’ve integrated Pixel’s comments (which means I’ve actually read the full manuscript at least three times myself by now), I start sending the ‘final’ draft to my proofreaders. This might be just two people, or there might be four or five people who have volunteered to proofread my manuscript. These people normally correct spelling and punctuation with about a 90% overlap in their corrections. Occasionally, they will highlight a sentence that is not clear, a concept that is not appropriate for the time period, an art term that is misused or even unused, or a psychological aspect that might be misrepresented.
When I have all the proofreaders’ corrections in hand, I reread the manuscript with their corrections and decide which need to be implemented or ignored. Yes, I sometimes ignore a proofreader’s correction. We sometimes disagree on punctuation or on the correct use of a word. If one is part of a procession, do they process or proceed?
Is it finally over?
I reread the manuscript one more time while I am laying it out for publication. Sometimes seeing an awkward page or line break can highlight a better or simpler way of saying something. Yes, I will edit for appearance in a print volume if I feel the manuscript benefits from the change.
In my recent release of the Signature Edition of Bob’s Memoir: 4,000 Years as a Free Demon, I carefully considered every page for its appearance and occasionally edited to fit. Then in the third volume, I made so many changes and expanded the story so significantly, that I ran it back through the copy editor and proofreaders one more time! The changes were significant enough that I also re-released the online and eBook editions of volume three in a second edition.
I’ve been inundated this month with offers for writing courses, quick and easy ways to write your eBook, and how ‘ghost writer quality’ AI can write your book in three hours. Next week: “A Restless Urge to Write.”